Solitude UT Opens 11/12/2010

Solitude Mountain Resort opened its ski season Friday 11/12/10 with the Link, Moonbeam and Apex lifts running and Utah’s famous blue skies smiling down.

True to its name, the mountain was quiet which gave skiers plenty of room to test out the favorable early-season conditions. Powder stashes lasted throughout the day on the sides of runs while snow guns blew out mists of white on unopened terrain in hopes of helping Mother Nature along.



Matt Baydala of Park City, Utah seemed pleased at the lack of crowds. “I came up and could hear a pin drop,” says Baydala, recently named Powderhound for Ski Utah. “This is just a really nice groomer Friday.”

Stephanie Nitsch, also of Park City and riding with Baydala, compared it to opening day at Brighton Resort which kicked off the ski season a day earlier. “There’s nobody here except the Solitude locals. It’s such a friendly vibe today. Everyone’s mellow.”

And mellow it was. Skiers could be seen chatting with friends at the top of the lift, soaking in the warm sun and leisurely making their way down the runs. Solitude’s ski school, full of smiles, practiced turns on Same Street while a few guests tried their hand at snowboarding on Easy Street, Solitude’s beginner area, without any worry of tumbling into another first-timer.



Before taking off for his final run, Baydala considers the peaceful opening day and the vibe Nitsch described and concludes: “It’s why we come to Solitude”.


Photos courtesy of Matt Baydala.

nice. the first winter i spent in utah was in lcc at alta. one day i skied from alta up and over twin lakes pass, skied around up there, then descended to brighton and hopped on a bus heading down canyon. i'd never even been up bcc before. riding down on the bus, i looked over my left shoulder and saw some nice wide open terrain, a few lifts with very few folks on them and empty slopes.........on a powder day. i took note of this and told myself that if i ever returned to utah to spend a winter, solitude is where i'd hang my hat. that was 1996. in 2000 i went back to utah and called solitude my home for that winter. unreal. like what burke is to jay as far as pow preservation and crowds on pow days go.

nice report

rog

Here's mbaydala's video from yesterday featuring himself, ilikewinter and Stephanie:

[facebookvideo]http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1714847990960[/facebookvideo]