6 days Jan 16-23 from Salt Lake - SUGGESTIONS PLEASE

[Admin]

One long chair could follow the line of the original Powderhorn, then continue along the Black Forest ridgeline to somewhere near where the current Summit ends. It *could* be done. I agree that Solitude is cursed by topography. That doesn't make it any less frustrating, however.

 

[Marc_C]

One long chair could follow the line of the original Powderhorn, then continue along the Black Forest ridgeline to somewhere near where the current Summit ends. It *could* be done. I agree that Solitude is cursed by topography. That doesn't make it any less frustrating, however.

I agree. But while that is certainly feasible, I'd really object to the visual impact of that arrangement. Realistically, when people complain about the the "horrible" lift arrangement at Solitude, what they're really whining about is the 2-3 lifts it takes to do a round trip in Honeycomb Canyon. The thing is, that's really no more, and in some cases much less, effort than getting to certain areas at Alta or Snowbird.

"Waaaaa! I have to ride two whole lifts to get to the west side of Honeycomb!"

My biggest complaint is the mostly rising west side Honeycomb traverse. But after some recon hiking this summer, I see there are some sneaky options to get around some of that (assuming you have the appropriate gear).

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Powderhorn II

Powderhorn was always a long ride, but I didn't mind because it had my favorite line on the front side: Diamond Lane into Cirque and the low-angle trees alongside the lower half of Alta Bird.

 

[Admin]

Photos of Powderhorn II today are here:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=8273

 

[ChrisC]

management continues to destroy a great place with some of the worst lift arrangement in ski area management.

Did your regular visits to Telluride start when there were only 6 lifts? You only had to look at a trail map to see that lift setup had to be the worst. Even now I find Heavenly's lifts more annoying than Solitude's. At least Telluride has improved greatly from its abysmal start. Heavenly regressed by removing Wells Fargo and East Peak, and has yet to put in/extend a new lift to bypass the tedious Crossover catwalk.

Tony - are you trying to tell me the this was not the best lift configuration of trying to ski the front side runs (Plunge and/or Spiral Stairs) 10x/day?

 

[Tony Crocker]

Yes to above picture query, a 5 slow lift circuit. You could probably get about as many runs in as doing the El Colorado to Valle Nevado road circuit. Only 3 lifts for the latter, but also a road pickup required. Thankfully Telluride had 10 chairs by my first visit in 1992.

 

[flyover]

My thoughts (and others') on the new "Powderhorn II" lift at Solitude are here: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=8105

IMO, the new lift and removal of the the old PH lift will further degrade the skiing experience at Solitude for "advanced skiers."

 

[Rikki_d]

If your buddy is a snowboarder and your going to drive an hour North..skip Snowbasin and head to Powder Mountain..take a few 12 dolla cat rides and go looking for hidden stashes amongst the aspens, never crowded...P.C. was won of the worst places I've been on a snowboard, since I don't ride park..there sems to be a lot of traversing at P.C..Snowbird would be a better choice..Brighton is ok.same with Solitude..can't comment on the other choices since I haven't been there

 

[TRam]

Rikki- I loved snowbasin on my snowboard riding the cruising powder in the strawberry area (i love sking or boarding through the sage brush hoebacks at snowbasin and the caynons), I enjoyed skiing snowbasin even more after running the downhill course in perfect shape and busting powder of John Paul on the skier left. I would reccomend it to anyone.
I only hit powder mountian 1 day and the snow was not great ()no new in 5) it was still great and I will go back after a storm. I think it was like 45 min past snowbasin for what that is worth.

PS I think the grooming at ALTa is underrated and guys who aren't powder skiers can really enjoy the place and the scenery

 

[Pajarito-Bred]

Looks to me like Marc_C picked up the on-topic boundary rope, and Tony zoomed right under it, ending up 350 miles and one state over from the original post, triggering an avalanche of more OT replies, and I'm oh-so tempted to follow in their tracks with my own scathing critique of T-ride's original lift system, only made worse by later realignments and additions. ( p.s. the Plunge was only a four-lift round trip, 1-to-4-to-5-to-6)

I'm too far away from any open areas (170 miles) to want to jump start my season on one Wide Ribbon of Death, sounds like we all need some skiing-related ranting topics, while the jet stream sets up for the winter season..... (tomorrow! for UT and CO) The original topic appears to be answered as well as can be without speculating on potential weather and snow conditions.

management continues to destroy a great place with some of the worst lift arrangement in ski area management.

Did your regular visits to Telluride start when there were only 6 lifts? You only had to look at a trail map to see that lift setup had to be the worst. Even now I find Heavenly's lifts more annoying than Solitude's. At least Telluride has improved greatly from its abysmal start. Heavenly regressed by removing Wells Fargo and East Peak, and has yet to put in/extend a new lift to bypass the tedious Crossover catwalk.