Advice on ski trip to Park City in Feb. 2008

Not to beat a dead horse but, Alta was the hight point of our trip. My wife who is 45 and has been skiing for 3 years loved Alta. She found the blues and greens easier there than at PC and DV.
No matter were you go. I'm sure you and your family will have a great time.. Enjoy
 

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jasoncapecod":z6c1kcbv said:
My wife who is 45 and has been skiing for 3 years loved Alta. She found the blues and greens easier there than at PC and DV.
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Funny that you mention that. My wife is a low intermediate, casual skier who goes no more than 5 times per year. (How'd that happen? :roll: ) I usually take her to Alta when she wants to go. A week or two ago I took her to PCMR, and to my surprise partway through the day she asked if we could leave PCMR early to go to Alta instead.
 
Admin":3gkjpkky said:
and to my surprise partway through the day she asked if we could leave PCMR early to go to Alta instead.
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This is because she loves you and wants to make you happy. :lol:
 
I think you all have me convinced that we should try to ski at least one day at Alta when we're in Park City. Is there any sort of shuttle or bus system that goes from Park City to Alta or is a car or SUV necessary? Thanks.
 
There's no public transit from PC to SLC. You're pretty much going to require a rental for that one.
 
I still do not understand the resistance to renting cars in Utah. The drives are short, and you gain a lot in time, flexibility and convenience, especially when you have a family or group.

The only people who should consider not renting cars are young, cash-strapped and travelling solo. Those individuals should stay in SLC in cheap lodging within walking distance of the LCC and BCC bus routes. Anyone staying in Park City instead of SLC by definition has enough money to afford the car. Even on the cheap SLC plan I think it's worth it to rent the car if you have a group to share the cost.

I think Berkshire Skier should plan a minimum of one day each early on at Alta and Solitude. After those 2 days and 1 or 2 at PC/DV his family will know what they like best for the rest of the week. Historically I've been quite critical of Alta for intermediate skiers, but lift upgrades and more grooming in recent years have helped. I would recommend staying attuned to snow conditions when you're there. If it's good everywhere (as on my President's weekend trip) you'll love Snowbasin. If it's variable (like my March trip) you'll want to be at Alta for its better snow surfaces.
 
Tony Crocker":9rdihotj said:
I still do not understand the resistance to renting cars in Utah.
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The only people who should consider not renting cars are young, cash-strapped and travelling solo.
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I don't necessarily agree, if the transit system is good, then it is perfectly reasonable not to rent. Banff is a good example, SLC probably another one.

People don't need always need the hastle of cars. The cost (financial and environmental isn't always that cheap). If you can bus it, please do.
 
I think renting a car is the only way to go.. the cost of shuttling from the airport to pc is around 50-60 a head round trip. a rental car with tax and ski rack cost me 350.. the freedom that it gave my wife was price less.. when my little one didn't want to ski one day they went bowling in heber and tubing somewhere..
 
I didn't say it needs to apply to everybody.

However busing it is a viable option for many people.

Example in Banff, shuttle were free with multiday lift ticket. Same about the buses/train in Chamonix and Interlaken to the ski areas of the Jungfrau (Grindelwald, Wengen and Muerren).
 
I'm going to side with Tony on this one. With a few minor exceptions, in North America, unless you're staying on-mountain and not going anywhere else, it's often a huge hassle not to have a rental car.

To me, the whole point of skiing in Utah is being able to pick and choose your place each day, and it ain't possible without a car. Jason, which rental would cost you $350 for a week? I usually get away with $150/week in SLC.

Europe is a completely different story because the ski areas are big enough to hold your interest for a week or more, and the transportation systems are usually good to great.
 
Sometimes folks are reluctant to rent a 4x4 because of the (sometimes significant) upcharge. One way around this is to go and rent the cheaper econobox and just drive to one of the park-and-ride lots and take the bus on days when weather/road conditions argue against the 2-wheel drive spin-o-matic. You might be surprised at the (low) number of times I actually require 4x4 over the course of my average 60+ day season. (I own a Jeep Grand Cherokee)
 
Thanks for the informationa and advice, everyone. I think you have convinced me that we should rent a car or SUV, in case we decide to ski other areas. I agree with you, Tony, that when you consider the total cost of a week-long ski vacation for three people, the cost of a car rental is almost incidental. I just hope Utah has a better snow winter than they did this past ski season.
 
Berkshire Skier":1xu6glnv said:
I just hope Utah has a better snow winter than they did this past ski season.
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You know, even when it's a "bad" season in Utah, it's still generally better than what it is most of the time in the Northeast. I'm not saying this to rekindle the ever snarky east vs west debate - just basing it on personal experience. Moved here in December 2000 after living 22 years in CT.
 
And I'll second Marc_C's sentiment, if only because I've verbalized that very thought on the lift many times myself this winter. It's my first "bad" season here, and look at my reports. I've had terrific skiing. So base depths hovered around 100 inches instead of 200 - so what? As a point of reference I moved east at age 8, have been here for 3 winters and I'm now 41. I spent 9 years patrolling at Jay, and I've never once looked back since arriving here. Even in an off year, the skiing has been fabulous.
 
There are are locations like Aspen and Whistler where you don't need a car. Due to the multiple areas, I think SLC and Tahoe are the other extreme where the car is most useful. And once you throw in the cost of airport shuttles ($30+ one way per person to Utah areas, $85 Anchorage to Alyeska) you might find the car is little or no extra cost with a group. If the rental car is front wheel drive (nearly all compact and midsize) you'll get by 90% of the time. They were going to give me a rear wheel drive in Colorado, so I paid $110 more for 4WD as I was doing nearly 10 hours of driving with three 11,000+ foot passes on secondary roads plus Vail Pass and the tunnel on I-70. It turns out that I didn't really need it.

The fact that I squeaked ahead of admin in powder skied this season only illustrates the point of Utah reliability. Utah's season was well below average and most of my powder was very expensive. I skied even more powder last year, and he beat me easily. And unlike the East, only a small fraction of Utah's non-powder days can be considered marginal or "not worth skiing" days.
 
I took my 3 children to Solitude to meet up with another friend, also with 3 kids, in Jan. 2007. The kids were ages 3 to 11. One thing all 6 kids enjoyed, in addition to the skiing, was the Olympic Park in Park City. If you choose to go, call ahead...we did, and we were able to see aerialists from Europe practicing. The athletes and coaches took the time to talk to the kids. It was an amazing site to see them practicing. And, their kindness was incredible. For us, we skied in the morning, and did the Olympic Park in the afternoon...it was plenty of time at the Park.

One SMALL reason not to rent a car is if the roads are horrible. I have heard of people getting snowed in because they were not confident of their winter driving skills, having to put chains on, etc. However, that is something you could deal with if the situation happens.

We had a great time on the entire trip...hope you do too!
 
Thanks, AnnMarie, for the information. We're already looking forward to our trip to Park City in February of 2008. I have the plane reservations but I still need to make condo reservations. I'm not sure yet about renting a car or SUV. I'm hoping we have good snow conditions. This trip will be the first time that my daughter will have skied out west. Thanks again, Tom
 
For condo rental, be sure to check out vrbo.com (vacation rental by owner). We haven't used that website for SLC because we've stayed at Homewood Suites (their 2-bedroom units are a really good deal, BTW), but we've used it for several trips to Colorado resorts and gotten very nice condos at reasonable prices. The site is very user friendly.

I also think you'd find it worthwhile to rent an SUV. It would give you more flexibility not only to ski the CC resorts (our family loves Brighton and Solitude, which aren't at all intimidating) or Powder Mountain or Snowbasin, but also you may find it pays for itself, since you can save a bundle (or get a much nicer condo) if you stay someplace a bit further away from -- but witin easy driving distance of -- the resort.
 
Thanks, John, for the advice. I'll check out that website on condos. I have been shocked at the prices in Park City and Deer Valley to rent a two-bedroom condo. I think we rent an SUV. I would love to ski Alta and possible Snowbird too. Thanks again.
 
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