Airport getaway day in SLC, where to ski?

O

ondeadlin

New member
Have a 3:50 p.m. flight out of SLC.

Two guys, no kids, will be traveling light, rental car to return. Will be checked in for flight before leaving hotel.

Where should we go to get the best combination of easy access and experience?

When should we be in the car leaving the parking lot?

Thanks!
 
Ski at Brighton or Solitude. Give yourself 45 min to an hour to get from Brighton to the airport. Leave no later than 1:45PM (cleaned up and dressed to travel) so that you have time to return the rental car and clear check-in/security. Take the I-215 loop around south of SLC and north to I-80 and the Airport. You should be ahead of any sort of commuter traffic at that time. If the weather is poor, you must, of course give yourself more time.
 
Both Alta and Snowbird offer morning half day tickets that end at 1 pm. Quitting at 1 should give you a lot of skiing and enough time to drop rental car and get to airport. And you will not be paying for more skiing than you can use. I'm not sure that Brighton and Solitude offer morning half-day. Another tip is to have rental car shuttle driver take you to curbside backage check-in which they did for us for Delta flight last month. We did not ski our last day this January as conditions were not that great and we did not want to be rushed even though our flight left after 3 pm. We did an Alta morning half-day a couple of years when we had to pickup our son at SLC at 2:30 and got in plenty of skiing by 1 pm.
 
Thanks, fellas.

We've actually got two free tickets to any of the Cottonwoods as part of our hotel deal, so the 1/2 day aspect doesn't matter so much. Just wanted to check and see whether any of the options was a markedly easier/closer drive. We haven't done any of them previously, so it's going to be a good day regardless of which we pick.
 
ondeadlin Alta to SLC airport is 33 miles (Mapquest says 48 minutes) and Brighton to SLC airport is 35 miles (Mapquest says 49 minutes). The rental car drop-off is directly across (about 50 yards) from the Jet Blue Check-in. There is a small problem. If you go to curbside check-in you have overshot the rental car return road entrance and have to go completely around the airport to get back in. If you take careful note of where you exit the rental car area upon your arrival you can still get back into this area through that very EXIT thus avoiding the 3 mile loop around. Unlike some rental areas, there are no SPIKES or barriers at the exit preventing you from entering. Or, do as someone suggested, and have the rental guy drop you off. Ask the rental agent if that is possible when you pick up your car. I don't know how much gear you are taking, but it is not really very far to get from the garage to the check-in.
 
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