Maybe biting the bullet.. First Utah Trip?

snowave":3va3tm74 said:
Now the only question left is whether or not to bring my best friend, my pup. Most likley, it's a no, since I don't want to leave him in the truck every day while I ride.. :cry:
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Alas, I understand because for me my dogs are my kids, but leave him home as dogs aren't allowed in either BCC or LCC due to watershed restrictions. You'll wind up in a heap o'trouble if the sheriff finds you up there with a dog.

snowave":3va3tm74 said:
Anyone know how far it is to the canyon entrances from this location? (redwood ave off the 215 I believe?)
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~8-10 miles of quick highway. No problem at all.

snowave":3va3tm74 said:
Any pubs around those parts? Do you need to get some sort of "membership pass" to drink in the city pubs? Where do you get it if so? what about liquor stores? Shoudl I plan on bringing my own booze to avoid a hassle? I guess I coudl look it up, but hey, why not ask here. :D
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All you'll ever need to know:

http://www.alcbev.state.ut.us/Liquor_La ... itors.html

Liquor stores: http://www.alcbev.state.ut.us/Stores/sl ... ocate.html and in particular:
http://www.alcbev.state.ut.us/Stores/store03.html
or
http://www.alcbev.state.ut.us/Stores/store09.html
 
do you guys know if many of the SLC area resorts (or Tahoe) have those free "host" guided tours of the mtn? Being that I will likely be by myself, I thought this might be a good way to get a feel for the mtn
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I'm not sure if you ski or snowboard, and while it wasn't free, I had a blast with the ""Diamond Challenge" workshop" I took at Alta. See my posts from Mar 23, 2006: Number 1 and Number 2
 
Admin":na0o6zyu said:
snowave":na0o6zyu said:
Now the only question left is whether or not to bring my best friend, my pup. Most likley, it's a no, since I don't want to leave him in the truck every day while I ride.. :cry:
Click to expand...

Alas, I understand because for me my dogs are my kids, but leave him home as dogs aren't allowed in either BCC or LCC due to watershed restrictions. You'll wind up in a heap o'trouble if the sheriff finds you up there with a dog.

snowave":na0o6zyu said:
Anyone know how far it is to the canyon entrances from this location? (redwood ave off the 215 I believe?)
Click to expand...

~8-10 miles of quick highway. No problem at all.

snowave":na0o6zyu said:
Any pubs around those parts? Do you need to get some sort of "membership pass" to drink in the city pubs? Where do you get it if so? what about liquor stores? Shoudl I plan on bringing my own booze to avoid a hassle? I guess I coudl look it up, but hey, why not ask here. :D
Click to expand...

All you'll ever need to know:

http://www.alcbev.state.ut.us/Liquor_La ... itors.html

Liquor stores: http://www.alcbev.state.ut.us/Stores/sl ... ocate.html and in particular:
http://www.alcbev.state.ut.us/Stores/store03.html
or
http://www.alcbev.state.ut.us/Stores/store09.html
Click to expand...



WOW. probably more than I wanted to know! BUt thank a bunch for those links.

Why do I deel dirty all of a sudden for wanting ot drink a few strong beers? :lol:
 
hey all- a few months ago i posted here looking for some tips on making my first trip out west. i got tons of great advice and have been keeping tabs on the posts here and reading/viewing with lots of envy.

the weekend of my trip has finally arrived. i managed to make the trip on a very low budget thanks to to your advice. i'll be flying into SLC on wednesday and staying at Studio 6 in Murray. I'll let you all know how it works out and leave any advice i gather for any others looking at making their first trips.

sadly, that fresh snow everybody dreams of having fall right before their scheduled trip doesn't appear to be in the cards for me. so that brings me to my question, any last minute tips on how to maximize my enjoyment when it hasn't snowed in a while? my plan is to head to solitude first since people have advised me that i could find myself limited in terms of runs for midwesterner/intermediate snowboarders at snowbird. any tips on what lifts to take? is solitude a decent choice during a 'drought?' anywhere i should look to find some better snow? any last minute thoughts or words of advice? i promise not to appear in your secret spots every weekend and steal your lines... thanks for any help you might provide.

oh yeah, how long should i expect to be on the bus/what time do i need to catch it. it looks like it 6600 SOUTH 1000 EAST PARK & RIDE will be right near my hotel (975 E 6600 S Murray, UT), but they only have a pickup there at 8:15 (route 92). that supposedly gets to solitude at 9:02. should i try to walk to another stop so i can get to the mountain earlier in the day? do the buses stay on schedule farly well, or could a 9:02 arrival really not get me there until closer to 10? thanks again.
 
There's a chance of a possible storm this upcoming weekend..

I also considered the studio 6 in Murray, but the Homestead extended stay studio's were only $39.99 a night and had hi speed net and a hot tub.. so I chose that .. might want to look into that since I know you can cancel studio6 up til the day you arrive.
 
snowave":1vf6xbl4 said:
There's a chance of a possible storm this upcoming weekend..
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He beat me to it. The current forecast calls for the storm entering from the Pacific to split, with some energy passing off to our north, but the other diving toward southern California, picking up tropical moisture and heading here from the southwest. And it's hardly a "drought" around here, 80% of normal is pretty darned good. I skied acres and acres of boot-deep yesterday that didn't have a single other track in it. Really.

It's hard to give tips on skiing Solitude, for tips vary depending on what the weather's been doing, which way the wind's been blowing, how hard the sun has been blasting, etc. As of Saturday, my report in a separate topic gives all the advice that I could give.

And unless a storm slows canyon traffic to a crawl, the buses run pretty much on schedule. There's no reason to have to (or want to) arrive at Solitude earlier than 9:02 a.m. IMO.
 
admin, i've read your report and will reread it scouring for some details. yeah by drought i didn't mean season long just a few days...trying to use the quotes for effect. 150 inches or whatever amount you have is way more than the 12 or whatever nonsense we've had in the midwest this winter. i guess i will have to keep my fingers crossed and do my best snow dance to impress the snow gods so that this storm comes through.

9:02- it's good to know i can sleep in a little bit.
 
Here's the link for my reservation dates.. just change the dates you want and see if its as cheap as I got.

http://tinyurl.com/ylfvgw

btw, I just booked one night at Brian Head on my way from LA to SLC. I saw they have $15 Tuesdays (which is the day I'd stay be riding)! got a rate for $40 a night, and its only 6 hours from my house.. which breaks up the drive nicely from LA to SLC. 7 days in SLC shoudl still make me happy..only been to Brian Head once, back in 88 in the summer.. when we drove to the top of the mtn in a VW bus! Not an extreme place, but it looks like a real mellow fun vibe, that has a better base them Mammoth right now.

anyone know what Elk Meadows is like? tryign to find info on the net, but nothings coming up right. I heard that if there's pow, it can be pretty fun??
 
Snowave, I'm sorry but I replaced that URL for your reservation with a tinyurl.com equivalent. That humongous URL was really messing up the page layout.

FYI, Elk Meadows hasn't operated since 2002.
 
snowave- from what i can tell, you only get that rate if you stay for a week. the daily rate is 59.99 and i'll only be there 4 nights. oh well, thanks anyway.
 
Sorry bout the URL thingy..

as far as the weekly rates, I was able to get it for 5 nights for that price when I orignially was only looking at staying 5 days.. but 4 might not be enough to qualify as a week.
 
Brian Head = Snow Summit + 350 inches annual snowfall. But it does break up that drive.

75-80% in Utah so far still means the Cottonwood areas are in good shape. It may mean some limitation on steep and/or off-trail sking at Snowbasin or the Park City areas.

The Wasatch so far is often having the same pattern as in the Sierra: several small storms but no big dumps. The big difference was a 2-3 foot storm that tracked from the Northwest into Utah in late November.
 
I'm not expecting any ball droppign terrain at Brian Head.. the way the long range forecast looks, it'll likley be groomer city for at least the first coupel days of my trip, so it's startinng to look like a fun little place... and $15 lift tickets cant be beat!
 
Anyone have any opinions on The Canyons?

I've heard primarily negative things about the place, especialy for us single plankers.. as it can be traverse hell and really icy if there's no new snow..?
.... but my old man said he really enjoyed it there when he went several years back, albeit a powder day was likely part of that reason!

I also see you can get a $43 ticket at Costco for the place.. so just thinking that 7 days in SLC, maybe its worth a shot?

p.s. If anyone plans on being in the area Jan30 - Feb 7 and wants to hook up for a few runs/beers.. let me know.
 
snowave":l8ybucfd said:
Anyone have any opinions on The Canyons?

I've heard primarily negative things about the place, especialy for us single plankers.. as it can be traverse hell and really icy if there's no new snow..?
.... but my old man said he really enjoyed it there when he went several years back, albeit a powder day was likely part of that reason!
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Anyplace looks good on a powder day, right? :wink: That said, I don't perceive the traverses as being particularly bad or annoying. They have some fabulous looking aspen glades from what I've seen. I have yet to ski them, though, for The Canyons seems to have less snow so far than anywhere I've skied around here this winter.

snowave":l8ybucfd said:
p.s. If anyone plans on being in the area Jan30 - Feb 7 and wants to hook up for a few runs/beers.. let me know.
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I backchanneled you my number, didn't I? I can't remember.
 
i cant find a source for "80% of average snowpack"in utah. the noaa graphs show 60 % of average for this year (and 35% snowpack of the recent above average year 06) at the snowbird station
 
Snowfall was 80% of average mid-January, now below 75%. Snowpack is probably closer to 50% by now. Could be worse. Sierra is 50% of snowfall, 25% of snowpack.
 
hayduke":29z2e5eo said:
i cant find a source for "80% of average snowpack"in utah. the noaa graphs show 60 % of average for this year (and 35% snowpack of the recent above average year 06) at the snowbird station
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Maybe the quote of 80% was for total precipitation. Go to ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/data/snow/update/ws.txt
and you'll find that the snowpack for the Jordan River Basin is 60% as you've stated. However the average total (since Oct 1) precipitation is 82%. Sounds like they had a lot of rain or a lot of melting.

Good luck on your trip.
/s/ Cliff
 
snowave":2xrz1tqb said:
I'm not expecting any ball droppign terrain at Brian Head.. the way the long range forecast looks, it'll likley be groomer city for at least the first coupel days of my trip, so it's startinng to look like a fun little place... and $15 lift tickets cant be beat!
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Brian Head is bad. A tree rot is there, so it's a deceased place. Death all around.
 
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