This is a little premature, but I wanted to see if you guys have any better ideas for a trip I've planned. (I will be hitting you up in later, in mid-January, to get your inside take on best conditions as we'll be open to last minute changes.)
Note this turned out to be a pretty long post, so your patience is appreciated...
I've organized a trip to SLC with 14+ friends from 1/22-1/25. We do this every year - ski all day and catch Sundance screenings in the evening. The core of the group are advanced and do well in steep powder. In years past we've skied practically every resort accessible to SLC (except Nordic Mountain). We've done the interconnect, done the cat rides at Powder Mountain (even hired a guide there) and are probably amongst the handful of people who have taken advantage of the SolBright ticket. We can't go to Alta because several in the group board only...
Note I'm constrained on where (which general area) we can ski on what day for several reasons (people arriving/leaving, where we are watching movies, etc.).
On Friday we arrive early morning to SLC and go straight to either The Canyons or Park City (to take advantage of the arrive same day/ski free deal). I always waffle between which Park City resort to hit. At the Canyons I like the north facing runs off 9990 (we usually do the small hike to the peak) and the low angle trees to the far South (DreamScape, DreamCatcher lifts) since they're usually uncrowded and have a good chance of good snow. Other than that I haven't found much of interest. At Park City we avoid the lower mountain and head straight to Jupiter or McConkeys. I like the relatively long runs (and trees) of the Motherlode/Thaynes area and have had some of the best skiing at PC in Blueslip bowl from Pioneer. I've never had good enough conditions to hit the Pinecone ridge (is it worth it if available?) I've done partial hikes up Jupiter from the Jupiter side - is it worth it to hike up from the McConkey's side? Other than that, are there any secret spots at either resort I'm missing? Any strong preference for one over the other?
On Saturday we need to stick to the Cottonwood resorts, so it's either Solitude or Snowbird. I'm not a big fan of Brighton - I consider it to have too many flat spots and not as many powder opportunities (and it's always more crowded) than Solitude. I'm leaning towards Solitude over Snowbird, since on Saturdays Snowbird tends to be a zoo. At Solitude we always hit the Honeycomb traverse, but I always wonder if we drop in too early (and end up with the extra long runout). Is it worth it to continue on the traverse even when you can get untracked earlier? I also like to hit Corner Chute from Summit (sometimes, depending on avalanche conditions, exiting the backcountry gates at the top of Summit for a handful of usually untracked turns before cutting back to Solitude). We had a couple excellent runs last year in what I believe is the Black Forest area - any hints would be appreciated on how to access the best runs on the Eagle ridge side of Honeycomb (my guess is that I'm missing a lot of good spots that can be accessed either from the Summit traverse or from the gates along Eagle ridge itself). I also like the Cirque-Middle Slope runs from Powderhorn and have found fun stuff in the trees on skiers right of the top of Apex. The crazy thing of Solitude is that we've found relatively untracked stuff in the trees off the lower, intermediate lifts even late in the day, so that's what we end up lapping for the last few runs. Again, any hints for anything specific I'm missing at Solitude would be appreciated.
For Sunday we're headed to Ogden, so it's either Snowbasin or Powder Mountain. I've never caught Snowbasin on a real powder day, so I wouldn't miss that if it happened. At Snowbasin I always take people down the Men's Downhill (starting from the top of the tram). That run is just too much fun. I've traversed over to the No Name area several times (with good results) but I'm not sure where the best spots are in that area (my guess is I'm missing them). I like the area to the far skier's right of Strawberry, and have had a lot of fun in the secluded half pipes that are on the extreme South edge of the resort. I really like doing the hike from Strawberry around DeMoisy Peak to the Middle Bowl Cirque (this is the closest thing to the Snowbird Cirque runs that I've found, at least in Utah). I also find Lone Tree chute to be an exciting diversion. We tend to spend a lot of our time exploring the long runs of Strawberry. Again, any hints for things I'm obviously missing would be nice. Powder Mountain is iffy for us since we rent passenger cars (since SUV's are too expensive) and the final part of the drive is the worst I've encountered in Utah and I wouldn't want to attempt it unless the road was reasonably clear. When we've gone to Powder Mountain we've found amazing conditions many days after the last storm. The bus runs are my favorite, and we'll usually catch a couple cat rides. We spend most of the time on the Paradise lift, and with the help of the guide have found some really fun runs off both sides of the ridge. We've never ventured to the Cobabe Canyon area - is anything there worth it? We've also found some really good, virtually untracked snow off of the Timberline and Hidden Lake lifts - they're not too steep but it's just been crazy to hit untracked snow literally yards off a main thoroughfare run, again days after a storm. I'm also tempted to try out a Diamond Peaks helicopter trip - last year they offered a single heli run (3000') with lift ticket for $175 - seems like a good deal if conditions are right.
Finally, on Monday we'll likely head to Snowbird, assuming we hit Solitude on Saturday. At Snowbird I always take people to the Upper/Lower Cirque, since there are few places like it. I do take people down Great Scott, if it's not too dicey, to give people a good feeling of just how steep things can get in Utah. In Mineral Basin usually we end up having to traverse pretty far along Path to Paradise/Bookends to find the best snow (it's pretty rare for me to find good conditions down the face). Other than that I tend to be a little conservative, hitting runs such as Silver Fox and the runs off either side of Little Cloud. If I'm skiing in a smaller group I don't mind getting into some of the scary spots off of High Baldy or Thunder Bowl, but with the larger group I'll be guiding I feel more responsible and tend to avoid areas with unexpected cliff drops, etc.
Anyways, if you've read this far, then thanks. If you can give me any pointers (or give away any secrets) I'm much obliged.
Note this turned out to be a pretty long post, so your patience is appreciated...
I've organized a trip to SLC with 14+ friends from 1/22-1/25. We do this every year - ski all day and catch Sundance screenings in the evening. The core of the group are advanced and do well in steep powder. In years past we've skied practically every resort accessible to SLC (except Nordic Mountain). We've done the interconnect, done the cat rides at Powder Mountain (even hired a guide there) and are probably amongst the handful of people who have taken advantage of the SolBright ticket. We can't go to Alta because several in the group board only...
Note I'm constrained on where (which general area) we can ski on what day for several reasons (people arriving/leaving, where we are watching movies, etc.).
On Friday we arrive early morning to SLC and go straight to either The Canyons or Park City (to take advantage of the arrive same day/ski free deal). I always waffle between which Park City resort to hit. At the Canyons I like the north facing runs off 9990 (we usually do the small hike to the peak) and the low angle trees to the far South (DreamScape, DreamCatcher lifts) since they're usually uncrowded and have a good chance of good snow. Other than that I haven't found much of interest. At Park City we avoid the lower mountain and head straight to Jupiter or McConkeys. I like the relatively long runs (and trees) of the Motherlode/Thaynes area and have had some of the best skiing at PC in Blueslip bowl from Pioneer. I've never had good enough conditions to hit the Pinecone ridge (is it worth it if available?) I've done partial hikes up Jupiter from the Jupiter side - is it worth it to hike up from the McConkey's side? Other than that, are there any secret spots at either resort I'm missing? Any strong preference for one over the other?
On Saturday we need to stick to the Cottonwood resorts, so it's either Solitude or Snowbird. I'm not a big fan of Brighton - I consider it to have too many flat spots and not as many powder opportunities (and it's always more crowded) than Solitude. I'm leaning towards Solitude over Snowbird, since on Saturdays Snowbird tends to be a zoo. At Solitude we always hit the Honeycomb traverse, but I always wonder if we drop in too early (and end up with the extra long runout). Is it worth it to continue on the traverse even when you can get untracked earlier? I also like to hit Corner Chute from Summit (sometimes, depending on avalanche conditions, exiting the backcountry gates at the top of Summit for a handful of usually untracked turns before cutting back to Solitude). We had a couple excellent runs last year in what I believe is the Black Forest area - any hints would be appreciated on how to access the best runs on the Eagle ridge side of Honeycomb (my guess is that I'm missing a lot of good spots that can be accessed either from the Summit traverse or from the gates along Eagle ridge itself). I also like the Cirque-Middle Slope runs from Powderhorn and have found fun stuff in the trees on skiers right of the top of Apex. The crazy thing of Solitude is that we've found relatively untracked stuff in the trees off the lower, intermediate lifts even late in the day, so that's what we end up lapping for the last few runs. Again, any hints for anything specific I'm missing at Solitude would be appreciated.
For Sunday we're headed to Ogden, so it's either Snowbasin or Powder Mountain. I've never caught Snowbasin on a real powder day, so I wouldn't miss that if it happened. At Snowbasin I always take people down the Men's Downhill (starting from the top of the tram). That run is just too much fun. I've traversed over to the No Name area several times (with good results) but I'm not sure where the best spots are in that area (my guess is I'm missing them). I like the area to the far skier's right of Strawberry, and have had a lot of fun in the secluded half pipes that are on the extreme South edge of the resort. I really like doing the hike from Strawberry around DeMoisy Peak to the Middle Bowl Cirque (this is the closest thing to the Snowbird Cirque runs that I've found, at least in Utah). I also find Lone Tree chute to be an exciting diversion. We tend to spend a lot of our time exploring the long runs of Strawberry. Again, any hints for things I'm obviously missing would be nice. Powder Mountain is iffy for us since we rent passenger cars (since SUV's are too expensive) and the final part of the drive is the worst I've encountered in Utah and I wouldn't want to attempt it unless the road was reasonably clear. When we've gone to Powder Mountain we've found amazing conditions many days after the last storm. The bus runs are my favorite, and we'll usually catch a couple cat rides. We spend most of the time on the Paradise lift, and with the help of the guide have found some really fun runs off both sides of the ridge. We've never ventured to the Cobabe Canyon area - is anything there worth it? We've also found some really good, virtually untracked snow off of the Timberline and Hidden Lake lifts - they're not too steep but it's just been crazy to hit untracked snow literally yards off a main thoroughfare run, again days after a storm. I'm also tempted to try out a Diamond Peaks helicopter trip - last year they offered a single heli run (3000') with lift ticket for $175 - seems like a good deal if conditions are right.
Finally, on Monday we'll likely head to Snowbird, assuming we hit Solitude on Saturday. At Snowbird I always take people to the Upper/Lower Cirque, since there are few places like it. I do take people down Great Scott, if it's not too dicey, to give people a good feeling of just how steep things can get in Utah. In Mineral Basin usually we end up having to traverse pretty far along Path to Paradise/Bookends to find the best snow (it's pretty rare for me to find good conditions down the face). Other than that I tend to be a little conservative, hitting runs such as Silver Fox and the runs off either side of Little Cloud. If I'm skiing in a smaller group I don't mind getting into some of the scary spots off of High Baldy or Thunder Bowl, but with the larger group I'll be guiding I feel more responsible and tend to avoid areas with unexpected cliff drops, etc.
Anyways, if you've read this far, then thanks. If you can give me any pointers (or give away any secrets) I'm much obliged.
