Visiting from England next week

M

mikelondon

New member
My wife and I are flying in from England on Monday 26th and have 4 days staying in Alta followed by 6 in Park City. We'd probably be classified as strong intermediate skiers and would appreciate any advice on the best areas to ski. We ski a lot of groomers in Europe so would like to find as much powder as we can and from the look of the weather forecast we're hoping we're going to be lucky. We've skied Alta once before for a day and PArk City/ Deer Valley for a few days each. In particular is The Canyons worth visiting or are we better sticking to PCM/DV, and while we're in Alta what areas are good for powder that are not too extreme, and is Snowbird much different to Alta? Any advice gratefully received, along with any good eating suggestions in PC. We're very much looking forward to sharing your stunning mountains and hopefully great snow for a few days. Thanks
 
Welcome, Mike. From the looks of the forecast your timing couldn't be better.

As for easier powder stashes at Alta, head to Catherine's, stretches of Devil's Castle, and Ballroom right after the latter opens and before it gets tracked out. There are also nice stands of trees between Ballroom and the angle station on Collins that are of a moderate pitch that hold powder nicely.

Snowbird has much steeper terrain on average than Alta, but you can find some easier powder stashes there, too, if you nose around a bit. Skier's right of Regulator Johnson and parts of Little Cloud Bowl dropping off of Road to Provo come to mind.

The Canyons has had less snow than the other area resorts thus far this winter, but if the forecast for the next week or so holds true that may not matter much. What you'll find there, though, is more trail skiing than anything else.

However, if you really want low-angle powder turns, IMO you can't do better than Powder Mountain. 5,500 acres with no one there to track it up, and you're guaranteed to find fresh powder in low-angle places like Cobabe Canyon for days after a storm. From Park City, simply get on I-80 eastbound to I-84 westbound, then head north on Trapper's Loop Road past Snowbasin to Eden, then up the access road -- about a 45-minute drive if you have a rental car.

See the recent topics on Powder Mountain to see what I'm talking about.

Have a terrific visit!
 
I'm also heading out to Utah next week, 3 days at PC followed by 3 days in SLC. Admin, regarding your comment about the snow at the Canyons, even with the snow fall in the last two weeks is PCMR still a better choice than the Canyons?
 
Well, the recent snow has of course fallen on whatever base pre-existed it, and we had some awfully warm weather at lower elevations before and even after that snow. That said, though, I haven't been at The Canyons for a few weeks now.
 
mikelondon":1ldgh9ct said:
My wife and I are flying in from England ...We'd probably be classified as strong intermediate skiers and would appreciate any advice on the best areas to ski. ...is Snowbird much different to Alta? Any advice gratefully received, along with any good eating suggestions in PC....
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My wife and I prefer the Cottonwood Canyon areas of Alta, Brighton, & Solitude--but understand that we are serious Alta-holics. We highly recommend taking a lesson or two at the Alta ski school, which is one of the truly great American "good deals" that has combined high quality with low price. Snowbasin and Powder Mt also offer good skiing.

If Alta and other Cottonwood areas continue with their streak of good powder days, do yourselves a huge favor and rent powder skis (aka vacation savers). Utah Ski Golf used to offer good deals on them and may still. A couple calls may locate other helpful rental shops.

I like Snowbird, but it may not appeal as much to intermediate skiers as they may find themselves skiing too much along catwalks. We also do not particularly care for the Park City areas although we have experienced an occasional good day there.

For breakfast we highly recommend the Silver Fork Lodge, which is in Big Cottonwood Canyon located about 1/2 mile before Solitude. A short list of decent restaurants in the Midvale area are Market Street Grill, Hoppers, Bohemian Brewery & Grill in that order.

Enjoy!
Jeff
 
If Alta and other Cottonwood areas continue with their streak of good powder days, do yourselves a huge favor and rent powder skis (aka vacation savers).
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This is great advise... My eastern ice monsters didn't cut last week.
The day before it snowed I rented a pair of K2 Apache Outlaws.. They turned me into a powder god.. At least in my own mind :wink:
 
As I learned last season when the predicted 1-3 inches at Mammoth turned out to be 37:

Powder skis: Don't leave home without them :wink: .
 
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