 Poster: A snowHead
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OK so I know we should stay down in SLC or Park City and drive up, but my colleague who is organising this doesn't want to do that - he wants to stay in Alta itself. Seems there are a few places to stay there - can anyone recommend anything?
I'm aware of the Lodge and the Goldminer's Daughter...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The Goldminers daughter is pretty good.On the slopes.No swimming pool.Good food.Standard(ish) rooms.No atmosphere after about 9.30pm.All the lodges seemed very expensive I thought.But there is something special about actually staying up the canyon rather than driving up for the day.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Goldminers would be my choice.
Trainer on the bar, decent food there, easy access to lifts, and the bus stops outside the door if you want to go into SLC.
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We stayed at the Goldminers Daughter 2 years ago on our only trip to Alta (so far).
It's undeniably epensive but is the most fantastic place to stay. In the village (which consists of only 4 or 5 hotels and a couple of sports shops), on the piste 20m from the lifts, nice, rustic rooms, excellent food and great staff - who are all keen skiers.
This is "skiing like it used to be" and is so far removed from the mega resort experience that every skier should try it. It's definitely on our list of places to go back to.
The risk of staying in SLC is that the mountain road to Alta can be closed after a storm - leaving all that powder to be skied only by those lucky enough to be the right side of the road block ie in the hotels of Alta!
We were there for February half term and experienced non-existent lift queues, quiet trails and powder, powder and more powder.
Go on - you know it makes sense!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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In my opinion staying in Alta is the closest thing that Old Money Americans have to an English Public School education. Cold, draughty and run-down accomodation, stupid expensive, and terrible food, especially at the Goldminer's Daughter... IMHO much better to stay in SLC as you've got a much wider choice of hotels and eating.
The other thing about staying in Alta is that is that much harder to get to the Big Cottonwood and Park city areas... whilst I adore Alta I wouldn't spend a whole trip there as there is so much variety within 30 minutes of SLC that it would be a shame to miss out...
Also SLC TV weather forerecasts, especially my personal favourite plastic-haired Roland on KUTV 2 News, and NOAA forecasts on the web are so accurate that you can book into a lodge for the night before a dump and enjoy the slopes when State Highway 210 is closed for avvie control and only a fewpeople are out...
Looking at your photos you certainly seem to know one end of a mountain from the other so you owe it to yourselves to get up to Powder Mountain, which staying in Alta would make it a one hour thirty trip each way. I just got back from SLC the other day, we spend a month there each year and if you haven't been before, check out the Lifthouse at the bottom of Big Cottonwood, best ski shop in the world.
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shannyla, i'm only there for 3 days, unfortunately, so i am limiting myself to alta and snowbird (although I like the look of a backcountry daytour linking 5 restorts - might be one for the saturday or sunday). totally hear what you say about staying in SLC and that's probably what I would do if I was organising but someone else has stepped up so I am allowing him to run with it.
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The Interconnect is pretty cool, web page about it is here:
http://www.highonadventure.com/Hoa98dec/Intrconn/intrconn.htm
If you are only going for three days then Alta and the Bird are the two biggies. Personally I'd stay in Snowbird as it's got a bit more life at night, tho still not much, and the lodging is cooler in a sixties Bond villain kind of way. Most of the lodges in Alta seem a bit too much like youth hostels to me but I'm sure some are better than that.
Anyhoo, enjoy the trip, the skiing in Little Cottonwood is a blast and the snow last week was superb.
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