 Poster: A snowHead
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Although we haven't been away on this years big group trip yet, one of the shakers 'n movers is already talking about a trip to Utah next season.
Obviously I've heard about the powder there, but I know nothing else about the place. Any tips on resorts to go for and that sort of thing would be good.
Cheers.
Marc
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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What level of skiers are you?
Are there any boarders in your group?
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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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Marc, we spent about 9 days last December. We had faboulous snow conditions for that time of year. It consistently has the best early season snow. We stayed in Park City for the first 7 days and a couple of
days at Solitude. Park City is definitely the place to stay if you want good restaurants and night life.
There are 3 fairly big resorts in the Park City area - Deer Valley, Park City, and The Canyons. Each one
is pretty big and will keep you busy for a few days each.
Having said that, the best skiing is usually in the Little Cottonwood Canyon - namely Snowbird and Alta-
these can best be accessed by staying in Salt Lake City and driving in each day or staying at Snowbird-
which can be expensive. They have had a ton of snow this year and conditions are delicious. There is
enough skiing there to keep you happy for a few weeks. Its a great trip and usually not that crowded.
Good Luck
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I stayed in Park City for a week in January 2001 and skied at PC, Deer Valley and The Canyons. These three are all connected by a free ski shuttle that doubles as the PC town bus, and this makes staying in PC a good option. DV has a reputation as a high-price hangout for zillionaires, and some of the on-mountain second homes are certainly impressive structures. - The lift pass is a bit more expensive than the other two hills also. (Tip: the ski shop in Salt Lake City airport sells discounted lift tix for PC and the Canyons, but not for DV). Some people say that DV only provides groomed cruisers, but that's not true. Certainly the grooming is immaculate, but there are some challenging steeper and mogulled slopes also, and the on-mountain food is better than at the other hills. Of the 3 local hills, this was my favourite.
PC is obviously handy if you stay in town. There's a lift that goes right up from the town centre. It has a good range of terrain with the most challenging at the top, off Jupiter peak.
The Canyons is the largest of the three areas, but I found it rather disappointing: despite its size it has less variety - everything is just a bit more spread out and sprawling. Also, through some freak of microclimate, it gets less snow than the other two areas: where the other two hills had good coverage (constantly replenished by three separate snowfalls during my week) The Canyons remained strangely bare in places. (Also had some of the most disgusting on-hill food I've ever had: I hope this has changed).
Take note of Fox's query about boarders. Deer Valley doesn't permit snowboarding (and neither does powderhound Mecca, Alta).
I found that PC was a convenient place to stay, since I could use the shuttle to get around. It's got a lot of good restaurants and a good microbrewery at the top of the main street. If you want to visit the other nearby resorts, then there are buses (not free) that take you from PC, or you might find it easier to rent a car. (In which case you'll probably find it cheaper to stay in Salt Lake City). I haven't skied at those hills (Snowbird, Alta, Solitude, Brighton - they're on my list of must-do's), but they have a mighty reputation. There's also a guided back-country tour you can take that takes you between these hills, called the Utah Interconnect: worth thinking about if your'e an off-piste aficionado. I'm sure that Fox can give you the skinny on these other areas. He went there with the ESA.
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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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Thanks all, good info as usual.
The group is usually a mixed bag of abilities, including kids. Say near beginners to high intermediate/low advanced. There may be one boarder (one of the kids is looking to give it a go this trip) but he'll ski if he has to.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We had 13 days in 9 different resorts last March staying in Salt Lake City, and it was fabulous, I'd reccommend it highly! We stayed in a £15pppn motel (Days Inn) which was clean, comfortable, hot water, not exactly 5* but I'd much rather spend the money on important stuff like lift pass and a top quality meal each night - there's loads of restaurants and tons of stuff in SLC to do in the evenings.
Of the resorts I liked Alta and Solitude best, Snowbird was great but when I was there there was no soft snow anywhere, just huge moguls, and some of the double blacks were just lethal, like nothing in Europe on-piste. Snowbasin was also really nice, and the only slightly disappointing place was Sundance, where it rained.
There's an idiotic amount of snow out there now as well, something like 90 inches fell in Alta in the first 10 days of 2005, it's just a shame I've run out of holidays this year otherwise I'd be off!
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marc gledhill, here's a thought for you...
ESA 2006
29th January - 2nd February
SNOWBIRD (that's in Utah  )
And... there MAY be a snowboard group there - we have a couple of possible boarding instructors, and if demand is there for a snowboarding group, then we'll definitely have one.
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| Quote: |
ESA 2006
29th January - 2nd February
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Oooooh! Once again, not the best time of the year for me, but with a bit of judicious timetable juggling I finally might manage to get there, next year.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Wear The Fox Hat, now that can't be a coincidence. The great snow god is telling me something 
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