 Poster: A snowHead
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Dates - 19/2/10 to 06/03/10
I'll probably do the full report in 3 parts split into the places we stayed.
Part 1 - Park City area.
Flights went as well as could be expected without any hitches and we had our luggage loaded into 'Boo' and on the road around 5.15pm  It was supposedly around 45 mins to our lodgings -The Trace. I had an idea of how to get there from studying Google Maps and from instructinos from Tracy. B+B Costs were $125 per night but had a 20% discount for our stay of 6 nights This seemed so much cheaper than staying in PC and we didnt mind the short drive of around 20 mins.
When we arrived we realised this wasnt your typical B+B 
and to be met by the other 'residents' made us really feel at home.
After travelling we were offered homemade bread and cookies along with tea or coffee. After which it was unpacking and hitting the sack. We were given the run of the house, but no keys ( they dont bother locking doors ) told theres a BBQ if you wish to use and help yourself to snacks/ drinks and feel free to use the log fire on the porch area if you wish.
After the first day we were the only guests as the other couple headed home to NY. As Tracy was out all day, or studying  we nver saw much of her so it was like having your own place.
Balcony views we great 
even when it snowed  .
The drive to the resorts was approx 20 mins, about right really to give the boots chance to warm up in the footwell, as at times it was a little chilly 
We skied the three resorts of Deer Valley, Park City and The Canyons over 6 days. Lift passes were £237 for a 6 day multi resort pass which we didnt think too bad. Free parking close by and easy to get in and out of.
Day one we skied Park City as we had to redemm our lift vouchers this seemed the easiest, being a Saturday the place wasnt too busy surprisingly, but there wasnt any new snow as yet. Park City is quite a large resort, plenty of lifts which are reasonably well linked, and the piste map identifies areas serviced by each lift. Best way up the mountain we found - take Eagle lift then King Kon lift - thus avoiding the main beginner areas and enabling you to get further back to the better stuff. From the main base area Cresent lift is probably the best route.
Our favourite areas were off Jupiter Lift and McConkey's plenty of trees and glades with nice stashes too. The Thaynes lift area had some nice runs through trees again, and in Thaynes Canyon you can actually see Crystals onslope chalet from last season 
We managed to find some great trees off the beaten path still with fresh snow,
SWMBO was loving it, so much
after a brief 'rest' we headed on
Mountain food was the usual American fayre, but the lodges were clean and tidy without quues and plenty of seating, a couple had log fires too. We didnt really eat lunch as the breakfasts were so good, all we did was stop for drink breaks and a quick deli sandwich ( $10 approx)
Main Street - Park City, is deffinately the main tourist hotspot and prices reflect this. On the first night we headed there for a look around and to do the tourist thing.we ate at Flannigans, only as we needed some food and the beer looked good. I tried the Irish Stew which was very tasty and SWMBO had Shephards Pie of all things. these and a Beer each came to around $45.
On another night we looked at Main St. Pasta & Noodle - they wanted $67 approx for a pizza and pasta and two drinks We declined and went elsewhere. If you have a vehicle and dont want to get drunk take a trip to Kimble Junction - first place off the interstate, or just out of the main are of Park City a prices then drop by around a third to half .
We skied park City a couple more days,one as we had to come back for our skis( again ) and then they had a good dump of snow.
Deer Valley - we headed there on our second day, this is American Loadsa Money in Your Face sort of place. The restrooms are qute plush and everywhere on the mountains are large houses. Unfortunately they are so close together in rows that it resembles an expensive housing estate 
It was only a short drive 10 mins, from Park City, so easy to get to.
This was actually a disaster day for us, it started snowing though not much, and we thought great day ahead. Having put our skis in fo service the night before as they were in need after Canada last year. We had our legs lifted over the price and SWMBO's needed the tail gluing so she hired so Fat K2 skis.
The snow at DV was icy with a light dusting on top, my skis had edges worse than when I took them in and my ski boots had more glide on their soles than my skis. This was from a place reccommended to us too - more of this later.
DV is made up of 5 seperate peaksand accessed from the base up to Silver Lake lodge. Not a place to eat as everyone else does and it does get busy.As we found out when someone requested an over done burger and the fire service was called in We only stopped for a toilet break as they were emptying the place
A quieter place to eat is Empire Canyon Lodge, but getting a table can still be a problem. Prices were similar to Park City, so at least they dont try and stiff the clientel. We found the best skiing on Bald Mountain and on Lady Morgan. The slopes were quieter than Park City, but they do limit the number of skiers and do not allow snowboarders. I cant imagine mainy of them wanting to go though as there seems a lot of flat spots and slow places ( but that could have been my skis ) We called it a day early and headed back to the ski shop, then back to the ranch. We never bothered with DV again.
Day three we thought we must try The Canyons. yuo have to park at the bottom and take an open gondola to the base/village area.This keeps the grockles out of the rich playground.From here its gondola ride up the mountain all of which takes time. From here The Canyons spreads out - as its name suggests its a series of canyons which means each one seperates peaks. The furthest, Dream Peak and below it is where the money is. Large onslope houses with plenty of surrounding land and which were easily ski in/out.
As we found out, following tracks through the trees just brought us to a couple of large houses then their driveways. We eventually had to hoof it over a road to ski some untracked stuff back to the piste. SWMBO vented her fustration of me following others tracks again  But in my defence the trees had been marked by ribbons, which usually means its a recognised track. In this case the home owners do it so they can find their way home
Still we did find some good slopes - Ninty Nine 90 peak has plenty of the goods  and the weather was good to us too, the way down SWMBO wasnt so sure of  but no choice really
There are some small snack shacks/grills at a couple of lift bases serving the usual BBQ and quick food with drinks. The main lodge Red Pine does get busy again, but the place we found to eat was Sun Lodge. Its very quiet and serves the usual lodge food. first time here we had the pulled pork served with fries,( sorry forgot proce, but it was reasonable). The ski area around here is great for trees,especially Tree Time and Condor Woods.
The Canyons also sports some natural halfpipes which in reality are streambeds frozen with snow in.
Once you are in theres not a lot of room for manoeuvre and not many getout options. I had it on good authority that the piste patrol arnt keen on them due to long skis and the speeds than can be gained in them.However the snowboarders love em.This from riding a lift with a liftie, and yes she's a boarder.
We skied here on our last day before we moved on, a chance meeting at the lift ticket office and a ride up in the gondola, put us in contct with Phil and Elaine. A couple from Canada originally from Notts/Leeds area. We said our goodbyes at the top of the gondola, wondered if we would see them again as it was snowing hard, and they both wore greyish coloured jackets. Half an hour later we bumped into them in some trees and had a great day skiiing with them.
Phil finding some thigh deep snow,
They both loved the sort of terrain we did and so a great day followed. We took them to Sun lodge for our first stop ( 2 pmish) and didnt come down until around 4.30ish. A beer in the bar afterwards completed a fab day.
After that we had drive to our next stopover and were sorry we were moving on. It would be difficult to say which was our favourite resort at this point as its affected y snow conditions, weather, people etc. I felt Park City seemed tame but good for a first couple of days.plenty of fast Blues and blacks to get ski legs back. The Canyons was varied but if not careful you tend to follow the crowds as that is how its laid out. Its more like Europe travelling from valley to valley but on a small scale. Deer Valley just didnt 'do it' for us - probably a bad experience. If we went back to the area we wouldnt spend as long here, 4 days maxim I would suspect.
Our last day at The Canyons was great because of the snow and a chance meeting.
TBC
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Sounds great, looking forward to further installments!
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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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off to Utah in 2 weeks - so looking forwards to the next 
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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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| Quote: |
The Canyons also sports some natural halfpipes which in reality are streambeds frozen with snow in. Once you are in theres not a lot of room for manoeuvre and not many getout options. I had it on good authority that the piste patrol arnt keen on them due to long skis and the speeds than can be gained in them.However the snowboarders love em.This from riding a lift with a liftie, and yes she's a boarder. |
To "maneuvre" within a half pipe is by ride up the side wall, which can be done with ski just as easily as with boards. I can't see why the ski patrol aren't "keen" on them...
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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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Part 2 Huntsville/Eden Area
We had a shortish drive of around an hour and a half to our next place of rest, The Snowberry Inn.
More of a traditional B+B built in a log cabin style. We didnt know what to expect really as their website doesnt show a lot  But the place seemed warm and welcoming, the bed comfortable and the water hot - especially in the outdoor tub Cost of four nights bed and breakfast and four days lift tickets for two, came in at $870 which didnt seem too bad.
we did detour enroute to visit The Shooting Star Saloon, in Huntsville. Utahs oldest surviving saloon as we wre feeling in need of refreshment, two burgers and two drinks cost us a whopping $13 Its the sort of rural saloon you imagine strangers walking in and it goes deathly quiet We did and it did But still worth the experience, having beers slid down the bar and chatting to the barmaid.
Breakfast was typical American fayre, including fresh fruit, yogurts, cereals, hot cooked options of eggs, hashbrowns bacon, sausage along with cinamon buns pastries etc. We found out on the firt morning that Sherrie who runs the place used to be a Home Economics teacher before her and her husband bought the Snowberry, which accounted for so many home made items What was more of a surprise was the 'appetisers' on your return - homemade soup and bread, homemade dips with crackers and then homemade cookies or cakes. Its virtually like doing the chalet thing, in Europe.
The Snowberry seemed ideally placed on the lake shore between Powder Mountain and Snowbasin, making both a short drive in the morning.
Powder Mountain took around 10 - 15 mins drive, is a smallish resort of around 2800 acres lift served terrain, they also have a cat skiing operation and total resort acreage is 7000 approx. Our first day there after the powder of the previous day saw us having fun in 9 " of fresh stuff with blue skies. The mountain doesnt seem to attract many people and even with a local schools field trip was very quiet. We managed to get first tracks on Clairs Run as a warm up before heading powder hunting.
It does get busy at weekends obviously, this is was the sunday morning 'Oldies out for a ski' again on Clairs Run
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We found some good fresh snow still in the Cobabe Canyon area, which is mainly left ungroomed - its more of an intermediates area but fun in the trees and a nice runout along the stream back to paradise lift. This lift tends to serve more difficult terrain much of which is left ungroomed as powder runs and certainly lived up to their name. This wa probably our second favourite part of the mountain. Our first by far was the section called Powder Country which is really slack country- as agood as back country but falling within resort boundaries and so avalanche controlled and patrolled. Its accessed from the top of Hidden Lake lift and runs all the way down to the resort access road. Theres also another part of it accesed from sundown lift and runs to the otherside of the road. Ski any route you like, the final section is along the road to the bus pickup point, where the shuttle bus will return you to the base area in about 10 minutes.
I just caught SWMBO trying to hide behind a tree, unfortunately her ski pole gave her away
They have some strange things atop of the mountain
and some in the trees, too.
I could liken Powder Mountain to Red Mountain in Canada, its a very rural resort rather than a large scale place, one small lodge and ticket office at the 'resort centre' , which includes a rental shop seemingly as an after thought.
This was taken standing next to our vehicle, a short walk to the left and through the cars parked there gave us access to the piste leading down to Timberline and Paradise lifts.
The resort centre isnt built at the base which means skiing back at the end of the day is easy
Theres plenty of terrain, limited groomed runs wth plenty of trails left a powder trails. They also do a cat run which is $12 a shot to access powder, as well as full blown cat skiing.We didnt bother as it had just snowed and there was plenty of fresh about.Had it not snowed we probably would have given it ago.
The following day we headed to Snowbasin - home of the 2002 Olympics Alpine events. Having read a little about the place we still werent sure what to expect butwere soon to find out. Snowbasin took around 20 minutes to get to from the Snowberry and easily found. Everyone has to drive there( or shuttle bus) as there isnt any lodgings onsite. Although it was a Saturday and supposedly busy we never noticed apart from the first gondola queue to get up the mountain. ( tip if skiing here at the weekend sunday is quieter as the religious types head to church) Still 3000 acres is quite good at hiding a lot of skiers.
At the top of the gondola you will find the Needles Lodge
which has the usual restrooms downstairs
and dining upstairs, although its cafeteria style as is the norm. in the states.
We found that the John Paul lodge was the quietest and the food excellent, especially the Italian Stew at only $6.00 a bowl
Those chandelliers are gold plated, along with all the fittings in the restrooms, stair rods bins etc that you see around the place. Even the water fountains are gold plated and the most photgraphed place of Snowbasin is the restrooms. In fact whlile we were there some magazine was doing a photo shoot on them It made Deer Valley look very shabby and tired in comparison. You didnt always notice the security either which was nice
The skiing was great thanks to the uncrowded pistes and good snow, from the Needles Lodge head across to Strawberry area to find long crusing blues, perfectly groomed and ideal for warming up.Main St. would probalby be your first run down here. we also had fun on Twist and Shout, Moonshine bowl and Lone Tree to take you out of the area.
At the top of the Strawberry gondola you see a great view of Hills Airforce Base, along with part of Ogden and The Salt lake in the background
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While we were there we had to take a look at the downhill courses, and so went up the tream to their starts
this was looking down on the John Paul lodge, and looking up at the start huts, men on the left and womens on the right.
They didnt seem to bad, but apparently by the time they reached to lodge the average skier speed was 88mph according to the tram trivia.
The tram also allowed you to access No Name Peak, via a short hikewhich had some great expert terrain including some more of those natural halfpipes Treesa plenty and all with reasonably fresh snow.
In comparison to Park City areas both Powder Mountain and Snowbasin were deserted, both very user friendly resorts but both very different. Well worth a visit if you are in Utah.
Eating out from the Snowberry meant you had to travel. We first went to Ogden( half an hour drive ) to see the Historic 25th St. we thought of Roosters Brew Pub, but as it was a Friday night the wait was an hour plus We tried across the road at Bistro 258 and after short wait we were seated. The food was good but not cheap, reasonable though. Around $55 for two entrees, one dessert and drinks.
Harvey and Bucks in Eden provided us with our 2nd nights food - reasonable fine dining,ten minutes away and great food. Closer to $70 for similar food but worth every penny.
Another trip to Ogden found us in the Union Grill, 25th St. for another great meal, cost around $50 for the usual two entrees and dessert with drinks. We probably spent more than we needed to on meals but having made the effort to go out to eat, you might as well enjoy it
You could eat out for less, or you could have opted for the meal in service at the Snowberry - some guests did and they really enjoyed it, but to us it seemed just like a take out.
After skiing Snowbasin on the Monday it was time to move on to the next stopover, our legs were feeling it a little now having skied hard and in trees and powder, but the hottub had eased muscles in the evenings.
Guests in the Snowberry tended to be American, and the ones we met were surprised to have a couple of Brits there. They mainly asked us how we found the place and how we had such great bacon in England
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Awesome pics, makes me want to go. Now.
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