One of our long time friends and customers has convinced Mr TC to take a trip to Utah.
We got our plane tickets on our own, but the guy who was going to line up lodging has not been able to come through.
We have found a place that is in Salt Lake City which we have reserved for our time frame, but before we're into the no refunds period, I'd like to know how convenient down town SLC is to the ski resorts in general.

At this point we have no particular resorts set and are willing/able to go exploring.
 

Of course, it depends on where you're going and your tolerance for driving.  Downtown is not bad - I've done it several times.  But the Sandy/Midvale area is definitely more convenient if you'll be spending the majority of time at BCC/LCC resorts.  If you're going to up to Snowbasin/PowMow, downtown will save you a few minutes of travel time.  If you're going up there more than once, it might be worthwhile to stay closer to there (ex. Ogden).  If you're going to the Park City areas, downtown vs. Midvale is probably about the same - Sandy would be a bit more.  And again, if you're headed to that area more than once, you'd probably want to stay in that area.

It definitely depends on which ski areas you intend to spend most of your time at. Just like ski 3PO said.

Downtown SLC is OK.  It adds about 20 or 30 minutes on the interstate compared to staying in Sandy, but it's better for going out.  UTah is not like Telluride, where you just walk around town and ride ski lifts all week, but the elevation in SLC is less than 5000 feet, which I really like.  If I could afford it, I'd stay at Alta, but if you can't do that, downtown is good. Rent a 4WD.

BK

TC,
When is your trip & for how long?  If it is a short trip, I would pick a resort & stay as close as possible.  If it is more than a few days, then SLC is a good choice as a base for sampling some of the different areas.
Have fun!
JF

If you are gonna get to Snowbasin, let me know.

Leave your skis at home, and demo BROs, DPS, Moment and Volkl skis from Wasatch Powder Skis
www.wasatchpowderskis.com

Be ready with the right skis in all conditions

I don't have the website but a simple search for "salt lake super pass" wiil bring up a list of properties that offers the LCC/BCC tickets a greatly reduced price if u stay at one of their properties for 4 days.

Canyons = buy tickets at Costco.
Solitude = buy "ride" tickets at the resort.
try www.skiutah.com
Canyon Sports also sells  (www.canyonsports.com)

Thanks all for the helpful info.  Ski3PO, knowing you as I do, that advice means something in particular.



It will be a 5 day ski trip with 9 others included(3 of which are wives who don't ski), and some influence of others on location, however......My personal posse will be the most core skiers(4 of us).  I have told them that I WILL ski Snowbasin at least one day!!
After all I have to pee at snowbasin, don't I 

One of the reasons we have scoped out this particular house to rent is location for those who don't ski, accommodation for up to 10 people, and price.  I was hoping that the description that it was not terribly inconvenient to skiing in any direction was correct.

I guess we'll take a chance and book the place. 

I don't think its a big deal. If you are in the valley you should have a car. Sandy vs. Downtown  you are talking about a few minutes of drive time either way.

Vital information:

http://www.alcbev.state.ut.us/Stores/locate_store.html
 

yep you must pee at snowbasin



The 3 S Snowbasin, Solitude and Snowbird the three places you should go.

Drink a lot, there is more than one WC.
JF

A few reasons to hit Snowbasin include
this...


and this

 When you pick up your car rentals at the SLC airport make sure to inspect the tires. The last 2 years we have had to reject a total of 5 AWD cars before finding one with acceptable remaining tread depth. Two years ago our group drove AWD rentals up LCC and had terrible traction (2'+ dump). At the parking lot I looked at the tires and there was very little tread left. Our  vehicle had less than 5,000 miles on it! It turns out there must be some money saving strategy in keeping new tires off the low milage rental fleet. Maybe they put them back on the car when they sell it. 

Ever since then we make sure the tires look good before leaving the rental kiosk. I hope you get to use the 4WD!

 hey TC thats ME!!

wish I was there to hike you up all the fun stuff at snowbird!

 I know that is you Josh!  If you were still out there, I'd be happy to let you kick my butt!

Sandy would be a decent place for the non skiers during the day. I satyed there last year down by the Interstate (Auto Mall). There is a mall there and a couple dozen restaurants to have lunch and dinner. Probably downtown has more to offer for the non skiers in the group, but Sandy is very developed and commercial. There's a 24 Hour fitness in Sandy too that some of the hotels offer free vouchers for.

I know this is not helpful, but SLC is not a place I'd want to hang out for a week in were I a non skier.

 Anyone want to give some input on top four picks to visit while out there?

	Resort	Ticket Description	Window Price	Our Price
		One Day	$66.00	$62.00
	______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
		One day	$58.00	$52.00
		Night	$32.00	$25.00
	______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
		One day	$81.00	$61.00
		2/7 day	$154.00	$109.00
		Jr/Sr	$48.00	$42.00
	______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
		One day	$86.00	$79.00
		January Only	$86.00	$70.00
		*Deer Valley Vouchers are not valid from Dec. 26th, 2009 through Jan. 1st, 2010
	______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
		One day	$85.00	$64.00
		2/7 day	$170.00	$118.00
	______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
		Currently Unavailable	Currently Unavailable	Currently  Unavailable
	______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
		Adult All Day	$65.00	$57.00
	______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
		Adult Tram	$72.00	$62.00
		Adult Chair only	$62.00	$54.00
		Adult 2/5 Tram	$144.00	$112.00
		Child 7-12 Tram	$39.00	$35.00
		Child 7-12 Chair only	$29.00	$25.00
	______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
		One day	$62.00	$55.00
		2/7 day	$124.00	$105.00
	______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
		Adult All Day	$47.00	$45.00
		Child All Day	$25.00	$21.00

You must go to Snowbird.  Take the tram, there is nothing else like it in the US.  Go through the tunnel at the top of the Peruvian lift. Ski Mineral Basin.  If you are an experienced skier, find your way to the top of Cirque, take the ridge down until it opens up wide, where you will feel comfortable skiing and head down.  Zip down the Black Forest. 

Snowbasin shouldn't be missed if your trip is more than a few days.  Have lunch at one of the restarants up top.  The people in that valley are very special, it is a locals mountain,  listen carefully and observe them as you ride up the gondolas with them! 

Solitude is an incredibly beautiful place and you will have a nice ride up another canyon, the BCC.  Don't miss Honeycomb Canyon which is another unique place to ski. 

Go to Alta, which has likely has the best snow in any resort in the world, and is a historic place.  The entire valley at the top of the LCC is incedibly beautiful. 

But, there is a price you may have to pay for all this.  If it snows, you might be so anxious at 7am to get to hill, but you might find traffic and avalanche control problems which will have you sitting at the bottom for a couple of hours, mybe in a SLC blizzard.  That might be the best day to make other plans and head over to one of the Park City resorts, which are also great places to ski.  The scenery is drab with sprawling developement in all views, but the resorts are huge with great skiing. 

 Snowbirddevotee.......I will definitely put that on my list
Did you see this Iphone app?
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/snowbird/id345974096?mt=8

Canyon Closure Alerts

Depending on how hard core you guys are, you can stay ahead of the road closures by getting to the report super early. The SLC sherrif's department has txt alerts they send out to your cell phone telling you hours in advance what time roads will be closed.  Sign up for the txt service (free) and hit the road before it closes. 

I agree with SD - Snowbasin, Snowbird, Alta and if your trip includes a Saturday, make that your Solitude day.

For mid season conditions, Snowbird and Snowbasin are a cut above the other UT resorts IMO.

If you want to try a variety then roll the diece from Alta, brighton, canyons, deer valley, PCMR, powmow and solitude. There are reasons to go to each.

My thoughts:
Alta is a popular pick for good reasons. Its mostly an intermediate resort. You need to hike or traverse to the expet level goods most of the time at Alta. If you have never been there before its sort of hard to get the most out of a visit with out local knowledge to take you off the beaten track and find the smaller lines and out of the way places that make Alta special. If you stick to the well traveled routes it is very mediocre.

Brighton: Never been there...I need to go check it out.  

Canyons: Go straight to 9990 for good steeps you can lap all day or dream scape for mellow pow and glades. I like the apsens glade skiing that the PC areas offer.

DV: Its a good palce to go if you want to relax on groomed runs for a day. Also has good gladed runs all over and nice steep ungroomed runs in empire and lady morgan areas. I like the apsens glade skiing that the PC areas offer.

PCMR: Never been there. I like the aspen glades at the PC areas. I am sure Jupiter Bowl has some good runs on it.

powmow: Good powder skiing in a low pressure environment. Alot of the ski area is lower angle shots. You need FAT skis like 120mm+ to get the most out of pow mow (IMO). Its sort of a cool place to go with a very laid back vibe.

solitude: Soli has great terrain. The problem is the lift lay out. Its really hard to get where you are going and run laps off a single lift. So many good runs involve some lame return lift and massive traverse back across the resort on groomers. It is also really easy to get cliffed out so be careful on double black runs.  They added a new powderhorn highspeed this year. I am curious if this helps things at all.

Edited by tromano - 12/22/09 at 8:44am

If you happen to end up at Solitude on a Saturday let me know.  I'd be happy to show the mountain to a few Michiganders (ex myself).

Choice of 4?

Snowbird - can't go wrong anywhere on the hill,

Snowbasin - Strawberry and John Paul lifts (decide whether you want Italian (top of John Paul) or German (top of Needles lift) - take an hour for lunch (and of course the obligatory pee)

The Canyons - Make your way over to Dreamscape, spend some time there then meander back during the day,

Solitude - Funky (and not the most intelligent) lift layout, but wonderful terrain

Back-ups -

DV - yes, yes it's gaperworld, but get over to the Imperial lift and the gapers are gone but decent (and often untracked) terrain remains
Alta - Great, but no boarders (great x 2!), but a Snowbird day is better IMO
Brighton - Boarderworld with all the negatives that includes - nice layout and terrain though
Powmow - great if flat is your idea of enjoyment
PC - I just don't like it.

Yes this is a must ... or at least if you get tired you can take a nap ... either way Snowbasin is a must.  I like the Canyons, as it has plenty of what one wants ... groomers, cruisers, steeps, untracked, etc. 

SLC is somewhat central to Sandy, Park City and Ogden.  Staying there will put you ~45 minutes from the skiing in each of these areas, although the inbound rush hour traffic can be terrible.

My personal favorite there is Powder Mtn.  Tons of snow, and untracked areas.  I would classify most of the area as medium pitched, although you can take the Snow Cat into powder country for about 8$-10$ bucks a pull.  It's not a nice mountain to drive up as the road is steep and gnarly - too, the lodge is old and tired, but we've had our best days ever skiing at Powder Mtn. 

Brighton is my kids favorite as these all are boarders ... it's okay for me there, but there are other resorts I'd rather be at.  The A-frame house restaurant at the bottom lifts is a favorite of ours.

Solitude  (a.k.a. 'Little Snowbird") is a good mountain if you like steep terrain and no crowds. 

For me, Snowbird is my least favorite place to ski there ... it's too crowded just not versatile enough for me - I'd choose Alta or DV in lieu of the 'Bird'.

 sorry anyone who ever disses snowbird just isnt that good of a skier you might be a good skier but you aint good enough for snowbird. snowbird is only crowded when you get funneled into the groomers in the middle of the valleys. If your know where you going this never actually happens.

To this day I have yet to be proven wrong on those who dont like snowbird just arent that good of a skier stand. anytime I hear I hated snowbird from someone in person its from someone who normally cant ski. 100 percent fact.

Not trying to dis anyone. Its would be me saying that Oakmont country club sucked cause I shot a 120, or that the 514d route sucked cause I couldnt on sight it, or that alp d heuz was a bad climb cause it was hard. dont dis places that are above your ability your level. 

 The two places that keep coming up in my quests are Snowbasin and Snowbird.   Solitude keeps popping up too.  
As I said, I'll be in a group so I'll have to play along with them a bit, but I have some influence that I will likely use to its potential.