Member Reviews: Alta

Altanaut

A Little Piece of Skiing Heaven

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Featured Review
By Altanaut

Pros: Powder: light, plentiful and frequent; Ski anything you see (it's one big terrain park!); Breathtaking scenery

Cons: Not for those who go to ski resorts for the nightlife. Or snowboarders. Occasional poor manners on powder mornings on the High Traverse.

My husband and I were intermediate Eastern skiers when we first visited Alta.  Not surprisingly, we never went back.  To ski in the East, that is.    Alta is not for everybody.  It's not a name-dropper resort like Aspen or Vail.  It does not have a big resort feel, nor the nightlife some would like after a couple of hours ripping the cruisers.  In fact, if you ski Alta the way a lot of folks here do, you have barely enough energy at the end of the day for a drink with friends and a nice dinner.    Alta has helped me grow from an intermediate skier to one who can handle pretty much any in-bounds conditions.  (I don't claim to look...
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skidaly

Powderland USA

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By skidaly

Pros: Powder, Terrain, small crowds

Cons: A lot of traverse, main powder runs track out fast.

The powder doesn't get better than Alta, the terrain is varied and challenging.  The only downside is that the main runs get tracked out quickly, especially on weekends.  You have to know your own secret stashes if you want lasting powder.  A lot of traversing required, other than that, you can't go wrong at Alta.
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mogulover

IT'S ALL ABOUT ALTA

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By mogulover

Pros: World's best variety of outstanding terrain from beginner to expert; Outstanding snow quality; Best powder skiing on the Planet; No Snowboarders!

Cons: Lift pass, as with most epic resorts, is way to damn high. $75 for an all day pass when about a decade ago it cost $25? Sad.

A pioneer resort in the global ski industry, Alta has set the standard for steep 'n deep since 1939.  The resort does not allow snowboarders so there's more powder for skiers, and superb mogul runs still exist with tight, skier's patterns - undefiled by snowboarding hack jobs.  It's all about Alta! 
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bosrocker51

amazing place to ski

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By bosrocker51

Pros: snow, cliffs and more snow

Cons: avalanches

Alta is a great place. It was brilliantly sunny when I was there, on 3/9/11. They had about 20" of fresh snow. I felt more like I was in Chile or Australia than someplace in the US.   Boarders are not allowed at Alta. I think only Deer Valley and Mad River Glan are like that. I don; t mind boarders even though one hit me at Heavenly Valley, but it is kind of nice for an old timer like me to ride up and not have a board half sideways into my skis.    It's cool to see the heli skiers lift off the pad upslope from the main lodge. It's a nice old school mellow vibe - they play nice classic rock in the lodge the day I was there. It reminded me of Alpine Meadows in...
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ExWanabe

Powder chaser's heaven

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By ExWanabe

Pros: Best powder, awesome advanced and expert terrain

Cons: Limited intermediate terrain, slow lifts

Alta get tonnes of snow every year so chances of a powder dump are very high.  It has great terrain and bowls to traverse to.  It had old fixed speed lifts (may have upgraded by now) so lifts lines could get long on a holiday weekend.  Not much easy and intermediate terrain, although more than their neighbor Snowbird.  Does not work too well for skiers of different levels, but is excellent for advanced and expert skiers.
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pspray

The King of Powder

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By pspray

Pros: Everything

Cons: nothing

Alta is a skiers mountain (sorry snowboarders...still not allowed yet). It is easy to sum up an Alta experience. Snow, snow....and lots of snow!! Alta averages over 500 inches of snow annually. This is not Sierra Cement or Colorado Krud, no siree folks, its legendary Wasatch Pow and it comes in massive dumps weekly. If you live to ski powder, then Alta is your destination. It's simply a powder skiers paradise. There is terrain for everyone but seldom do you see a beginner skier at Alta, Lift lines on the weekends can be long in the AM especially after a dump but the topography of Alta (there is a lot of traversing and hiking for the goods...earn your turns..right?) allows for these...
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CodeWarrior1241

Alta is my favorite Rockies resort

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By CodeWarrior1241

Pros: BIG ski area, convenient commute, wonderful snow

Cons: None I can think of!

Went to Alta for the fourth time 1/18/2011 - 1/23/2011. Alternating days of 15"/day snowfall and bluebird days. Had an awesome time on the mountain, snow was fluffy and light, no lift lines. Also not too cold, temps didn't get below 20F the whole time. Good selection of intermediate/advanced terrain, and a great ski school. Cheaper to get to than many other places, I typically stay in the SLC suburbs of Sandy or Midvale. There's a free ski bus that will pick you up from any of those suburb's hotels and drive you to the resorts and back, or rent a car when the weather is good. When it's snowing you NEED 4x4 or chains+good tires, the road to Alta is just 8 miles from mouth of canyon,...
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gamma

Alta, Utah the beating heart of american skiing

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By gamma

Pros: long, steep and challenging terrain. excellent snow quality and consistency. friendly atmosphere, LOW amounts of commercialism and cost.

Cons: I dont live there all the time!

After many years of waiting and wondering my first trip to alta blew me away.  It snow 17" of blower powder overnight, some of the lightest I have ever skiied.   Alta has many long sustained shots with excellent snow and features.  Most of the mountain is expert terrain.  Some of the advanced/black diamond favorites: Gunsight, Eddies High Nowhere, Alf's High Rustler, West Rustler, Devil's Castle, Supreme Bowl.    I will admit I have had some of the best days in my short life shredding the hell out of this mountain in ridiculous conditions!   The vert is great here if you know how to ski the mountain.   The groomed and...
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steepanddeep

yea baby

Posted
By steepanddeep

Pros: no snowbarders.....sike, the whole place rules

Cons: slow lifts, i like.

love it. gunsight, baldy, sooooo much terrain.  get there!
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ricochet112

Alta-One of the Last True SKI Areas

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By ricochet112

Pros: no snowboarding allowed, slow lifts, cheap lift tickets

Cons: connected to Snowbird now

The only bad thing I have to say is the lack of lift served steep terrain and even the hike to terrain is not as steep as Snowbird's. Other than that, Alta is a skiers paradise!
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