The Canyons

>any decent expert terrain worth skiing? Any good and long steeps?
I only skied 1/2 day there(free!). And I recall that the snow,except for up high, was marginable, compared to what my friends were skiing on the "other side of the hill". Saying that i think 99 is an excellent lift and should suffice your needs, the snow will probably be decent. Somehow i believe the lift on the far right, looking up, was closed, but that looks pretty good. I don't like the fact that after a medium size shot I remember distincly remember having to ski all these beginner long runouts down to the next lift. I remember doing that alot. I like to ski the entire resort when i ski. Another thing is that ther report 3500 acres, that is total bull in my opinion, much of that acreage is in tight trees, (how much of that do you want to expose yourself to?) and there are alot of funny unskieable gullies and whatnot. But all in all, certaintly worth your time!!! It is just in the comparisons to other SLC skiing is when it falls short IMHO.

Butthole,
The Canyons imo is vastly underrated. Just look at the trail map and you'll know where to go. The snow is better on the northern exposures. 9990 and Condor are great lifts.

Just look at map, choose ahead, and go!!!!!!!!! You will be pleasantly surprised!

The more i ski the Canyons The more I like it. That Plac has so many hidden treasures. powder pockets in the Trees cliff bands, Steeps, and some excellent bump runs. Skied there most of the day today and had a blast. Keeping my fingers crossed for more snow tonight If so i'm back to the canyons in the Morning.

Some of the finest skiing in Utah is to be found at The Canyons. There is something for everyone! I love skiing 9990 and Dreamscape early in the day, and then move over to Super Condor in the early afternoon. ALso, if you like trees, The Pines, off the Saddleback lift is a great first run. I just hope that most people will continue to opt for DV and PCMR. This will save more freshies for those willing to travel 3 miles out of town.

Canyons isn't the Bird but its very pretty and you will sometimes find yourself the only person on the 9990 lift, which has nicely treed steeps underneath and to its right. (Oddly for Utah, this is even more the case with new snow, which likely accounts for Utah49's enthusiasm). Canyons' itinerary is exactly right. If it is at all crowded skip Redpine Lodge and grab lunch at Sunlodge on your way to Super Condor. Do not under any circumstances take the gondola down; Doc's run is always a mellow way to end the day.

My
Just ask Jamesdelux about Docs Run my enthuiasm isn't just due to skiing there in new snow. i have skied the Canyons in all kinds of conditions. My biggest b*tch with the canyons is thier lack of snowmaking. The season can start a lot later then then PCMR. my new b*tch with PCMR is that they are dumbing down the mountain.Runsthat were never groomed in the past are now groomed on a regular basis. What were some fun challanging black runs are now steep blues yet still marked as blacks. the few remaining ungroomed runs are now getting over used. Bumps are scraped by and hacked. within a few days after a strom it is hard to find a good line. Jupiter is still good but there are days when i have an hour or more it as fun to do laps on the Payday chair hitting nail driver and Widowmaker. or going up bonaza and doing a run or two on Cresent and Sliver Skis. It's a sad sad sad situation.

You have to go and ski them for youself, don't listen to others.

My personal opinion and others I ski with, is the Canyons suck.  They don't even come close to Snowbird and Alta.  The runs are small, the lifts are slow and old.  Its difficult to navigate the canyons.  Some of the best terrain is way in the outback and its a pain in the balls to get to.   I've been skiing Utah twice a year for about 15 years and often ski with a group that varies in size from 8-16 guys.  All of us agree that we don't like the Canyons.  I'm an East Coaster and I don't like them, but I meet other East Coast people who love them, maybe its the short runs/ east coast feel.  Who knows.

Some people hate Canyons.  I have been skiing it for 30 years, since it was called Park West.  Canyons does have a layout that isn't ideal in many cases.  Runs from the top of one lift will often not take you back to the bottom of that same lift and it will require you to ride two lifts to get back to the top.  That said there is some good terrain at Canyons.  Some long fast groomers, some good bowls and some very good tree runs.  It just takes a while to learn the mountain and it is pretty big.  I would definitely not compare it for long steep runs to Alta or Snowbird but it is still an excellent mountain.  I don't know where the comment about old, slow lifts comes from.  Almost all the lifts at Canyons are detachable quads or sixes.  There are a few fixed grip transport lifts but I have never had an issue with lift speed or capacity.  If you haven't been to canyons in a few years you have missed a LOT of upgrades to the mountain.

wow. 7 year old thread bump.

The resort has changed a lot in the last two years let alone the last seven years! This month it is getting flooded with culinary reviews.

Really - resurrecting a 7 yo thread to be a hater. Sends enough of a message all by itself. Get a life guy.