xc62701
Well-Known Member
I'm guessing you didn't get caught up in the avalanche activity. My buddy is a local and he said they have been having tons of slides since there was no previous snow to stick to before this latest storm.
25-26 Ski and Snowboard Thread
- Thread starter icebiker
- Start date
I'm guessing you didn't get caught up in the avalanche activity. My buddy is a local and he said they have been having tons of slides since there was no previous snow to stick to before this latest storm.
Honestly having lived in Utah for years, this is like the least surprising thing to me ever...December and January are not the big snow months... 2 days of snow at Alta and its light years better Vermont... Conditions were awesome this week.. Not the best I've ever skied at Alta, but pretty good.
Nothing that I'm aware of....they have been setting off charges all week, even on Tuesday at Brighton where @Wrong Way Dan were wondering if they were trying to cause a rock slide
After the storm they have been doing the typical avy mitigation stuff... Was on the lift this morning when they set off the charges on Greeley.... Nothing slid...
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Pro-tip: If you buy your Elk pass online, you can pick it up at the automated kiosks at the bottom of the E and F lifts (blue smudge at 8 o’clock of the red circle). Red circle is best place to park. When you do this, you avoid having to take the shuttle to the base area (which is busier) and when you are done skiing you can take a run (#19, Lenape) down to the trail entrance to the parking lot. To get to the kiosks you can take that same entrance from the lot and ski down to the kiosks to pickup your pass before heading to the lifts. The mountain is very easy to navigate. You can get to almost any trail on the mountain from either of the lifts. Enjoy, you may never do Blue or Camelback again 😁
Truth. back in the days of hanging lift tickets, they used to allow a single lift ride up from there to go down to the main lodge. When they decided to end that complimentary run, and forced that lot to take the shuttle down to main lodge, that's the last time I was there. I gotta get back. Do they still have the warming hut at mid moutain?
I have only been going there a few times over the last 7 years. I remember the hanging tickets but don’t recall a warming hut?
xc62701
Well-Known Member
Thanks for all the insider info, but somehow I nailed most of this by luck. I parked in that lot, hit the automated kiosk, and was in line for the first chair at 8:12. The lift started spinning at 8:30, and I skied the whole mountain and was out by 1:30. The snow was amazing. I think I found one patch of ice. Ungroomed trails were a blast, and I got to ski the east side lift line as well. Super fun place, and I skied out next to my truck. The longest lift wait was maybe 10 minutes on a holiday weekend. Everyone I spoke to said don't let the secret out. I'll be going back for sure.
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I think my first trip to Elk was 1981...nice to see the lifts haven't changed at all lol. Although to be fair, I know it used to be a double/double...they made it the double/quad in the 90s....outside of that I think everything is exactly the same.
Def the best mountain in PA
Def the best mountain in PA
Wrapped up a week of skiing in Utah....5 days at Alta/Snowbird (we jumped back and forth) and 1 day at brighton.
Skied all day everyday.....family did great, at the mountain by 8:30 and never asked to leave before 4pm once. When we got there, it was probably as thin as I can remember seeing Alta in February....that said...snow was still pretty good chalk and it wasnt icy....TBH, I hit less rocks the first couple of days there then I did that powder monday in Vermont a few weeks ago. After the storms, it was excellent...Thursday morning we took the sugarloaf lift at alta....got to the gate at snowbird and I guess we beat everyone who had to come up via the tram....the whole baldy side of the mineral basin was untouched. That was pretty cool....as I told my son...you might only experience this a few times in your life skiing at a resort.
Skied all day everyday.....family did great, at the mountain by 8:30 and never asked to leave before 4pm once. When we got there, it was probably as thin as I can remember seeing Alta in February....that said...snow was still pretty good chalk and it wasnt icy....TBH, I hit less rocks the first couple of days there then I did that powder monday in Vermont a few weeks ago. After the storms, it was excellent...Thursday morning we took the sugarloaf lift at alta....got to the gate at snowbird and I guess we beat everyone who had to come up via the tram....the whole baldy side of the mineral basin was untouched. That was pretty cool....as I told my son...you might only experience this a few times in your life skiing at a resort.
Very nice!
It's so true, even a low snow year in Alta, still beats VT, and I love VT.
About 15 years ago we were at Steamboat when 30-36" fell overnight. My son was 10 and had a hard time moving forward. We stopped for lunch mid-mountain and my son told me he wanted to quit after lunch. A woman in earshot turned and told my son that they were just discussing how in over 50 years of skiing all over the world that this was the best day they've ever had then she told my son, "you're not allowed to quit today."
I have to say....If I had to pick only one place to ski the rest of my life...it would be Alta...snowbird being a very close second. Just the best most consistent snow I have ever skied on...the terrain is excellent...I have all the stuff I need to make my ass pucker from time to time (as someone who is afraid of heights...the high traverse always gets my attention lol) Plus there is some great easier stuff that my wife loves...I can't remember ever waiting on a lift line more than a few minutes....It was 20min from the place in sandy that we rented for $1000 for 7 nights...which was also only 20min from the airport. Salt lake might not be Zermatt in terms of culture, but im there to ski and it has everything I need within a few minutes....I wanted a mat to stand on to change into my boots in the parking lot....there is only like 17 costcos in salt lake lol. We left NJ in that 0 degrees, 40mph wind last saturday....got off the plane in SLC and walked to a local park in our T shirts as it was 60 degrees.
I love colorado, big sky, vermont, etc....but im going to Utah at least once every year...to me its the perfect all around ski trip.
What I find so funny...I have a MASSIVE mormon step family....my step mom has 12 kids, over 70 grandkids....many live in the SLC area....nobody skis...same with many of my old HS friends. I go visit them and they are like...ohhh, what have you been doing out here all week? Im like WTF do you think im doing? Skiing, all day every day.....how can you people wake up everyday and stare at those mountains and not want to ski.
hahaha, absolutely. I said the same thing to my son....im like dude....I have been skiing since I was 3...you don't get to experience this very often...maybe one day if I ever get to retire and chase snow around
this was out first run into the mineral basin from Alta....just that view of no tracks...I was like dam...when does this ever happen lol
hard to argue with this. I might say deer valley, but Alta gets way more snow. I love them both, feels like deer valley will hold powder a lot longer than Alta. .
It was 20min from the place in sandy that we rented for $1000 for 7 nights...which was also only 20min from the airport.
You got lucky!! I've stayed in Sandy and it has taken me almost 2 hours to get up that canyon. I'd say you were really lucky to get a powder day and not have to deal with traffic. You can't beat the lodging prices down in the valley. Every house I've rented down in cottonwood heights or Sandy has been awesome and so much cheaper than Vermont, well over 1/2 the cost for the same kind of place.
Salt lake might not be Zermatt in terms of culture, but im there to ski and it has everything I need within a few minutes
So true! It also has some great restaurants and I saw the hockey team last time I was out there. And in the spring, its 65* in the valley. I've skied and played golf many times on the same day in Utah. Just a great spot.
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xc62701
Well-Known Member
Went to Blue this morning and to our surprise, the crowds weren't that bad, and I didn't witness any fistfights! Snow was incredibly good, and the little bit of fluff that fell overnight was hero snow. We were all over the mountain, and we had a blast. Out by 1 and had a great nap.
@Norm
I know you went to Banff a few years ago. I'm heading there the first week of March with my son and another buddy. We are staying in Cranmore, any restaurant suggestions?
Any cool thing to do when we are done skiing for the day?
I've never been to the Canadian Rockies, I am pumped!
By the way, if anybody on here hasn't been, now is the time. we got a 3 bedroom place and rental car for $1200. You can't beat that! The prices are Crazy Eddie low!
I know you went to Banff a few years ago. I'm heading there the first week of March with my son and another buddy. We are staying in Cranmore, any restaurant suggestions?
Any cool thing to do when we are done skiing for the day?
I've never been to the Canadian Rockies, I am pumped!
By the way, if anybody on here hasn't been, now is the time. we got a 3 bedroom place and rental car for $1200. You can't beat that! The prices are Crazy Eddie low!
Well you should certainly take the side trip and see the actual Lake Louise after skiing at Lake Louise. I suppose that's a given. Bonus is that you'll likely see magpies there. To put that in GenX terms: Heckle & Jeckle birds (or close enough).
The actual downtown of Banff is pretty cool. I mean you've seen 1000 pictures of this. You should just go and walk back & forth on the main strip, with the 45,000 other tourists, of course. It's a "must do" but the overcrowding gets old for sure.
We mostly ate in the condo but we did have a great meal at Farm & Fire.
We got coffee & such a few afternoons at the Whitebark Cafe.
We stopped in Canmore just to hit the Safeway for food on the way in. Did not spend any time there other than that.
There is the Banff Gondola in town that brings you up somewhere. But for us, why would we pay for something we just did repeatedly for 4 days on the ski hill? If you have people who are not skiing this may be a good option for them.
Make sure you buy a park pass when you enter. You need a permit to park at any of the ski hills since they are all technically in the park. If you forget, you'll get a ticket but you can get out of it by going to town and then getting your permit. Seems this is a common routine there so it's no big deal either way. Just something to be aware of.
Other than that, enjoy the f*ck out of it. I really liked it there and look forward to going back. And as this is oil country, which makes this sort of the deep south of Canada, don't be surprised if you hear Lynyrd Skynyrd blaring on the mountain.
