Alright NS, figured you're the best resource for this kinda question. Me and the boys are lookin' to make our first trip out west this year, gonna be flying from Buffalo to Salt Lake (most likely). Need some advice on hotels, shuttles, which resorts on which day, etc. Not trying to get a rental car (can use taxis/shuttles), trying to save as much $$$ as possible as well. Resorts we definitely want to see are PC and Snowbird, we would go to Alta but we have a snowboarder coming along. Any tips are appreciated, looking to go sometime in late December/early January.
Oct 9 2016 5:50PM
Oct 9 2016 7:44PM
I came up with this:
http://www.visitsaltlake.com/skicity/ski-deals/
I googled "hotels in salt lake with stay and ski deals" and came up with that. There are definitely other deals out there, so just do some searching. Some hotels are close to a ski bus but I don't know which resorts it goes to. Just do some research and you will find some deals, particularly if you book early. If you stay in Park City or right by Snowbird it will be very expensive. You can party in Park City, but I don't know about Salt Lake. I would not want to party too much though, you are there to ski so take advantage of being able to hit mountains that will blow you away. Although I live out west now I grew up back east and if you have never been west the mountains will blow your mind. You can party at home, just have some beers and good food at the end of the day and get ready for the next day. I skied Park City many years ago, while I like it I would not travel to ski there. I ski Mammoth about 3 weekends a month and it has much better big mountain terrain than PC. I absolutely love Snowbird, great steeps and tons of snow, if I am going to go to Utah that is where I go. I you want to ski park go to Park City but I would take advantage of the big mountain terrain that Snowbird has, you can ski park anywhere.
Have fun, I'm pumped for you. Like I said if you have not been west before prepare to have your mind blown. You might also check out Solitude. I have not been there, but it is supposed to be a sick little mountain with great terrain. Lots of locals swear by it.
I will emphasize that you should take advantage of this trip to ski big terrain. Skiing park is awesome, but like I said you can do that anywhere. The last time I skied Snowbird and Alta it was blower pow the whole time. Don't count on that, but those mountains are very steep and get a ton of snow. Because I ski Mammoth I don't travel out of state much, Snowbird is one of the few mountains I will travel too.
You might also want to ask this question on the Teton Gravity Research forum. You should get some good info although some people will be idiots.
Good luck and have fun. If you get good snow, and even if you don't, those mountains will blow you away. Just do some research on stay and ski packages and the ski bus. You might be able to avoid a car.
Oct 10 2016 12:56AM
Oct 10 2016 1:10AM
Oct 10 2016 4:40PM
danbrownrent a car, it'd make things exponentially easier and more convenient. get fish tacos at lone star
This, the bus system 'works' but its annoying. If you rent a car then you have absolute freedom to rent the cheapest place possible. Buy lift tickets online or at a shop before you go up, it'll save you like $10 or more doing it that way. Id say give every resort in the cottonwoods a day before you go to PC. Park city obviously has the best park but by far is the most boring mountain in utah to just "ski" at.
Oct 10 2016 8:26PM
Oct 11 2016 10:41AM
Oct 11 2016 6:43PM
danbrownrent a car, it'd make things exponentially easier and more convenient. get fish tacos at lone star
eheathThis, the bus system 'works' but its annoying. If you rent a car then you have absolute freedom to rent the cheapest place possible. Buy lift tickets online or at a shop before you go up, it'll save you like $10 or more doing it that way. Id say give every resort in the cottonwoods a day before you go to PC. Park city obviously has the best park but by far is the most boring mountain in utah to just "ski" at.
hoodcrewBrighton!
True, will probably do the Air BNB now that I'm thinkin about it and just rent a car. What's the drive like from SLC to resorts? Like half hour?
Oct 12 2016 12:37AM
Oct 12 2016 2:55PM
Oct 12 2016 7:32PM
SonOfAnderAnother question, since we live on the East coast none of us own powder skis. We all ride park skis, is that gonna be an issue or not really?
I'm older than most of you guys and grew up as an east coast bump skier. When I first went out west I flailed in pow and crud. I eventually learned how to ski it on skinny skis and learned what the fuss is about. Trust me, when you ski deep pow skiing will never be the same.
I learned on skinny skis, so it can certainly be done. Modern park skis are WAAAY wider than the skis I learned on. What is a park ski underfoot, something like 85-90 mm? That would have been considered a huge fat ski back in the day. The skis I learned on were around 62 underfoot, like all skinny skis from back in the day, so I would have been in heaven with modern park skis, it's just that things have changed a whole lot.
If you get pow I would consider renting pow skis, but don't go TOO wide. You will be adjusting to a bigger footprint and as things get tracked out and bumped out, which they do pretty fast at a place like Snowbird, you might struggle with a footprint 25 mm wider than you are used to. I use a 4frnt EHP in a 186 for pow days, I'm a Mammoth weekender not a local anymore so take that into account, but at 116 underfoot I can handle them in windbuff and slush, not to mention crud and pow. When you get used to the wider footprint you will handle skis that big in relatively firm chutes. If it is really firm I take skis that are 99 underfoot, but my rule is if in doubt take the big skis out. In a normal year I ski my skinny skis around 20-25 days and my big skis 10-15 days. But in your case I would progress slowly. Some of the steep chutes you will ski will have slid at the top and be firm. You don't want a ski way bigger than you are used to for technical turns. I would rent something around 105 underfoot for your first experience with a big ski.
If there is no pow, hopefully this won't happen, and you are skiing windbuffed or bumpy steeps I think your park skis would be fine, although if they are center mounted or symmetrical that is not ideal.
In summary, you can definitely ski pow on modern park skis, much better than on the skinny skis of old, but if it goes off demoing bigger skis would be a good call. Make sure you get demos though, don't just go with the regular rental fleet.
Oct 12 2016 8:24PM
SonOfAnderAnother question, since we live on the East coast none of us own powder skis. We all ride park skis, is that gonna be an issue or not really?
As long as there isn't 6+ inches of fresh, you'll be good with 90-100 underfoot.
Rent a car and find a cheap Airbnb. I liked Alta and Snowbird better than PC, but if you're out there, it's worth skiing a day or two at Canyons/Park City.
Oct 13 2016 3:07PM
Oct 13 2016 3:12PM
Oct 14 2016 11:49AM
dan4060I'm older than most of you guys and grew up as an east coast bump skier. When I first went out west I flailed in pow and crud. I eventually learned how to ski it on skinny skis and learned what the fuss is about. Trust me, when you ski deep pow skiing will never be the same.I learned on skinny skis, so it can certainly be done. Modern park skis are WAAAY wider than the skis I learned on. What is a park ski underfoot, something like 85-90 mm? That would have been considered a huge fat ski back in the day. The skis I learned on were around 62 underfoot, like all skinny skis from back in the day, so I would have been in heaven with modern park skis, it's just that things have changed a whole lot.
If you get pow I would consider renting pow skis, but don't go TOO wide. You will be adjusting to a bigger footprint and as things get tracked out and bumped out, which they do pretty fast at a place like Snowbird, you might struggle with a footprint 25 mm wider than you are used to. I use a 4frnt EHP in a 186 for pow days, I'm a Mammoth weekender not a local anymore so take that into account, but at 116 underfoot I can handle them in windbuff and slush, not to mention crud and pow. When you get used to the wider footprint you will handle skis that big in relatively firm chutes. If it is really firm I take skis that are 99 underfoot, but my rule is if in doubt take the big skis out. In a normal year I ski my skinny skis around 20-25 days and my big skis 10-15 days. But in your case I would progress slowly. Some of the steep chutes you will ski will have slid at the top and be firm. You don't want a ski way bigger than you are used to for technical turns. I would rent something around 105 underfoot for your first experience with a big ski.
If there is no pow, hopefully this won't happen, and you are skiing windbuffed or bumpy steeps I think your park skis would be fine, although if they are center mounted or symmetrical that is not ideal.
In summary, you can definitely ski pow on modern park skis, much better than on the skinny skis of old, but if it goes off demoing bigger skis would be a good call. Make sure you get demos though, don't just go with the regular rental fleet.
+1
great post. youll be fine on whatever you have, but if you want and there is fresh snow, renting something 100+ will blow your mind. regardless youre going to have a ball, go git it