Goin to Utah in March. K+ for advice

Most of the resorts are around salt lake, so you could go to multiple places and experience the best park, pow, XC, etc.

Find Theron, and give him a hug. That's my only advice.

last February, i went out to Utah with a bunch of my friends and their families. we stayed in Park City and had an awesome time. for powder, the obvious choices (and what everyone is going to say) are Alta and Snowbird. they're about 40 minutes away from Park City, if i remember correctly. however, they don't have parks at all, and PC is where you go in that area for park, plain and simple. as far as nightlife, i don't really know. PC has a nice town, and there are a lot of people there. PC is definitely an ideal location

Do you know about Brian's Head in Utah? looked cheap and decent for powder

he'll bite me

can't say i have been there, i've only heard of it.

alright K+

My roomate lived in Salt Lake City two years ago...he lived with Tim Durtschi and Matt Pothier, was friends with LJ Strenio, John Ware and the rest of the Clownschool/4bi9 crew. He loved it but separated his shoulder at Park City and moved back before the season was over. He had only great things to say about it so thats my suggestion.

Solitude.

looks good but terrain park is dildos.

but that's not what this thread is about?

thats not a suggestion, thats just claiming your roommate lived with some pros.

he suggested PC

Are you guys retarded? I said that he lived in Salt Lake and only had good things to say. Obviously that means you should live in Salt Lake...and if you know anything about the area Park City is the best and closest mtn.

He said his roommate liked pc in a 5 sentence rant about how he lived with pros. Anything but a suggestion.

heard it was low altitude, didnt always have a lotta snow. but the park is to die for

go hit chads gap...I hear its pretty popular that time of year

Do NOT go to Brian Head. If you have an opportunity to go to UT, you def want to be in the PC/SLC area. I'll try to give a condensed overview here. Also, the search bar is your friend. There a ton of threads similar to this that have more info.

If your main focus is shredding pow, the answer is definitely Little Cottonwood Canyon. Snowbird and Alta have the best combination of sick terrain and tons of snow. It's $69 for an adult day pass at Alta and $74 for an adult Tram/Chairs pass at the Bird. You can also get lower pass prices if you look into multi day tickets and AltaBird passes are also available (you can find more info on their websites). Neither mountain has a park, but it really doesn't matter considering how much varying terrain and natural features are available and Wildcat lift at Alta (along with a number of other areas at both resorts) is an all natural terrain park that on a pow day is more fun than just about any man made park. Snowbird tends to be faster paced and caters more to tourists whereas Alta has a more local, core feel. There are certainly nice accommodations and good food if you stay in LCC, though there won't be a whole lot in the way of nightlife. Just do some research on the hotels/lodges and figure out what fits your style/budget. I think there may be some XC up there, but don't quote me on that and if there is it is certainly limited.

Big Cottonwood is sort of a little brother to LCC. It contains Brighton and Solitude which can both be very fun mountains, though they may fit your criteria the least. Passes at these mountains are the most affordable in the area with Brighton being $62 per day and Solitude $68 (again check their websites for multi day deals and info on SolBright passes). Brighton is more of a locals hill than Solitude and caters more to the younger crowd. There is a park there which at times can be fun, however it is nothing special. The jumps are pretty much never good, however there are some fun jibs, especially the lift tower rail line. Brighton can be really fun on a pow day, just don't venture anywhere without guidance from a local, it's easy to get cliffed out and into real trouble if you head into Rock Gardens or anywhere outside the resort boundary (this obviously applies to all the mountains, ropes and signs are serious business in UT and anywhere out west). Solitude is more family friendly and offers more lodging options along with a pseudo "resort village". Both mountains are smaller than their counterparts in LCC, however they can still be very fun on a pow days especially if you're a relative newbie to REAL mountains with REAL skiing in REAL powder. They don't receive quite as much snow as Alta or the Bird, however they still routinely have 500+ in. seasons and the slight lack of snow (which you really won't notice in the course of a one week trip) is made up for by smaller crowds and more fresh tracks on a pow day. Don't expect anything in the way of nightlife at either resort and there is only minimal XC access at Solitude.

Then there is Park City. PC blows BCC and LCC out of the water when it comes to food, accommodations, park skiing, and XC. Where it Park City lacks is cost and pow shredding. Everything costs more in Park City. From food, to lodging, to lift tickets, it is all going to cost more.

There are a TON of restaurants in downtown Park City as well as the surrounding areas and at the resorts base areas. There is something for everyone from affordable (though still tasty) pizza joints that cater to locals, to high class, over priced restaurants that are good enough for the Hollywood elite when they come to town for the Sundance Film Festival. Accommodations are the same way. Again, there are a ton of options from affordable (this term is all relative) hotels in nearby Kimball Junction and the outer parts of Park City, to places in the resort base area, to ski-in ski-out condos and houses for nightly rental that most of us could only dream of being able to afford. The nightlife also has variety featuring sports bar/grills to local pubs to some of the most well known bars and clubs that ski towns in the U.S. have to offer.

As far as the mountains, Deer Valley really doesn't have anything in the way of park. It tends to cater to the wealthy recreational skier, but the average skier can still have fun. Because many of the skiers there are recreational, there is plenty of fresh to be had on a pow day and a surprisingly large amount of terrain to explore and get fresh tracks on. DV is the most expensive of the 3 PC resorts with an adult day pass going for $90. Park City Mountain Resort (PCMR) probably caters to families the most out of the three Park City mountains and consistently has one of the best parks in the nation along with probably the best pipe. People often hate on the pow/all mountain skiing at PCMR, however it is better than it is given credit for. Sure, it can't come close to what BCC or LCC has to offer in terms of terrain (both quality and quantity) or snowfall, but if this if your first time out west and you have skied much in the way of steeps/drops before, you will still have a damn good time. Check out McConkey's, Jupiter, Thaynes, and Pioneer lifts on a pow day. PCMR truly has something for everyone and is located closest to the heart of the town of Park City along with a lift that goes right into the town. This years ticket prices haven't been listed yet, but last year I believe they were $81 or $82 per day and will likely be a few buck more this year. The Canyons has the most acreage of the PC resorts along with the most steep/challenging terrain along with a well rounded, fun park with good flow. The park is also usually less crowded and more laid back than PCMR. The Canyons has an open gate policy meaning you can venture out of bounds whenever you like at your own risk. Unless you have a beacon, shovel, probe, sufficient knowledge of the backcountry and avalanche awareness, and a partner with the same, do NOT go out of bounds. Despite being on the frontside of the mountain, avy control is not performed on these areas nor are they patrolled. Tons of idiots with no knowledge or gear go O.B. in these areas at The Canyons, that does not mean that you should. There is a ton of fun terrain in bounds at The Can and you will not be able to ski it all in a week. Pass prices have also not been listed here although they are comparable to PCMR.

This is honestly a pretty abbreviated overview of the PC/SLC ski scene, again do some more research of your own on the resorts websites and by searching for similar threads. There is a lot more that could be said about all of these areas, and despite living there the past 3 winters, I know I am not the most knowledgeable person on this subject and there are a lot of other NS'ers that can provide more specific knowledge/insight. Bottomline, do your research and find out what area fits your needs the best. If you are able, the best option is probably to spend a few days in each area (PC, BCC, LCC).

dont forget about the ogden mountains if you are looking for powder. way less crowded then anything in slc area. You can find pow all day and days after, with very little competition

lived in SLC for 18 years, heres my advice for your criteria.

i also agree with what JibJib said about the canyons and their open gate policy. if you are thinking about hitting that stash of fresh snow just on the other side of the gate, make sure you are well prepared to face the potential consequences. if you head outside the ropes the resort really has no real warrant to look after you. in the last couple years there have been many accidents and slides, even in bounds. the canyons in particular had a MASSIVE fracture and slide in bounds (the fracture was like 100 yards long and 10-15 feet deep, huge slide that ended up killing 1 and putting a couple others in the hospital if remember correctly, everyone would have died if it werent for some old ladies skiing nearby who saw them go down and they put their polls in the area and got help).

id say get a cheap spot to stay in slc and just see how the snow is. if it hasnt snowed in a while there wont be much pow inbounds so you would probably just want to ski park at pc or canyons. if it dumps forget the park and go to one of the cottonwood canyons resorts. all of these ski areas are within 30 minutes of slc.

Already lots of descriptions in here so I'll just say my vote for your criteria would be the canyons, wax your skis well because getting around the mountain involves lots of flat run-outs.

Brighton is a perfect resort for that, awesome pow, and a decent park.

no.

lol

and nightlife is an important factor??

yes.

The only resorts that come to mind that have a decent park and amazing pow skiing are brighton and The Canyons. But brighton has tickets under 75$.



You can ski with me...... Thats IF you can find me.

yeah ill look for the F+ucking lion.

go to Canyons, they have like an 8 kink rail that you can eat shit on and Nick can slay.

so many threads on this already.

jsut stay somewhere in cottonwood heights, ski epic powder up either canyon, if you want a fun park but nothing insanely amazing brightons got you, mad deals all around for lift tickets, lots of good food around I recommend at least one of your meals at lonestar taco place, mad good mexican foods and fish tacos. if you want to take a day to go to PC it's pretty dope, I also recommend taking a day and going up to snowbasin cuz it's pretty dope up there too.

such an asshole

I forgot to add that most ski shops in the salt lake valley near the wasatch front offer discount lift tickets. You can pick up PC tickets for like 60 bucks as opposed to 90 bucks.

Alta and the Bird are my favorite

fanks

I would hardly call Brighton's park decent. It's pretty terrible honestly. Jumps are retarded, and they don't build lips onto the rails.

i would recommend the canyons. best park aside from park city, but much much better pow skiing terrain. obviously not as good as snowbird or any of the cottonwood canyon resorts for pow, but if its a pow day in the cottonwood canyons its gonna be a pow day at the canyons too. its a really big resort so you'll be able to find good terrain and freshies. plus you won't have to fight for your powder as much as you would at snowbird. the canyons has some amazing tree skiing too. decent nightlife in the town of park city, although a bit expensive.

.

canyons is really good for pow skiing, great trees and terrain, they also have an amazing park.

the lift tickets may be a bit steep though

BUMP

Don't go to Brian Head, It is way down in Cedar City and the snow isn't nearly as good. If you want park and pow my suggestion is to split between Solitude and Brighton. Brighton for park, Solitude for pow and steeps. Also when it really dumps, Big Cottonwood Usually stays open but Little Cottonwood will most likely be closed all morning. If you get your day passes from Ski n See or the Lift House or somewhere in the valley it is cheaper than on hill by a bit. If you can spare the time, I'd spend a day at Alta, my home mountain, because I'm biased and think it's the best thing since sliced bread. If you do go to Alta for a day, hit me up with a pm, I can show you the goods.

hahahaha

didnt you say yourself you were mainly looking to ski powder.

my family did a similar trip a few years ago over our spring break. We stayed in Salt Lake a few days and Ogden a few days and we skied Brighton, Snowbird, Snowbasin, and Park City.

yes but when i go to the park i dont want rollers

It seems like their park crew is more into being creative with their jibs other than building and maintaining them. This past weekend, The landings to the rails were so washed out that it was hard to land and ride away from tricks. Grass and rocks were showing through and it was extremely bombed out.

the kid is 12

joey is 12 i am 15

what kind of night life do you want then? haha kids

There is a chuck-e-cheeses somewhere near logan, I believe.