So I moved to Utah recently, first winter here after having skied the alps all my life (France, Switzerland, Austria, etc.) I heard good things about the skiing here so I was excited about winter. Now we're a couple months into the season and I'm here to report my findings.
Basically my comparison is based on my personal experience. In France when you have a good storm, you have no issue finding lift accessible fresh pow for days after the storm in most resorts. Terrain/lifts are also rarely closed, even during a storm, and if it is during a huge storm, it 90% of the time opens the next day. Making it super easy to time when to "get sick" and enjoy the goods. And I'm talking huge resorts, like you can ski fresh lines all day without going to the same area twice. This is true for 95% of the resorts in France, one of the exceptions I have encountered being La Clusaz where everyone from Annecy shreds and therefore it can get tracked pretty quickly on weekends. Pretty much everywhere else you won't have any lift lines during the season except for a few weeks when school is off and the whole country goes to the alps for their family vacation. (usually new year's week and then a couple weeks in February)
Now, in comparison, here in (northern) Utah I found that:
- More storms: of course I've been here for only half a season, but after chatting with friends who have been here for a few years they confirmed that on average, powder is a bit more consistent in Utah, slightly more regular storms than the french alps for example.
- Lighter snow: I found that it's less true in places like Snowbasin or PowMo (probably partially due to the lower elevation), but during a good storm Alta or the Bird will have consistently lower density snow compared to the Alps, really fun stuff to ride.
- Terrain: Alta or Snowbird have terrain that compares to the alps. In other places terrain is usually a bit mellow-er, but still fun (but so much trees, you gotta be really high to get above the tree line). Terrain will also be closed in Utah, often. I have yet to see a resort open all their terrain on a storm day. And it's not just one lift because of the wind either, like huge parts of the resorts like a third to half are closed during storms. Less terrain but more people, you get the picture.
- The traffic: It takes hours of waiting in your car to get to the resort. This is less true for Snowbasin or PowMo (even though there is still traffic on a powder day), but in the cottonwoods you either wait 2 hours at the gate which is closed early in the morning for avalanche mitigation during a storm, or if you show up after it opens, you wait for hours in traffic. Either way, if there is powder, you'll spend time in your car.
- The people: So on a storm day, conditions can be quite good if it refills throughout the day, but due to the number of people, it takes a particularly heavy storm day or a country club day to really get that "fresh turns all day" situation. The reality is that in most cases, a couple hours after opening, the whole mountain (or whatever terrain is open) will be tracked.
- Opening terrain: So like I said terrain will be closed on a storm day, but even for days after the storm, shit is still closed. I don't really get that part, I think part of the reason may be that resorts want to keep some areas fresh for days after a storm to keep attracting people. It may also have to do with less infrastructure or personnel to secure terrain compared to European resorts, not sure about the reasons, but the fact is that they are pretty slow to open terrain after a storm. And when word gets out that they will open terrain, oh boy. You have people waiting at the rope for hours before ski patrol opens it, so you have a huge line, and when they do open, people turn into animals. Straight up beasts. Push, shove, no rules. People will ski over you to get there first. And you'll get one run, so best make it count, because when they open that new terrain a couple days after the storm, everyone will be there because the rest of the place is already tracked. So after one run, that area will be tracked too. Never seen anything like it, to be honest it was a bit of a shock.
- Ropes: so in France if an area is not secured/closed, you're still free to go, it's just that if you get in trouble, the resort won't be responsible, it's 100% on you. In Utah, if it's roped off, you can't go, period. If you do you can get prosecuted and they're pretty serious about that stuff.
So all in all, my personal feeling is that Utah is pretty crowded. Not that surprising considering that Utah has like 13 resorts, and the population is over 3 million people. In comparison Savoie in France has a population of 430,000 people and 40+ resorts, many of which are also much larger than in Utah. I tour more and more to try and avoid the crowds and get fresh turns. I've heard from the natives that it wasn't always like that and it's getting out of hand because of assholes like me moving in. :)
Anyway, just sharing my perspective, and would love to hear what everyone's strategy is to resort skiing on a pow day in Utah, if you have any tips to avoid the crowds and get more fresh turns, any secrets, I'll take them!
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