Utah 2020-2021 Utah Resorts, Weather, Conditions and Stoke

[AlpsSkidad]

Heading to Alta with the family tomorrow for a few days. Looking forward to our first tracks of the season.

 

[jmills115]

It was a nice opening day at Alta.

 

[musicmatters]

Skied Park City today with my daughter. Snow was actually in decent shape for only a 20” base. Only 2 lifts open on the PC side. Not much of a line untill about 11:30am and then it was about 20-25mins for each lift line so we took off.

They were allowing neck gaiters as a suitable mask in the lift lines. Some people had N95 type masks but most people just had neck warmers.

unfortunately the weather forcast for Utah is not good for about 2 weeks. It will be difficult for them to get more terrain open to try to spread some people around the mountain more.

 

[blackke17]

got some afternoon snowfall at Alta opener . snow was much better all day over by Sugarloaf than Collins.


damn did it feel good to be back up there!!!

 

[AltaFan]

Does anyone know how the Wasatch Benefit on the Alta season pass works this year for resorts that require advance lift ticket purchase like Deer Valley and Brighton? Can I just show up with the Alta pass?

For example on Deer Valley's website it says:

Deer Valley Season, Ikon Pass and Ikon Base Passes, or advance purchase lift tickets are the only way to access the mountain this winter season.

Wanted to try this one more time. Anyone know the answer?

 

[AlpsSkidad]

Been a great couple days so far in Alta.

 

[tnerb]

Looks like a lot of mask and distancing violations in the Needles maze this morning at snowbasin...Not a good look. Anybody up there today? Is it as crowded as I assumed it would be?

(photo from Snowbasin's twitter: )

 

[P-Ute]

Skied Canyons Nov 25th, It felt sooooo gooood to back on skis!

Canyons had what amounts to two open runs, Kokopelli and Mellow Moose off Saddleback lift. you must ride up Red Pine Gondola to get to Saddleback lift. Lines were nonexistent 1st hour after opening. About 10:30 it was a 3-4 min wait and I could see the families rolling in so I left about 10:45. Last run seemed a bit like human pinball!

Snow coverage is good. Never saw or heard a rock. Snow was getting scrapped off pretty quickly and I did not stick around long enough to see if sun would soften the snow.
Lots of snowmaking on Chicane run! A Ski Patrolman said Tombstone lift may open this weekend. Looks like Canyons is also trying to open a run to Canyons Village/base area, so next week may not have to ride Red Pine Gondola back to base.

COVID Stuff: All employees were wearing masks 100% of the time, but one guy working parking lot did let his nose slip out, but a few minutes later I saw he had fixed it. There was an employee just outside of every lift loading area kindly asking people to fix masks, etc. Lift lines were spaced at least 6 ft apart laterally. Red Pine Gondola had all 6 windows open on both times I rode it. Skier compliance was good, only saw a couple of persons who took off mask/neck gaiter on lifts (all looked to be young adults). Most skiers seemed to leave mask/gaiter on while skiing, I found the more I fiddled with my mask the worse I made it. I did not go inside any resort buildings so cannot comment on that yet, but I hope to ski longer and 3-4 days next week and will report back then.

 

[AmyPJ]

Looks like a lot of mask and distancing violations in the Needles maze this morning at snowbasin...Not a good look. Anybody up there today? Is it as crowded as I assumed it would be? View attachment 116107

(photo from Snowbasin's twitter: )

Lovely.
Just perused the FB thread on that picture. More pics in the thread. I’m really angry at the attitudes of many and the lack of masks. Witnessed the same thing at Targhee today. A lot of beneath the nose BS, a lot of single layer, thin gaiters.
I’m losing confidence that places won’t get shut down, especially if this is how poorly the resorts are going to enforce things.

 

[Vcize]

Lovely.
Just perused the FB thread on that picture. More pics in the thread. I’m really angry at the attitudes of many and the lack of masks. Witnessed the same thing at Targhee today. A lot of beneath the nose BS, a lot of single layer, thin gaiters.
I’m losing confidence that places won’t get shut down, especially if this is how poorly the resorts are going to entice things.

Yeah I really want this to work but Basin just posted their first day recap video and at the 15 second mark you can literally see people breathing on each other in line with the cold air.

 

[4ster]

Looks like a lot of mask and distancing violations in the Needles maze this morning at snowbasin...Not a good look. Anybody up there today? Is it as crowded as I assumed it would be? View attachment 116107

(photo from Snowbasin's twitter: )

Yes, super crazy busy But it was a beautiful day to be outside.

They must have decided at the last minute that they could open Becker. I parked in the wildcat lot and stayed on Becker and middle bowl all day. A solid hour each for my first two laps between long lines, slow chairs that stopped frequently, probably because people never learn to ride a chairlift with their spoiled gondola decadence .

I never did go to the gondola so couldn’t tell you how busy that was. The lines got more tolerable by about 1230 but the runs stayed busy. I quit at 2:30 and there were no lines on Becker or middle bowl on my last two runs. Skied enough to make my legs tired.

Very disappointed with the lack of mask usage and physical distancing. It seemed like there were plenty of employees that it would have been simple to put someone at the back of the line to tell people to wear their masks at least till they were on the lift or go home but nothing like that. The mazes weren’t even set up in a way to allow distance. They did have lots of new signs about masks and distance but no one seems to pay attention And there was no enforcement. I wore a KN 95 every time in the lift line. I may have been the only one I saw with that type of mask although others had cloth masks & a few patient masks, most people just had regular buffs. I would say less than half the people were even attempting to have them over both their nose and mouth even when within inches of strangers. Again, these are my observations and things may have been different around the gondola and base area.
It was my first time wearing a mask skiing and I am one who never liked a buff even covering my mouth. It really wasn’t that difficult or very uncomfortable even with KN-95.

there were cars parked on the road when I left.

 

[tnerb]

Yes, super crazy busy But it was a beautiful day to be outside.
View attachment 116174
They must have decided at the last minute that they could open Becker. I parked in the wildcat lot and stayed on Becker and middle bowl all day. A solid hour each for my first two laps between long lines, slow chairs that stopped frequently, probably because people never learn to ride a chairlift with their spoiled gondola decadence .
View attachment 116176
I never did go to the gondola so couldn’t tell you how busy that was. The lines got more tolerable by about 1230 but the runs stayed busy. I quit at 2:30 and there were no lines on Becker or middle bowl on my last two runs. Skied enough to make my legs tired.

Very disappointed with the lack of mask usage and physical distancing. It seemed like there were plenty of employees that it would have been simple to put someone at the back of the line to tell people to wear their masks at least till they were on the left or go home but nothing like that. The mazes weren’t even set up in a way to allow distance. They did have lots of new signs about masks and distance but no one seems to pay attention And there was no enforcement. I wore a KN 95 every time in the lift line. I may have been the only one I saw with that type of mask although others had cloth masks & a few patient masks, most people just had regular buffs. I would say less than half the people were even attempting to have them over both their nose and mouth even when within inches of strangers. Again, these are my observations and things may have been different around the gondola and base area.
It was my first time wearing a mask skiing and I am one who never liked a buff even covering my mouth. It really wasn’t that difficult or very uncomfortable even with KN-95.
View attachment 116175
there were cars parked on the road when I left.

Thanks. I would've ridden exactly how you did, as I try to avoid Needles at all costs even when there's not a pandemic. I'm sad to hear about the lack of masks and distancing, and especially that mazes weren't configured to force distancing, but I'm not surprised at all. I was going to wait until at least Wildcat was open, but I may go up tomorrow afternoon for a bit.

 

[4ster]

Thanks. I would've ridden exactly how you did, as I try to avoid Needles at all costs even when there's not a pandemic. I'm sad to hear about the lack of masks and distancing, and especially that mazes weren't configured to force distancing, but I'm not surprised at all. I was going to wait until at least Wildcat was open, but I may go up tomorrow afternoon for a bit.

Yep, I think you will be fine in the afternoon, people aren’t in shape to ski more than a few hours this time of year.
I just hung in the singles line & Would only have other people to my right. I just lean to my left as far as I could. I would leave space between me and the person in front of me and a couple of times I asked the people behind me to give me more space. I have to be careful and watch myself with that kind of stuff because I am not as big as I feel . Once the lifty asked me if I would mind riding with an instructor and his student and I said yes I would mind. Rode by myself all day, got some funny looks but no one gave me any trouble.
if I go again this weekend, I will probably just go up later.

 

[AmyPJ]

I might try my KN95 tomorrow to see how that feels. I wore my Costco mask today, and it wasn't horrible, but it got stretched out to the point it was like a pair of cotton underwear that had gotten wet in the pool

No enforcement at Targhee, either. Well, I did get asked to pull my mask up when I skied to the line and had forgotten to, but there were plenty of others who had no mask, or had it below their nose. I think the cold air (it was about 12 at Targhee this morning) made me even more keenly aware of how much our breath floats around out there, even with a mask on.

 

[SSSdave]

Although some resorts have been to some extent slack at initially enforcing mask policies, that is key to having the public and authorities that make pandemic decisions look at we in the snow enthusiast culture as safe and smart enough to still operate while some other societal leisure activities are not. So it is up to we as a community to work as a determined group to appear like good considerate citizens that can be trusted even if that means banning those that resist.

edit: If resorts had from day 1 opening been more strict enforcing mask policies, that would predictably cause those with an inclination to not like being told what to do, to be resistive, growing an attitude. Thus now they can say "Hey look people, we gave you slack and it showed a significant number would not go along with the honor system." The solution is to cull the herd.

 

[AmyPJ]

Although some resorts have been to some extent slack at initially enforcing mask policies, that is key to having the public and authorities that make pandemic decisions look at we in the snow enthusiast culture as safe and smart enough to still operate while some other societal leisure activities are not. So it is up to we as a community to work as a determined group to appear like good considerate citizens that can be trusted even if that means banning those that resist.

I agree, but there are clearly a LOT of folks out there, particularly in the under 40 crowd, who think it's funny and don't give a crap and don't seem to see things that way.

 

[4ster]

Although some resorts have been to some extent slack at initially enforcing mask policies, that is key to having the public and authorities that make pandemic decisions look at we in the snow enthusiast culture as safe and smart enough to still operate while some other societal leisure activities are not. So it is up to we as a community to work as a determined group to appear like good considerate citizens that can be trusted even if that means banning those that resist.

I am with you all the way on that one Dave but like I said in my previous post I am not as big as I feel. I did ask a few people to please put their masks on this morning but I gave up and decided to mind my own business after the first bit.
OK, maybe I did not say please

 

[4ster]

I agree, but there are clearly a LOT of folks out there, particularly in the under 40 crowd, who think it's funny and don't give a crap and don't seem to see things that way.

How busy was Targhee?

 

[AmyPJ]

How busy was Targhee?

Not too bad. Upper mountain (per what we've been told by People We Trust) will leave some gouges because of low coverage. We avoided it today. The lower mountain did have some pebbles that did leave a few scratches. The plaza was much busier than usual because everyone is essentially hanging out outside now.

 

[justaute]

I might try my KN95 tomorrow to see how that feels. I wore my Costco mask today, and it wasn't horrible, but it got stretched out to the point it was like a pair of cotton underwear that had gotten wet in the pool

No enforcement at Targhee, either. Well, I did get asked to pull my mask up when I skied to the line and had forgotten to, but there were plenty of others who had no mask, or had it below their nose. I think the cold air (it was about 12 at Targhee this morning) made me even more keenly aware of how much our breath floats around out there, even with a mask on.

Maybe I'll see you up there. That said, I'm still not sure. Resorts in Austria are already rumored to be super-spreader locations. Wouldn't be surprised if Snowbasin and a few others suffer the same fate. Many Utahns are following their Captain Moroni-wanna-be leaders. haha