Utah 2021-2022 Utah Ski Resorts/Conditions/Meetups

[Kyle]

Really interesting stuff @P-Ute--thanks for posting.

My dad used to talk about a ski hill east of Cedar City near the fishing pond at Wood's Ranch. However, I can't recall if there was a lift involved or if they just hiked up the hill. I do remember him pointing it out to me many years ago.

I also ran across this 2005 article from the Deseret News primarily listing failed developments:

Resorts that didn't quite make it

Not all of Utah's ski resorts grew up to be Deer Valleys, Snowbirds or Park Citys. Looking back at history, there were those resorts that never made it past the idea stage and then there were those that opened . . . and closed.

www.deseret.com

 

[AmyPJ]

Hiked up to the bottom of Middle Bowl chair today on the service roads. I’m not holding my breath that this lift will be ready at all this season.

 

[ss20]

Hiked up to the bottom of Middle Bowl chair today on the service roads. I’m not holding my breath that this lift will be ready at all this season.

View attachment 146121

Major yikes.... not going to get any easier to do work as the snow falls.

 

[AmyPJ]

Major yikes.... not going to get any easier to do work as the snow falls.

And the snow and rain is not letting up. The road up there was a mess as it was so wet and I can't imagine driving heavy equipment up there. I guess we'll find out!

 

[ss20]

And the snow and rain is not letting up. The road up there was a mess as it was so wet and I can't imagine driving heavy equipment up there. I guess we'll find out!

I have not skied Snowbasin but looking at the map that's a pretty major chair, yes?

 

[4ster]

Hiked up to the bottom of Middle Bowl chair today on the service roads. I’m not holding my breath that this lift will be ready at all this season.

View attachment 146121

Back in the time of the daily lift ticket when skiing and being open as soon as there was snow on the ground was a priority, I would’ve said “no worries it will get done”. After all this is the place that built two major gondolas, a high-speed quad and a tram in one season, then the worlds most sophisticated snowmaking system (at the time) and three high-end lodges while at the same time hosting an Olympics.
Nowadays there is no motivation to get things done, they already have our money.
I am sure if there are any delays it is the supply chain that will get the blame.
On the other hand building a lift is like an erector set, once things get rolling it can go pretty quick. I think those towers all went up in a day.

The snow level looks really high at least for the wet part of this storm.
BTW, on this day in 2012 it snowed about 3’ at Powder Mountain & Snowbasin…

 

[AmyPJ]

I have not skied Snowbasin but looking at the map that's a pretty major chair, yes?

It’s a high speed 6 pack replacing a fixed grip triple that goes from the middle of the mountain to Needles Lodge.

 

[Kyle]

I would say it has not been a major chair but the fact that it is high speed and can be used with the Wildcat six pack to get to the top of the middle part of the mountain will increase its importance going forward.

They have been saying the plan is for “an expected opening prior to Christmas in 2021” so I am not counting on it for opening day. I wonder if they will reallocate some snowmaking to Porky or Wildcat in order to have something other than the Needles Gondola for the first few weeks?

 

[AmyPJ]

I would say it has not been a major chair but the fact that it is high speed and can be used with the Wildcat six pack to get to the top of the middle part of the mountain will increase its importance going forward.

They have been saying the plan is for “an expected opening prior to Christmas in 2021” so I am not counting on it for opening day. I wonder if they will reallocate some snowmaking to Porky or Wildcat in order to have something other than the Needles Gondola for the first few weeks?

I've been wondering the same.

 

[bbinder]

I'd argue that. Holloman vs. Camp Pendleton would be an example. Minot, Scott, I could name several AFB I would not want to be stationed at and I certainly did not love living in Dayton. There are crappy bases for all the services. Either way, none of the bases we were sent to were places I would choose to live (which was part of the fun of it, I suppose.) Tried for Hill every single move, denied every single time. Fairchild would have been great, but was never an option.

My daughter and son in law are at Scott now. They seem to like it fine, but they do own a house that is off base. Certainly a ton better than Cannon or Minot (or as every AF person I know calls it: Whynot Minot)

 

[Jim Kenney]

Getting a kick out of the side discussion about military bases. As a retired DOD civilian I have access to the inns/hotels that are located on almost all military bases. While road tripping in recent years between East Coast and Rockies for ski trips I have stayed on base at Scott AFB near St. Louis, Wright-Patterson AFB near Dayton, Little Rock AFB, Navy Inn at Gulfport, MS (home of the SeaBees), Fort Lee, VA. My dad was a career Naval Officer and when I was a young person I stayed at Plattsburg AFB (now defunct) on a trip to Whiteface, and Fort Riley, KS on a trip to ski in Colorado.

Perhaps the funniest anecdote I have in recent years involving stays on military bases occurred in 2019. My wife and I had spent several months skiing in Utah and when driving back to the East Coast in the month of May we visited the Grand Canyon and then Carlsbad Caverns in NM. Upon leaving the caverns my wife plugged into the GPS our next destination of Lackland AFB near San Antonio. Then she went to sleep and I drove on a quiet two lane road across southern Texas for the next four hours. Eventually we see a sign saying Rio Grand River just ahead! We had accidently put Laughlin AFB in the GPS and were at the town of Del Rio near the Mexican border. Fortunately, it only cost us about 60-75 minutes of travel time and we continued driving to the inn at Lackland AFB that night. Gotta make sure you get the right directions in your GPS when traveling in some of the more remote sections of the USA!

Little Rock AFB, May 2021:

 

[bbinder]

Lackland is where bomb detection dogs are trained (at least the ones that end up at Massport are trained there)

 

[Jim Kenney]

Oops, meant to say I mistakenly went to Laughlin AFB, then Lackland AFB in my story above. Fixed it.

Now returning this thread to skiing...

 

[Phelmut]

I was really confused.

 

[Johnfmh]

Hiked up to the bottom of Middle Bowl chair today on the service roads. I’m not holding my breath that this lift will be ready at all this season.

View attachment 146121

Hope they can pull it together. I would be very reluctant to plan a Snowbasin trip without the Middle Bowl lift. I often ride the chair to avoid gondola lines.

 

[AmyPJ]

Hope they can pull it together. I would be very reluctant to plan a Snowbasin trip without the Middle Bowl lift. I often ride the chair to avoid gondola lines.

Same. The weather is not cooperating and I was surprised to see they aren't working on it 7 days per week. I'm actually bummed they're upgrading it, as I often rode it to avoid crowds and the lower half of the mountain. I love the off-piste terrain under that chair. It got skied off a lot faster last season and will only be worse now.

 

[tromano]

I remember thinking something similar a few years back when they were installing the wildcat chair that it was going slowly with the install. And that chair opened on time.

 

[Johnfmh]

I remember thinking something similar a few years back when they were installing the wildcat chair that it was going slowly with the install. And that chair opened on time.

I agree. I think we need to refrain from making negative predictions. Stay optimistic.

 

[Beach Bum]

Trying a new place this March with the family, taking them to Park City for 5 days, Canyons base area. I've skied PC before it joined up with canyons but rest of family hasn't.

Will we get bored with 5 days or with it being so big will we be fine? Terrain isn't ideal for me but for the young ones and my wife it's just fine.

 

[Johnfmh]

@AmyPJ and @tromano

RE Middle Bowl Lift Construction @ Snowbasin

I searched through Sun Valley’s Instagram feed and learned that it did not open the new Broadway Lift until 12 December last season.


Given that Snowbasin is owned by the same people, we may see a similar December opening of the Middle Bowl 6. I think the good news is that they Broadway running prior to the Christmas/New Years holiday. That lift is a bit strange. The seat separator bars are supposed to go between your legs rather than by your hips. I suppose this is a safety measure for small kids but no one seemed to get it when I was at the resort in early March of last season.