Utah 2021-2022 Utah Ski Resorts/Conditions/Meetups

[Wasatchman]

Who is up for some snow in mid-June!!!

 

[dbostedo]

Who is up for some snow in mid-June!!!

Me!

 

[skibum4ever]

All of us. It's going to be 95° today!

 

[ss20]

June not too bad with 2" of snow recorded in the town of Alta. May was more than double- 33" of snow, normal is 15". Interestingly enough, April and May were both above average for liquid precipitation, and it's looking likely June will be as well.

 

[Daniel]

A spur of the moment decision was made this morning to brave the heavy winds and head up to Snowbird for a hike up to the Peruvian upper lift shack and the Bass Hole. A phone call to Snowbird confirmed the tram will not be accepting passengers until mid-July, hence the hike's termination at the upper end of Peruvian Gulch.

A view across LCC of Mt. Superior and Monte Cristo from just below the Peruvian chair's upper lift station.


The Bass Hole was closed due to flooding and the intensity of the wind was really ramping up so a decision was made to take a ride down on the Peruvian chairlift before the wind conditions caused it to shut down. The high-speed quad was running at very slow speed. A shot of the Alta artillery bunker from the chairlift:


Here's a video of the interior of said artillery bunker and the Howitzer Cannons located within:
Testing of Snowbird's new blue tram cabin operating in tandem with its old red tram cabin commenced around the time I was arriving at the upper lift station of the Peruvian chair. I took a few photos of the tram cabins passing each other from my seat while being swung and buffeted by the high winds:





Another photo of the new blue tram cabin suspended motionless from the cable not far above the Snowbird Center while being pounded by the strong winds:


A photo of the new blue tram cabin at rest in the Snowbird Center. The stairway to the rooftop balcony can be seen just behind the technician inside the cabin.

 

[Daniel]

From today's Salt Lake Tribune in regard to the proposed gondola for LCC: https://www.sltrib.com/news/2022/07/12/who-owns-land-proposed-little/

As a commenter on the story said:

A former Utah politician planning on benefitting from the public dole?

You don't say...

Or as another wrote:

The fix is in.

 

[tromano]

From today's Salt Lake Tribune in regard to the proposed gondola for LCC: https://www.sltrib.com/news/2022/07/12/who-owns-land-proposed-little/

As a commenter on the story said:

A former Utah politician planning on benefitting from the public dole?

You don't say...

Or as another wrote:

The fix is in.

Public financing of private sports enterprises and "tourist" sites is nothing new. See every Olympics and most (all?) new construction for stadiums...

People are too judgmental. They just learn to stop worrying and love the gondola...

 

[Wasatchman]

Public financing of private sports enterprises and "tourist" sites is nothing new. See every Olympics and most (all?) new construction for stadiums...

People are too judgmental. They just learn to stop worrying and love the gondola...

They are having a hard time. Most polls i have seen indicate that 80 percent of Utahns are firmly opposed to the gondola. As a result business interests are pouring a ton of money into tv commercials promoting the gondola. My guess is they thought the gondola was going to be much easier to push through and they didn't anticipate the level of resistance and outcry against it.

80 percent opposition is an overwhelming majority. This albatross should have already been announced as canceled.

 

[skifishbum]

^^^^i cant seem to find this poll data you speak of
care to share
my source from udot disagrees with those numbers

 

[ss20]

Neither a gondola or road widening project are getting done by the end of the decade- too many moving parts, too many municipalities involved, too many locals shouting in different directions. It's not an Option A vs Option B decision.... It's A vs B vs C and why weren't D and E studied, and why do we have to do anything at all? It'll be stuck in development hell for a long time.

 

[Wasatchman]

^^^^i cant seem to find this poll data you speak of
care to share
my source from udot disagrees with those numbers

Gondola? Buses? How do locals want to solve Little Cottonwood ski traffic woes? The answer may surprise you

Here’s what Utahns favor, according to a new poll. The Utah Department of Transportation is currently weighing two options: an 8-mile gondola that would take the public to Snowbird or Alta, or an enhanced bus system with a widened road.

www.deseret.com

80 percent favor another option or no change. Every reputable poll i have seen shows a significant majority do not want the gondola. I don't know who your source at UDOT is but it is abundantly clear from polling, community activists, etc that the gondola is very unpopular amongst Utahns. Now how about you go ask your source at UDOT where they get their information.

 

[skifishbum]

under 800 people sure seems like a really small sample of residents and its kinda old
got anything less dated?
funny thing about activists in the community

standing around talkin and postin your meta smjw stuffs easy
dont tend to see em walkin the walk as much

 

[Wasatchman]

under 800 people sure seems like a really small sample of residents and its kinda old
got anything less dated?
funny thing about activists in the community

standing around talkin and postin your meta smjw stuffs easy
dont tend to see em walkin the walk as much

800 random people is well within the bounds of enough to be statistically accurate. Most polls are that size. First you ask for the facts of where I get that information, now you try to argue such a poll is "flawed" because of 800 person sample size without understanding that is standard polling methodology and represents a statistically accurate sample size. Especially when the results are that overwhelming ly anti gondola. Meanwhile, all you put up is a so called "source" you know at UDOT? Please.

And bro, just look at the opinions and polling coming out of the Desert News regarding the gondola. The Desert News is hardly the paper that would be pro SJMW anything pal. I could show you more polls from the Tribune but there is no point.

 

[ss20]

I'm sure it's been asked before but.... who do y'all recommend for bootfitters in the SLC area? Lot of people on the Alta crew tell me to go to Park City. Is it worth it? For me its more of a viability thing as I'll be at AltaBird 6-7 days a week all winter so getting to PC to make micro adjustments in-season would be a hassle. The only SLC recommendation I got was Sports Den.

I'm looking strictly at performance, cost is a non-factor as this is my livelihood.

Looking for a long-term relationship with a shop around here, too. With 130-150 ski days a year I go through boots frequently. I'm not necessarily in the camp of "only person XXX at shop YYY fits my boots as he has for 20 years", but need a shop that's experienced.

If anyone wants to answer me in a PM so I can drop the name of who recommended me to the shop I'd be happy to do that, too!

 

[Jim Kenney]

@ss20 , You are smart to be looking into this well before ski season. I asked this question in the middle of last season and several Utah friends recommended "Curtis" at Sports Den (1350 Foothill Dr). I went looking for Curtis one weekday in early Feb 2022 and he wasn't available. I saw another young guy at that shop instead. He was very honest with me. He said because of supply shortages they didn't have much left to offer me in my size (BSL 310) by the month of Feb. He brought me one pair (can't remember the make) that was too roomy and he said I should try some other ski stores.

I had been thinking about the custom boots offered by Dale Boot at (E 3300 S) and suddenly their two week process to measure, build, and fit the boot didn't seem so inconvenient because at least it would result in a high quality and good fitting boot. Plus, they stand by their boots and you can return for any necessary free tweaking. They cost over a grand, but feature a custom shell, liner and foot bed. I put about 50 days on them in the second half of the season and I'm happy with them. I have funky feet with bunions, so comfort trumped performance for me. Dale Boots are definitely comfortable and are especially easy to put on and take off, even in cold temps. I choose intuition liners, but for another 100 bucks could have gotten zip fit liners for a little more performance. I'm a rather pedestrian recreational skier and the performance of the boot package I ended up with is fine for me, but might not meet the demands of a more skilled and aggressive skier.

Good luck.

 

[ss20]

Hiked up/down Alta yesterday. Lots of activity!

Something going on at the base of the Landes jumping hill. Lots of cut-down trees as you can see. Couldn't tell any immediate tree work in the area, could just be a staging area (although an odd place to do it). They're cutting the downed trees into boards, again, not sure for where/why.


Old lift footing and an old lift terminal location. For those who don't know Alta has had a TON of lifts in very different spots. Many built in the 40s and 50s that would last a few seasons before being taken out by avalanche. I did hear about a lift in this spot from that era but there weren't any details other than it existed. Always love these summer hikes... so much cool history you can find. I have a bolt from the barely-a-single chair that went from Watson's to the explosives shack at the top of Wildcat from another hike. That lift was destroyed by fire in the 50s.






New Sunnyside lift where it crosses the Snake Pit. Lots of activity with a crane at the top terminal which I did not hike to. In April I was told the goal is to have it ready to go by end of October. We'll see! I was surprised to see concrete not poured yet for the towers.


Some minor earthwork and maybe a few trees removed at the bottom of Sugarloaf. Should make the merge between Devil's Elbow and Roller Coaster a bit better, at least more visible... whatever they can do to make that intersection better!


Uh oh!!! And while this one was down, yes, the lift information signs run 24/7 365! The board at the top of Collins still displayed the same info from closing closing day!


Several Dopp trucks at the Collin midstation. Bullwheel was completely dropped. A bit more extensive than your typical summer maintenance. Heard a lot of F'bombs being dropped from the guys working inside... they would not be the first mechanics to swear at that lift Hopefully it can run more reliable this coming season, it still gives the mountain a ton of issues.


The big news...avi mitigation equipment being installed on Mt. Baldy for those who haven't heard! Certainly a long-time coming. Hopefully that terrain can now be open more than 20ish days a season.

Maintenance carrier with men working on Wildcat. Shiny rebuilt grips (or to be rebuilt grips) coming on/off Collins by personnel. Active helicopters in the Wildcat parking lot. Winter is coming!

 

[ZionPow]

I am working with 2 other resort employees installing a new ultrasonic anemometer on the center tower on Mount Ogden Peak. This will make our Mount Ogden weather station more reliable during rime and icing conditions during winter storms. We spent the day up there Wednesday and have one more day to complete. Note the electrician 40 feet up the center tower in some of the photos!

 

[AmyPJ]

I am working with 2 other resort employees installing a new ultrasonic anemometer on the center tower on Mount Ogden Peak. This will make our Mount Ogden weather station more reliable during rime and icing conditions during winter storms. We spent the day up there Wednesday and have one more day to complete. Note the electrician 40 feet up the center tower in some of the photos!
View attachment 174222 View attachment 174223 View attachment 174224 View attachment 174225 View attachment 174226

That's quite the view from up there--I've hiked up there one time from the Ogden side.

What's going on down on School Hill, do you know? It appears it's being widened and possibly combined with Harold's? If so, what a much-needed change to clear up that dangerous merge point. It forced my quick Green Pond ride yesterday to make a detour up the fire road

 

[ZionPow]

What's going on down on School Hill

That area is being cleared to divert traffic away from the bottom of School Hill/Snowshoe merge for guest safety. There is also snowmaking being installed on Bullwinkle to divert traffic away from the Sweet Revenge bottleneck just above the Middle Bowl Express. The construction at the bottom of Wildcat Bowl is a water well. Wea may be getting 2 new Gax-Ex exploders near the tram and Mt Allen shoulder to facilitate avy reduction. There is a lot going on this summer.

 

[4ster]

Note the electrician 40 feet up the center tower in some of the photos!

Nice office !