• For more information on how to avoid pop-up ads and still support SkiTalk click HERE.

Utah 2022-2023 Utah Ski Resorts/Conditions/Meetups

Status
Not open for further replies.

JohnL

Working and turning
Skier
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 14, 2015
Posts
1,408
Location
NOVA - Home of Amazon HQ 2.5
@Andy Mink @JohnL @Jim Kenney I’m also in Utah this week! First ski day is tomorrow with @MaryG at Deer Valley. Any of you interested in coming over to ski with us at DV? I’ll be here for the week, flying back on a Friday red eye. Hopefully we cross paths !

k
I got the same ski pass constraint as @Jim Kenney does - upgrade from season pass is Ikon base only.

Pulling in to town Wed PM. Soonest I can ski is maybe Friday PM.

Hope to see you at the Gathering. Unfortunately, DV not likely for me this year.
 

Viking9

Out on the slopes
Skier
Joined
Sep 9, 2016
Posts
788
Location
SO CAL
Yeah F you usually ,if I remember right from others pics, have a little holiday between those turns.
Must have been the Shoes !!
 

ss20

Enjoying this dance with gravity
Skier
Joined
Apr 29, 2021
Posts
393
Location
A minute from the Alta exit off the I-15!
@focker while this post doesn't totally apply to your situation, this was a quick write-up I did on people's intentions to come to AltaBird to ski "groomers"-

On paper, both resorts have a ton of terrain and few lifts servicing it. However, both mountains have some of the worst pinch-points/intersections I have ever experienced... a fact frequently forgotten due to the higher level of skiers at both resorts and their reputation for powder seekers- not on-trail enthusiasts. This has been another issue with Ikon- people who just want to rip groomers are coming to AltaBird and these resorts are probably the worst in the country for groomers. Any kind of lift upgrades would further worsen these pinch points.

This is not hyperbole. There have been numerous deaths and LifeFlights skiing groomers at both Alta and Snowbird, mostly collisions. This past season at AltaBird I had 134 days. I made roughly 6-8 calls to ski patrol for injured/downed people the whole season. Zero were off-piste. They were all groomed runs. 2 were on the same run, on the same day. A 14yo boy passed away after a collision with an out-of-control skier on the groomed Devil's Elbow in February.
 

Jim Kenney

Travel Correspondent
Team Gathermeister
Contributor
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 27, 2015
Posts
3,588
Location
VA
Any advice on picking between Alta vs Snowbird? I was leaning Alta but I've had a few people tell me we may want to go to Snowbird instead. We're looking to ski wide open bowls, steep groomers, and avoid moguls for the most part... This is on Thursday the 9th if that matters.
They are both great ski areas. I guess if you asked ten people this question, you'd get ten different answers. I know Snowbird much better than Alta and the other six Utah ski areas I've been to, so take these comments with a grain of salt. For wide open bowls there is nothing in Utah quite like Snowbird's Mineral Basin. Right now it has a lot of nice, moderately steep groomers to skier's left, right, and middle of the Mineral Basin chair lift. The Baldy chair is also in Mineral Basin. It has two or three nice groomers that are more on the mellow side.

I don't want to get into too much tedious detail, but there are a number of nice and fairly steep to quite steep groomers on the front side of Snowbird. From the summit you can combine various groomers to get 3000 vertical foot runs in a couple different directions. Going towards the Gad Valley side you can ski Regulator Johnson (long steep groomer) to mid-mountain and choose several groomed routes from there to the base. Ditto for Road to Provo over to Mark Malu.

On the Peruvian Gulch side you can take Chips Run and nearby permutations for 3k vert runs.

Big, well defined mogul runs are not exactly Snowbird's forte. Most of the bumps you'll encounter off the groomers are softer (thanks to frequent fresh snow) and more loosely defined because people ski them with more GS-like turns, than the tighter turns seen on firmer eastern bump runs.

Alta is magnificent and has something for everyone, albeit with a bit less overall vertical than Snowbird. While there is some very hairy stuff at Alta, overall I'd say there are more moderately pitched groomers at Alta, than Snowbird. I'd generally recommend it to less aggressive int-adv skiers when comparing the two ski areas.
 

bbinder

Making fresh tracks
Skier
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
2,224
Location
Massachusetts
Jim's advice and comments are worth following. I'll add a slight caveat. Unless you are very adventurous (i.e., willing to enter a gate that leads to who knows where), you may find yourself on limited terrain on either mountain. I would agree that Snowbird has a greater variety of long groomed trails compared to Alta, but you do have to know how to get to them. Maybe it just me, but whenever I go to Snowbird without a guide, I seem to end up on the same trails which seem to be connected by a number of cat rails that can feel, well, hazardous. When I have ventured unguided on either mountain, I seem to find myself getting 'cliffed-out' more frequently at Snowbird. I have been going to Alta on weekly trips for over twenty years and know the area well. When the snow is good, my crew feels that there is no reason to leave Alta. When the snow is not great my crew feels that we know where to find decent snow at Alta, so there is no reason to leave Alta. YMMV. Personally, I would like to learn Snowbird better (@Jim Kenney : I hope that we can connect this winter!). The main message is that you will have more fun at either mountain if you can find someone to show you around.
 

Jim Kenney

Travel Correspondent
Team Gathermeister
Contributor
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 27, 2015
Posts
3,588
Location
VA
Jim's advice and comments are worth following. I'll add a slight caveat. Unless you are very adventurous (i.e., willing to enter a gate that leads to who knows where), you may find yourself on limited terrain on either mountain. I would agree that Snowbird has a greater variety of long groomed trails compared to Alta, but you do have to know how to get to them. Maybe it just me, but whenever I go to Snowbird without a guide, I seem to end up on the same trails which seem to be connected by a number of cat rails that can feel, well, hazardous. When I have ventured unguided on either mountain, I seem to find myself getting 'cliffed-out' more frequently at Snowbird. I have been going to Alta on weekly trips for over twenty years and know the area well. When the snow is good, my crew feels that there is no reason to leave Alta. When the snow is not great my crew feels that we know where to find decent snow at Alta, so there is no reason to leave Alta. YMMV. Personally, I would like to learn Snowbird better (@Jim Kenney : I hope that we can connect this winter!). The main message is that you will have more fun at either mountain if you can find someone to show you around.
I've been skiing Snowbird a lot since 2015. It took me years to figure out how to ski the place like an old man. That is, survive, have fun, and live to ski another day. There just isn't a lot of mellow on the frontside and it will wear you out in a few hours if you don't pace yourself and mix up your routes with challenging and slightly less challenging.:P The mountain is especially demanding on deep powder days when there is competition for the goods and you can't resist the temptation to ski big lines/runs.

Of course, this is why hard-chargers are drawn to the place.
 

focker

Out on the slopes
Skier
Joined
Oct 4, 2017
Posts
1,177
They are both great ski areas. I guess if you asked ten people this question, you'd get ten different answers. I know Snowbird much better than Alta and the other six Utah ski areas I've been to, so take these comments with a grain of salt. For wide open bowls there is nothing in Utah quite like Snowbird's Mineral Basin. Right now it has a lot of nice, moderately steep groomers to skier's left, right, and middle of the Mineral Basin chair lift. The Baldy chair is also in Mineral Basin. It has two or three nice groomers that are more on the mellow side.

I don't want to get into too much tedious detail, but there are a number of nice and fairly steep to quite steep groomers on the front side of Snowbird. From the summit you can combine various groomers to get 3000 vertical foot runs in a couple different directions. Going towards the Gad Valley side you can ski Regulator Johnson (long steep groomer) to mid-mountain and choose several groomed routes from there to the base. Ditto for Road to Provo over to Mark Malu.

On the Peruvian Gulch side you can take Chips Run and nearby permutations for 3k vert runs.

Big, well defined mogul runs are not exactly Snowbird's forte. Most of the bumps you'll encounter off the groomers are softer (thanks to frequent fresh snow) and more loosely defined because people ski them with more GS-like turns, than the tighter turns seen on firmer eastern bump runs.

Alta is magnificent and has something for everyone, albeit with a bit less overall vertical than Snowbird. While there is some very hairy stuff at Alta, overall I'd say there are more moderately pitched groomers at Alta, than Snowbird. I'd generally recommend it to less aggressive int-adv skiers when comparing the two ski areas.

Thanks much for this info. Just what I was looking for.
 

SnowbirdDevotee

Putting on skis
Skier
Joined
May 8, 2017
Posts
87
Location
Poconos, Pa
Why pick between them, I'd recommend you try them both. Snowbird is the best for bowls, you have huge Little Cloud Bowl and Mineral Basin and the smaller Cirque bowl. But realize if you don't like moguls, well there are moguls everywhere except where the cats groomed a trail. As mentioned above, they can be mixed-up and confusing for the newcomer but that's half the fun. For a steep groomer at Snowbird make your way to Regulator Johnson from top of mtn, it doesn't get much better than that. Snowbird is my favorite!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Sponsor

Staff online

Top