OFFICIAL 2023 National Gathering in Utah - February 25 - March 4, 2023

[Jersey Skier]

Assuming you’re talking about the Gathering, and going to primarily Alta and Snowbird, the LCC Ski Bus is the 994. A lot of people flock to the Park and Ride lots closer to LCC, consider staying somewhere closer to where the route originates, otherwise on a powder day you may be waiting for a while to only have a full bus pass you by (if you can even find a parking spot).

*There is an another route, 972, that goes to Solitude and Brighton. That route runs along Fort Union Blvd with several hotels that were often frequented by Skitalk members, however this year there isn’t a direct route from Ft Union Blvd to LCC, so it requires a transfer.

Assuming you are flying into SLC, the Trax light rail is an easy way to get to town, if you can find accommodations close to a line. There are a lot of hotels within walking distance of the Blue Line at Midvale/Ft Union. Getting to the Blue Line from the SLC Airport Green Line requires a downtown transfer.

To head to Alta or Snowbird, you can hop on the Blue Line and get off at the Historic Sandy Station, which is start of the 994 LCC Ski Bus.

If you go to Solitude/Brighton, the 972 starts at Midvale/Ft Union.

There aren’t many hotels close the start of the 994. My solution was to get an AirBnb close to the Historic Sandy Station. While I will have a vehicle, it’s nice to not have to drive up the canyons every day. I can walk to a bus stop, or drive to the park and ride. Staying near one of these two stations also gives you flexibility to get around town by rail or bus, not to mention there’s lots of restaurants and shopping nearby.

Thanks for the info.

 

[dbostedo]

This could be an option too, to get up the canyon:

Hey, skiers, soon you can catch a new ride to get up Utah’s Cottonwood canyons

A dearth of drivers forced a dwindling of ski bus service from the Utah Transit Authority this season. Visit Salt Lake is hoping to fill some of the gap left by the transit agency.

www.sltrib.com

Reservation service, $10 roundtrip, stops at various hotels and park and rides (don't know which yet). Limited capacity though... like a few hundred people a day.

 

[Wendy]

I can do that.

I'm in for a Snowbasin day.

 

[AlanR]

Alan and adam, for your consideration, i've volunteered to lead a sub-group of us for a sol-bright day on March 2. Ski both mtns on same day using connector trail. Your pass should be good for that.

Thanks, Jim! I'll definitely be up for that little adventure, assuming I can figure out some transportation. And maybe on Weds 3/1, we'll see if there are any other Alta excludees, in addition to @Ogg and myself. I'm hoping @mdf will be kind enough to throw me out of the car as they pass Snowbird. If I'm nice to him, he might even slow down a little.

 

[Jim Kenney]

I'm here to provide some stoke for Gathering Attendees. I arrived in UT a few days ago and skied Snowbird on Jan 21, 22, 23. The snowpack is everything you've heard - tremendous. I skied Snowbird 40 days last winter from Jan to May. The current conditions are better than anything I saw here last year! Also, while crowds were big over the weekend, lift lines were moderate. Parking was all gone by 9am each day. Today, Monday Jan 23 the crowds were gone, parking no issue and sun/snow superb. Absent a big dump of fresh snow, weekdays are super pleasant with modest crowds and easy logistics commuting up from the valley.
Here are a few photos:

moi, daughter, son

she bought that hat on a visit to Ukraine one month before the war, visiting another of my daughters working for USG there. Guess I need to get her an updated sticker for her skis

moi and daughter, note Pipeline Chute in right background

snowy cat track in mineral basin heading to powder paradise

Great Scott

again


beautiful mineral basin in the sunshine


cirque traverse, so much more snow coverage than last year, no rocks. can ski in either direction here for epic offpiste terrain!


Vince skiing elevator chute

Looking into elevator chute in the middle cirque area

I used above fat nordica's only once or twice last year. already got them out this year.

pretty view of salt lake valley, even busy regulator johnson trail in foreground has friendly packed powder conditions.


Snowbird tunnel to Mineral Basin. Anybody know who the old guy in poster is?


Both new tram cars near midpoint of tram line:


View of Mt Timpanogos from Mineral Basin, entrance to Ski Patrol Gully.

 

[Tony S]

Here are a few photos:

Whoa.

 

[TheArchitect]

I'm here to provide some stoke for Gathering Attendees. I arrived in UT a few days ago and skied Snowbird on Jan 21, 22, 23. The snowpack is everything you've heard - tremendous. I skied Snowbird 40 days last winter from Jan to May. The current conditions are better than anything I saw here last year! Also, while crowds were big over the weekend, lift lines were moderate. Parking was all gone by 9am each day. Today, Monday Jan 23 the crowds were gone, parking no issue and sun/snow superb. Absent a big dump of fresh snow, weekdays are super pleasant with modest crowds and easy logistics commuting up from the valley.
Here are a few photos:

moi, daughter, son
View attachment 190138
she bought that hat on a visit to Ukraine one month before the war, visiting another of my daughters working for USG there. Guess I need to get her an updated sticker for her skis
View attachment 190139
moi and daughter, note Pipeline Chute in right background
View attachment 190140
snowy cat track in mineral basin heading to powder paradise
View attachment 190141
Great Scott
View attachment 190142
again
View attachment 190148

beautiful mineral basin in the sunshine
View attachment 190143

cirque traverse, so much more snow coverage than last year, no rocks. can ski in either direction here for epic offpiste terrain!
View attachment 190149

Vince skiing elevator chute
View attachment 190144
Looking into elevator chute in the middle cirque area
View attachment 190145
I used above fat nordica's only once or twice last year. already got them out this year.

pretty view of salt lake valley, even busy regulator johnson trail in foreground has friendly packed powder conditions.
View attachment 190150

Snowbird tunnel to Mineral Basin. Anybody know who the old guy in poster is?
View attachment 190158

Both new tram cars near midpoint of tram line:
View attachment 190169

View of Mt Timpanogos from Mineral Basin, entrance to Ski Patrol Gully.
View attachment 190159

Thanks! Can't wait for the gathering!

 

[Jim Kenney]

Some more photos and intel for Gatherees: Today, 25 Jan 2023, is the kind of day we should pray for during the Gathering. The Snowbird forecast was for 2" of overnight snow. Instead there was 9" of snow. Not so many locals took the day off because it was a "sleeper storm". We basically want five nights like this during the Gathering

My son Vince is off this week and we've been skiing together every day. We didn't really pick-up on the sleeper storm ourselves and moseyed on up to the mtn to begin skiing at 11am. Several of the lower parking lots were already full, so word was out about the 9", but we found a free, ski in ski out parking spot on bypass road.


As we've been finding this week, parking was competitive, but lift lines are modest to small. In fact, to our surprise the tram house was nearly empty at 11am. AND it stayed that way. We rode the tram all day and didn't ride a chairlift until 3PM. We had walk-on or one car waits all day on the tram. Unbelievable for a decent powder day.

Representing Ski Talk on the new Snowbird Tram:


My son is putting me through boot camp for skiing Geezers. With the amazing conditions I'm skiing stuff I haven't skied in a few years and in one case never before. Mucho snow makes some of the hairy stuff considerably more manageable.

Our first run of the day was North Chute, one of the steepest lines in the resort.
Entrance to North Chute:

Looking up North Chute:


Next run was Hanging Bowl, it's a bit right of above photo, under the tram between North Chute and Great Scott. I had never skied Hanging Bowl before in about 150 days at Snowbird. It often has a 5' mandatory air. Today it was one foot, more my speed
Scoping out Hanging Bowl:


Vince in the powder of Hanging Bowl, run is much steeper than it looks in this pic:


Friendly stranger named Dan took the run with us. Vince showed him a good time!


Third run was Elevator Chute off the Cirque. The upper entrance had tons of good snow making this run tamer than usual.


Lesson for Gatherees staying in the valley, plan to hit the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon around 8am and you should be good on most weekdays, certainly for non-powder weekdays. But that would probably work for sleeper powder days too. The weekends at Snowbird are a bit more of a crapshoot depending on fresh snow or pretty sunshine. It could take an hour or two to get up/down the canyon. Full on, well forecasted big pow days are the craziest days, weekends and weekdays. That's when you think about switching to Deer Valley or Snowbasin if you're on full Ikon. BCC (Brighton and Solitude) doesn't have avi closures, but traffic can be just as heavy as LCC. So BCC isn't always a good option if the access road up LCC is closed for avi work or jammed with big crowds.

 

[Tony S]

Some more photos and intel for Gatherees: Today, 25 Jan 2023, is the kind of day we should pray for during the Gathering. The Snowbird forecast was for 2" of overnight snow. Instead there was 9" of snow. Not so many locals took the day off because it was a "sleeper storm". We basically want five nights like this during the Gathering

My son Vince is off this week and we've been skiing together every day. We didn't really pick-up on the sleeper storm ourselves and moseyed on up to the mtn to begin skiing at 11am. Several of the lower parking lots were already full, so word was out about the 9", but we found a free, ski in ski out parking spot on bypass road.
View attachment 190449

As we've been finding this week, parking was competitive, but lift lines are modest to small. In fact, to our surprise the tram house was nearly empty at 11am. AND it stayed that way. We rode the tram all day and didn't ride a chairlift until 3PM. We had walk-on or one car waits all day on the tram. Unbelievable for a decent powder day.

Representing Ski Talk on the new Snowbird Tram:
View attachment 190447

My son is putting me through boot camp for skiing Geezers. With the amazing conditions I'm skiing stuff I haven't skied in a few years and in one case never before. Mucho snow makes some of the hairy stuff considerably more manageable.

Our first run of the day was North Chute, one of the steepest lines in the resort.
Entrance to North Chute:
View attachment 190454
Looking up North Chute:
View attachment 190455

Next run was Hanging Bowl, it's a bit right of above photo, under the tram between North Chute and Great Scott. I had never skied Hanging Bowl before in about 150 days at Snowbird. It often has a 5' mandatory air. Today it was one foot, more my speed
Scoping out Hanging Bowl:
View attachment 190456

Vince in the powder of Hanging Bowl, run is much steeper than it looks in this pic:
View attachment 190457

Friendly stranger named Dan took the run with us. Vince showed him a good time!
View attachment 190458

Third run was Elevator Chute off the Cirque. The upper entrance had tons of good snow making this run tamer than usual.
View attachment 190459

Lesson for Gatherees staying in the valley, plan to hit the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon around 8am and you should be good on most weekdays, certainly for non-powder weekdays. But that would probably work for sleeper powder days too. The weekends at Snowbird are a bit more of a crapshoot depending on fresh snow or pretty sunshine. It could take an hour or two to get up/down the canyon. Full on, well forecasted big pow days are the craziest days, weekends and weekdays. That's when you think about switching to Deer Valley or Snowbasin if you're on full Ikon. BCC (Brighton and Solitude) doesn't have avi closures, but traffic can be just as heavy as LCC. So BCC isn't always a good option if the access road up LCC is closed for avi work or jammed with big crowds.

Great report. Envying your day.

Now second guessing my decision last summer to give up my GMD reservation for the sake of economy. I guess we'll just have to get into a really early routine in the mornings.

 

[Phelmut]

Looks amazing Jim. Hoping it is similar for the Gathering. Enjoy.

 

[TheArchitect]

Great report. Envying your day.

Now second guessing my decision last summer to give up my GMD reservation for the sake of economy. I guess we'll just have to get into a really early routine in the mornings.

And I’m really happy I gave up my Midvale reservation and booked the week at GMD.

 

[BC.]

And I’m really happy I gave up my Midvale reservation and booked the week at GMD.

Good for you.....it's only money. Staying up the canyon will make the trip a whole heck of a lot easier/better. Have a great trip!

 

[Andy Mink]

I'm here to provide some stoke for Gathering Attendees. I arrived in UT a few days ago and skied Snowbird on Jan 21, 22, 23. The snowpack is everything you've heard - tremendous. I skied Snowbird 40 days last winter from Jan to May. The current conditions are better than anything I saw here last year! Also, while crowds were big over the weekend, lift lines were moderate. Parking was all gone by 9am each day. Today, Monday Jan 23 the crowds were gone, parking no issue and sun/snow superb. Absent a big dump of fresh snow, weekdays are super pleasant with modest crowds and easy logistics commuting up from the valley.
Here are a few photos:

moi, daughter, son
View attachment 190138
she bought that hat on a visit to Ukraine one month before the war, visiting another of my daughters working for USG there. Guess I need to get her an updated sticker for her skis
View attachment 190139
moi and daughter, note Pipeline Chute in right background
View attachment 190140
snowy cat track in mineral basin heading to powder paradise
View attachment 190141
Great Scott
View attachment 190142
again
View attachment 190148

beautiful mineral basin in the sunshine
View attachment 190143

cirque traverse, so much more snow coverage than last year, no rocks. can ski in either direction here for epic offpiste terrain!
View attachment 190149

Vince skiing elevator chute
View attachment 190144
Looking into elevator chute in the middle cirque area
View attachment 190145
I used above fat nordica's only once or twice last year. already got them out this year.

pretty view of salt lake valley, even busy regulator johnson trail in foreground has friendly packed powder conditions.
View attachment 190150

Snowbird tunnel to Mineral Basin. Anybody know who the old guy in poster is?
View attachment 190158

Both new tram cars near midpoint of tram line:
View attachment 190169

View of Mt Timpanogos from Mineral Basin, entrance to Ski Patrol Gully.
View attachment 190159

Jeez, did all their groomers break down?

 

[locknload]

I'm here to provide some stoke for Gathering Attendees. I arrived in UT a few days ago and skied Snowbird on Jan 21, 22, 23. The snowpack is everything you've heard - tremendous. I skied Snowbird 40 days last winter from Jan to May. The current conditions are better than anything I saw here last year! Also, while crowds were big over the weekend, lift lines were moderate. Parking was all gone by 9am each day. Today, Monday Jan 23 the crowds were gone, parking no issue and sun/snow superb. Absent a big dump of fresh snow, weekdays are super pleasant with modest crowds and easy logistics commuting up from the valley.
Here are a few photos:

moi, daughter, son
View attachment 190138
she bought that hat on a visit to Ukraine one month before the war, visiting another of my daughters working for USG there. Guess I need to get her an updated sticker for her skis
View attachment 190139
moi and daughter, note Pipeline Chute in right background
View attachment 190140
snowy cat track in mineral basin heading to powder paradise
View attachment 190141
Great Scott
View attachment 190142
again
View attachment 190148

beautiful mineral basin in the sunshine
View attachment 190143

cirque traverse, so much more snow coverage than last year, no rocks. can ski in either direction here for epic offpiste terrain!
View attachment 190149

Vince skiing elevator chute
View attachment 190144
Looking into elevator chute in the middle cirque area
View attachment 190145
I used above fat nordica's only once or twice last year. already got them out this year.

pretty view of salt lake valley, even busy regulator johnson trail in foreground has friendly packed powder conditions.
View attachment 190150

Snowbird tunnel to Mineral Basin. Anybody know who the old guy in poster is?
View attachment 190158

Both new tram cars near midpoint of tram line:
View attachment 190169

View of Mt Timpanogos from Mineral Basin, entrance to Ski Patrol Gully.
View attachment 190159

Great pix. Just got back from DV and conditions were superb with NO crowds.

 

[locknload]

And I’m really happy I gave up my Midvale reservation and booked the week at GMD.

I really think this is the only way. The up and down commute down to the Valley has becomes so soul sucking.

 

[Jim Kenney]

I really think this is the only way. The up and down commute down to the Valley has becomes so soul sucking.

Actually, the purpose of my posts is to confirm that commuting from valley is very doable, on weekdays when there is less than 6-8 inches new snow.

 

[Andy Mink]

Actually, the purpose of my posts is to confirm that commuting from valley is very doable, on weekdays when there is less than 6-8 inches new snow.

Hopefully it won't snow during the gathering!

 

[locknload]

Actually, the purpose of my posts is to confirm that commuting from valley is very doable, on weekdays when there is less than 6-8 inches new snow.

I hear you..yes, on some days it is fine. MANY days it is simply not. You have to have a wide open day with zero time constraints and incredible patience or just go when it hasn't snowed in 10 days.

 

[AmyPJ]

FWIW it took my husband an hour to drive from the Maples lot at Snowbasin to Trapper's Loop last weekend after his lesson. He got off the hill at 4 and sat at a standstill for 25 minutes, then finally started creeping along. For those of you who don't know, the distance is 3 miles.

 

[TheArchitect]

Hopefully it won't snow during the gathering!

SHAME ON YOU!!!