SLC Resort Recomendations for MLK Weekend

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Danzilla

New member
Hi everyone. New forum member crossing over from Harvey Road (NY Ski Blog). Headed out to SLC with some buddies for MLK weekend. We stay downtown so we have flexibility in what mountains to hit. I am thinking we should stick to the cottonwoods this trip. Any recomendations on where to go? Assuming Brighton/Alta have best snow since they are further up the canyons? Assuming the Park City resorts and PowMow/Snowbasin are out of the question? Really bummed as we had a great couple days at PowMow last year.

Thanks in advance for any feedback you can provide.

D
 
Welcome aboard, Dan.

You'll find TRs with photos from the past weekend at both Alta and Deer Valley in this forum section, so that should give you a pretty good idea of what's going on at present. It's a rough first part of the season here, but in all honesty things are better than where you're coming from, not to mention much better than they are in Colorado, California, etc.

I can't speak from personal observations, but rumor has it that PCMR's groomers are skiing well and those at Canyons not so much. There's far more natural snow in the Cottonwoods -- there's almost nothing down low on the Park City side right now. Alta has a much higher percentage of terrain open than Snowbird, and I haven't personally seen Solitude or Brighton lately.
 
Dan, there is nothing outside of groomers on the Wasatch Back. Perversely, those groomers are skiing better than usual due to low traffic. Haven't been up to Snowbasin yet but given that Jean Paul lift isn't even turning and how much snow the Strawberry are needs to cover its rocky base, I wouldn't count on anything but groomers there, either. One other silver-lining is the sunshine and warm-ish temperatures: just yesterday, we had a daytime BBQ on a balcony in PC, in short sleeves. As you may know, 40-degrees and sunny in Utah feels very different than in NY.
 
Evren":nq9azpwm said:
...just yesterday, we had a daytime BBQ on a balcony in PC, in short sleeves. As you may know, 40-degrees and sunny in Utah feels very different than in NY.
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At our house in Sandy, there is no specific BBQ season - outdoor grilling is year round, often in a t-shirt. Eating outside on the patio is a different story though.
 
Marc_C":2gl3294z said:
there is no specific BBQ season - outdoor grilling is year round, often in a t-shirt
Click to expand...

I agree, especially out west here... But then as a kid growing up back East I can recall some fine winter BBQ times including during at least one literal Blizzard. We were standing on top of ~2 1/2 feet of snow pack and stooping down to reach the top of the grill, but hey that was some fine steak.
 
EMSC":18klykcg said:
I agree, especially out west here... But then as a kid growing up back East I can recall some fine winter BBQ times...
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Same here. The calendar never stopped me from grilling when I lived in CT. Surprisingly though, it did for many people I knew there.
 
This just in from SLC/NOAA

ALTHOUGH THERE IS DISAGREEMENT AS FAR AS DETAILS GO...THE
GEM...GFS...AND EC ALL SUGGEST A PATTERN SHIFT EARLY NEXT WEEK.

Sure you are grasping at anything by now.

If it makes you feel better, Alyeska is closed today.
 
Skrad":175wwzxf said:
This just in from SLC/NOAA

ALTHOUGH THERE IS DISAGREEMENT AS FAR AS DETAILS GO...THE
GEM...GFS...AND EC ALL SUGGEST A PATTERN SHIFT EARLY NEXT WEEK.

Sure you are grasping at anything by now.
Click to expand...

Now, if only I could find an emoticon of a little smiley holding a straw...
 
Thanks for the info guys. Pretty much what we have been thinking all around.

Jason Wx over on Harvey Road suggested bailing on SLC for at least a couple days and driving up to Grand Targhee. We have a big group so it is a tough sell, but a few of us are contemplating it. They have close to 150" and are 100% open. Any thoughts on making the trek up there? They haven't had much new snow but seems like a much better base. Never been there either so it would be an adventure.

Thanks,
D
 
It's about a 5-hour drive each way through a whole lotta nothing. And that's "nothing" defined not by what you're used to, but "nothing" by it's western definition. The drive is merely boring if the weather's good but it's white knuckle or downright impassable if there is a storm. Remember that there are absolutely zero trees to stop blowing and drifting snow on those high plains.

Targhee is a nice relaxing place but almost exclusively intermediate.There are zero steeps, which is why they are at 100%. I haven't looked at their base depths lately but LCC is over 100" YTD, too.

Sent from my Android device using Tapatalk
 
Thanks Admin. I know that definition of nothing. I spent 2 years in grad school in Laramie and understand completely. The first time the road disappeared under me in a cloud of white was an experience. They used to joke that it snowed once a year and then the wind just blew it back and forth across I-80 all winter. Based on the size of our group and logistics I think we will stick to SLC. Good to know about GT tho. We have a few snowboarders (including me 1/2 time) so they will have to listen to everyone talk about how great Alta is.
 
Admin":2iodesfc said:
I haven't looked at their base depths lately but LCC is over 100" YTD, too.
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I just looked. Pfffftttt...same base depth as Alta on intermediate terrain. If it were me I sure wouldn't bother with the hassle.

Sent from my Android device using Tapatalk
 
Admin":dxtlu93d said:
It's about a 5-hour drive each way through a whole lotta nothing. And that's "nothing" defined not by what you're used to, but "nothing" by it's western definition. The drive is merely boring if the weather's good but it's white knuckle or downright impassable if there is a storm. Remember that there are absolutely zero trees to stop blowing and drifting snow on those high plains.

Targhee is a nice relaxing place but almost exclusively intermediate.There are zero steeps, which is why they are at 100%. I haven't looked at their base depths lately but LCC is over 100" YTD, too.

Sent from my Android device using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I don't think it's worth a ride out to Targhee unless it's going to snow there and not in SLC. I'd think coverage at Targhee isn't much different than Alta and as Admin said, the terrain at Targhee is pretty boring (you go there for good intermediate powder skiing with less competition). Love Targhee personally and make it part of most trips to Jackson but doesn't seem like the time is right to bail on SLC.
 
Agreed with admin and socal. Targhee without fresh snow wouldn't be worth a 5 hour drive, unless Alta was bare.
 
Assuming Brighton/Alta have best snow since they are further up the canyons?
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That is the correct strategy in low tide conditions.

Targhee has had 142 inches vs. 105 at Alta. I agree with the sentiment above; Targhee will have better coverage but even 73% of Alta will have more interesting terrain.

If you're in SLC a whole week with conditions as they are, I might lean toward spending part of the week at Targhee. But for a 3 or 4 day trip it's not worth the hassle IMHO.
 
Somehow its already been a few weeks since I got back from SLC. Time seems to zoom by in the "real" world. Just wanted to thank everyone for the advice. I wish we had been out there one week later - seems like it would have made all the difference. We had a good half day on groomers at PMCR. Alta was the pick of the trip. We hit it two days. Snowbird and Solitude were also solid. We lucked out and hit the Bird the day they opened mineral basin and Solitude the day they opened Honeycomb. We also had a day at Brighton which was not terrible, but not great either. We "seriously" discussed making the trip up to GT but after we got settled in to SLC and had a few beers that option fell by the wayside pretty quick.

Hope everyone has some snow in the future. I know we could use some here in the NE.

D
 
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