Skiing in Utah - Solitude and Snowbird

Switching gears a bit and heading back to Utah, after spending a great day exploring Park City and Sundance it was time to do some skiing!  You cannot go all the way to Salt Lake without getting to the mountains.  Amazingly, unlike Denver, great skiing is only about a half hour away from the city!  There are so many mountains, big and small, in the canyons east of the city.  Having not skied yet this year we were excited, but actually merely hoping for some good conditions.  Since we're used to East Coast skiing, heavy powder might have done us in after a single run!

Our first day was spent at Solitude, a small(er) mountain compared to some others, but still over 10,000 feet!  This mountain seemed more like the local hidden gem.  With no lines at the lifts (ever) and amazing varied terrain its easy to see why locals flock to this mountain.  The fireplace at the lodge definitely doesn't hurt either!  Our guides picked a perfect "get back our sea legs" mountain.

At Solitude

Group Shot with out amazing tour guides!

Never will get tired of the views

Soaring Solitude Bird Mascot

Sun was shining!

A little Apres Ski :)

After the sun went behind the mountain the temperature dropped and it was time for us to head home.  Solitude was a great mountain and loads of fun.  This was a great place to ditch the crowds and enjoy great skiing.

After an easy evening at home with some homemade pizzas, wine and bananagrams (Sundance was a late night!) we woke up early and were off to the famed Snowbird.  I had heard stories of their bowl skiing and the cat track, but seeing it in person was awe-inspiring.  The front side of the mountain did not have any sun so we headed straight up to the top to head to the bowls on the back side.  I literally gasped when we got to the tipy top because it was just so beautiful.

At the top of Snowbird - inversion

What looks like a lake in the photo above is actually the cloud cover that settled over Salt Lake - aka, inversion.  The inversion makes the city freezing cold because it traps the cold air in and doesn't let any sunlight (warmth) into the city.  While it made for chilly evenings, the views of it from the warm, sunny slopes of Snowbird were so cool.  In general, the views from the peaks of Snowbird never got old - I took off the mittens to break out the camera a whole lot!

Snowbird!

Group Shot!

Border Patrol to Alta

Snowbird and Alta are connected at the top.  However, Alta only allows skiers - no snowboarders.  I am not sure how different the terrain is, but if you are in a skiers-only group, the mountain sells combo passes that allow you access to both mountains.

More Views

A look at the bowls

When you ski the Snowbird Mineral Basin bowl, there is a narrow cat track that goes around the top and takes you to the less steep areas of the bowl.  That in and of itself is nerve racking!  Having gone pretty close to the end before dropping in the first time around, I will say I got much braver a few runs in and definitely dropped in on the steep side and worked my way around what turned out of be the rocky parts.  There are trees in that photos, but you can make out some of the skiers, which just shows the scale of how big that bowl is!  Makes for an impressive picture, that is for sure!  

Mineral Basin

Inversion

Skiing in Utah was so much fun!  Its proximity to the city and its laid back attitude make it super  welcoming.  I have skied Vail, Keystone and Snowmass in Colorado and none were as easy going and simply fun as both Solitude and Snowbird.  The locals and visitors all had a great time together.

If you are looking to head west for some skiing, I would highly recommend checking out Utah.

Sundance and Skiing in Utah!

Hello from Utah!  One of my oldest friends recently moved to Utah with her husband for work and naturally, Nick and I booked tickets out there to see them and do some West Coast skiing.  Turns out that this weekend, which just seemed to work best for us all, also happens to be Sundance Film Festival!  Needless to say that I will have plenty to recap upon our return to Boston.  For now, here is a quick photo...

Have you skied out west?

Ski Weekend at Sunday River

This past weekend, Nick and I headed up to Sunday River for the weekend and were lucky enough to stay right on the mountain - ski on/ski off.  About three hours from Boston, it is a bit further than some of the New Hampshire mountains, but not having to deal with the traffic on route 4 goes a long way.

Skiing, Snow and Sun!

Somehow, even though it was a great February weekend the mountain was so quite, and there were points where we actually were the only ones on the trail.  For me, it was a bit of a homecoming as I used to ski at Sunday River most weekends for 8 years.  Nick, however, had not been skiing for about 10 years, so this was a bit of a "welcome back to skiing" weekend for him - and he did great! (thank goodness, as I love the sport.)

The conditions were great - plenty of snow, and almost the entire mountain was open.  Add to that the lack of crowds and we really had a great experience.  The mountain is so large that you never get sick of the trails - there is always something new to explore.  On the first day we stuck to the newer area of the mountain, including Jordan Bowel and Aurora Peak where there are some solid greens and nice blues.

Locke Mountain Peak

The following day we headed over to the original part of the mountain, including Barker and Locke Mountains and Spruce peak.  While the snow was fantastic on Spruce Peak, you have to deal with one of the only two remaining slow triple chair lifts.  This weekend, though, it was well worth the slow trip up because those trails had some of the BEST snow.  The chair at Barker was actually replaced recently, so that was even better!  Of course passing over the huge jumps and Agony, the mogul trail, is always entertaining.



The Right Stuff

The mountain has changed a bit and has a bunch of new restaurants.  Rather than dealing with the crowds at the base lodges, we headed to the Jordan Grand Hotel and ate at Sliders.  It is a great open restaurant with paneled ceilings and was perfect for an afternoon bite and drink.  I had been there before and they had a great list of warm hottie totties, but for some reason they didn't have it this time around!  I was so disappointed, but the hot cocoa and Bailey's was more than delicious. 

Saturday night we went to Shipyard Brew Haus at the White Cap lodge.  The thing we learned there was that all of Shipyard's beers are delicious.  Nick is a huge fan of the Pumpkin Head that comes out each fall, but we really had not tried anything else.  The Export, the Thumper, and the light were all great.  I can't wait to buy some here.

All in all it was a great weekend and reminded me why I love ski weekends so much.  I cannot wait for another.