Looking into a SLC trip to Snowbird mid Jan.

Anyone ever been and care to give me some recommendations on where to stay?
Additionally, I've read the UTA goes to Snowbird, is that correct? I didnt see anything on their site. Cost?

Stay in SLC so you can hit multiple resorts if a particular canyon road gets closed. Personally I like the Embassy Suites (Big rooms) and the Little America (Cheap) but most of them in the 600 south area are fine.

UTA goes to all of the resorts in BCC and LCC, if your going from SLC you take a surface train to bus transfer station near Sandy and then to the Canyon of your choice. The buses are plentiful in SLC but will be totally full by the time you reach the park and ride lots just outside the canyons. The bus can be ungodly slow depending on the driver you get and you may have to wait at closing time to get on a bus that isn't packed, it doesn't really matter though because you aren't going anywhere anyways. Cost round trip last time I did it was like 6 bucks. Honestly if you can, rent a car as UTA is slow as balls. 20-30 mins in a car is a lot better than an hour 30 in a bus.

If you don't look like a pedophile you can also bum rides up and down the canyons, etiquette dictates that you must pick people up if you have room so you probably won't have to wait too long. I've never waited more than a minute at the 9'oclock rush.

Snowbird is the shit but check out some of the BCC mountains too, you will probably be too slow trying to find your way around to really hit the good shit before it gets tracked out. Snowbird/Alta are the fastest tracked out mountains I've ever seen. Don't go to Park City, you didn't travel 2,000 miles to ride at a large Killington.

Lastly and most importantly don't eat the cheese steaks at the bird, they cost like 8 bucks and are some of the worst things I ever experienced.

BCC and LCC stand for what? Never been to Utah...

Only reason I was planning on taking the UTA was to cut down on car rental costs. But as it seems that's not the most time efficient option and I may have more people joining me now, a car might just have to be in the mix.

Hows the nightlife, is there any?

The first time i went to SLC i stayed at a condo at PC and the second time i stayed at a condo at canyons. transportation is very easy and convienient, not only around the different resorts but from the airport as well. we got a bus to snowbird as well

BCC = Big Cotton Wood Canyon.
LCC = Little Cotton Wood Canyon.

Going on Google Maps and just look up Solitude, Alta, Brighton, Snowbird, and you will get a feel for their locations. The neighborhoods in SLC near there are Sandy/Midvale. I've been told staying on Ft Union Blvd in Sandy is the way to go, and I have a list of hotels somewhere but I don't have it at the moment.

I'm deciding between Park City and the BCC/LCC stuff myself, and if it were only about skiing I would go BCC/LCC in a heartbeat but for a more rounded trip Park City has the nicer town.

Three seasons ago I booked accomodations through Wasatch Front Ski Accomodations. wsfa.com They had condos located at the base of Big Cottonwood Canyon and the Little Cottonwood Canyon. Very reasonable and nice people to deal with. There was a ski shop that sold discount tickets within a couple of blocks. We rented a car (AWD Subby) and the drive up either canyon from the condo took maybe 15-20 mins. (unless you got behind a bus). If you have a group of people the condos are great to stay in. I've also found that Vacation Rentals By Owners vrbo.com is a great source for condo rentals and are cheaper than going through a realtor. Hope this helps. Night Life in Utah?? Pretty scarce and the beer is/was 3.2%.

The only nightlife worth considering is in Park City, there are some bars / clubs in downtown SLC but they are nothing to get exited about. If you are really looking for nightlife then why go to Utah?

I agree 100% with what someone said earlier about PC, you can have a great day there but the LCC/BCC resorts are so much better.

I've been every year for the past 3, and usually hire a car, stay in Sandy (lots of reasonable hotels and near canyon sports for cheap tickets), for this year I will only be doing Brighton, Snowbird, maybe solitude and taking one "long" trip to either snowbasin or powder mtn.

Don't believe the BS there is plenty to get wasted on. Harry O's in PC is the best for debauchery, Duffy's is good to get drunk on the cheap, Lumpy's (both of them) are good sports bars, Port o' Call is really good too, Habit's apparently was the place to hook up but I was never there, Shaggy's is fun, Depot is good.

There are a butt ton of places, ask around and have a good time. Lot of house parties too.

Here's the deal on booze in UT.

3.2 beer is grocery store only, liquor store/bar is just like everywhere else. You can drink with no membership if your eating otherwise you have to purchase a "membership". 5 or 10 bucks for the week done deal, its kinda like a cover charge everywhere else.

No drinks on the dance floor - fucking weird but whatever

If you want to get drunk in UT and aren't a complete idiot its just as easy as in PA

SLC is now 40/45% non mormon and it isn't the 1820's its not hard to have a good night in SLC.

P.S. There is a Brazilian meat place down by the mall that kicks ass, the only time I was there I was completely out of my gourd so I can't give you any more info but find it and eat there.

Not really going for nightlife at all. Just thought I'd see what the deal is. I'm sure I'd be able to find a good time, doesnt hurt to ask some opinions first though.

Thanks for all the info. Now I just have to pull the trigger and actually start making some reservations.

Thanks for the good info on bars.

Here are the bus routes

http://www.rideuta.com/ridingUTA/schedules...?routeGroupID=8

this is pretty much all wrong

Care to enlighten?

I'm goin to one in Philly tomorrow night. Best place to eat in the northeast.

Don't know that it was all wrong but everywhere we wen't if they sold alcohol you needed to be a member, (usually $5-10 as stated, someplaces in PC were free, go figure), best example would be Molly Green's at Brighton, $5 membership (only for the person paying) for the weekend even if you were buying food with your beer.

Either way, none of this should put anyone off of going to SLC, the resorts are great. I can't wait to get back out there.

Going back to the original question, if you mostly think you will be heading to snowbird and you are renting a car, then stay in Sandy you will be close to Canyon Sports for tickets and you are closest to the mouth of the canyon. Midvale or Downtown might be better if you are going to spread your visits around a bit more.

There are a couple of decent hotels (Holiday inn, used to be comfort suites) within walking distance of canyon sports which makes your "out the door time" in the morning very quick.

If you are only going to snowbird then check out there on-resort deals, they have some good offers.

Did I fuck up the location of the Brazilian joint ?

http://www.alcbev.state.ut.us/Liquor_Laws/...g_visitors.html


BTW is the Mongolian joint still around ? It wasn't looking good last time I stopped by.



That's perfect, I didn't know there was one in the NE.

Whats the name of place ?

I know what I'm doing tomorrow.

There is one in Manhattan too, forgot the name though.

Picanha Brazilian Grill
6501 Castor Ave. 215.743.4647

Awesome joint. It is BYOB so take your own cachaca to have them make you caparinhas. Whenever futbol is on they always have it on the big screen, a real fun place to go during world cup games. People who own it are super nice. We've closed the place down a few times and we usually share whatever beers we have left with the servers and cooks. Also, it is the best deal I've found for rodizio at $20, or you can go by weight. Even the place up by my girlfriends house in Nazareth, PA is more expensive. I haven't had a bad meal there yet. I'll be there tonight!




To get back to the thread, I like Salt Lake a lot. When I'm on ski trips I'm usually pretty burned out from riding so I'll admit I usually don't close down clubs or bars. I've always found good bars to hang out at with decent beer, and thats all I need. The thing that made Salt Lake legit was the biggest party coming into town for a few weeks, the Olympics. The amount of new establishments that opened in Salt Lake prior to the Olympics was insane. A lot of standards or traditions were relaxed for the Olympics visitors, and in many cases kind of just stayed that way because the Olympics were so successful. Add that to what someone else said about an increasing number of non-Mormons in Salt Lake now, and know that while it is no Whistler, it is definitely better than the perception that a lot of people have of it.

if your looking to stay on the cheaper side... stay in the city and drive up to the mt in the morning

I can vouch for the Brazilian BBQ place in NE philly. Food was super good, minus the chicken hearts, which trevor houses anyway.

How does getting tickets at Canyon Sports go down? Can I get a multi day pass there, or is it just a they get so many tickets per day type thing?

I'm going to get 4 days of riding and was planning on just sticking to Snowbird since everything I've heard about it says its huge and diverse. Are solitude/brighton places I should really consider giving some attention, or will Snowbird keep me plenty busy for 4 days?

Snowbird will keep you busy, but it is real fun to check out some of the other spots. Brighton is well known for its smaller mountain vibe, but still has plenty of fun lines and a fun vibe.

Solitude has been a big favorite of mine in recent years. That mountain rides huge, and there are lots of things that will get you into trouble if you want it. Add that to the fact that no one goes there, and its a great time. If I could go anywhere in Utah after a dump it might be Solitude just because I've never skied it while it is dumping.

There are plenty of bars that don't require a membership, beer served at 95% of bars is 3.2% unless you are buying cans at a place that has a special licence, all shots and mixed drinks in Utah are 1 oz of alcohol measured by a clicker placed on each bottle but the prices are still the same, it's a felony to have a keg without a licence, the only place you can get non-3.2% beer, alcohol, or wine outside of bars is state liquor stores that close at 9PM (10 on Friday and Saturday) and are closed on Sunday, and I've never seen anyone hassled for having a drink on a dancefloor.

Not that any of this really matters but I figure I'd set the record straight.

Utah is great , you will like it a lot. I second checking out other resorts besides Snowbird, its fun but I had a better time at Brighton and Snowbasin. Brighton was my favorite, lift tickets are cheap and lots of great riding. I am probably going back this year and want to hit Brighton, Powder Mountain and Snowbasin. Stay in SLC and rent a car like everyone else said.

That is no longer true. http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/264943/

www.canyonsports.com

You can get multi-day (2 from 5) tickets for snowbird. If you are going to ride for 4 days then snowbird will keep you busy / happy but you really should try some of the others, especially Brighton.

Snowbasin is a bit of a drive but worth it, has a good mix of terrain and is bigger than it first feels.

This is actually timely for me as I am heading out to SLC Dec 4-5. As I only have half a day on the 4th I was planning to hit the Canyons and then stay in Park City and ski PC on Friday. It seems as though no one is a fan of PC though. What is the take on the Canyons? The nice thing is that PC and the Canyons give you a free ticket if you ski on the day you land. Any bit of savings helps...

I could also ski the Canyons, stay in Sandy and hit Alta or Snowbird on Friday. It seems as though everyone on the tread is leaning to SB, why is that? What are types of terrain are people skiing there?

Also, how much of an impact does the altitude have?

It's different for everyone, but I've never had a problem with it, unless you want to hike. Then you will get your ass kicked in a hurry. Just remember to drink a lot of water and stay hydrated. Utah's mountains aren't super high, i think most are around the 8-9k range.

Churrascaria Plataforma. Highly recommended!

The altitude hits everyone differently. Coming from the east living at less then 200 feet then going to SLC at 4200 feet and staying on the benches around 5500 feet takes me about a day to acclimate. I'm 55 and overweight.

I have a townhouse just outside LCC. Six miles from Snowbird. Search Google maps: "9009S 3605E 84093" or Canyon PlaceTownhouse

Its open 1/6/09 to 1/21/09 as of today.

Their license plates read: "Best Snow on Earth". Woud the government lie?

The Canyons (Park West), Park City • 3500 skiable acres on 3190' vertical
Specs: Summit elevation: 9990'; Base elevation: 6800'. 16 Lifts: 2 gondies, 9 quads, 2 triples, 1 double, 2 surface. Uphill capacity: 32,700/hr. Terrain Mix: 14-44-26-16. Longest Run: 13,200'. Season: usually mid November to mid April. Rentals & Lessons. Annual Snowfall: 350". Snowmaking: 4%.
The SKInny: Quiet little Park West was engulfed by the American Skiing Company (once owners of Killington, Mount Snow, Steamboat) in 1997. What was a well-done cheap little local ski area became a pricey, sprawling monstrosity with hyper-quick lifts that run all over creation to serve eight mid-sized mountains. Now it is an impressive operation, to be sure, but it just sprawls a little too much. The 3,000+ vertical is not continuous; about 1900' is the max you'll get on any one run. The canyons at The Canyons make for interesting runs, but unfortunately many of them have long run outs -- and some are uphill. Locals head to Alta or Brighton, and refer to The Canyons as "a tourist area that used to be a great little spot." On the positive side, you can expect the quickest, most modern lifts and incredible variety of terrain. Hotshots will prefer Alta or Snowbird, without question. Wanderers, on the other hand, will likely never find a resort to beat The Canyons. You can create your own routes, find hidden glades, tuck down little used canyon chutes...literally ski for days and days and never use the same route twice. With the recent sell-offs by ASC, we're not sure what to expect for the future; one line of thought is that Park City-based ASC intends to jettison all but The Canyons, and built it into the best whatever it is that they can. The question is, are ASC's fiscal troubles resolved? We do know of some skiers who've received less than stellar customer care in early 2007.
Signature Trails: The Black Hole.

Park City, Park City • 3300 skiable acres on 3100' vertical (not all lift served)
Specs: Summit elevation: 10,000'; Base elevation: 6900'. 14 Lifts: 4 sixpacks, 1 quad, 5 triples, 4 doubles, 1 magic carpet. Uphill capacity: 27,200/hr. Terrain Mix: 18-44-38. Longest Run: 18,480'. Season: usually mid November to mid April. Night skiing Dec-Mar. Rentals & Lessons. Annual Snowfall: 350". Snowmaking: 15%.
The SKInny: One of the legendary ski areas with historic runs that unfortunately is more City than Park these days. Weekends can be crowded. Quite crowded. The atmosphere is busy, mobbed, developed...ok if you happen to like that. Yes, you can get to some remote spots. The Jupiter Bowl is still a legendary spot for hotshots. Wanderers can find plenty to do here, and families will love the abundance of intermediate level terrain. The big, easy intermediate cruisers offer just enough variety that the expert will enjoy them as well. In fact the trail called Payday is arguably one of the progenitors of the rolling groomed cruisers that are the mainstay of ski resort offerings. Another plus for Park City: it's hard to think of a bigger, better resort so close to a major metropolitan airport. As mega resort communities go, Park City is pleasant, safe, convenient. Probably one of the finest destinations for GolfCondoSkiers. Let's face it, serious skiers will prefer Alta, Snowbird, Snowbasin, etc. but it's really hard to have a bad day of skiing at Park City.
Signature Trails: Payday, Jupiter Bowl.

Snowbird, Snowbird (little Cottonwood Canyon) • 2500 skiable acres on 3240' vertical
Specs: Summit elevation: 11,000'; Base elevation: 7760'. 10 Lifts: 1 tram, 2 quads, 7 doubles. Uphill capacity: 15,000/hr. Terrain Mix: 27-38-35. Longest Run: 18,560'. Season: usually November to mid-May. Night skiing. Rentals & Lessons. Annual Snowfall: 500". Snowmaking: 15%.
The SKInny: The Bird is easily one of the biggest, best ski areas in the country. Where Alta is old school, Snowbird somehow stays hip and trendy. Plenty of terrain, plenty steep, decidedly not cheap. Lots for hotshots, wanderers...even the emerging intermediate can find ways to keep busy for days on end. The closest comparison to Snowbird in the USA is Jackson Hole, and most will admit that Snowbird pulls down better snow and more agreeable weather. Day in and day out, more skiers with the most skill and finest form are found at Snowbird than any other resort in the Rockies. (Vermont's Stowe takes Eastern honors). In fact, everyone short of true expert skiers will likely find other resorts more to their liking. The knock on the Bird is the lack of apres-ski (we don't care) and the fact that the trail ratings should be turned up a notch. Greens should be blues, blues should be blacks, etc. Double blacks are for the serious, pedal-to-the-metal only. If you ski blacks elsewhere, do not attempt the double blacks at the Bird right out of the chute. This is seriously tough stuff. We would put Snowbird ahead of Alta, simply because the lifts are faster and very little traversing is required, except Snowbird has snowboarders and a bit of Vail-type attitude. In any event, Snowbird fights for all-around best in the nation with a handful of other resorts: Sun Valley, Jackson Hole, Squaw Valley, etc.
Signature Trails: Regulator Johnson, Great Scott.

Those are from skiernet.com, great resource for short reviews. I think everyone naturally says Snowbird/Alta because they are the most advanced, and then people say Brighton is a snowboarders gem and Solitude is hidden one with long lasting powder. The thing is, not everyone wants the most advanced terrain. For me, Park City/Canyons make a lot of sense for a variety of reasons (primarily the town since I can't rent a car and I'm going with my girlfriend, and while she is good I don't want to turn her off to Utah as being too hard by going to the biggest baddest resort right off the bat)

However for you - based on those dates - they do not. Park City gets less snow, especially early season. Go to Snowbird/Alta for sure simply based on available terrain. Snowbird will have significantly more snow and terrain during the first week of December. Park city doens't come into its prime until January.



Thats it! I didn't actually know there was a first part to the name, we just call it Plataforma. I've only been there once but I'm going to have to do it again some day.

i suggest skipping park city to ride, i personally would suggest snowboasin, does not get crowded but is farther from SLC than other resorts.

I've been to PCMR 3 times, first time was great, 2nd was mediocre due to crowds, 3rd was bad but mostly 'cos the weather was pretty awful.

Never tried the Canyons, looks interesting but reviews seem mixed, I can't imagine it's much different to PCMR as it's so close.

Snowbasin was different, but good.

Solitude just doesn't float my boat for some reason I can't put my finger on. I've had great days there but given the choice I'd be at Brighton.

Brighton is great, very under-rated, best tree skiing I've seen.

Snowbird is scary for an (advancing) intermediate like me, no place for people that are not 150% comfortable on any double black in PA. If you are not a confident skier / rider of steeps you will have a miserable time here. I know this because a took a couple of work-mates there and they still haven't forgiven me. One of them who considered himself a good skier refuses to come out west with us this year if we go back.

Alta sucks balls.

I would really like to try Powder Mtn next time I go out.

If I had 4 days in Utah:

Brighton
Powder Mtn
Snowbird
Snowbird or Brighton depending how I felt.

Someone said the Utah peaks are in the 9k range, most if not all are over 10k but if you stay in SLC and drive up everyday then you shouldn't have any problems.

Go and have fun.

Just because the law changed doesn't mean that bars stopped pouring shitty drinks.

Hahah so true


Park City is weak, It lacks the terrain and snow you came to Utah for.

Canyons has the 9990 and Murdock stuff which is good and alot of access to the BC options. Bottom line though is they aren't what you came to Utah for.

Powder is a totally different type of place, if you like amenities and can't actually drive your car in the snow you aren't going to like it. Additionally their terrain is huge but with only a couple of lifts, for most stuff you are going to have to work to get there.

Twice I've been left at the end of the day for maybe an hour waiting for Woody (still love ya Dog), additionally its the kind of place where lifties are asleep in the house while a sheave wheel is literally coming apart as you ride. Personally I love the joint and hope it somehow can retain alot of its charm with the development and BS.

BCC/LCC is as close as you can get to heaven on earth.

Altitude shouldn't really effect anyone who isn't massively out of shape....

Ha, you're going to catch some shit for this one.

Why?

Altitude effects different people to different degrees, sometimes it has nothing to do with what kind of shape you're in. Over the summer I was in Whistler with a friend from PA who had never been west, and he was messed up when we got to the top because he wasn't used to going 4000 feet in 15 minutes. I've never seen someone get it as bad as he did, and he is in awesome shape.

Come on though, you live there you know what I'm saying. Its not the Andes, you aren't at 13k and the overwhelming majority never hike farther than from the car to the lifts.

Where not talking about the fit 20 year old guy that shows up to a 14er and gets real altitude sickness. I'm talking about persons that could probably use to lose a few pounds and who have to work 5% harder and have serious trouble doing it.

Really fit people do get real AS (most studies actually find that fit people are more at risk) but that isn't what where talking about here. UT resorts top out at like 10k.

Actually they say the better the shape you are in, the worse the altitude will affect you if your not accustomed to it.

That makes no sense..

thats because you didn't think about it first.

Its really simple, in a lower oxygen environment your lungs and heart need to adjust in order to continuing providing you body what it needs. Fat people, smokers, people who's heart and lungs are used to making adjustments have no problem with this.

I'm a smoker, essentially for some period during and after a smoke my body is in a state of Hypoxia, essentially my heart and lungs have to do more work because I'm getting less oxygen per breath than normal. Clearly you can see how this is functionally the same as operating in a lower oxygen environment.

Generally very fit 20-30 year old males are most prone to real altitude sickness, for whatever reason their body simply does not adjust. Less oxygen gets to their system and things go downhill real fast. Telluride I know has a chamber for people who have altitude sickness, essentially you bring them down and then back up hopefully their body gets its act together and their fine.

Intersting..I guess Taco Bell and bingers are needed before a trip to Utah..

Telluride was definitely one of the higher places I've skied. No altitude sickness there, but I was also 210 and out of shape when I skied there, not the in-shape 173lbs I am now, but at least JH is a lot lower.

I don't know if I buy the logic, but I do like the answer. Usually I am reasonably fit, but I am still recovering from ACL surgery in June and my cardio fitness is a bit pathetic at this point. I don't plan on hiking on this trip. More of an opportunity to explore so I know where to go when I come back for a longer stay.

These will be my first days on skis this winter so I don't plan on charging it too hard. I certainly want to maximize the amount of terrain that I am able to ski though, so I appreciate the tips on the early season conditions.

What is the likelyhood of the roads into Alta/SB being closed due to storms? Not too bad as it is too early in the season? I think I read somewhere that people had to leave Alta mid-day because the road was closing. I could imagine the opposite, where you couldn't get in from SLC in the morning due to a heavy snow overnight. I just wouldn't want to get stuck. Legit concern or not?

As far as the roads being closed. It depends on if it snows, and how much, and at what time of the day.

True story-- Big Al's father died while at SLC one year. I volunteered to skip skiing that day to take him to the airport for a flight home. I took the rest of the crew up to Solitude that morning, and agreed to pick them up after my trip to the airport. It was snowing all day and the road up the canyon was being plowed regularly. On my trip up the canyon to pick them up around 3:30 there was about 8" on the road and snow was still coming down hard. Three times I had to avoid head-on collisions by out of control idiots, twice by getting into the passing lane and once by hanging in the gutter. I just kept my foot on the gas, if I would have hit the brakes I'm sure I would have crashed. When I got to the Solitude parking lot, I was shaking--I also had to check my skivvies for brown spots. The rest of the crew were all smiles however, because of the 18" of powder they skiied in all day. On the trip back down the canyon I didn't leave the parking lot until I could follow a plow/sand truck the entire way.


rummy

The canyon roads usually only close for two reasons: avalanch control or avalanch across the road. They may close for ten or twenty minutes occasionally for snow plowing in real heavy snow. I've heard every once in a great while it's taken a day or two to open the road because of a gigantic avalanch slide across the road.
It's the primary reson there were no olympic venues at the LCC BCC ski resorts.

When it is snowing hard up the canyon a sheriff's officer may be stationed at the entrance to the canyons to make sure you have snow tires or chains and four wheel drive.



New staging area