toast21602 Posted March 9 Report Posted March 9 (edited) Oh, hello everybody. Not much to say but will keep a running report going of the places I visit. I don't have much planned other than SLC being the home base. SLC's overside baggage corral is super convenient compared to places that just open a hatch and throw out your bag. Landed this morning and was on the snow <90 minutes later at Brighton. Zero percent chance of snow these next few days but they just got a pretty good storm so things are really nice. Plentiful sun, groomers were cruisers, and snow in the trees and up top in steeps were still really fun. I skied runs off of the main lifts, Great Western, Snake, Crest, and of course, Milly. Taking it easy for the most part so in a weird way I'm kind of glad it isn't storming because I would want to get spicy off trail. The lots were pretty packed but surprisingly didn't wait more than 2 minutes in a lift line. I did not take many pictures for some reason but will do better tomorrow. It has been a long while since I've been out here so it feels good to revisit some of these hills. IMG_4253.MOV Edited March 9 by toast21602 8
toast21602 Posted March 9 Author Report Posted March 9 (edited) Not sure if videos actually load here but the views were nice! IMG_4258.MOV Edited March 9 by toast21602 2 1
theprogram4 Posted March 9 Report Posted March 9 Good stuff! The last time I went to Utah I also stayed in SLC as home base and liked the logistics of it 2
toast21602 Posted March 9 Author Report Posted March 9 4 hours ago, JFskiDan said: Crystal inn? Obviously! 2
toast21602 Posted March 10 Author Report Posted March 10 Beaver Mountain today. This place is a gem. Another area I got to add to the stat manager since it hasn't been logged yet. Indy Pass redeemed and on the snow at 9:00. The drive up was beautiful through the Cache National Forrest. This place reminds me of what Powder Mountain used to be - really great groomers, slow lifts, stellar trees, low crowds, good snow. I had a blast here and it has been on my radar for a while now so I was happy to find myself in the middle of nowhere Utah near the Idaho border. The history of the place is cool and it has always been family owned and operated. They recently updated and built some new lodging and such so it doesn't feel as old as it is, but some of the surrounding buildings still have that charm. Overall, there are really only two triple lifts to ski that give you access to the whole place. I didn't wait in a line all day and felt like I had the place to myself. If anybody gets the chance to check it out, you should. Ski the Beav. 4 2
theprogram4 Posted March 10 Report Posted March 10 Good stuff! Mom and pop resorts are becoming few and far between. I had to get out google maps for this place. Not to thread jack, but has powder mountain gone downhill? 3
toast21602 Posted March 10 Author Report Posted March 10 (edited) 13 minutes ago, theprogram4 said: Good stuff! Mom and pop resorts are becoming few and far between. I had to get out google maps for this place. Not to thread jack, but has powder mountain gone downhill? Ever since it was bought years ago by investors they put a ton into real estate and all that shit. No longer anything what it used to be like. Some of the lifts and areas are for residents only. It seems like a Deer Valley of northern Utah. Now the CEO of Netflix owns it. $45 lift ticket vouchers from the shop in Eden are no longer a thing and if I wanted a lift ticket to ski tomorrow it would be $196 without fees. Doubtful I will ever go back. Edited March 10 by toast21602 1
theprogram4 Posted March 10 Report Posted March 10 26 minutes ago, toast21602 said: Ever since it was bought years ago by investors they put a ton into real estate and all that shit. No longer anything what it used to be like. Some of the lifts and areas are for residents only. It seems like a Deer Valley of northern Utah. Now the CEO of Netflix owns it. $45 lift ticket vouchers from the shop in Eden are no longer a thing and if I wanted a lift ticket to ski tomorrow it would be $196 without fees. Doubtful I will ever go back. Geez I just watched a video about the changes there, sounds like the place became the complete opposite of what it used to be. 1
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted March 10 Report Posted March 10 4 hours ago, theprogram4 said: Geez I just watched a video about the changes there, sounds like the place became the complete opposite of what it used to be. Happens when the wallets take over the skids. There has to be some sort of happy medium. Places like beaver mountain run on really low margins..a couple good days a month and they can pay the bills. I’ll have to look into the Powder mountain thing. The dynamic pricing has gotten out of hand. Arizona snowbowl can be $17 or $300 based on demand for a day ticket. 1
PSUFrankenstein Posted March 10 Report Posted March 10 Nice - I wanted to check out Beaver Mountain when I was there a few years ago but didn't get a chance. I'd consider going back to Powder Mountain but it would have to be great conditions to make it worth it. I do love the lack of crowds there, but I'm not sure if that's still the case. Checking their site, even if I pretend to book for the end of the month, it's still $ 177 for a lift ticket - not cheap considering the other mountains in Utah that have better terrain for similar, or even cheaper lift tickets
Barb Posted March 10 Report Posted March 10 All these PASR reports of lesser known ski areas this season has been fun to read. Good stuff. 4
toast21602 Posted March 10 Author Report Posted March 10 Pulled a @saltyant and took a stop at Golden Spike National Historic Site for a few reasons; 1) I like trains, 2) I like history, 3) my dad would have wanted to check this place out so I brought some of his ashes and they now sit at the location of the golden spike. I've been trying to be intentional about things like this and I don't know if it helps with closure or grief of anything like that but it does bring somewhat of a sense of peace with everything to me. I stopped after a long day of skiing yesterday and made it right before the visitor center closed so I got to check out some things in there as well. Really neat site that I am glad I stopped at. You could even drive your car on the old rail bed that the line used to run on. Middle of nowhere area, but still a beautiful area. 3 4
saltyant Posted March 10 Report Posted March 10 Wao @toast21602thanks for the tag and also @toastman! Yes, always make sure to do some gaper tourist activities on a ski trip. Almost as cool as the mint 1 1
toast21602 Posted March 11 Author Report Posted March 11 Day 3. Snowbird. I love it here. Started the day with Gadzoom and Little Cloud to get myself into Mineral Basin to bask in the sun for most of the morning. Chalky windblown snow on top of some firmer groomers but the sun made things nice. In the past I have not spent much time in this zone so it was fun to poke around. Of course I had to take the Peruvian Tunnel like a tourist for no other reason than just for the hell of it. Clouds rolled in shortly after that so I decided to get out of the Mineral Basin human trap. After that I meandered to the Peruvian lift to take some laps from there since the Tram was on hold this morning. By now it was about 1:00 so I popped over to the new Nest (which I think used to be called the Mid Gad lodge?) for some food. Spent the rest of the afternoon taking runs off of Gadzoom, Gad 2, and Little Cloud. I saw that the tram was spinning so I did my obligatory tram lap. About 15 people in the tram which was disappointing because I was hoping to get mashed in there with the unwashed masses. Wildly uncrowded today. Called it quits around 3:30 for a full day of skiing. I'm pretty cooked right now. Sitting in the hot tub with a beer(s). Probably will go find pizza for din din. 4 1
toast21602 Posted March 11 Author Report Posted March 11 2 hours ago, indiggio said: Grate little trip, TFTI! Solitude this morning. Here's the "I". 1
PSUFrankenstein Posted March 11 Report Posted March 11 1 hour ago, toast21602 said: Solitude this morning. Here's the "I". Are you inviting @indiggio to Solitude for a quickie? Sounds like a grate opportunity 1 1
indiggio Posted March 11 Report Posted March 11 (edited) 2 hours ago, toast21602 said: Solitude this morning. Here's the "I". Thanks! If only work wasn't currently in the way... Edited March 11 by indiggio 2
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted March 11 Report Posted March 11 5 hours ago, PSUFrankenstein said: Are you inviting @indiggio to Solitude for a quickie? Sounds like a grate opportunity As tempting as it sounds, I don’t see Toast cheating on his girlfriend (tongue firmly implanted in cheek).
toast21602 Posted March 11 Author Report Posted March 11 Solitude today. Lots of sun. Thus place can be fun but I find it hard to link long runs together with the way the lifts are set up. Maybe @indiggio knows better. Snow in Honeycomb in the trees in Boundary Chutes was good but the ungroomed run out was wild so I only did that twice. again, no lift lines but a lot of gapers out at Solitude. 5
indiggio Posted March 11 Report Posted March 11 Looks like a an absolute spectacular day out! Very jelly, sitting here staring out the window at the mountains. Yeah, have to agree that there aren't very long runs, unless you want to go from Powderhorn all the way back down to the base. There are a lot of lifts, but that can be good for quick laps in a particular area, save the Sunrise donkey. It's a hidden powder gem, but slow... Last time I was back in Honeycomb chute area it was all avalanche debris and very hard to ski. The opposite side of the canyon has more trees, so the snow tends to stay nicer in there. The run out to the lift is usually a nightmare, as they don't groom it often and it becomes a rollercoaster and thin. How was the snow? Did it soften up at all or was everything still firm? It was cold overnight and morning. 1
toast21602 Posted March 11 Author Report Posted March 11 3 minutes ago, indiggio said: Looks like a an absolute spectacular day out! Very jelly, sitting here staring out the window at the mountains. Yeah, have to agree that there aren't very long runs, unless you want to go from Powderhorn all the way back down to the base. There are a lot of lifts, but that can be good for quick laps in a particular area, save the Sunrise donkey. It's a hidden powder gem, but slow... Last time I was back in Honeycomb chute area it was all avalanche debris and very hard to ski. The opposite side of the canyon has more trees, so the snow tends to stay nicer in there. The run out to the lift is usually a nightmare, as they don't groom it often and it becomes a rollercoaster and thin. How was the snow? Did it soften up at all or was everything still firm? It was cold overnight and morning. The groomers were pretty brick early but that sun softened things up as the temps rose. I wanted to go into Black Forrest area but nobody else was heading there and since I was solo I stuck where people were going. I got lucky and took both of my runs in Honeycomb with ski patrol. 1
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now