# Another Utah trip thread.



## mrmidWest (Sep 26, 2011)

Ill be heading out to utah on feb28 for about 5 days and ill meeting up with and staying with my dad and his friends. They like deer valley, and are spending 2 of the 5 days there. I know my dad really likes that canyons, but has agreed to ditch deer valley with me and spend those 2 days somewhere else. Ive heard that the park city resorts get less snow, and I know its hard to judge what kind of snow will have fallen by then, but for those 2 days, best all around place to ride would be....? I like everything, but id rather not do any park riding, as thats pretty much all i get to do at my local mountain. Thanks!


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## bebop_monk (Jan 23, 2011)

Snowbird and Brighton would be the two that I'd hit up.


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## philadendron (Oct 21, 2011)

Just went this past weekend and hit Snowbasin. If you like steep, untracked powder, go there. So much terrain that isn't touched. Huge, wide open faces. Super long groomers, as well, off the Strawberry lift. Seriously, I had a 3.5 mile run. Snowbasin is about equidistant from downtown SLC as the Cottonwood resorts are, and easier to drive to. Brighton is awesome for tree riding, but I prefer Solitude. Challenging blue runs, quality runs off of all the lifts, and even a sidecountry area (Honeycomb Canyon) make it awesome. Talked to several people about Snowbird and they all said the crowds can be rough on a weekend, so we avoided it this time. Still, it's a "bucket list" resort and sounds great. 

You pretty much can't go wrong with SLC, but you're right about Park City, not as much snow as the Cottonwood resorts. Thing is, you're going at the end of February. By that time, there should be a lot more snow so just monitor base levels.


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## snowvols (Apr 16, 2008)

philadendron said:


> Just went this past weekend and hit Snowbasin. If you like steep, untracked powder, go there.


It snowed Friday which is maybe why you were able to find something untouched but it wouldn't be entire runs or large areas untouched. At least in my book.



philadendron said:


> Snowbasin is about equidistant from downtown SLC as the Cottonwood resorts are, and easier to drive to.


This is wrong as well. Cottonwood resorts are much closer to SLC than basin.


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## bakuhar (Jan 28, 2012)

If you consider going to basin just drive the extra 15 minutes to Powder Mtn. Dunno why basin gets recommended over Powder.


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## philadendron (Oct 21, 2011)

snowvols said:


> It snowed Friday which is maybe why you were able to find something untouched but it wouldn't be entire runs or large areas untouched. At least in my book.
> 
> 
> 
> This is wrong as well. Cottonwood resorts are much closer to SLC than basin.


Took me 45-60 minutes to drive from the Sheraton in downtown to Snowbasin. The next day, it took me 45-60 minutes to drive from the Sheraton in downtown to Solitude in Big Cottonwood. Obviously, if you were planning on going to LCC/BCC, you'd stay closer, but I Hotwired and it was pretty equidistant.


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## philadendron (Oct 21, 2011)

Ok, just google mapped it, it's 45 vs. 57 minutes. So it's a little longer to Snowbasin. Also, of course there won't be whole mountains untracked hardly anywhere, but at Snowbasin at least half of the nice, open faces they have there had plenty of opportunities for fresh lines. At Solitude the next day, the only places that had opportunities for fresh lines were off of Summit and in Honeycomb. 

Also, I'm only recommending Snowbasin over Powder Mountain because I've never been to Powder Mountain. Everyone that has, though, has great things to say.


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## hikeswithdogs (Sep 23, 2011)

philadendron said:


> Took me 45-60 minutes to drive from the Sheraton in downtown to Snowbasin. The next day, it took me 45-60 minutes to drive from the Sheraton in downtown to Solitude in Big Cottonwood. Obviously, if you were planning on going to LCC/BCC, you'd stay closer, but I Hotwired and it was pretty equidistant.


Snowbasin and PowMow will always have fresher runs(lower altitude too), hell I've gotten fresh tracks at 4pm on a Saturday at PowMow


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## bakuhar (Jan 28, 2012)

I've rode every resort in Utah (except PCMR) and I'll recommend PowMow first to anyone coming here. Call it bias since its close for me, but nothing gets close to Powder Country (when its open).


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## hikeswithdogs (Sep 23, 2011)

bakuhar said:


> I've rode every resort in Utah (except PCMR) and I'll recommend PowMow first to anyone coming here. Call it bias since its close for me, but nothing gets close to Powder Country (when its open).


I second this LOVE POWDER COUNTRY , lightning ridge is pretty cook too!


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## neednsnow (Nov 30, 2007)

Pow Mow? Really? There is always a clash going on over which resort is better. Here is my take. Most people going are tourists. Pow Mow is great, but the lifts are old and slow. To do the extended terrain, you have to either catch a bus....thats pretty cool, or pay extra for a Cat Ride....which is a nice opportunity. 

Snowbasin is further away from the SLC crowd and most Ogdenites are Pow-Mow friendly. Snowbasin does track-out much less quickly than all of the other places. I've been to the Canyons and Brighton (hiking and ducking in safe conditions) where things were sketch, but the next day at Basin, still fresh to be found. 

I love me some Strawberry!

Suggestions are really snow-dependent. If you're staying out in the DV area, then Basin and the Cottonwoods are equi-distant. If the snow is fresh, you cant go wrong with Solitude, Brighton, or even Snowbird (especially mid-week.) If it hasn't snowed in a few days, go to Basin or Pow Mow (Though taking a break from DV could be rough because I guarantee that place tracks-out much less since its only skiers.


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