# goin to utah



## CaRMaNiA666 (Nov 6, 2009)

hey guys i just booked a trip to utah from the 2nd to the 12th of january, ive never been to utah i plan on going to snowbird, park city, powder mtn and Brighton. anyone got any suggestions for must see mtns? smaller lesser known less populated mtns?


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## NinjaSteez (Jul 22, 2010)

Aight man youre comin to the right state. Youre hittin up all the mountains that should be seen. Hopefully it snows for you for Snowbird. I would suggest the Mid Week or even Sunday for Park City or Snowbird. Both are busy resorts. If you dont ride park though I honestly dont think Park City would be worth it. You can get the best terrain at Brighton and Snowbird, $75 Lift tickets to me isnt worth the terrain there. Brighton Usually isnt bad, may be kinda busy on Saturday and from what I have seen. Definitely has the best Vibe though. Powder is never busy. I dont think you'll leave Utah disappointed.


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## burritosandsnow (Nov 22, 2008)

wait and see the snow conditions ... if its a slow starter year pc and snowbird may be iffy .. pc because that side of the mtn ridge gets less snow and snowbird because its so steep and rocky that it needs alot of snow before it can really get goin ...


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## Guest (Aug 3, 2010)

*December in Utah*

A friend and I are considering Utah for Dec 2-6. Do you think this is too soon in the season for Utah? Neither of us have ever been. Where would you recommend during this time?


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

Pretty early for anywhere really. Utah gets a ton of snow, but it seems that December can go either way. I'm sure there will be resorts open. Don't expect the quality to be high, anywhere in US for that matter. You'd be better off booking for mid to late January for decent conditions.


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## NinjaSteez (Jul 22, 2010)

Id even recommend coming in Feb. You'll be pretty much guaranteed to have decent snow.


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## burritosandsnow (Nov 22, 2008)

lonaman said:


> A friend and I are considering Utah for Dec 2-6. Do you think this is too soon in the season for Utah? Neither of us have ever been. Where would you recommend during this time?


this early .. sure bets are Brighton and maybe Solitude .. after that Snwobird and the PC resorts .. all resorts will have area open but Brighton should have the most. The Bird is steep and rocky so it needs more snow to really get going. The PC resorts are on the lesser side of the mtns ( they get about 2/3 the SLC snow totals) so Dec is early for them to have alot of area open. If you want just park PC actually may be the best option as they build ASAP but if you want more free riding Id go with Brighton ( which will have some park built too)


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## lisevolution (Sep 20, 2007)

I was out there last season Dec. 12-16 and it was pretty dry. Brighton had some runs open actually more than anyone else and Solitude also had some decent runs open but it really is hit and miss. The year before I was out for pretty much the same days and there was triple the amount of terrain open and even got a pow day in. Depends on the season for sure. By mid January it's usually cranking though


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## Guest (Aug 30, 2010)

if you dont mind a smaller hill, come up north. There is a ton of trades work up here, and powderking opens fairly early. lots of pow! If your interested, look around chetwynd, prince george, fort st john areas in bc.


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## COtoUT (Apr 1, 2009)

NinjaSteez said:


> Aight man youre comin to the right state. Youre hittin up all the mountains that should be seen. Hopefully it snows for you for Snowbird. I would suggest the Mid Week or even Sunday for Park City or Snowbird. Both are busy resorts. If you dont ride park though I honestly dont think Park City would be worth it. You can get the best terrain at Brighton and Snowbird, $75 Lift tickets to me isnt worth the terrain there. Brighton Usually isnt bad, may be kinda busy on Saturday and from what I have seen. Definitely has the best Vibe though. Powder is never busy. I dont think you'll leave Utah disappointed.


you are coming early in the season, so the snow could be if'y and low tide-just know this.

ok, skip park city-go directly to the canyons down the road-way, way, way better terrain. pc's trails are a bout as fun as crusing a strip mall; boring and bland. the canyons has sick side country and back country, along with epic skate-like terrain (seven natural halfpipes in the woods and crazy-good stick lines, set-up by a solid crew of woodsmen).

brighton is flat-ish but has a good history and some fun tree lines/side and back country, so check it out. however right next door is solitude-all i can say is this place is the baker of utah (need i say more).


personally, unless you get a dump-dump (two feet or more), i stay away from the bird, too many ski jocks. it has fun terrain but gets tracked WAY TOO quickly.

head north and hit up pow-mow (powder mtn) and if the snow is flying be sure to postion yourself at snowbasin, as well.


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## COtoUT (Apr 1, 2009)

lonaman said:


> A friend and I are considering Utah for Dec 2-6. Do you think this is too soon in the season for Utah? Neither of us have ever been. Where would you recommend during this time?


way too early-save your money. no really good terrain will be open by then.


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## jbyron (Sep 13, 2010)

I have a group from Minnesota heading to Utah for the first time too. We are planning on the first or second week of February. We don't ride much park at all. We are looking for the best bowls to ride in Utah, basically seeking fresh, ungroomed snow. 

From what I'm gathering, Brighton is the best spot? 

Not trying to hi-jack, hopefully this helps the thread too.


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## snowvols (Apr 16, 2008)

Look into Powder Mountain as well


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## jbyron (Sep 13, 2010)

Thanks. After doing more research, it looks like Powder Mountain might be more our speed. Have you done much of the $15/time cat runs? Have you done the all day cat for around $350? Worth it?

I'd for sure check out the $15 and would consider a day of it if it has good reviews.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

The $15 cat ride gets you on Storm Peak. If it's recently snowed it can be pretty good. The main problem is that the runs mostly have a southerly aspect. Meaning that they are in the sun quite a bit. So it gets cooked. Just across the road is Powder Country and it's faces the opposite direction. It's pretty shady over there and the snow stays good for longer. It's also free.

As far as the all day cat operation goes. It's supposed to be pretty decent. So if you want to go big that would be a good choice. Again, I'd only go for it if there have been recent storms and not a big warm up afterward.


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## jbyron (Sep 13, 2010)

Is Powder Mountain big enough to do a 3 day pass and not feel like you've seen absolutely everything? It's tough to tell from the trail map how big this place is compared to the other mountains.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

It's one of the largest in the US. If you throw in the hike to terrain it's a little larger than Vail.

I just don't get why everyone coming from the midwest and east coast even ask this question. When your average local resort is 300 acres or less and most ski areas in the West are over 2,000 acres? So the local hill is great for your day to day riding, but a resort that is over 6 times the size of it with mountain terrain isn't good enough for three days? Really?

Sorry about the rant. Powder Mountain is huge. You won't ride everything that is there. Chances are you'll find a spot you really like and lap it a bunch anyway. Especially if the snow is flying.


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## jbyron (Sep 13, 2010)

That's good to hear. 

Regarding your rant...The reason people from the Midwest ask this is b/c they look forward to their trip or 2 all year long and want to make sure it's as good as possible. It's not that we don't realize that anywhere in the Rockies is going to be better than our best spot. It's that we don't have the luxury to try a different mountain the next weekend - We have to wait a calendar year... 

If you have to put your eggs into 1 basket, you make sure you get the best basket possible.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

When I go on trips, I generally look for a spot and stick with it. How many resorts are there or not don't really effect my choice. Overall, I almost have a better time going to a spot where there is one option versus multiple options. The main reason is that it gives you time to get to know the mountain, find the good spots, and enjoy quality runs versus trying to figure out a new mountain every day. That's me.

Powder Mountain btw is plenty close to Snobasin. A 20 minute drive will get you there, and that is definitely a worthy hill. Salt Lake and Park City areas are about an hour away with easy freeway access. So it's not like you won't have choices.


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## cadencesdad (Nov 18, 2008)

killclimbz said:


> When I go on trips, I generally look for a spot and stick with it. How many resorts are there or not don't really effect my choice. Overall, I almost have a better time going to a spot where there is one option versus multiple options. The main reason is that it gives you time to get to know the mountain, find the good spots, and enjoy quality runs versus trying to figure out a new mountain every day. That's me.
> 
> Powder Mountain btw is plenty close to Snobasin. A 20 minute drive will get you there, and that is definitely a worthy hill. Salt Lake and Park City areas are about an hour away with easy freeway access. So it's not like you won't have choices.


100% agreed. I'd rather get to know a mountain rather than make a single run and call it good. PowMow is HUGE and sees alot less people.

You can find powder stashes for days after a storm at PowMow. Add in the fact that they have night boarding and you will have a killer time getting to know Powder Mountain. I'd only take the snowcat if you have already bombed everything else and are bored (Won't happen)
out of your mind with all the acreage that doesn't cost $15 a run

Brighton and the Canyons are also great choices. Brighton for the atmosphere, backcountry, tree runs, Milly, Great western. Canyons because you could board for a week and not hit every lift unless it was a goal.


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