Seems like the snow cycle is picking up again - no major dumps by Utah standards, but 5-10 inches is sure nice by my standards. Talking to locals, some of the areas got some rain (or at least very wet snow) right after President's Day. I could tell there was a pretty icy base under some of this past weekend's fresh pow. The Park City canyon (Park City, The Canyons, Deer Valley) has the worst conditions and coverage. This past Saturday @ Powder Mountain I rode up the lift with some Park City workers, and they said that Powder had much, much better snow/base than Park City. Apparently Park City was getting some bare spots.
If you're staying in Salt Lake City, are doing day trips up to the areas, and can handle some non-groomed slopes, I'd recommended not doing more than two days at the Park City area resorts. Definitely check out dinner/nightlife when you do drive up there.
I'd also strongly recommend checking out Snowbasin. It's a longer drive from SLC than the other areas, but it's my personal favorite in Utah (and I've been to all the areas except Sundance.) Snowbasin has great terrain for intermediates and experts; there are plenty of long groomers but it has some nasty stuff for those who want some challenges. Snowbasin gets more snow than Park City but gets less than the Little/Big Cottonwood canyons. Snowbasin has great vertical, base facilities that make Deer Valley's seem shabby, the least crowds and is the most scenic of all the Utah resorts. Plus, it has modern lifts: two gondolas, a (short) tram, and one high-speed detachable quad.
Recap:
Thursday PM: Powder day @ Alta (9+ inches). Only got in two hour's worth of skiing due to a flight delay and having to get new skis mounted, but each run was epic. Classic, light Utah pow.
Friday: Snowbasin. Found some freshies along tree-lined and open-slope ridges. A lot of the runs had cut-up powder, some of which was a bit heavy. (Probably due to relatively warm weather and sun exposure.) Utah has been a bit warmer than normal recently, making the snow a bit heavier than normal.
Saturday: Powder Mountain. Found some freshies right under the lifts, hiked and traversed for some more. Good amount of snow, but some of it was a bit heavy/cut-up.
Sunday: Snowbasin. Colder weather and the winds of Saturday dried out the snow. One of my best days ever on skis. I did a lot of (moderate) hiking on the upper ridges and found plenty of uncut snow in bowls/chutes.
Monday AM: Brighton. Powder morning. Brighton was reporting 10+ inches from Sunday PM to Monday AM. Almost every run was uncut snow. Had tons of fun playing on the terrain around the Millicent(?) lift. First time for me @ Brighton; it has some very nice terrain for a "small" area.
[This message has been edited by JohnL (edited 02-24-2004).]
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