After a 2.5 day drive from Indianapolis my family and I arrived in Park City on December 23rd. The trip was uneventful with the exception of some very high winds and some brief white-outs driving through Wyoming. We skirted south to avoid the weather that had just pounded Iowa and headed back up North through Nebraska and onto Wyoming and Utah.

Due to my daughter being a rider, and my wife liking to shop in Park City we are spending the first few days at PCMR.

There is plenty of snow out here and more is expected the next couple of days. Crowds have not been a problem so far and we were treated to a beautiful blue-bird day on Christmas with very light crowds.

The Park City resorts and Solitude if not 100% open are very close. The locals are telling us that is already better than it ever got last year.

We will report on how crowded it gets the next few days. We will probably head over to Solitude one day and maybe even Powder Mountain if we get ambitious.

One thing we did is get the Fast Tracks passes at Park City. They are a pricey upgrade but if you are looking to maximize your turns and hate lift lines they are worth considering.

The shot below is looking down on Silverlode Lift on the way down from the top of King Con.

Get after it!

Solitude should be fantastic. (It was in early December and they've had some dumps since I left.)

Pow Mow, maybe not so much so. Friend of mine got back from skiing there right before Xmas; it was not ready for prime time. This may be one of the rare times Pow Mow is not worth the long drive.

Thanks for the update. I've been following the situation in UT closely b/c I am contemplating a trip later in the Season. Definitely looking better than last year.

BTW, there's a good Iphone/Ipad app for UT skiers called Ski Utah. Great for tracking weather and conditions.

Best one-click to tell you what the Utah winter has been like:

http://www.alta.com/pages/snowfallhistory.php

(And check the base reported at the top of the page. ~75" of mid-mountain base, rock skis/more careful skiing not needed off-trail.)

Unless it's the shoulder season, all four of the Cottonwood areas pretty much ski the same.

Taking a wild guess on the Ski Utah app, is this the equivalent web site: http://www.utahskiweather.com/ ?

This is generally the most useful link on the Utah Ski Weather page: http://www.utahskiweather.com/discussions

Otherwise, I prefer the NWS detailed forecast pages linked to off the resort web sites for better weather info.

Just so you all know - I have a condo off the base of The Canyons in Park City ... and I am renting to a select lucky few which means you! You get a Red Pines Condo in PC. that can sleep four (two adults and two can sleep on the convertible couch) with gas fireplace, super-easy access to the Canyons and the free bus system, etc etc etc for $50/night. Pics here:

The Living Room Above view Living Room
Another livingroom image with big-a$$tv
Opp there is its - ha ha snow view off the deck
Bedroom yay
Reverse Bedroom shot ! Ohh - off the deck part dux

Just for effect - this can be your for $50/night

Let me know! emose@core.com

Thanks for the tips all.