Utah Sampler: 02/17 - 02/23/2018

I’ve got a mile long list of all the people who told me I should cancel my Utah trip. “So-and-so pulled the plug on their Utah trip and is going to Jackson instead” they’d say. Or Big Sky. Or Grand Targhee. Even TGR was dishing out the anti-stoke. I hatched a hair-brained scheme (which we fortunately didn’t execute) to ditch our last couple days in Utah and drive 5 hours north to Jackson instead.

Lucky for us, Utah’s long awaited pattern change started to kick in a week before our trip. 18 to 20 inches of snow fell across the Cottonwoods the week before our arrival with predictions of significantly more.

Park City and The Canyons: 01/31 - 02/02/2016

I’ve loved every one of the western ski trips I’ve gone on over the last several years, but with the east locked in a snow drought this winter, our trip to Park City, Utah was a godsend. As if on cue, the storm cycle that started the day before our arrival deposited 22 inches of fluff during our stay. And that came on top of what’s already been an excellent snow year in Utah.

Snowbird, UT: 02/22/2014

I’m sure I would have been more than happy skiing Alta for a third straight day, but you can’t come to Little Cottonwood Canyon without skiing the Bird. Despite sharing a common boundary and appealing to expert skiers, Alta and Snowbird couldn’t be more different. Whereas Alta is spread out and has an old school vibe, everything about Snowbird is in your face, from the upscale base lodging to the 120-passenger tram that covers the Bird’s 3000 vertical feet in less than 10 minutes, passing directly over double black steeps that would make an Okemo skier wet his pants and cry for mama.

Not that in your face is a bad thing. There’s amazing expert terrain everywhere you look. I have no regrets about how I allocated my 3 days in Utah, but getting to know Snowbird better is a reason to return.

Alta, UT: 02/21/2014

I enjoyed Alta so much on Day 1 that I decided to return there for Day 2 to take care of unfinished business. Snowbird can wait.

Alta, UT: 02/20/2014

First of all, my wife’s a saint for letting me go on this year’s version of the guys’ ski trip. She took care of the kids solo for the second half of their school break while I headed to Utah for three days of skiing at Alta and Snowbird.

Instead of cramming all my photos into one trip report, I’m breaking it into three. This is day 1: Alta, UT.