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.

Whiteface and Gore: 02/15 & 02/16/2014

Hoyt's High at Whiteface

The Ski Bowl at Gore

Warning: long post. Probably should have split this in two...

Choices. We had wanted to ski Whiteface be in and Lake Placid this weekend for the Olymipcs, but with last week’s new snow we didn’t want to miss out on Gore’s glades either. The solution: we split the weekend with a day at each mountain.

Gore Mountain: 02/11/2014

Family obligations kept us away from Gore this past weekend, but an opportunity for an on-mountain “professional networking” day Tuesday helped to at least ease the withdrawal symptoms.

Hawkeye