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If you’re looking for world-class snow, jaw dropping scenery, and good times, then Utah is the place for you.
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I’ve never seen so much snow in my life and so many beautiful mountains at the same time.
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When you first land at the new Salt Lake City International airport, the mountain views are stunning.
The city itself totally surprised me with a vibrant nightlife that has a really cool vibe and packed restaurants. It’s a metropolitan city with a beautiful blend of a bustling city and quiet rural life. The downtown area has numerous restaurants and pubs, including Copper Onion, which was recommended for dinner. I tried their famous deluxe sirloin specialty burger with an apple crisp to finish it off. It didn’t disappoint.
The next day it was time to ski, so I headed 45 minutes outside downtown Salt Lake to Alta Ski Area. I left in a light rain, which the locals told me is actually good news, because rain in the city means big powder on the mountains. They weren’t wrong, as it ended up to be an epic Utah storm you only read about.
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This is due to three factors unique to Utah: The effect of the Great Salt Lake, cold air, and wind energy through the canyons. The snow made the drive a bit longer with traffic held up for avalanche control.
On arrival, it was well worth the wait, with two feet of the famous dry Utah powder. Visibility wasn’t the best with the snow still pounding the hills, but the soft marshmallow cushion of champagne powder made gliding through and over the moguls a breeze. I enjoyed some powder runs on Roller Coaster from the Sugarloaf chair, then for a real challenge I went down So Long which is off the Supreme Lift and then did Extrovert which is off Sugarloaf. For a real test try Alf’s High Rustler, colloquially known as High Boy, known as one of the most famous steep pitches in Utah.
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Skiing in deep powder isn’t easy, but once you get the touch, it’s like floating on air. You have to centre yourself over the wider mountain skis and then you just relax and let-er go. Proper ski suits are also a necessity. My Arc’teryx Sabre insulated suit and Arc’teryx Gore-tex cuffed gloves kept me warm and dry.
Floating on the powder became easy with hoots and hollers of excitement from my guide. As a matter of fact, the atmosphere was so electric you could hear powder hungry revelers three trails over. It was a famous Pow Pow day in Utah with numerous yard sales and spectacular face plants with skiers looking like snow creatures after nose dives in pillows of powder.
Alta is a massive ski resort with over 2,600 skiable acres, 118 trails (half of which are black diamond), five chairlifts with a base elevation of 8,530 feet and peak at 11,068 feet.
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The vertical drop is an impressive 2,538 feet. It’s known for receiving more snow than most Utah resorts with an average of 545 inches (45 feet). It’s consistently ranked as the best snow in North America by Powderhounds.com as one of their top picks in the world with The Greatest Snow on Earth. It’s also one of oldest resorts in North America, dating back to 1937 and still holds a surprising tradition of only allowing skiers.
It’s next to nearby Snowbird resort off the Sugarloaf chair, another world-class resort that also allows snowboarding. You can ski both resorts on the Alta-Bird Pass or Ikon Pass.
There are cool lodges on both mountains with lively après and busy family time dinners. My favourite lunch spot was Albion Grill in the Albion Day Lodge for tasty comfort food including perfectly browned, grilled cheese with homemade tomato soup.
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My next stop was Solitude, a third resort, about a 30-minute drive from Salt Lake City. It was a repeat of the day before with another 12-km drive through Big Cottonwood Canyon in heavy snowfall. Pro tip: Leave early and arrive before 8 a.m. on powder days or it may take you longer to get up the two-lane mountain road.
Solitude is a large ski resort with 1,200 skiable acres of dry champagne powder and best known for its exciting off-piste terrain in Honeycomb Canyon. The mountain averages a massive 500 inches of snowfall a season and has nine lifts including a magic carpet, 82 trails, and three bowls. About half the runs are black trails, leaving plenty of runs for intermediates and beginners off the Moonbeam Express chair to the gentle Easy Street trail. For blue runners, the best trails are off Sunrise and Apex chairs.
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Our lunch spot put us halfway down the mountain at the Roundhouse lodge which features a gigantic 20-foot wide round fireplace. It’s a Himalayan restaurant best known for savory butter chicken with rice and naan bread and IPA Juicy, a local craft beer.
Another unique feature is the neighbouring resort of Brighton, which is connected to Solitude. Skiing from the top of the Summit express chairlift, you can ski both on the same day on the Ikon Pass and Brighton is worth the visit with just over 1,000 skiable acres. It’s best known for park riders and a boarders’ playground.
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Like many Utah resorts, Solitude has its marque ski areas. If you’re looking for a challenge try the steep and deep Milk Run. It’s a thigh burner at 3.5 miles and many consider it the steepest continuous pitch in all of Utah. It falls off the Powderhorn Chair along with some of the prettiest views you’ll ever see at any ski resort. If you’re daring, the Fantasy Ridge will give you a solid rush of shredding.
If this is your favourite Utah area to ski, I highly recommend buying the four for one with the Ski City Super Pass including Alta, Snowbird, Solitude and Brighton. Transportation will be a breeze as all four are connected to Trax light rail and UTA buses.
All in all, these fantastic resorts offered incredible deep powder, stunning mountain views and outstanding Utah hospitality that’s tough to find anywhere else in the world.
Next week, my Utah adventure continues south to the quieter Eagle Point and Brian Head.
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