Shandy1977

I am looking at skiing at Deer Valley or Park City next week for a couple days. I am an east coast skier used to our sheets of ice and hard surface and look forward to the much better conditions I have always heard about out west. This would be my first time skiing out there.

However, I see the temps in the 40's this week... even getting up to low 50's one day I am there.

Out here, that usually means a mess skiing. Water freezing into sheets of ice overnight so you are sliding all around in the morning and then skiing in slush all afternoon. Is it the same out west?

Any ideas or thoughts on how skiing around Park City will be next week would be greatly appreciated. I plan to be there to ski February 28th and 29th. And even if the conditions would be "bad" by local standards, are they still much better than what I would get in NH or ME?

Thanks so much for any advice!

Christina

hah, I should be so lucky,I'm going to Lake Tahoe area next week and it is scheduled to be about 70 at Squaw Valley next week. Barely less than that at Kirkwood or Heavenly. 40s aren't that much of a problem, I presume it isn't 40s at the top of the mountain.

I just looked at weather.com for Park City mountain and it wasn't 50 until next Saturday, some 40s the other days -- but that as the max. At night it's 20-30. That wouldn't bother me that much. They have about a 60 inch base of packed powder at Park City and Deer Valley right now.

In any case, I was there last year when the weather was about like that, it wasn't super cold as it was already into March, and it was still better than Vermont in March, which is the only place I've been skiing in New England. It's a lot drier out there to begin with, not as icy, although to be honest, I didn't think it was as good as COlorado (or Lake Tahoe in better years). I wasn't that impressed. You could go to Alta or Snowbird, I think it's drier there and weather.com says about 10 degrees cooler than Park City/Deer Valley next week.

Of course if you are at Deer Valley, that's a ways to go for no reason when you have 3 ski resorts right there. Frankly, I'd hard so much about Deer Valley being so great (and a friend of mine goes there almost every year and loves it) but I wasn't that crazy about it. I just thought the terrain was average, the facilities rather out of date (you can't even use a credit card in the lockers, for example), and there are houses right next to the runs, the scenery just isn't that great.

Shandy1977

Thanks for that info. I am not 100% set on Deer Valley yet, so that is helpful and I can look at options. I fly in late Saturday night, landing about 10:45pm, so the proximity of the Park City area to SLC was a bonus for me.

I think the particular draw for me to Deer Valley was the percentage of green and blue trails. I am still a very intermediate skier and stay off the blacks here in New England, so I don't plan to try them in Utah. Deer Valley just looked like it might be an "easier" mountain to handle my 1st time.

Thanks again!
And thanks, in advance, for any advice to come!

tomfuller

For a future ski trip check out Mt. Hood in Oregon.
There are 2 ski areas on Mt. Hood that have over 100" base.
When it rains in Portland, it usually snows on Mt. Hood.
The waterfalls east of Portland are great this time of year.
If you wanted to go farther from Portland, we also have over 100" at Mt. Bachelor out of Bend.
I'm not a downhill skier but I have snowshoed some this winter.

fmpden

Your initial assess is fairly accurate as is Christina's. For years I skied Park City the first week of March with friends. It was always a dice roll because of the altitude and basically east facing which catches the morning sun. But I do like Snowbird. It is on the west side of the mountain and more protected than Park City. You should not encounter the hard pack, icy conditions of eastern mountains unless it is unusually warm. But it can be crusty in the morning.

If year interested in good spring skiing, then you should be considering Colorado areas. The big difference is altitude. Most of the main Colorado ski areas start around 8,9000 feet and go up from there.

Fully disclosure - am Colorado resident who has skied mostly Colorado since '63.

StantonHyde

I just skied Deer Valley on Sunday. It was fantastic. Stay up higher--lots and lots of green and blue runs--long runs. They are great. Go early in the morning to avoid any slushy snow in the afternoon. It is a very luxurious resort--The food is superb!!!!

Are you staying in SLC or PC? If in PC, then PC or the Canyons or Deer Valley are all fine for intermediate skiers.

If you are in SLC, then head up to the Cottonwood Canyons where the snow is really fantastic. Brighton is great--plenty of blue runs. Snowbird should have plenty as well since they get people from all over. (we ski Alta and it is more blue/blacks)

It will not be icy, it gets cold at night so the snow doesn't melt that much and then it is groomed. Spring skiing is one of my favorite times of the year!!

Christina

A friend of mine just got back from Deer Valley and said it was great, but she was there end of last week.

Weather is getting marginally better at Lake Tahoe for next week (meaning not as much 50s or rain predicted). Thank goodness, I was thinking of cancelling part of my trip. I just hope no rain.