ncounty

I am sooo envious of you ladies.... wish I was back for all that powder. It is so hard to time it right. I just saw that Delta has amazing fares next weekend leaving Saturday and returning Tuesday but I have to work Monday and tuesday! It was $139 roundtrip. If I came back Sunday, it'd be $500-700!

Dayle- I was just there during the film festival but I only saw one film. Skied one day at Snowbasin and otherwise just socialized; had a lot of friends from San Diego who were there and also catching up with neighbor friends. I don't come for any of the other festivals in particular, just love to get away and get up there when I can. I LOVE to travel as well and am very excited for Barbara's first trip to Italy. I would love to meet you ladies!.... I hope to be back in April, late the second week with my ten year old son during his spring break. I'm sure he wouldn't mind springin' his ole mom to go out and have lunch one day. One of my neighbors has offered to babysit. If either of you know any ten year old boys who run on the sensitive, artistic, creative type but likes video games, I would love to find a play mate for him up there as well. Let me know if you guys are around between April 7th and 12th. Would love to do lunch.

BarbaraS

I'm up for lunch one day, especially if we can talk about Italy! My schedule is more open than Dayle's right now and I have nothing scheduled for those days yet, so hopefully, Dayle is available.

I happen to have twin eleven-year-old boys (6th grade) who love video games. Unfortuately, we live down in the valley (South Jordan).

Lunch sounds fun - thanks!

Abby43

Dayle-can I come visit too in April??? ha ha. I looked at the skiutah.com site today and there has literally been dozens of inches of snow within the last 24 hours. It is absolutely incredible and a skier's dream come true.

Dayle

ncounty,

Now I get the North County name! What city do you live in?

There are some young boys about that age in my neighborhood (Blackhawk Station), but I don't know them well. Seem like good kids.

We should plan a lunch! For me, it would have to be on April 12, Saturday. Or, I could do dinner one week night, but I doubt that would work for Barbara.

Abby - April skiing should be great this year. Alta just had 39" from just this last storm alone. Actually not unusual, just that the west hasn't had a "normal" precip year in a long time!

Join us for lunch

ncounty

Hi Dayle,

I live in Solana Beach although my postal address is Del Mar and everyone who has been to my house thinks I am in Rancho Santa Fe. It is one of those ill-defined areas where the three areas intersect. Let's try to do lunch on Saturday the 12th. Maybe Barbara can get away and join us?

And Abby- I second that invitation; you should definitely try to get one more ski trip in and it might as well be that week so you can lunch with us!

Dayle

Oh, except the Park City ski areas usually close that weekend, if not the weekend before! However, if the snow is still really good they may stay open longer.

the Cottonwood Canyons areas will still be open for sure.

BarbaraS

Lunch on Saturday, April 12, is now on my calendar. I'm looking forward to it. Where shall we eat?

Dayle

Hard one! Shall we try somewhere new? A few might be closed for April vacations. All the resort employees and waitstaff will be in Moab!

BarbaraS

I don't get up to Park City enough to eat, so almost any place will be new to me. I'll let you decide.

ncounty

Yes, I am open to new places as well. I hear there is a little hideaway in Summit Park, some cafe that may be good and less of a commute for Barbara. Also, there are lots of places in Kimball Junction. I just prefer not to eat at Good Thymes because I go there all the time with my son.

Linds

Hi, again, guys!

Well, I leave tomorrow for my SLC trip. Thank you all so much for your insights on this board. I'm staying in an iffy hotel, but hey, it's cheap and downtown. I got a 2-day Super Pass and plan to ski Solitude and Brighton (thanks to some wise advice on here about avoiding the President's Day crowds). It looks like we're going to have gorgeous, bluebird weather with tons of snow on the ground. I really couldn't ask for more!

I'll wave in your general directions Dayle, Barbara and ncounty!

Thanks again,
Linds

BarbaraS

Linds - have a great time! I learned to ski at Brighton, so I'm partial to it. I look forward to hearing all about your trip on your return.

Dayle

Linds,

Have a great time!

Barbara, talk to you soon!

ncounty

I'm so envious; wish I was there as well! Have a fabulous time!

Linds

Thanks, guys! Trip was wonderful!

How to begin? My ski buddy and I both had delayed flights to Salt Lake on Sunday, so we didn't have time to sight-see as planned. We checked into the hotel, caught up on news over a bottle of red wine (smuggled in by yours truly due to the laws against selling such stuff on Sundays and holidays), and went to Biaggi's to eat, which was pretty good. Then we went back home to get some rest for our first day of skiing.

We stayed at the Howard Johnson downtown, which, while basic, was passably clean and suited our needs (I'm not picky, though). It was pretty close to the ski bus and TRAX stops. The free airport shuttle furnished by the hotel was great, although we didn't know that you have to book the shuttle from the hotel back to the airport 24 hours in advance. Oops. I think we made the manager grumpy over that one. There was also a free continental breakfast each morning, which was a godsend, since both mornings, my friend and I were running to catch the ski bus and didn't have time to do much more than grab a bagel and some hot chocolate. The grumpy manager (whom I liked, even if he was a bit passive-agressive) even gave us a lift to the ski bus stop to save us some time. Very nice!

Our first day, we skied Solitude. Beautiful place, with nice terrain which was gorgeously groomed. My only real beef was with the rental staff. I've skied many, many times before, and I know how my boots are supposed to fit. When I asked for a longer boot, the guy in the rental shop at first wouldn't listen, and then was downright rude. They also picked out all my gear for me before I could ask for a performance package, and generally acted like they didn't give a flip that a) my boots fit so badly that they were actually painful, and b) my skis were laughably short for my skill level and height. Whatever. Left a bad taste in my mouth for the rest of the day, though!

At lunch, we saw that we could either stand up and eat a $15 burger at the pizzeria, or we could sit down and eat a $15 burger at Creekside, a nicely-appointed slopeside cafe. So we chose Creekside. Our lunch was awesome, but it cost almost $60! Ouch.

After a quick afternoon of skiing, we turned in the acursed rental gear and took the ski bus back down to Salt Lake. Since it was "rush hour" on a busy holiday, the trip back down the canyon and across town on the bus, and back downtown on TRAX, took around two hours. (I think we're renting a car next time!)

That night, since we were impoverished by our lunch and too tired to walk far, we tried out a Salt Lake institution -- Crown Burger. It was...interesting. We had THE Crown Burger, which is a cheeseburger with pastrami on top. Let's just say that any time we had gastrointestinal issues for the rest of the trip, our catch phrase was "Crown Burgers! Argh!" They were tasty, alright. Just deadly.

Stay tuned for part two...

Linds

Part two...

On our second day, we were determined to get to the slopes earlier, because we were slugs our first day and didn't start to ski until 11 am. We did slightly better the second day, but because the ski buses leave at such crazy times, we had to take a cab up to the Park and Ride at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon in order to get to Brighton before noon. Oh, well...so much for free transportation!

So after plunking down $40 for a cab, we got to Brighton at a respectable 9:15am. Let me tell you guys, I LOVE Brighton! It's lovely and rustic and unassuming. You would NEVER see a $15 burger at this place. Instead of ritzy condos dolled up to look "European", there are just a few privately-owned cottages scattered through the woods, one bare-bones lodge, a cafeteria, a bar/warming hut, and a few multi-purpose buildings.

Equipment rental was easy, fast, very friendly and very professional. The guys made sure I had a good fit, showed me how to adjust the boots, and put me on an awesome pair of demo skis (Salomon Jade 156's). They even put my name down to call me when they sell the skis at the end of the season. After my experience at Solitude, I was immensely pleased.

And the terrain! I wasn't sure what my ski buddy meant when he said, "just wait until we get to Brighton." It was steep, but not too steep, undulating, and interesting. You could actually play around in the trees without fear of going over a cliff or ending up on a double diamond run. There was plenty of great stuff for intermediate skiers like me. The snow, while packed (I found some powder patches in the trees, though), was the consistency of powdered sugar. Just wonderful.

We had lunch at the cafeteria. Our chili bowls were a tasty bargain at $7 apiece, and we had a new foodstuff to blame for digestive issues besides Crown Burgers. (I can say, with some dignity, that the digestive issues belonged almost entirely to my ski buddy. He is the *boy* here, after all!)

Since Brighton has night skiing, we were able to extend our day until about 5:30, when we crawled back to the base looking for water and beer, not necessarily in that order. There I had my first experience with buying beer in a Utah bar. My $5 bought us a three-week membership at Molly Green's "Private Club". I am privileged and special. I have the membership card to prove it. I made my buddy buy the beer.

We had paid for night skiing, but after a pitcher of Utah's finest 3.2 beer, we didn't feel particularly inclined to go back outside, engage in healthful exercise, and freeze our tushes off. So we shopped for a while in the Brighton souvenir shop, figured out that our ski bus wouldn't leave for another hour and a half, and went back to Molly Green's for more beer and some dinner (we put that membership to good use!). We walked down to the last ski bus of the night five minutes early, which was fortunate, since it left four minutes early! I pity the fool who actually got there on time.

Since almost everyone on the bus was heading to the TRAX station, we actually made it there and to our hotel in record time, although we were too tired to do anything but shower and sleep by that point.

Not much to report about our last day. They were having a temperature inversion in the valley, which meant some of the nastiest, thickest smog I've ever seen was parked over Salt Lake. You could actually taste it when you breathed.

We packed, ate breakfast, ticked off the hotel manager/shuttle driver by trying to book a shuttle ride less than 24 hours in advance (it's on a sign behind the desk, but apparently we can't read), and ultimately ended up getting a ride on the free airport shuttle, after all. We both made our flights, and it was a smooth trip back to Texas.

So now I'm home, hungrily watching the Utah snow reports and forecasts. I definitely have to do this again next year. I still need to experience fresh Utah powder, after all!

BarbaraS

Linds - I enjoyed your trip report. I haven't had a juciy Crown burger for years now, but I doubt it was the cause of any intestinal problems. Unless of course you're not use to eating that much fat in one sitting.

Dayle

Linds,

Glad you had a good time! Yes, public transportation takes some time pretty much everywhere in the US! For what you spent on a cab, maybe should have rented a car.

I'm surprised that you were surprised by the food prices at Solitude. Surely, you have skied other resorts around the country where prices are really just the same.

In Utah, Brighton and Alta are the exception to the usual "ski resorts". Both are very old and tend toward more of a "locals" place. No fancy lodges or restaurants, no fancy prices for anything actually! Other states have their "exceptions" too.

On buying beer in UT: You can buy beer in the grocery stores (except on Sundays in some towns). You can buy it at the State Liquor stores (real beer). You can buy it at restaurants that have a beer/liquor license by the glass. All without a "membership".

"Memberships" are for "private clubs", where you can have a drink without accompanying food, real beer on tap, etc. I live here and I don't even have a membership anywhere....

Do come back again for the fresh powder. It's kind of a good thing that the snow FINALLY let up for the big holiday weekend. If it hadn't, there would have been a lot of visitors who couldn't get in to the airport or up to the ski resorts at all!

Since you liked Brighton, next time I would suggest trying Powder Mountain (up by Ogden) and Sundance. Both have a real small time feel. Powder Mtn is the real thing, tons of snow and not developed. Sundance is developed on a limited, but very discreet basis. Bothwould be 1 hour drive from SLC though.

I always enjoy skiing at Park City Mtn Resort. It's a whole different place from Deer Valley.

Thanks for the report!

ncounty

I really enjoyed your trip report, LInds. Thanks! I also think for your next trip back it might be best to have a car rental. Check carrentals.com; it is my favorite site for reservations. I am in Florida right now and learned something. Even though you have a reservation, you should first ask what their best rate at the moment is. I found it to be $8 less than my best internet find!
I like Brighton as well. If you are back and have a car, another place to check out is Snowbasin. Other than being crowded because it has been discovered, it has some of the most gorgeous views around. I also like Sundance and would love to check out their happy hour; the place looks really cool with live music when I was there last. It is pretty small as ski places go but is the cheapest place around by far! Check out their website. It is best if after a snowfall because they don't tend to get as much snow as other places.

mes3

Linds, great report. Our family has skied Brighton, Alta, Soliutude, SnowBasin, and Powder Mountain in the past. With youngsters, we have gravitated towards P.M for the last 5-6 yrs with Snow Basin coming in second. We d/n ski this year due to a planned hiking trip in Southern Utah for early summer. Here We are still in Feb., and I'm already suffering from withdrawls. I find myself already looking at airfares for next year.

Dayle, I've heard P.M. is going to experience and huge EXTREME MAKEOVER with the new owners in the coming years. Is that true?? We love Eden and would move in a heart beat if I could afford land prices. Thanks for the snow reports.