They said the resort has received 148 inches of snowfall so far in January, bringing the season's total to 376 inches.
Here are a few photos from the last week in Utah.
Got to ski with a couple of my adult kids last weekend at Snowbird:
Early in the week my son led me down Great Scott. This trail was so bony last year I never skied it once.
.Ditto for Elevator Chute:
.The snow coverage is so good making steep stuff more manageable that my son's got me skiing stuff I've never skied before, this is Hanging Bowl:
I've gotten to ride the new tram cars numerous times as lines were low midweek:
Even paradise has its dark side. Taking today off, Jan 28, 2023, because there's a foot of new snow, but it's a Saturday and the access roads to Alta, Snowbird, Solitude and Brighton are snarled with traffic, including hours long closures for snow removal and avalanche mitigation work. Might try again tomorrow, but sometimes it's not worth the trouble when I can rest and ski the next empty weekday. Although the current storm front is expected to continue through Sunday night, so Monday could be a popular day for Utahns to call in sick.
Here are a few more photos from the past week skiing in Utah:
This shot shows both new tram cars in action about midpoint in the line. They were installed this offseason at Snowbird:
Another photo of my son skiing Great Scott, a signature black diamond run at Snowbird, Jan 21.
This is the Cirque Traverse, a key route to lots of fine offpiste steeps to the left and right. The slope to the immediate right of the snowboarder would be Middle Cirque on the trail map. It leads to the Peruvian Gulch side of the mtn. To his left would be Restaurant Roll leading to the Gad Valley.
The "backside" of Snowbird consists of a huge bowl called Mineral Basin. It's a great option for intermediate and advanced skiers and is always very popular on sunny days. It's not a good place to be on low viz days because you can't see where you are going in the huge treeless expanse. This was a pretty day!
A pretty view of Mt. Timpanogos from Mineral Basin at Snowbird:
Moving on to Solitude Ski area, all photos from Jan 26, 2023.
This is one of the great views in all of Utah skiing, Fantasy Ridge. It's hike-to terrain above the Honeycomb Canyon section of Solitude Ski Area and only for strong experts. I'm told the climb to get up there includes bootpacking a steep, knife-edge ridge line.
Another view of Fantasy Ridge from further away. Vince is waiting for me at the top of an inbounds slope called Buckeye Jr.
This is the sporty section of the summit chair lift line at Solitude. This is the lift you'd take to get to views/terrain in above photos. The impressive cliffs to the right generally don't have so much snow sticking to them. I saw tracks in that area that were made by people with much larger cojones than I :-)
This is the entrance to Headwall Forrest, a steep treed area that often holds great, soft snow. You can see the edge of it to the left in above photo.
Vince doing some bumps near the Eagle express chair on the lower, frontside of Solitude:
This is the Last Chance Grill to the left. The Village of Solitude can partially be seen to the right. That's the Apex Express chair in center of photo.
Jim,
Related to Mineral Basin, I've include a link to a promotional video for Alta, from the 1940s. I'm relatively sure they ski Mineral Basin to find Margy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR54O-qLQ4k
Don't think they had 3 hour traffic issues back then.....
What's the best airline for flying to Utah? Who has the cheapest flights from Dulles or BWI?
I've heard of people just bringing their boots in checked luggage and renting skis when they get there. Does anyone here do that or is it easy enough to check skis? Any other tips for flying with skis? Been many years since I've done that.
Mongo wrote:
What's the best airline for flying to Utah? Who has the cheapest flights from Dulles or BWI?
I've heard of people just bringing their boots in checked luggage and renting skis when they get there. Does anyone here do that or is it easy enough to check skis? Any other tips for flying with skis? Been many years since I've done that.
The best to SLC is probably Delta, but the cheapest might be Frontier from WAS DC airports. From BWI Spirit might be cheapest. As you may know baggage fees are real tricky these days and can make seemingly cheap flights as pricey as expensive flights. Some airlines might count skis and boots as one bag, some won't. So you just have to game it out to see what the bottom line is with each airline. Using a website like travelocity to plug in your dates and destinations is a good place to start to compare prices among different carriers. I drive now to ski and bring everything in my car across country, but in the past I always flew with my own skis and boots, checking the skis and boots, or sometimes bringing the boots in a carry-on bag to ensure they didn't get separated from me. If you're not endeared to your own gear, then renting might be a good option. I think roundtrip fares from Wash-Balt to SLC are around $400 this winter?? Two advantages Utah has over a lot of ski destinations is that the SLC airport is less than an hour from six top notch ski areas. Also, there are a lot of cheap motels in the SLC suburbs for $100 or less per night that you can stay at and commute to the various nearby ski areas. There is bus service up to Alta-Bird and Sol-Bright, but best to have a rental car for that.
Nice pics! It's amazing that Timp looks so close. Mineral Basin is gorgeous!
Usually there's pretty good bumps under the Eagle lift at Solitude. My best run ever (mogul run) under that chair.
Scree usually had pretty good powder as it was at the end of a long traverse that most people didn't want to bother with. Was called Evergreen back in the day.
Did you use an Ikon pass to ski out there?
superguy wrote:
Nice pics! It's amazing that Timp looks so close. Mineral Basin is gorgeous!
Usually there's pretty good bumps under the Eagle lift at Solitude. My best run ever (mogul run) under that chair.
Scree usually had pretty good powder as it was at the end of a long traverse that most people didn't want to bother with. Was called Evergreen back in the day.
Did you use an Ikon pass to ski out there?
Yes, I have a senior Snowbird season pass and an Ikon base pass (it only cost $299 on top of the price of my Snowbird pass).
JohnL at Snowbird, 6 Feb 2023, powder day!
Mongo wrote:
What's the best airline for flying to Utah? Who has the cheapest flights from Dulles or BWI?
I've heard of people just bringing their boots in checked luggage and renting skis when they get there. Does anyone here do that or is it easy enough to check skis? Any other tips for flying with skis? Been many years since I've done that.
To check fares for Southwest, you'll have to go to the SW website. They don't work with any third-party travel websites. I almost always fly SW from RDU because two checked bags are free. Not as many other options as exist from DC/NoVA. I would NEVER check my boots at the start of a ski trip. Having skis or a suitcase arrive late is not a big deal. The airlines usually provide money to rent skis. But I want to have boots that fit, even if I end up having to rent skis because the airline messed up. I also put basic ski clothing good for a day or two somewhere in my carry-ons.
If you can book non-stop, that's ideal. Second best is a flight that doesn't require a plane change. Not only a shorter flight time, no risk of having baggage not get moved over from the first plane to the final plane.
Do you have a ski bag? I opted to get a hardcase that can hold two pairs of skis if needed. Most of the time I only have one pair, but then can put other bulky stuff such as snow boots there too. Have also flown with a soft ski bag with wheels that's designed for one pair of skis. The advantage is if I'm sharing a car with a friends the soft bag takes up less space in the car.
Jim, awesome pics! Thanks and wow you are having the time of your life! Will you be in Utah late Feb? We are skiing 23-26. Would be awesome to hook up.
Swoop (Steve)
I was up at Solitude for a while today, 15 Feb 2023. Chilly day, 15f at base, cooler on the hill. They have a neat, old patrol shack at the top of their Powderhorn Chairlift:
Took a fun run today called Parachute, you get there thru a gate at the top of the Powderhorn lift.
Snow is still good out here, but it's been over a week since the last big dump :-o
swoop wrote:
Jim, awesome pics! Thanks and wow you are having the time of your life! Will you be in Utah late Feb? We are skiing 23-26. Would be awesome to hook up.
Swoop (Steve)
Hi Steve, see my PM. Best chance to ski with you would be Feb 26 at Snowbird. Planning to be on the mtn that day with large group of friends.
PS: Thanks for the comment Mark!
Thanks Jim,
Just PM'd you back, we will also be at the Bird on 26th. Let's see if we can make a few turns together.
I left my number on PM.
Steve
Crush wrote:
short but simple reply - damn you 😉
Tahoe ain’t exactly sucking this year El Crush. 😈
I decided Jim K shouldn’t have all the fun, so I’m out here working remote for 2.5+ months this winter. Hit town Feb 1.
I skied with Swoop from the DCSki board and his buddy Martin on 2/26/2023 at Snowbird. We had a fun time and those guys skied great.
Here are a few photos:
Swoop dropping into Great Scott, one of the premier steeps at Snowbird, beware of sharks!
Scoping out his next move:
Then Martin dropped in:
Martin getting his groove on:
Swoop photographing Martin:
Martin photographing Swoop, how cool is that?!?
My postcard shot of Martin.
I took this photo right after they had skied Great Scott, it's part of the large cirque in the distant background behind them.
Me and Swoop after lunch in the summit restaurant:
Jim thanks for posting. JimK certainly is a hero, an elegant skier and even better person. Thanks for showing us around The Bird Jim!
Swoop n Martin
JimK on Great Scott at Snowbird - see what I mean by elegant?
We just returned from an EPIC!!! trip to Utah covering 4 mountains in 4 days! This first day is very special at Snowbasin. First time there and did we hit it right!
First Martin showing how DEEP the POW is!
Martin is Sister's Bowl... "Hey Swoop, the just opened that gate... let's go!"
Martin "Banno" gettin after it... deep too!
... Banno pow'd out!
Swoop is Sister's Bowl, yeah!
...POW baby POW! ...
Snowbasin is the real deal an up and coming power house ok powder house! We even met GM Davey Ratchford out greeting us as we arrived earlier. Super guy.
Snowbird is next...
IF Martin took this photo he is my new hero!! beautiful, sensational,, poster worthy.
I was up at Solitude today, 5 March 2023. There was a foot of new snow last night and another foot is expected tonight! Vince and I ate some pizza in the Solitude Village, look at the snowbanks there!!
Ski conditions are off the charts:
JimK wrote:
I was up at Solitude today, 5 March 2023. There was a foot of new snow last night and another foot is expected tonight! Vince and I ate some pizza in the Solitude Village, look at the snowbanks there!!
Ski conditions are off the charts:
We stayed at the Solitude base (just steps from your photo) during President's week and enjoyed something like 50" of freshies during the week! Solitude was surprisingly uncrowded even on President's Day and after the 28" pow day. Honeycomb Canyon was really cool as were the other "Expert" gated areas. Nice tree skiing too! Very glad we stayed on-mountain instead of commuting to LCC/BCC from the valley. We hit Alta on Thursday and the hours-long drive was ridiculous but the skiing was also ridiculous(ly good) so it was worth it for a day.
BTW, the lodge on the mountain had the best food I've ever had at an on-mountain eatery (outside of France that is). They offer pretty decent Indian food, think butter chicken, saag paneer etc). Nice little mountain!
We skied Snowbird on Day 2 and 4. Day 2 was a pow day as well! On Day 4 we caught up with the SkiTalk group including JimK Enjoy.
This one is Pearly Gates
Martin "Banno" slayin the pow
Swoop under Little Cloud chair
Wind was blowing over the ridge from Mineral Basin making visibility poor over their, meanwhile snow blowing over into Regulator Johnson bowl, free refills of packed powder and Bluebird!
Prior to that, visibility was pretty rough with wind blowing, somehow Martin got us out on the ridge to the Cirque, and while we couldn't see, we had a great pow run down the Cirque! Later that afternoon with the visibility improved we hit it again and captured this-conditions still really good!
We ran into JimK and SkiTalk Gang and Jim led is around the Bird. I think this one was taken following one of his crazy lines! (I believe this was a detour to avoid an even crazier line. Thanks Jim!)
Kevin, Jim, Swoop n Martin getting a few runs in at the Bird. Thanks again for showing us Great Scott Jim!
Jim showed us the goods on Great Scott
Mineral Basin
Swoop set to plant on late afternoon run off the Tram called Silver Fox
Swoop and Banno going for it! Not so easy when flying in for a short term visit. I'm old, but I have the luxury of exploring Snowbird and some of the other Utah ski areas slowly and carefully, acclimating, and learning to conserve energy while staying out of trouble.
Here's a photo I took on 9 March 2023 of a friend in Ski Patrol Gully, Mineral Basin, Snowbird, UT:
Another friend, 1 March 2023 at Sundance, age 75!
Get Serious chute, Snowbird, 11 March, lower section of Gadzoom chair in background:
Above is Brighton, top of Great Western chair, 2 March. Directly between me and my friends on top of the small and most distant white mountaintop is the black glass structure of Snowbird's summit restaurant.
That terrain looks seriously steep and photos do NOT show how steep something is. Gopros are worse for that.
JimK wrote:
Swoop and Banno going for it! Not so easy when flying in for a short term visit. I'm old, but I have the luxury of exploring Snowbird and some of the other Utah ski areas slowly and carefully, acclimating, and learning to conserve energy while staying out of trouble.
Here's a photo I took on 9 March 2023 of a friend in Ski Patrol Gully, Mineral Basin, Snowbird, UT:
Another friend, 1 March 2023 at Sundance, age 75!
Get Serious chute, Snowbird, 11 March, lower section of Gadzoom chair in background:
Had the pleasure to ski with Lucas Catania from YouTube at Canyons and Solitude! Enjoy! Now back to the Mid-A to finish the season at Timberline this weekend. I'll see you all there! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SGrWXE3T2k&t=1s
I'll leave his link here as well.
Luca's Channel : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEWWYrkFiaIOF25WjpvCfWA
ShredDMV wrote:
Had the pleasure to ski with Lucas Catania from YouTube at Canyons and Solitude! Enjoy! Now back to the Mid-A to finish the season at Timberline this weekend. I'll see you all there! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SGrWXE3T2k&t=1s
I'll leave his link here as well.
Luca's Channel : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEWWYrkFiaIOF25WjpvCfWA
Awesome, I've been following Lucas this season and look forward to his racing. Good job working your way down the double.
Skied with Rudi from DC on 14 March 2023 at Solitude:
Got my photo taken with a friendly stranger on St. Patrick's Day at Snowbird:
The trees at Brighton are one of the best places to ski in Utah on a storm day. JohnL and friend at Brighton, 20 March 2023:
JohnL hogging all the powder, Solitude Ut 22 MARCH 2023
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