First trip to Utah, what sticks to bring?
- Thread starter Foxtrotx1
- Start date
GayWolf420
Active member
108s. Hopefully there wont be as much high pressure by then.
Skibumsmith
Active member
Honestly, leave the wildcats at home and bring the other 2. I think you’re underestimating just how quickly things get tracked out when it snows in Utah.
bogust
Member
my general rule is if I cant bring all of my skis I just bring the two that are the most different from each other so I usually a powder ski and then a skinnier all mountain ski. for me that is a line SFB and then my CT 1.0's but I live in the east so my quiver is different than yours. another thing I will do is bring my nicest skis and then some beater skis so that I don't have to worry about hitting rocks but it matter out west because there is a lot of snow.
Bring the Wildcats. There is no reason to bring anything else. Solitude is mostly groomers, I doubt you'll spend much time there. Snowbird has the best terrain in Utah (in bounds). Lots of cliffs and chutes. Exactly the kind of stuff the Wildcats are built for. The people saying otherwise are either trolling you or are park kids that have never sent a cliff in their lives.
14111606:MXmx said:
I'll definitely hit Alta. So far in my life I've only skied Stevens, AZ snowbowl, Mammoth and Purgatory. I picked salt lake partly for the skiing, but also to get the vibe of the area for a potential life changing move. If anyone knows any SLC companies hiring freshly minted bio PhDs next December... I'm def not staying in Arizona.
Is it pretty ez to find some baby hucks at Altabird? Never really been in terrain where I could try it, at least now that I feel I won't die trying.
Thanks for the suggestions on skis guys. Getting some conflicting advice, which probably means there are no bad choices.
Utah has good and bad. Good is that you are 15 minutes from the airport and good jobs to skiing. Other places you are 60+ minutes away from the airport and good paying jobs to skiing. You also have deer valley and Alta. Spend 1 day at deer valley, you won’t regret it.
There are small hucks at Alta. There’s tons of bowls there too.
The bad is while Utah has become more progressive, especially with liquor laws since the first time I moved there in 2008. Utahns are definitely unique and quirky. Ive lived in Utah 3 times 2008 salt lake, 2012 Layton/ Eden and 2014 Provo/ Heber city for work. The people, not the skiing is why I now live in California and zero Utahns were engineers at the airplane factory I was a contractor at in Layton. There’s the term “utard”. The poorly run company Saga is also from Utah. Make sure you spend tons of time in the community, not just tourist spots like ski areas. You want to get a feel for how the people you will be living near, not tourists are.
I liked Arizona. People were nice and much better drivers versus California. Only problem I had was it’s too damn hot (I’m from Minnesota).
Id also check out Portland. Virtually year round skiing 60-90 minutes from Portland, countries largest night skiing area and no quirky people baggage like in Utah. I’m doing a exploratory trip myself first week in March.
There’s a huge need for smart people to be imported into Utah. The state is falling over themselves handing out tax credits and grants to move companies there, problem is the local population mostly can’t fill those jobs. Remember, “utard”. Not a coincidence that zero engineers out of over 100 at the airplane factory I worked at weren’t from Utah.
There are small hucks at Alta. There’s tons of bowls there too.
The bad is while Utah has become more progressive, especially with liquor laws since the first time I moved there in 2008. Utahns are definitely unique and quirky. Ive lived in Utah 3 times 2008 salt lake, 2012 Layton/ Eden and 2014 Provo/ Heber city for work. The people, not the skiing is why I now live in California and zero Utahns were engineers at the airplane factory I was a contractor at in Layton. There’s the term “utard”. The poorly run company Saga is also from Utah. Make sure you spend tons of time in the community, not just tourist spots like ski areas. You want to get a feel for how the people you will be living near, not tourists are.
I liked Arizona. People were nice and much better drivers versus California. Only problem I had was it’s too damn hot (I’m from Minnesota).
Id also check out Portland. Virtually year round skiing 60-90 minutes from Portland, countries largest night skiing area and no quirky people baggage like in Utah. I’m doing a exploratory trip myself first week in March.
There’s a huge need for smart people to be imported into Utah. The state is falling over themselves handing out tax credits and grants to move companies there, problem is the local population mostly can’t fill those jobs. Remember, “utard”. Not a coincidence that zero engineers out of over 100 at the airplane factory I worked at weren’t from Utah.
14111611:Foxtrotx1 said:
14111617:SFBv420.0 said:
I didn't say that Solitude has no good terrain at all. It's just that Snowbird has way more, so why spend much time at Solitude? It's a nice place, worth checking out, but not worth spending much time at (unless you're a beginner) when you could be skiing Snowbird instead.
GayWolf420
Active member
14111356:Skibumsmith said:
this is also a good point. assuming you're staying right at the base of snowbird or alta, good luck trying to get up there when it snows from the valley.
SofaKingSick
Active member
if you're def bringing the 116s (which you should; wouldn't you hate to get dream conditions on your vacation and not have the best tool for them?) then either of the others is fine. if you're not skiing park at all then i say leave the 96s at home
108 could be the only ski you bring and you'd be set
also damn dog nice collection of skis. make sure you have renter's insurance lol
108 could be the only ski you bring and you'd be set
also damn dog nice collection of skis. make sure you have renter's insurance lol
allthewayoutchea
New member
Gonna throw in my 2 cents about your ski question and general Utah question:
Bring the 108s. I have 125+ days on the 108s in the cottonwoods and am honestly not sure if there is a better ski for the area. You can't go wrong with any of the options you listed but I'd say the 108s are perfect. We had constant snowfall last year with plenty of deep days and I never found myself reaching for anything wider and they're also ideal for blasting through variable conditions.
In regards to your Utah question, I don't know of anything in bio specifically, but Utah, and certainly the greater Salt Lake area has been growing steadily for years. I imagine there are a few opportunities in your field. It's pretty insane to be able to live on the foothills of the mountains in a major city and be 20 minutes from hiking/biking/skiing/climbing etc. so I can't recommend it highly enough.
You will have an absolute blast at the mountains you listed as those are the ones I recommend people check out. If you are looking to test the waters with drops and chutes I'd recommend you hit up Little Cloud, Mineral Basin and Gad 2 at Snowbird. Specifically the Gad Chutes, Fossil Chutes directly under Baldy lift and STH off of Gad 2. You can check out a few drops in those spots which are relatively low consequence. Stick to Summit Chair at Solitude and you'll have a great time (if you're feeling up for a bit of a gnarly hike with some sick lines bring a backpack for the Fantasy Ridge hike as you'll need both hands free for the ascent).
Bring the 108s. I have 125+ days on the 108s in the cottonwoods and am honestly not sure if there is a better ski for the area. You can't go wrong with any of the options you listed but I'd say the 108s are perfect. We had constant snowfall last year with plenty of deep days and I never found myself reaching for anything wider and they're also ideal for blasting through variable conditions.
In regards to your Utah question, I don't know of anything in bio specifically, but Utah, and certainly the greater Salt Lake area has been growing steadily for years. I imagine there are a few opportunities in your field. It's pretty insane to be able to live on the foothills of the mountains in a major city and be 20 minutes from hiking/biking/skiing/climbing etc. so I can't recommend it highly enough.
You will have an absolute blast at the mountains you listed as those are the ones I recommend people check out. If you are looking to test the waters with drops and chutes I'd recommend you hit up Little Cloud, Mineral Basin and Gad 2 at Snowbird. Specifically the Gad Chutes, Fossil Chutes directly under Baldy lift and STH off of Gad 2. You can check out a few drops in those spots which are relatively low consequence. Stick to Summit Chair at Solitude and you'll have a great time (if you're feeling up for a bit of a gnarly hike with some sick lines bring a backpack for the Fantasy Ridge hike as you'll need both hands free for the ascent).
14111616:MXmx said:
Thanks for the write up and the all the suggestions and advice on SLC in general. I think the 108s and the Wildcats are going, since I have a double bag and it's a short trip from AZ. Having two pairs will give me piece of mind in case I fuck up a ski or something.
I'm so used to skiing sun baked or wind scoured snow in AZ (or wet pow/slush in the same day), that It's hard for me to leave a cambered ski with my sharpest, longest edges at home, even if it is 116. I'm looking forward to moving somewhere where soft snow is abundant and the Kartel's shine even more than they already do. Those things rip slush though.
If anyone want's to get in some turns, or a beer, let me know. I'm heading in Friday, skiing the afternoon at Deer Valley or Alta, and the same on Saturday morning, before my boarder friend gets in to town. I'll likely be at the other 3 places the rest of the week. Always looking for advice on terrain or turns from better skiers!
**This post was edited on Feb 25th 2020 at 6:55:58pm
When I was in Arizona for work at the airport I wanted to ski Flagstaff just for the novelty of skiing in Arizona (kinda like I did at Taos). Instead we went dirt bike riding.
It’s easy to recommend salt lake without thinking about the people and culture. I’d just be careful and spend lots of time around the locals rather then tourists and skiers before you move there.
It’s easy to recommend salt lake without thinking about the people and culture. I’d just be careful and spend lots of time around the locals rather then tourists and skiers before you move there.
14111881:Foxtrotx1 said:
14111906:MXmx said:
AZ snowbowl can be a real blast somedays, especially for what it is, but man, years like this and 2017 drag it down. We started out so good and just got our first snow serious snow in two months. It's 750 acres, but it skis small for that size. The vertical isn't bad though, and if you live in flag, mountain access is 20-30 minutes.
I'll def check out the culture. I've been asking everyone I know who has lived there.
Any bars you recommend going to?
Denseclouds
Member
14111616:MXmx said:
All you do is complain you damn genius