Going to salt lake this weekend... need some help!

P

Phisherman

Member
Im going to salt lake city this weekend for a week and im from the EC so im not that experienced with west coast skiing. I ski 100% park at my local hill in North Carolina cause there really isnt much else to do. Ive been out to breck once and to salt lake once in high school (like 7 yrs ago) but that was when i was a "once a year" skier. I ski almost everyweekend now and feel like my ability is pretty good.

with that said, i am wondering if some of the terrain is "out of my league" and possibly dangerous. (btw, i will NOT be skiing park, well maybe a quick run thru to check it out). but im hitting up the canyons, pc, deer valley, and alta (i guess, i dont really know, i just looked up the trail maps and picked some places). but i will be by myself for the first few days and will hit the canyons and alta and then meeting up with some friends to hit pc and deer valley. but i read on another thread taht at the canyons 9990 lift has some sick runs thru the trees and shit (sounds badass as hell), but i dont wanna die, so im not sure if this is beyond my level and all.

bottom line, should i stick to groomers and blues, or should i be able to handle some blacks and double blacks with some sick tree lines?
 
If it's in-bounds, chances are you'll be fine. You'll probably ski the tougher stuff like shit (no offense) but I would definitely recommend exploring and pushing your comfort zone. However, maybe going into tighter trees isn't such a good idea, at least at first.
 
thanks guys, and i almost forgot ... mad karma for responces

and yea i agree about "working up" to harder lines and all, but still a few questions. is the OB line clearly marked all around? and do some lift (like 9990 in the canyons) take you up to where ur kinda "stuck" up there if u dont wanna jump cliffs and all?

also, any good spots or trails that are badass at any of the places im going that you guys know of?

one more thing, are the resorts that i chose pretty quality right now? or is there somewhere else i should consider goin?

thanks again
 
you'll be fine at PC mountains but do not just follow tracks at alta/bird... you can get in a lot of trouble very quickly, especially with a nasty underlying rain crust. ask advice and scope from the bottom.
 
man, snowbird looks pretty rediculous on the trail map... should i even bother with the double lift pass or just stick to alta?
 
so I read something about powder leashes and how they help u locate your ski if it comes off and gets burried... is this really necessary ?
 
I'm just gonna try and fit all the responses in this post.

No you cannot get cliffed out at Canyons or PC by just getting off a lift. Snowbird and Alta depending on what run or line you take say off the Cirque(snowbird) it is possible to have to drop a cliff or have some tight chute skiing. The Park City mountains arent that steep, however, almost every steeper run has tree's.

Never seen anyone with a "powder leash" all year long. Unless there is a big dump soon I wouldnt plan on much powder skiing. Havent checked past this weekend but odds are it will stay dry unfortunately.

Due to conditions as of this week Park City and the Canyons are the best bet. My buddy who has an Alta pass has had some fun but there isnt much in the way of soft snow and everything is decently cut up. Canyons and PC have a lot more in the way of groomers and the tree's can sometimes yield something worthwhile but it has been park days for the past 2 weeks pretty much.

 
The only thing that will stop you from being able to take on most of the terrain is the conditions. I was up there a few weeks ago and most everything was tracked out which made some of the runs a bit more tedious than i like. Tree skiing is usually a good idea as less people will venture in there.

Just do what feels right / is the most fun and push yourself.
 
you should def come check out brighton then, there are some steeps but still alot of mellow tree runs and really accesable backcountry that can be pretty mellow as well. also better snow in the cottonwood resorts. snowbird is one of the steeper resorts in utah. but alta will be very fun as well.
 
when i went to utah i had never skied pow before so in was scared and made the mistake of not trying any gnarly stuff. i kept to the groomers and parks. bad decision. ski anything as long as your comfortable. alta, park city and snowbasin are the best. you will have so much fun
 
I have a season pass to Brighton so I don't know the conditions at the Bird and Alta, but Brighton is always fun. If conditions suck ride park, if not Milli lift is where a bunch of fun stuff is.
 
we haven't had enough snow to really matter since christmas break, ski brighton over alta/snowbird. if you're going to any of the resorts at park city go to canyons. way better terrain than pc and they still have a legit park
 
Since you don't want park at all I'd defintely go with Alta > Snowbird > BCC / PC resorts

Park City resorts have far better groomed selection than the Cottonwoods. There is no right or wrong place to go depending on what you want.
 
Alta and snowbird are both really sick but i wouldn't get the double pass just because i think theres so much to ski your better off getting a pass to alta and you won't run out of things to ski oh and don't worry about powder leashes either
 
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