SLC/Ogden folk, how do you like it?

[Dustin.]

I've always been interested in trying out the West side of the range for a while. I am from Colorado Springs/Denver/Fort Collins and I love my home for the food, brewery's, outdoors, weather, and sports. How do you guys feel about Utah? My only experience with Utah is Moab so I know the snow is a little deeper there and the resorts are super close to SLC, but that's about it. Some stuff I always wonder:

-How's the weather? Do you get nearly as many sunny days as CO?

-Is it difficult to find quality beers and such?

-Does the large Mormon population actually bother you in any way? (I don't dislike Mormons, just curious)

-Do you feel like there is a certain Utah pride that makes you love it more?

-Is the tourist season in Utah as nuts as CO?

-If you could move anywhere else in the US, where would you consider going? (if anywhere)

 

[eheath]

Hyped you looking at this with an open mind, people usually are just like "fuck living in utah that place sucks.

1. Weather is amazing here, last year and this year havent been the best but the year before last was insane it snowed every fucking week and when its not snowing its sunny as fuck. Lots of warm spring days, lots of sun. We have an inversion season where the valley gets a bit smoggy but its typically not as bad as the past two years and is only dec-feb. The summers are HOT but its dry so its not too bad. march-june and sept-nov in slc valley are awesome, the weather is perfect.

2.It's not difficult to find nice beers, just different. I know in some places in CO you can even buy beer in gas stations, etc. But heres how it works in utah. Grocery stores sell 3.2% (4% by volume) beer, all the basic domestic cheap beer and then an okay selection of import and micro-brew thats are usually all from utah so they produce them just for the stores (making their beer 4% but ive been told by brewery's sometimes the heavier beers they dont water down as much and are higher, who knows) I've drank many delicious craft beers from the grocery store. Then, if you want > 4% beer you go to the liquor store which has an ever growing collection of imports and micro brews that are roughly the same price as youd see anywhere else but theyre sold by the bottle (ie full sail is like 1.09 a bottle) which is cool sometimes cause you can just grab a couple 6 pack holders and make variety packs.

3. The only affect mormons have on every day people is the bullshit laws they have in place like 4% beer and some weird liquor laws at the bar (can go on about this if you want, just gonna save time here). Other than that, you see them around, you meet them, they go to church on sunday thats it.

4. I'm not sure if its pride but I met all of my friends I have now in utah and went to 4 1/2 years of school here so I definitely feel very connected to slc it definitely feels like my "home" and i like that its my home.

5. Tourism is definitely a big deal in utah but I don't think its as bad as CO at all. We get lift lines and traffic, etc but honestly its not that bad.

6. Tough question here but I've always loved oregon and mammoth has also been another place I was really stoked on too. Denver has my eye sometimes but I don't really want to live in CO at all ha.

Post up anymore questions, id be happy to help and so will others im sure.

And don't live in Ogden, live in slc either downtown/sugarhouse or in cottonwood heights, stay as east as possible.

 

[Dustin.]

Thanks, that's a ton of great info!

I'm moving to Phoenix for about a year soon and Utah is near the top of my list after that. It's not exactly a skiing destination but it beats the shit out of Texas and there are lots of things on my bucket list for that area. After Phoenix I'm hoping to settle down in one spot for a good few years, so this kind of Utah knowledge is very helpful.

What about skiing? As you know it's super easy in CO considering the good deals on passes to multiple resorts. Are the Utah resorts generally all worth experiencing a few times? I kind of thought about using the first year (if I went there) to try a different mountain every week or so vs. just buying an Alta or PC pass or something.

Anyone know how the downhill MTB scene compares to CO?

Any info helps, I appreciate the full response I already received.