(January 29 to February 6, 2009)

After a crazy time trying to fly out of Charlotte, NC on United Airlines we finally made it to Salt Lake City, Utah (full photo album here). The night we were leaving was the first of several eastern snow storms about to move in to the North and South East. Charlotte had very light snow falling around 5 pm. Our plane should have taken off at 4pm but had a computer malfunction. After a few hours of trying to repair and waiting a part being flown in, United flew us to Washington, DC (farther away from Utah), to try to get us a flight to Denver that night and then on to Salt Lake City the next morning, instead of our intended arrival on the Friday night. Charlotte was trying to hard to get us out on the Friday before the storm hit the next morning and created weather problems. Well air traffic being what it is, we slept at the Washington airport, with no food even (no where was open at 1 am), and flew out at 9am the next morning to Denver then Salt Lake. Arriving, January 31, 2010, 26 hours after entering airport security in Charlotte, instead of on the Friday. So we missed one day skiing, no problem, we got there, alive and well, I'll have much more to say about United Airlines in Features when I get it written up, along with video taken of how helpful (not) the staff was in Washington. Fly someone else if you have an option.

Solitude Ski Hill - Day 1

Luck or timing, or the time change would have it, that Robin and I are the first skis in the rack at Solitude Mountain, Utah. The 12" of snow that had been falling and would continue to accumulate promised a good day to come. It was looking like the big mountain experience of Utah lore was going to come our way. This in spite of a year where the annual snow fall was only about half its 500". We were meeting up with 42 bears. Yes, that's bears, "Epic Bears". We all belong to the Epic Ski Forms. The mountain was only 20 minutes from our Home Wood Suites in Midvale, Utah (little suburb of SLC). Have to say, one of the really nice things about the Utah ski vacation was how close the hills all were to town. Stay and eat in town, visiting 4 resorts in 7 days was no issue at all. Most of the bears showed up at the 8:30am boot up in the lodge or made the ski racks for first lift at 8:45am. We were off and skiing.

Solitude had all the varied terrain you could want. Lots of steeps, stashes of powder in trees, bowls to find, and groomers for those that wish. Robin unfortunately had his bike accident injury flare up and only lasted 2 runs in the deep snow. I'd be without him for quite a few days this week now. Good thing we were skiing with the bears, easy to find with our dangling red and orange ribbons. Matt would drive me to Solitude tomorrow morning and Robin would meet up with us for the planned dinner and the movie "The Edge of Never" being presented by Bill Kerig himself, at Snowbird Summit room, tomorrow night. Bill would also be out to show us all the stashes at the Snowbird tomorrow morning, 8:45am. What an honour to meet and ski with such a figure. Great to be a bear. Thanks Tom, for arranging this. Food at Solitude was expensive and the usual ski lodge fair. A bowl of soup for lunch $9.00. Maybe bring your thermos. Good skiing though and great snow.

Snowbird Mountain- Day 2 & 3 (as seen above too)

General Information

Snowbird is pretty exceptional, not just in the skiing they offer but in the service they gave us bears at the hill. With 3200 vertical feet and 2500 ski able acres, within 30 minutes of the airport, this is a mountain to find a local guide if you can.  Snowbird is so large, without a local guide you’re bound to miss the hidden tree stashes and lines you can climb to if you just know where to get to them.  A local guide will know the avalanche prone areas along with the current prevalent conditions.  When we bears (Epic Bears, from Epicski.com) went we had arranged with a local to spend a morning with us on the hill.  I unfortunately missed the meet up time on that morning and had to find my way around via another route.

A quick view of the trail map will show you a nice top to bottom intermediate run, Chip’s Run, which goes from the top of the tram to the main base village where you load the tram (picture above).  I started off on this run to give me an overview of the area.  I quickly noticed I could duck down from one level of the traverse to the next through trees, powder stashes and bump runs dropping directly down to the same Chip’s Run traverse underneath where I popped off the run above.  This on and off the groomed terrain in pieces was fun and a great warm up and predictor of what you will find at Snowbird.  Snowbird has lots of little hidden off-piste areas that cut off and back on to the groomers.  At the end of my warm up run I really wanted to know more about the mountain and went looking to see if Snowbird offered any mountain tours.

Complimentary Tours

Well right there at the base when I came round from the big bridge that heads into the main base there was tour guides in bright green jackets waiting to take out anyone with a yearning to know a little more about the mountain. I was paired up with Lindsey, a great guy and I highly recommend the tour just to get your bearings on this big mountain and know where you might want to go. He wasn't allowed to take me off trail anywhere but sincerely asked me back next year (when his knee was fully recovered from a replacement operation), and he promises to show me all the lines, not just point from the groomers. It was a good way to start the day. Lindsey took me up the Peruvian Chair lift to the 14 million dollar tunnel (see pictures below) through the mountain. This was built to alleviate the long line ups for the tram by giving access to the back side (Mineral Basin), without needing to take the tram. On the way up the chair he pointed off to the left where the cliff aerial competitions are held each spring and explained a few lines I might want to try. Not something I would try on my own; I wasn't going to do anything quite so adventurous. Lindsey pointed out many off-piste areas in the Basin that I might want to go find and gave me a good general feel of where I could go and what I could do. What a treat. In the great weather we were having (40F and sunshine), I must say I enjoyed the chair ride instead of feeling like a sardine in the tram. The tram would gain a whole new respect from me on a cold windy day though. I was happy to hear Lindsey and another tour guide go on about my great skiing and ask to follow me. Good ego boost after feeling a little inadequate on the big unknown hills with all the deep snow instead of eastern ice. I was also on new wider skis. They turned out great. I remembered how to ski real snow.

Food at Snowbird

Lunch at Snowbird was the usual ski fare. They have 15 resort restaurants to choose from but I only sampled two. I was meeting the bears at the main lodge and the weather was terrific so we actually ate outside at village picnic tables. I had a pulled pork sandwich and water, plenty adequate but I didn't see any great deals for costs. Bring your own if you need to keep costs down or are looking for specialty diet foods. They won't be easy to find or request here. For Dinner we ate at The Aerie Restaurant in the Cliff Lodge which had specialty pizza’s that were reasonably priced and quite good. They also had a full wine list and fabulous servers. I did take note that the service in The Aerie was as good as it gets. Nice view of the hill also from this 10th floor restaurant.

The Ski Terrain

For the afternoon I was off to the Tiger Tail and Thunder Bowl area with a few bears; a traverse into the trees and small bowls, with no groomed areas in site off to the far right looking up at the mountain. This area is serviced by the Gadzooks and Gad 3 lift, or take the tram, ski down to the Gad 3 lift and up from there. Find the Trail Map here. I landed in one tree well but survived.... and had some great fun in the deep wet snow. Do take time to look up the dangers of tree wells. I learned they're real.It was not exactly a BC powder day but certainly deep soft snow, not the eastern ice I was accustomed to. Bumps were perfect with firm but soft forgiving snow to cut around in.

One day wasn't enough, nor was two, to explore the full mountain terrain. Along with the Tiger Tail area there is the many areas off the back Mineral Basin where a small hike or traverse from a groomed trail takes you to so many hidden ski able tree areas, bowls and little open fields that finding them in a couple days just wasn’t possible. There was many easier areas that my injured husband (Robin) could ski on while I ducked out to a little more challenging terrain, and then back to meet up with him.

Summary

I finished up the day with another bump run and headed over to the Cliff Lodge to have dinner and meet Bill Kerig. Don't forget to check out any photos that may have been taken of you during the day. The on hill photographers will tell you what roll number to check for at the days end so you may purchase any great shots they got of you. Snowbird gave the use of the Summit Room in the Cliff Lodge to the bears to view our movie and have our meet up. They became sponsors of the Epic Ski Family and showed us support in a big way. Two thumbs up to Snowbird for great mountain terrain and great service.

Bill Kerig - The Edge of NeverBill Kerig is the author of the book, "The Edge of Never" and movie, same name. Bill plays in the big leagues. He's a big mountain skier with a passion for skiing that he wanted to make a movie about. A movie that would get to the heart and soul of skiing as he feels it, not another jump and wow ski flick, but a movie that would convey the feeling and passion of skiers. A past US Team mogul skier, friend of Trevor Pertersen (died on a run at Chamonix, France), and friend to Glen Plake and many other big mountain skiers he had a story to tell. It's a story he wanted to convey to the viewer a passion for skiing, not just for big mountain skiers, but how every skier that has the desire to head to the hill the next time it snows, feels. A story that says I do this because I love it, and here's how much.

The movie is well worth the view time whether you are skier or not. If you're a mother who doesn't ski, you may not understand the passion that allowed Trevor Pertersen's wife to let Bill take her 15 year old son Kye to Chamonix to make the same run that killed her husband. If you ever had a passion for anything and look at the way Kye skis and into the eyes of boy who lost his dad young, you just might get it. This movie takes you there. Past the skiing and into a story of passion and the completion. Completing what you set out to do. See the movie. It was recently purchased by SHOe and has many repeat viewings for the next month. Take time to see it if you can.

Snow Basin- Day 5

(photo below by Rob Livingston)

Okay, this place is so worth going to see. This was luxury and gourmet meals at a Ski Lodge. There was nothing wrong with Alta, it was a great place to ski, but Snow Basin left me so much to talk about that I just have to feature it. From the huge log and stone ski lodge that greets you when you pull in the parking lot, to the sheer luxury inside the lodge of the comfy couches, huge stone fireplaces (several), chandeliers and ornate bronze castings that decorate the lodge, it was a sight not seen in ski lodges.

With more ski able acres then Snowbird (3000 vertical and 3000 ski able acres), it's lack of crowds as it's an hour from the Salt Lake City, and its two warm gondola's to get you up top fast, you would think that alone would be enough to make this The Resort. But on top of that impressive list is the best food I've ever had a ski hill. They have chef's working and cooked me french toast on cinnamon bread with fresh strawberries and real Vermont maple syrup, topped off with dabs of real whipped cream for breakfast, a carved roast beef, real mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetable for Robin's lunch, a fresh made stir fry with all fresh vegetables for my lunch and Wow, you sold me. Where is the on hill accommodation? I really need to come eat like that for a week while I'm skiing to burn it all off!

So many of the bears went home with pictures of the marble sink bathrooms from this resort you would think none of us had ever seen luxury, but it wasn't the luxury, it was the luxury in this setting. What a combo. One more picture to explain the views from this wonderful mountain, well worth the hour north drive to go to if you are out in Salt Lake City. Below you see fellow ski bears Matt and Lily, along with Robin and myself , above the clouds, snapped by a friendly passer by. You have to see this resort to believe it. The skiing is tops, the terrain is tops, and the snow was terrific. Go now, check it out.

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(January 12, 2010 - Update)

(January, 2009)
Well who new Virginia had such scenery? In the middle of those rolling hills is the tiny ski resort of Wintergreen. 11,000 acres, 126 ski able, and 1003' of vertical skiing, is sitting at the top of the Highlands mountains, with a mini town built that includes all the necessities you could require. There's a general store with a gas station, where the gas is reasonably priced but the food is a little steep. You may want to bring your own food along and just use the store for pick up items forgotten or not convenient to bring to the hill. The big mountain flair of a warm up hut half way down the mountain isn't missed here either! How nice to find a cozy hut to enjoy a hot chocolate at the bottom of the terrain park/easy run lift. A great spot for a hot tasty soup or grilled burger for lunch too. There's also plenty of restaurants at the hill to choose from in many price ranges, and the usual ski hill cafeteria with an area to enjoy your own brought lunch also. On hill accommodation is the order of the day. There is tons of reasonably price condos of all sizes, slope side.

Accommodations and Food at Wintergreen

Robin and I managed to reserve, at last minute, a slope side studio condo. This accommodation can be had for $69.00 per person/per night midweek and includes one day's lift ticket. This was true ski in, ski out accommodation, which included a fridge, two burner stove with oven, dishwasher and all the amenities to stay slope side, make a coffee and cook a candle light dinner for two if desired. Condos are available slope side in studios to 3 bedrooms, all at very reasonable rates.

We chose to head out and enjoy the Greek theme restaurant, The Copper Mine Bistro for dinner, as we were only there for a night. I enjoyed the Salmon Puttanesca (salmon and asparagus), along with the restaurant's very unusual bruschetta (made with portabella mushrooms, gorgonzola brulée and prosciutto, tomato's on the side), as an appetizer. It was really tasty, but you have to be a mushroom lover as they didn't shirk on the portabella. Robin enjoyed the bean and barley soup, which looked yummy, and the Braised Beef Short Ribs, recommended by the waitress. The food was very adequate for the top of a remote ski hill, my asparagus was made from fresh, not frozen, but it wasn't over the top to rave about. It was certainly good though, just not something I'd head to hill for if I wasn't there already. All in all it was really tasty, with a nice ambiance and sits atop the hill where you can look out over the scenery if it wasn't dark.

For breakfast the next morning I just had a banana I purchased at the general store the night before and then chose to have our morning coffee and lunch at the cabin (shown above in thumbnail, click for larger pictures) across from the Blueridge Express Lift. This would be the Checkerberry Cabin, found half way down the mountain at the bottom of the green (easy) Dobbie run or Diamond Hill (terrain park and easy run). A hot bowl of chicken noodle soup and a kaiser roll was a very inexpensive lunch and Robin's burger looked positively scrumptious. It was a large burger, served on a fresh Kaiser roll, served fresh and hot off a grill not fried. The choice of dining possibilities on site was quite impressive. I originally thought we would have to head to the tiny near by town of Wintergreen to eat but there's far more on the mountain then in town and the prices were very reasonable. It was a pleasant surprise.

The Terrain

From the cabin where we had breakfast you can head out the door and down to the expert terrain accessed by the Highlands Express Lift running up the length of the Turkey Chute run. This lift gives access to expert terrain only and climbs the resorts full 1003' of vertical. The terrain is very nice, though a little icy this day, as the bit of fresh snow from the morning was blown and skied off to the edges of the runs by the afternoon. I just skied the edges! When we were here last March the Upper Wild Turkey was fully bumped but so far there's not a bump in sight. This years frigid cold making the snow so hard, the resort will keep likely keep the bumps off it for a while, rather then having hard icy bumps, or they just aren't forming as the snow is so too icy due to the cold. The cold should subside this week and we should get back to more normal area temperatures according to the forecast. We have been only reaching our usual lows (just above freezing) as our daily highs. From the top of this lift you can access Upper Wild Turkey, Outer Limits or Upper Cliffhanger. Robin is standing just off to the right of the Highland Express Lift at the top. Great scenery from here too. On side note, the one marked double diamond, lower cliffhanger, really doesn't encompass what I would typically call double diamond terrain. It would need to have trees or bumps for me to find it even approaching a double diamond status. So if you are an expert skier and see no bumps on it, it's a pretty tame well pitched cruiser.

More expert terrain and the majority of intermediate terrain the resort has to offer can be found on the far east side of the mountain off the Big Acorn lift, running up the Big Acorn run. Though this lift only accesses 525' of vertical it had the best snow of the resort and great consistent pitch to ski on. I had a lot of fun over here but Robin found it way too cold as the snow guns were blasting all the runs as you skied and the wind was trying to blow you back up hill as you skied down. I thought the nice snow was worth the discomfort but we did just a few runs before heading back over to the Highland Express. Don't be concerned by the shorter vertical of these runs, they are well worth skiing. Don't miss this portion out of fear it's too short. Also, this is where the night skiing is open, and again, the terrain is really very nice though on the shorter side. See all the pictures from above of terrain and scenery below here; just click the thumbnails.

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All Articles

7 Days 4 Resorts, Utah, Big Mountain Fun - Salt Lake city Utah, a great place for skiers. Check it out.

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