teppaz
Angel Diva
I stayed at a Hellgate condo on my very first trip to Alta, in 2011. There were 7 of us and we had a great time. We had two cars so we shopped in the valley and drove to Alta or Snowbird but it’s manageable without wheels:From what I could see riding the bus past Hellgate, it's a bit of a hike to the Snowbird Center if you want to buy anything. Not on a walkway, just walking on the snowy road. But there might be a trail that isn't obvious. There is a bus stop somewhere for Hellgate but I have no idea how far the walk is to the actual condo buildings.
Note that if Hellgate condos say "ski in/out" that only applies to people skiing Snowbird or advanced skiers who can ski over from the Wildcat area at Alta. For an intermediate, skiing at Alta requires driving or taking the UTA bus. Driving between Snowbird and Alta is not really worth the effort of dealing with parking. The UTA buses are operating at 50% capacity.
Another issue for the UTA buses is when they will stop running during late season. Most likely the buses will continue until April 18 but worth checking. Alta ends 7-day operations mid-April, but sometimes has a few bonus weekends afterwards. Snowbird stays open longer but closes lifts.
LCC has very little private land available for any type of buildings. Especially in comparison to Park City. Parley's Canyon is much bigger in area, but also much lower. That's why it's not open in April while Alta and Snowbird can stay open for weeks after Park City and Deer Valley close because there isn't enough snow coverage left.
People interested in condo lodging usually stay at the base of LCC and drive up or take the UTA bus. In the spring, the likelihood of the canyon road being closed all day because of a big snowstorm is much less than Jan-Mar. People who stay in SLC and don't want to drive up LCC when it's a powder day in the spring generally go ski a Solitude. The road to BCC isn't as steep and is less prone to avalanche closures. Solitude and Brighton also have pretty good snow in late season.
While it was okay staying at Snowbird in Dec, I would probably still stay in the city and drive when I'm not staying at Alta Lodge. But I tend to want to have a car on a ski trip in general.
I think @teppaz stayed in a condo in LCC at some point.
- Hellgate is on the free shuttle route + they have their own shuttle (or did at the time).
- there’s a grocery service that delivers your order in winter.
The only thing is that in case of an interlodge (when they close the road for avalanche control), you are on the wrong side of the gate to go to Alta. I seem to remember that when we signed up for the condo we were forewarned about that, and told we’d have to have enough food on hand for a couple of days in case the road was closed. Interlodge is a crapshoot.
Overall it was a great experience. Of course it helped that my first visit to Alta was during one of their snowiest seasons ever!