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Alta/Snowbird March 29-March 31

NewEnglandSkier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Time for my annual Alta/Bird trip; I'm going about a week earlier than normal this year.
I flew in last night and it was snowing when we drove up the canyon with a few inches on the ground, but at least the road was open! When I checked the website this morning it said the road was restricted.

Day 1(thurs)
So it snowed Wednesday and all Wednesday night and all day Thursday. In fact I think it finally just stopped snowing--about 7pm. They reported 13 inches this morning over 24 hours and it snowed heavily all day adding even more inches. When I checked the website at the end of the day it said the 24 hr total was 20 inches.
There was a big line for Collins at opening and since I suck at powder and even more if I can't see, I opted to take the rope over to Albion and ski off the Sunnyside lift instead which was ski on with no line. Basically, I had a very dull first day--I lapped the Sunnyside lift all day because I just couldn't see any contours in the snow at all--just didn't feel comfortable going higher. There were other people (also not beginners) doing the same thing, though we were in the minority.
One of my runs I was on a groomer with about 4 inches on top but since I couldn't see the side of the trail and it wasn't fully groomed, I went from 4 inches plowing into the side of the trail which had about 14 inches and promptly tipped over--with my skis uphill and buried. That was fun getting out of that one.
I found 2 trails that had a decent amount of powder on then that I could practice. So I just repeated them all day.
Here is a picture at the base of Albion--normally you can see all the hotels lined up along the right side. Note how you can't see anything beyond the Albion base building.
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Here is another picture I took at the top of Sunnyside. Classic polar bear in a snow storm image.
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The fog did lift a tiny bit but then it would descend again. Many times you could not see Alf's from the Sunnyside lift, the fog was too dense.
I made another "mistake" in the afternoon during a brief moment when the fog lifted. I decided to go down Blue Bell. Well, apparently it's not quite steep enough for all the snow we had by then--probably like 16 inches (according to estimate from ski pole). I kept getting stuck and felt like I couldn't turn to save my life.
I seemed to do okay in powder up to 6 or so inches but had problems with anything deeper.

Took time out for a snack at Alta Java. I always like their mochas and the waffle stuffed with chocolate.

By the end of the day, it did get a little brighter and easier to see and the runs I'd been skiing had gotten chopped up which I found easier to ski, so the end of the day was more fun than the beginning. I quit at 4:15pm and decided to check out the newly rebuilt Snowpine Lodge. It now has a chair lift up to it instead of a tow. The lodge was nice though I'm not sure it's really my style---too modern. I think if I was going to stay at a lodge in that price point (they raised the prices when they rebuilt) I'd rather stay at the Rustler. Just based on decor/style.
Below is a picture of one of the lounge areas on one of the floors of the Snowpine
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Depending on the weather tomorrow, I may go to Snowbird; depends on fog etc. Hoping to get 2 decent ski days in with my remaining days!
 

NewEnglandSkier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Day 2 (Saturday)
Today was a better day as far as visibility was concerned. I ended up skiing at Alta, since there was a lot of terrain still closed at Snowbird in the morning and the website didn't indicate what they planned to open, so I wondered if it would make it seem crowded. Turned out they opened a lot of what was closed and I ended up booking a lesson at Snowbird for tomorrow instead.
Anyway, I started the morning off skiing off the Sugarloaf lift. I skied a mix of groomed and ungroomed runs. Below is a view from the top of Sugarloaf looking toward Collins and the backside area.
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Then the sun went in so I skied to the base to switch goggles. There was still a big line at Collins and it took about 10 minutes in the singles line.
Ballroom had opened so I did a run in there before taking an early lunch at the Watson Shelter.

After lunch I went over to the Supreme lift and skied there for a bit.
I had a private lesson at 1:30pm and we spent the afternoon skiing off Sugarloaf concentrating on ungroomed per my request. I did pretty well for most of the lesson but when we skied over to Yellow Trail, the snow was deeper and heavier over there so I convinced myself I couldn't turn so it took me forever to get down it sideslipping and traversing. I'm sure the instructor wondered how I could go from being fine to totally not being able to get down the run!

Here is the view from dinner tonight.
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Tomorrow is my last day and I can only ski until 1:45pm since I have to fly back. I'll be at Snowbird for the morning.
 

NewEnglandSkier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Day 3 (Sunday)
This was was last ski day of the trip. I had a good lesson over at Snowbird today. I tried to get the same instructor I had last year but he wasn't available, but I liked the one they gave me this year just as well. Once again my goal was to focus on off piste skiing. It was a little crunchy to start out in certain areas, but other areas were soft so we concentrated on finding those. We headed up the tram and did a blue groomer in Mineral Basin so he could get an idea of my skiing. Next we went back to Mineral Basin and headed out the traverse at the end of the cat track to start our ungroomed skiing----out toward a black area that was going to open soon. Rather than wait for it to open, we headed down one of the nearby pitches. In my classic form, I froze up because of the large snow piles. I warned him ahead of time that I am very comfortable on groomers but don't do as well off piste. Well, he admitted that my form on groomers fooled him. For our next run we did something a little easier. We skied down Road to Provo and did an exercise on a groomer and then went off piste again to a shorter pitch. We repeated that a few times and then went up the Peruvian lift and did the bumps on Primrose?? Those were good. I tend to do better on actual bumps than on fresh snow or crud. He found some other cruddy pitches for me to practice on as well. We finished up with a groomer run to end on an easy note.
Basically, in both my lessons yesterday and today, the take away was that I ski great on groomers, but when I get into 3D snow, I start trying to rush through the turns. Basically, they both said its mostly a mental game--I have the skills I just doubt myself on the 3D snow so I don't do what I know how to do. So basically, just practice what we went over in the lesson--get mileage etc and don't doubt my ability.

We ended my lesson a little late--he was nice enough to take one more run when we really didn't have time. After my lesson I took the tram up and had quick lunch of pizza up top. Always nice views from there.

After lunch I had time for 2 runs in Mineral Basin before I had to head back to Alta. It was quite soft at this time but not bad.
Then I went back to Alta and took the connector back to Collins and did a groomer run down to the Collins mid station then took Collins back up for a trip down Ballroom and then some bumps on the side of Mambo and then down to the base by 2pm to pack up my stuff for my 2:45pm Alta Shuttle pick up.
I'll post some Snowbird pictures tomorrow, as the wifi at SLC is really slooow.
 

NewEnglandSkier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@santacruz skier I skied at the Goldminer's Daughter. This was my 5th year staying there.

Here are some photos from Snowbird. I really love the scenery at Snowbird--almost more than Alta. I just find the views really expansive and impressive. The photos really don't do it justice--you have to go see for yourself. I love riding up the lifts or tram and seeing/admiring all the crazy steep stuff that people ski.
View from the tram deck after lunch looking down at what I believe is the Peruvian lift
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here you can see the cat track Road to Provo along the side of the mountain. It looks so tiny from here!
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Another view including the valley down below
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And this one from inside Mineral Basin
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I can't decide whether I like Alta or Snowbird better. I do like that Alta has no snowboarders--it's not that I mind snowboarders exactly (I've tried boarding a few times myself--and probably will again), it's just that I've noticed that a high number seem to fall a lot and due to having both feet strapped down, they seem to fall/bounce in a different pattern than skiers and often it's with the board headed straight down the mountain toward other people. I think it would be just as cool for snowboarders to have a boarder only mountain just like some mountains are skier only.

I sort of like the layout better at Snowbird than Alta though, I'm not sure why. And again, I just never get tired of the scenery at Snowbird--being there makes me feel so tiny in comparison.

I think both Alta and Snowbird are good for intermediate skiers--depending on how you define intermediate. I've always had fun at Snowbird and I certainly don't consider myself an advanced skier. Yes, it's steep but they have some fun groomers and Mineral Basin has a variety of terrain both groomed and ungroomed and with varying degrees of pitch so you can find something for your level. Last year was my first time doing a lesson at Snowbird and I found it helpful to take a lesson there since it can be an intimidating mountain for those of us who are not confident; that way you have a lesson and a guide to show you the best places for your level.
Alta seem less steep overall and they have some good groomers as well. The thing about Alta though is that lots of terrain is sort of "hidden" and you wouldn't know either how to get to it or if it was appropriate for your level if you didn't go with someone who knows the mountain.

I've always stayed at the GMD for my Alta trips; the location is very convenient and the price is pretty good. I find the food seems to go up and down each year--some years I like it better than others. This year they didn't have the chocolate croissants each morning at breakfast and that will be going in my survey---they took them away another year but then brought them back last year. I hope they bring them back again.

Already looking forward to my next years trip back to Alta/Bird.
 

santacruz skier

Angel Diva
Great photos. It's been a while since I've been to Snowbird/Alta. Always have stayed at Cliff Lodge but was curious about the Alta lodging as they do half board like in many Europe resort accommodations.
 

NewEnglandSkier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Yes, I like staying at GMD. All the lodges at Alta have their own personality.
I can only speak for GMD since that is the only one I've stayed at, but it's fairly basic sort of like a ski motel/lodge. The Peruvian has more of a "college atmosphere" reputation and the Alta Lodge is more traditional/classic ski lodge. The Rustler and Snowpine are pricier options with the Snowpine being more modern since it was just rebuilt. Neither of those options is "Four Seasons/Ritz" fancy but are just more expensive.
 

alison wong

Angel Diva
I stayed at Snowpine the year before their renovation, following year I stayed at Alta Lodge and I visited GMD. Of the 3, I like Snowpine the most because it felt homey. But I have not visited after it renovated. The only drawback of Snowpine is, it is the furtherest from Collins lift. It can be a bit inconvenient if you spend most of your time lapping around Collins / Wildcat chairs.
One time I finished just past 5 pm and the rope tow was already closed, I had to walk from Collins back to Snowpine, it was a bit pain after long day of skiing.

After the renovation, Snowpine becomes very expensive, in the similar price range as Rustler. I won't be staying there any time soon, unless I won a lottery....
 

Bookworm

Angel Diva
Thanks for this! I'm going on the 17th for my first time. Staying at Alta Lodge. I love Utah, but I've never spent much time in the northern parts.
 

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