Utah 2018-19 Utah Weather and Stoke

Population growth and growing popularity of off-piste skiing. And better pow skis. And web sites like this. And MCP for Snowbasin.

Even though I’ve always been an EC’er, I had dozens of trips to SLC in the early-Mid aughts. It’s a lot more crowded everywhere on pow days. I remember when Solitude was aptly named and Pow Mow was undiscovered. Lesser so Snowbasin. But news travels fast. And the facilities at SB were bound to be discovered.

Nowadays, there are a lot more locals skiing hard until 11 and then leaving for work. SLC and Ogden and Eden/Huntsville and the rest of the valley have a lot more people.

A lot more people know of the ‘off the beaten track’ areas.

As a vacationer, I rely on this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predator_satiation

Good snow years/storm cycles where people can only take off so many days. Or best, sneaky late afternoon snow which piles up and the powder locusts wait until the next day.

 

MCP does it for me, had not skied at SB for many years - had an early drop-off at SLC and with LCC closed for control work, decided to keep driving N and use a day. Was on about the 4/5 Gondi - good day for sure.

 

Solitude was pretty nice today, much quieter than it has been lately. UPD was stationed at the bottom of the canyon and was stopping vehicles to check for tires and 4wd. He stopped me and started asking if I had X drive, I turned the wheel and showed him the snows and he waved me on.

No road parking today at Solitude, the lot was close to full but never spilled out. My rope drop skills have been hit and miss lately, today I was on point. We spun a couple laps on Eagle and Powderhorn to start the day and then went up Apex to check on the Summit. A small line-up had formed, we joined the line and it wasn’t too long before they started loading. I had a pass at Solitude for 12 seasons and have a pretty firm grasp of the terrain. Hit up my usual corner of the Headwall and then to Ortovox and had some great turns. We hit up Scree Slope a couple times and then waited up top for Honeycomb. It wasn’t long before patrol came out and opened the West facing side of the canyon. Most (98%) of the folks hit the gut punch gate, I was about 10 people back on the sidestep up the ridge. Went out to my favorite spot and made high speed turns in deep pow.

Looking down Ortovox.



Scree Slope goodness.



Scenic from the top of Eagle.

 

UPD was not permitting any road parking today and had at least one officer patrolling back and forth between the two Solitude bases to prevent it, according to a Solitude shuttle driver. I was told the "parking lot full" signs were posted at the entrance to the Moonbeam car park around 10:30 a.m. Yesterday there were a crazy amount of vehicles road parked at Solitude and the car hauling companies had a field day. When I left at 4:30 p.m. to thumb a ride down the canyon, I saw many distressed individuals wandering around with their gear along the canyon road or animatedly conversing with UPD canyon patrol officers. Several approached me asking if I knew anything about the ski bus because their vehicles had been hauled away. I had to tell them they were likely in for a long wait, as the buses were leaving Brighton with "white line" loads and not even bothering to pull into Moonbeam, where there was a huge amount of people waiting inside and outside of the bus shelter. From what I've been told, the aggregate amount of the cost of a ticket from UPD and the fee to the car hauling company sums up to many hundreds of dollars, making for a very expensive and inconvenient day at the mountain. There was an electronic sign on a trailer along the upbound lane of the canyon road less than a mile from Wasatch Blvd. warning potential violators yesterday morning. It's been situated there on an increasingly frequent basis but enforcement up at Solitude has not been consistent. Yesterday, people were leaving their vehicles in obvious illegal locations, including the entire right-hand-turn lane leading to the entrance to the base at the village. The road was completely snow covered when I arrived just before 8:00 a.m., so perhaps those were out-of-town people in rental cars who were clueless as to where they were actually parking. This scenario seems to be the new norm on weekends, holidays, and powder days.

 

It was a perfect shit storm for crowds. FIS World Champs scheduled, Canyons side not open, only Payday running from the base, powder available, every Southwest flight into SLC completely full. I was on an early chair, skied a couple laps on Mikey’s (untouched) and came down via Silver Skis which was thigh deep in smooth wind buff and untracked. Then I saw the hordes at Payday! Hells, bells and buckets of blood!

One might ask why the Canyons side seems to be non-operational on a regular basis. The answer you’ll get is: wind. I’ll point out that when Talisker operated the Canyons it didn’t seem necessary to close the resort at the hint of a zephyr. Of course they couldn’t afford to do so!

 

Update #2:
Less fantasy, more reality from the UAC...

 

I was really tempted to have the powder flu yesterday morning, and that's why! Glad you got the good stuff.
And yes, I'll be sitting out until Friday. This weekend promises to be a sh*tshow with a holiday and fresh powder. Lucky me, I am in the Divas and get first ups on Saturday morning, so we'll see where we can go for an hour. Last weekend, avy control kept us on the "Safe routes" meaning, Sweet Revenge. Hopefully this week we can at least hit some Pork Barrel/119 action, or Beaver Slide--something off-piste ahead of the hordes.

 

Only 7 of 21 lifts operating at DV today due to high winds

 

Reading stories like this make me (unfortunately) hope for no snow when we head out there in a couple of weeks. And you're saying it's like this on a normal Sunday too? Our first day skiing will be a Sunday and I had someone recommend Solitude as the place to go for the least likely chance of crowds.

 

Just get up there early and you will be fine.

 

That's good to hear. thanks. I am an early bird and usually one of the firsts on the lift. My kids hate it but have no choice when they are skiing with me.

Where on Long Island are you? I grew up in Farmingdale and lived in Huntington before I moved to NC.

 

I love it when a plan works out. Fluctuating temperatures in the morning began to drop around 12:30 PM. Pulled into the parking lot around 1 PM and it was Nuking!


Howling winds but JP made it till about 3:15 before closing. About the windiest I had ever ridden that chair as it seemed the 55 mph gusts were coming from all different directions. Skiing just got better and better as the wind & high rate of snowfall kept refilling.
We will see what tomorrow brings as temperatures are forecast to rise.

 

The recommendation of Solitude as a place to go for the least likely chance of crowds was accurate until this season. Solitude was acquired by Alterra last August and is the only local resort where the IKON pass is valid for more than either five or seven days per season, depending on which IKON pass one possesses. Weekends are definitely busy and the car parks have been filling up quickly. I can't predict with certainty what awaits you a couple weeks from now but, given what's been occurring for the last many weekends and our deep snowpack, I'd say there's a high likelihood the new norm will prevail. As Ogg advised, I would arrive early and would be prepared for a possible time consuming trip up canyon. This season I've noticed peak traffic flows in the canyon are happening earlier and earlier, as resort users have figured out through experience that they must arrive in time to assure a parking spot in a designated car park and not be relegated to the side of the canyon road, traveling up to Brighton as a fall-back plan, or completely shut out of finding legal parking anywhere.

 

I live in Centerport right by the Huntington and Greenlawn borders.

 

Im off Friday and want some peace and quiet which leaves lcc out clearly. I think Im gonna drive up north and check out beaver mtn for the day as I love lowkey mom and pop areas.

 

Will be in Park City in about two weeks...never been before and will not have a rental. Staying near base of Canyons. What are some must-hit bars/restaurants/places at night? Will be uber'ing everywhere. Need to fill up 4 nights.

 

Nice choice! You will love it there!

 

That's what I figured is happening, thanks for the feedback. Someone else on here a while back recommended Deer Valley for a Sunday instead.

 

I used to spend quite a bit of time in downtown Huntington doing that in my younger days!!

 

and man was that wind cranking! chair ride on the Silver lake express to get over to the one chair open on the back side was Brutal! we skied the trees off Red cloud for about 3 hours then hit Steins for a quality lunch