Utah Questions about 1 night near Salt Lake City

[TonyPlush]

If Alta's on your bucket list and the other two aren't, Alta seems like the obvious choice indeed!

To be fair, that's not saying much. I think every mountain in North America is on my bucket list!

 

[DonC]

It's not too hard to rent an SUV, and having to make a flight after skiing I much prefer the flexibility

To be fair, that's not saying much. I think every mountain in North America is on my bucket list!

Dude, you need a better organized bucket list.... Get thee to Alta.

As others have said, It's not too hard to rent an SUV, which I much prefer when I need to get to flight. Lets you leave all your luggage in your car, get organized, and grab some dinner on the way to the airport. SLC has one of the easiest and shortest layouts for getting and returning cars (for the on-site companies). Unless there's an unlikely closure you will have no trouble getting up LCC if you wake up on the early side. If there is a closure they will usually have it open in the morning, but wake up even earlier.

Second the advice to take an afternoon clinic at Alta; great way to begin getting to know the mountain, and the instructors are nearly all top notch.

 

[SnowbirdDevotee]

I'd go to Snowbird. There is no Mineral Basin or Little Cloud at Alta. SB also has a more northern exposure which could be important if's warm, sunny and hasn't snowed for a while. Warm weather can play hell in late March, but maybe not.

Alta has the reputation of being "magical" as you say, why is that? In comparison to Snowbird.
"Skiing as it was? and should be"
1. Yes, the snowfall tends to be a little higher than Snowbird. (won't matter 12 hrs later)
2. A couple decades ago the lift tickets were cheaper than Snowbird
3. Snowboards not allowed, fine by me.
4. Old beat-up lodges (mostly not true anymore except for base lodge)
5. Not run by capitalist, profit-seekers like Snowbird, just saying
6 Alta was there first!!!!
7. Old beat-up lifts (gone! except for one)
8. Compared to SB - There are a bunch more places where you have to earn your turns(climb up!) and only get there by local knowledge. (all inbound). They ski out quick too unless you are in the line-up.
9. There is A LOT of History at Alta. Opened 1938 by famous Alf Engen. Now that's MAGICAL!!!!

Saying all that. I always ski a day at Alta on my trips. I like the place!!!

 

[tromano]

Keep options open in spring. Depending on when the last storm came through snowbasin maybe beautiful corn while Alta bird are mostly frozen solid.

No matter where you go local knowledge will find the best snow in spring. Hookup with a local on this forum or book a lesson, moutain tour, whatever. Asking other tourists at the GMD is not cutting the mustard for local knowledge IMO.

If you must book ahead, Snowbird has skiing on all aspects which means best chance of good snow no matter what the weather is doing.

Also snow tires per the regs means m&s rated e.g. all seasons. A rental suv with awd and all seasons will be legal in lcc unless the road is closed.

 

[tromano]

Strongly recommend the mid Feb dates vs late March if you want to ski any of these areas at their best. Don't sweat the crowds.

 

[TQA]

I have skied the area around SLC as a visitor for some years. On a weekend day with powder there is no way I would ski Alta or Snowbird. Both will be very busy and the easy to get to stuff will be skied out by 10.00am

If conditions are good and cold then SNowbasin will be better.

But I usually visit Canyons AKA Park City / Canyons Ski Canyons not Park City. You have no worries about queues in Little Cottonwood Canyon. On a weekend Bluebird powder day people drive up LCC at 6 am or earlier.

It will be possible to lay tracks in Canyons long after everything is tracked out in LCC maybe even 2 or 3 days after a dump.

 

[AmyPJ]

Snowbasin gets skied out just as quickly any more. It's no longer a hidden paradise.

 

[Slim]

AWDrentals.com if you want to rent a car. Really good service and very convenient: their office is close to the airport, you drive there, then they drop you at check in.

That’s said, for 1 person, shuttle seems the way to go.

 

[Ogg]

AWDrentals.com if you want to rent a car. Really good service and very convenient: their office is close to the airport, you drive there, then they drop you at check in.

That’s said, for 1 person, shuttle seems the way to go.

AWDrentals seemed a bit pricey when I checked but if you only need it for a day it's not bad. Turo.com seemed to be a better deal to get a suitable vehicle.

 

[Slim]

AWDrentals seemed a bit pricey when I checked but if you only need it for a day it's not bad. Turo.com seemed to be a better deal to get a suitable vehicle.

I got really good rates from them, last year they didnt have the small car I wanted, and gave me an outback for a really good price. That said, thats comparing to other rental companies, not to Turo. If you are cool with somehting like Turo, then that seems the way to go.

 

[Ogg]

I got really good rates from them, last year they didnt have the small car I wanted, and gave me an outback for a really good price. That said, thats comparing to other rental companies, not to Turo. If you are cool with somehting like Turo, then that seems the way to go.

I have my reservations about Turo but at roughly 1/2-1/3 of the cost I'm willing to give it a shot.

 

[TonyPlush]

Looks like AWD Rentals requires a 2-night minimum, so I may just go the shuttle route. As long as I can make my flight, it's all good.

The internet says Alta's lifts close at 4:30 PM. This would be perfect for catching the 4:45 Alta Shuttle to SLC, which should be the exact timing I need to make my 8:25 PM flight.