Deep Thoughts-Skiing 2018-19

GoJeff!

Member
SoSH Member
May 30, 2007
2,011
Los Angeles
Anyone thinking about skiing yet?

I just booked Mammoth for the first week of Christmas and am doing paperwork for the kids to do race team at Big Bear (in the mountains near LA). I'm also drooling over some heli trips that I don't have the time to go to.

I went crazy on new equipment before last season, so prepping for this year is mostly just getting stuff tuned and making sure the kids haven't outgrown everything.

We also all bought IKON passes this year, so I'd like to take advantage and sneak out to Alta/Snowbird, Jackson or Crystal if I get a chance.

What are your plans?
 

FlexFlexerson

Member
SoSH Member
I live in Breckenridge and we've gotten five feet of snow so far this season - opening day has just moved up to November 7th. I took some early turns at Arapahoe Basin in October but with multiple areas now open, this is when it starts cranking for us here in Colorado.

I'm on the Epic Pass, hoping to pull the trigger on a few last minute trips wherever the snow is good this year and maybe poke around a few areas of Colorado I haven't been yet. Also have an Aspen trip on the books in March.

ETA: Jackson and Snowbird/Alta are two of the greatest skiing experiences in North America, imho. Definitely make the trips if the snow is good. If you hit Jackson, make sure to go to Targhee for a day - the snow is softer and it's less crowded, though you don't get that big boy vertical.

Skiing top to bottom tram laps at Snowbird is pure heaven.
 
Last edited:

Preacher

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 9, 2006
6,411
Pyeongtaek, South Korea
Heading up to Hintertux, Austria this afternoon. A friend went a couple weeks ago and said the snow wasn't that great but it'll be nice to get back out there. Probably head up to Cortina in a couple weeks. This will be my wife's second season of skiing and she's pretty excited. She was getting pretty decent at the end of last year so I hope she continues progressing.
 

Preacher

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 9, 2006
6,411
Pyeongtaek, South Korea
Not great snow but skiing is skiing, right? Only coverage was the top 2/3rds of the mountain. Last year this time, there was snow not only all over the mountain but all the way downhill for the next several towns. Anyways, completed my revalidation for the ski patrol so I’m all set for another season.

ImageUploadedBySons of Sam Horn1542575298.838172.jpgImageUploadedBySons of Sam Horn1542575313.912681.jpgImageUploadedBySons of Sam Horn1542575328.775028.jpg
 

GoJeff!

Member
SoSH Member
May 30, 2007
2,011
Los Angeles
Not great snow but skiing is skiing, right? Only coverage was the top 2/3rds of the mountain. Last year this time, there was snow not only all over the mountain but all the way downhill for the next several towns. Anyways, completed my revalidation for the ski patrol so I’m all set for another season.

View attachment 24698View attachment 24699View attachment 24700
Looks good for November.

How many days do you typically patrol up there?

The mountains here are all open but we’re waiting for some actual snowfall.
 

Preacher

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 9, 2006
6,411
Pyeongtaek, South Korea
Looks good for November.

How many days do you typically patrol up there?

The mountains here are all open but we’re waiting for some actual snowfall.
Our patrol is part of the International Division of the National Ski Patrol (the US organization) so although we provide aid to injured skiers, we can't evacuate injured skiers (although we train with the toboggan). We basically try to assist the actual mountain patrols if possible. Anyways, the training always starts mid November and we're on various mountains in Europe until about mid to late March. We also provide patrol support to the Outdoor Recreation ski trips for US servicemembers (and their dependents) stationed in Europe.
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 15, 2002
14,446
My friend and I went up to Tuckerman Ravine this past Saturday. Beautiful weather and amazing skiing up there for November 24. The bowl could still use more coverage, but there was a ton of snow up there.
 

GoJeff!

Member
SoSH Member
May 30, 2007
2,011
Los Angeles
I’ve been stuck at home, so no skiing, but it seems spectacular coast to coast. Mammoth has a 70 inch base and more snow on the way, and my east coast family says this was the best November in memory.
 

Sausage in Section 17

Poker Champ
SoSH Member
Mar 17, 2004
2,084
Well I guess that means we’re behind the curve, for once.

Here in the Interior of BC, hills opened last week, but with minimal bases, and upper lifts only. I’m planning to head out tomorrow for the season’s first tracks, but expectations are tempered.
 

aksoxfan

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
7,159
Southeast Alaska

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
SoSH Member
Sep 27, 2016
21,754
Pittsburgh, PA
doing New Years in Park City, and in particular I'm flying into SLC on the 6am flight from new york. I know that a lot of resorts offer a free lift ticket if you show a same-day boarding pass, but apparently PCMR/Canyons have gotten rid of that for the 2018-19 season. Anyone know which ones in the park city area still do that?
 

petefungtorres

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
730
Portland, ME
Hope everyone had a good holiday and I love the pics from @Preacher. I would love to ski in Austria - looks incredible (even though the snow in November might not be great).

My family and I ski Sunday River and the season has been pretty great so far. The kids have over 30 days already and my wife and I are probably at 20 or so. My 15 year old landed his first front flip and 540. The middle kid has boardercross at Sugarloaf this weekend. I got new skis for Christmas - something lighter and nimbler than the Volkl mantras I have been skiing exclusively for a couple of years. If anyone who reads this makes it up to Sunday River and wants to meet up let me know. I'd be glad to provide advice or grab a beer. Hope this storm really materializes for tomorrow!
 

Preacher

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 9, 2006
6,411
Pyeongtaek, South Korea
Hope everyone had a good holiday and I love the pics from @Preacher. I would love to ski in Austria - looks incredible (even though the snow in November might not be great).

My family and I ski Sunday River and the season has been pretty great so far. The kids have over 30 days already and my wife and I are probably at 20 or so. My 15 year old landed his first front flip and 540. The middle kid has boardercross at Sugarloaf this weekend. I got new skis for Christmas - something lighter and nimbler than the Volkl mantras I have been skiing exclusively for a couple of years. If anyone who reads this makes it up to Sunday River and wants to meet up let me know. I'd be glad to provide advice or grab a beer. Hope this storm really materializes for tomorrow!
I miss skiing at Sunday River. I don’t think I’ve been there for about 20 years.

Was at Folgaria (Italy) this past weekend. All manmade snow which was disappointing for this time of year. Unfortunately, the snow seems to be stuck in the northern Alps. The good thing is my wife is really enjoying her second season skiing and she is getting much better each time we go. We’re headed to Cervinia for MLK Jr Weekend so we can ski both the Italian and Swiss side of the Alps. They’re getting snow every few days over there.
 

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
SoSH Member
Sep 27, 2016
21,754
Pittsburgh, PA
Was in the Park City area for 5 days around new years. Did my first day at Brighton (only a couple extra bucks gets you night skiing till 9pm, I lasted till 6 when I couldn't go in the trees anymore). The trees were lovely. They only have 4 main lifts, but a lot of terrain served from those, and not too much crowding. The main drags were a little scraped, there was even some ice in the runoffs to the lifts, but in general there was good snow to be had.

Park City MR was pretty threadbare. The groomers were in fine shape, but the interesting stuff was either (A) super bumpy/icy (if you love moguls, I guess it's fine, we don't), or (B) only in some very hard-to-get-to places. Going over to the Canyons side on our last day, we did find a whole lot more to work with, so if you go there I'd recommend starting/ending your day at Canyons.

Did a day at Deer Valley, right after we'd had 6" there. That snow made all the difference - marginal tree runs became glorious, the upper reaches of the mountain were in great shape, some stupid-crazy terrain even looked doable (e.g. Lady Morgan lift, and hiking to the bowls off Empire at the very top). Discovered that there are people on Craigslist who will sell you a Deer Valley lift ticket for $60. My friend/host, who's a local, showed me his private powder stashes off of the Sultan lift, skier's left of the lift line - you really had to know the right turns to find the put-in from the trails, but man it was bouncy in there.

I've heard since leaving that they've gotten dumped on over the last week, so maybe it's headed towards mid-winter conditions.
 

Preacher

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 9, 2006
6,411
Pyeongtaek, South Korea
Was in the Park City area for 5 days around new years. Did my first day at Brighton (only a couple extra bucks gets you night skiing till 9pm, I lasted till 6 when I couldn't go in the trees anymore). The trees were lovely. They only have 4 main lifts, but a lot of terrain served from those, and not too much crowding. The main drags were a little scraped, there was even some ice in the runoffs to the lifts, but in general there was good snow to be had.
At first, I got excited that you were referencing Mt. Brighton, Michigan as it is featured at the beginning of Aspen Extreme. I’ve never been but I would pay a significant amount of money for that Brighton Maintenance hat that Dexter sports throughout the movie.
 

petefungtorres

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
730
Portland, ME
I miss skiing at Sunday River. I don’t think I’ve been there for about 20 years.
Seems like you have some other pretty decent options! I count on the nostalgia bringing my kids back to Sunday River after they're gone. InstaFace - that sounds like a pretty awesome trip. Seems this storm did materialize for the mountains and brought close to a foot of fresh snow so we will be enjoying similar conditions for the next week or two. Also wanted to post this awesome video from Troy Murphy, a true Mainer:

 

wiffleballhero

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 28, 2009
4,529
In the simulacrum
This guy does not have a real Maine accent. ....

I've got a question:

Used to ski a ton, long since made it about a once-every-three-to-five-year thing.

But I just pieced together some used gear. Everything looks good, but I can see that I need to make some binding adjustments to get my boots in. It seems like a pretty straightforward operation, but once I get them centered, tight and adjusted for my DIN number, am I missing anything?

This seems like the kind of thing where I don't need to pay someone to do it, unless there is some secret I can't figure out. Any ideas?
 

GoJeff!

Member
SoSH Member
May 30, 2007
2,011
Los Angeles
This guy does not have a real Maine accent. ....

I've got a question:

Used to ski a ton, long since made it about a once-every-three-to-five-year thing.

But I just pieced together some used gear. Everything looks good, but I can see that I need to make some binding adjustments to get my boots in. It seems like a pretty straightforward operation, but once I get them centered, tight and adjusted for my DIN number, am I missing anything?

This seems like the kind of thing where I don't need to pay someone to do it, unless there is some secret I can't figure out. Any ideas?
Forward pressure needs to be adjusted. There is usually some sort of indicator on the heel piece that shows if you are “within range” when a boot is clicked in. If you post a photo, I’ll tell you what is the indicator.
 

wiffleballhero

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 28, 2009
4,529
In the simulacrum
Forward pressure needs to be adjusted. There is usually some sort of indicator on the heel piece that shows if you are “within range” when a boot is clicked in. If you post a photo, I’ll tell you what is the indicator.
OK, thanks. I'm apparently phone illiterate.

So I figured it out on my wife's skis, but with mine I am a little flummoxed and I can't seem to get the photo to take here in the thread (I know, I'll find a 12 YO to help me out).

I think I need to get them re-drilled? On the back side of the binding there is a phillips head screw setting to back the binding up, but I can't back it up enough. It just comes all the way off before it has enough space for the boot.
 

GoJeff!

Member
SoSH Member
May 30, 2007
2,011
Los Angeles
OK, thanks. I'm apparently phone illiterate.

So I figured it out on my wife's skis, but with mine I am a little flummoxed and I can't seem to get the photo to take here in the thread (I know, I'll find a 12 YO to help me out).

I think I need to get them re-drilled? On the back side of the binding there is a phillips head screw setting to back the binding up, but I can't back it up enough. It just comes all the way off before it has enough space for the boot.
If the heels are coming off the back, they definitely need to be redrilled. The only exception are some demo/rental bindings where the toepiece can also move forward. It’s not worth drilling them yourself unless you have some extra skis to practice on.
On your wife’s skis, there are typically several position setting for the heel where the boot will fit, but only one will have the proper forward pressure.
 

wiffleballhero

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 28, 2009
4,529
In the simulacrum
Her bindings are Tyrolias where there is this simple notched tab like in this photo (this is where I followed the directions from). I got it to the middle of the dashes on both.

 

Preacher

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 9, 2006
6,411
Pyeongtaek, South Korea
Today may have been the best skiing conditions I’ve had in a very long time. We’re staying in Breuil-Cervinia which is a small town near the Matterhorn on the Italian side. Got it late last night because my wife couldn’t get out of work as early as she originally planned but it may have been a good thing since it snowed all day here yesterday but stopped a couple hours before we arrived (around 11pm). They had regularly snow pretty much all week. We just got our skis back on Wednesday from getting waxed and tuned. It was too windy in the morning for them to open the lifts and gondolas that go over to the Swiss side but those opened around 1. So we did get a couple runs in Switzerland as well. Slopes were pretty empty. We sat alone on 6 person chairs and rode alone in gondolas and enjoyed fresh snow. It’s hard to spot the runs around here since it’s all about the tree line and there’s fresh powder everywhere. I’m expecting a lot more people tomorrow and Sunday but Monday should be nice. Anyways, just a fantastic day all around.

Edit: I keep trying to upload a few pictures from today but it doesn’t seem to be working.
 
Last edited:

GoJeff!

Member
SoSH Member
May 30, 2007
2,011
Los Angeles
Today may have been the best skiing conditions I’ve had in a very long time. We’re staying in Breuil-Cervinia which is a small town near the Matterhorn on the Italian side. Got it late last night because my wife couldn’t get out of work as early as she originally planned but it may have been a good thing since it snowed all day here yesterday but stopped a couple hours before we arrived (around 11pm). They had regularly snow pretty much all week. We just got our skis back on Wednesday from getting waxed and tuned. It was too windy in the morning for them to open the lifts and gondolas that go over to the Swiss side but those opened around 1. So we did get a couple runs in Switzerland as well. Slopes were pretty empty. We sat alone on 6 person chairs and rode alone in gondolas and enjoyed fresh snow. It’s hard to spot the runs around here since it’s all about the tree line and there’s fresh powder everywhere. I’m expecting a lot more people tomorrow and Sunday but Monday should be nice. Anyways, just a fantastic day all around.

Edit: I keep trying to upload a few pictures from today but it doesn’t seem to be working.
Sounds great! Love Cervinia!
 

Preacher

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 9, 2006
6,411
Pyeongtaek, South Korea
Conditions in Cortina d'Ampezzo were really good this weekend. They got dumped on last week. Snow in town is at least 18” still. Yesterday was really nice. Sunny, about 32, no wind. Today it’s cloudy with light snow. Hard to read the snow at the top when you’re in clouds but it’s still pretty great conditions. A little more crowded today than yesterday as well but I can’t complain.

 

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
SoSH Member
Sep 27, 2016
21,754
Pittsburgh, PA
Went to a summertime wedding at a mid mountain Lodge there once. Maybe the one in your first picture.

I remember being stunned by the mountains on 3 sides of the town. Was a pretty nice town, too, good restaurants, got a good haircut. But being up there felt surreal. I'm glad the skiing matches the scenery.

I utterly failed to get drunk on aperol spritzers at that wedding. Was the best thing there to drink. Think I gave up after about 15.
 

GoJeff!

Member
SoSH Member
May 30, 2007
2,011
Los Angeles
Took full advantage of the monster California storms over the past week.

First hit the backcountry in Los Angeles. We're near the top of Mt. Baldy, with the LA basin right below us.



It was great powder up there. Did this side of the bowl then another lap in the chutes in the center.



Then took my son and his friend up to Mammoth for the weekend where they braved some legit cold for 4 feet of light powder:

 

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
SoSH Member
Sep 27, 2016
21,754
Pittsburgh, PA
Northeast about to get hammered, by northeast standards anyway. A foot-plus in most of Vermont tomorrow, snow every day over the next week, another 6 inches a week from now... should finally get to midseason conditions and see the fun stuff open up.
 

DukeSox

absence hasn't made the heart grow fonder
SoSH Member
Dec 22, 2005
11,742
I spent today doing back country (skin up / ski down) near Stowe. It was epic.
 

Preacher

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 9, 2006
6,411
Pyeongtaek, South Korea
I utterly failed to get drunk on aperol spritzers at that wedding. Was the best thing there to drink. Think I gave up after about 15.
Perhaps they were making them wrong. I go 3 parts prosecco, 2 parts aperol, 1 (or less) part sparkling water. You could also try Campari spritz since Campari has a lot more alcohol than aperol but of course the drink is much more bitter.
 

GoJeff!

Member
SoSH Member
May 30, 2007
2,011
Los Angeles
Went back for more in Baldy Bowl.

The peak had new snow but there had been rain since last time. This resulted in some occasional ice patches that made the ascent a bit spicy.

Came down through the Hourglass chute, which was long, steep and tight.



I made the mistake of not taking my ski boots out of walk mode, which I do not recommend.

The snow in the apron was fantastic. We skinned up for a second lap.



No one else was in the bowl all day. It's 30 miles from LA.
 

DukeSox

absence hasn't made the heart grow fonder
SoSH Member
Dec 22, 2005
11,742
My brother outfitted me with some fat skis he got cheap and a pair of bindings that unlock on the heel for skinning up, then i brought my regular ski boots and fitted those, then just unclasped them when walking, worked well.

Nebraska Valley/Notch depending who you ask
 

Preacher

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 9, 2006
6,411
Pyeongtaek, South Korea
Hit up San Martino di Castrozza this past weekend. It was a bit more crowded than we anticipated but the lift lines were relatively short. Just a lot of weekend warriors picking their way slowly down the slopes. Unfortunately, this season for the alps has been pretty shitty. It’s been spring skiing since mind February. Looks like snow for the Dolomites later this week. I don’t think I can get out this weekend but that means maybe one more trip before we call it a season (fingers crossed).



 

Eric1984

my real name is Ben
SoSH Member
Jun 14, 2001
2,762
At first, I got excited that you were referencing Mt. Brighton, Michigan as it is featured at the beginning of Aspen Extreme. I’ve never been but I would pay a significant amount of money for that Brighton Maintenance hat that Dexter sports throughout the movie.
I grew up in Michigan. Mt. Brighton makes Wachusett look like Revelstoke.
 

VORP Speed

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 23, 2010
6,633
Ground Zero
Sweet day at Park City today. Powder everywhere. It’s been dumping all over Utah and more on the way. I haven’t been out here since they combined Park City and the Canyons. Brand new gondola connecting them is really great. Tons of terrain. They are jacking the prices up like crazy, though.
 

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
SoSH Member
Sep 27, 2016
21,754
Pittsburgh, PA
If you want to save money on tickets, @VORP Speed , PM me, I know a guy.

And yeah the Gondola is a nice view, but man is it such a vast area... can take forever just to get back from one side to the other. For example, my day there that we started on the Park City side, but I had to stop my day early (for the airport) when we were over at Canyons, and my route back was:

- Finish run over on Saddleback lift (The Aspens - highly recommend it)
- Ski down Chicane to Tombstone base
- Head down a bit to catch Timberline lift to traverse over the road
- exit and then get on Iron Mountain lift up the mountain
- Carefully choose your route down so as to intersect with the Gondola base
- Ride Gondola back over (~15 mins) to Silverlode lift, thankfully I was by myself so I got the singles line but it was packed
- Silverlode to summit house
- Know which way you're going to get back down in one go (in my case it was Home Run to King Con Access to Erika's Gold - many fewer people make it out that way)

That's 4 lifts, could easily have been 5 or even 6 if I hadn't been planning it carefully. In the future I think I'll plan each day to start at, and only explore, one side or the other - if I'm taking the Gondola between them again, something has gone horribly wrong.
 

Quintanariffic

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Apr 23, 2002
5,141
The City of Studios
Yeah, that interconnect is a bit of a mess, exacerbated by the generally lousy set up at Canyons in the newer/eastern half of the terrain. That’s what happens when 5000 sf McMansions at 9,000ft are prioritized over the skiing experience.
 

DukeSox

absence hasn't made the heart grow fonder
SoSH Member
Dec 22, 2005
11,742
Yeah, that interconnect is a bit of a mess, exacerbated by the generally lousy set up at Canyons in the newer/eastern half of the terrain. That’s what happens when 5000 sf McMansions at 9,000ft are prioritized over the skiing experience.
Those houses are absurd to ski past. They look like a movie set
 

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
SoSH Member
Sep 27, 2016
21,754
Pittsburgh, PA
Deer Valley makes the Canyons look like a slum. I'm shocked they were willing to let me buy a lunch platter at the base lodge, nevermind a lift ticket. Oh, and the day I was there, they sold out of lift tickets. They reached a point where they refused to sell any more for the day, even though their marginal cost is very close to $0. That's a thing you can decide to do when you have people paying $10M for a medium-sized ski-in-out lodge because they don't care about the money.
 

Mr Mulliner

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 16, 2001
793
Those houses are absurd to ski past. They look like a movie set
I was there a few weeks ago to visit clients that own an 18,000 sq ft(!) house right below one of the lifts.

They need to sell it because they’re going to run out of money if they don’t, but they can’t bring themselves to move down to the slums where the places are only $2-3M. I don’t dislike many clients, but they are hard to deal with.

And Deer Valley is the worst mountain out there. Shitty terrain, shittier skiers.

$180/day for the privilege of slaloming around skiers with $1500 skis and 2k worth of mountaineering outerwear to aid in their snowplowing criss-cross of the famed groomers.

Had to ski there one day with the clients - I bought lunch at the place of their choosing. 3 burgers at mid mountain hotel: $100, not including drinks.

Deer Valley honks.
 

VORP Speed

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 23, 2010
6,633
Ground Zero
If you want to save money on tickets, @VORP Speed , PM me, I know a guy.

And yeah the Gondola is a nice view, but man is it such a vast area... can take forever just to get back from one side to the other. For example, my day there that we started on the Park City side, but I had to stop my day early (for the airport) when we were over at Canyons, and my route back was:

- Finish run over on Saddleback lift (The Aspens - highly recommend it)
- Ski down Chicane to Tombstone base
- Head down a bit to catch Timberline lift to traverse over the road
- exit and then get on Iron Mountain lift up the mountain
- Carefully choose your route down so as to intersect with the Gondola base
- Ride Gondola back over (~15 mins) to Silverlode lift, thankfully I was by myself so I got the singles line but it was packed
- Silverlode to summit house
- Know which way you're going to get back down in one go (in my case it was Home Run to King Con Access to Erika's Gold - many fewer people make it out that way)

That's 4 lifts, could easily have been 5 or even 6 if I hadn't been planning it carefully. In the future I think I'll plan each day to start at, and only explore, one side or the other - if I'm taking the Gondola between them again, something has gone horribly wrong.
Thanks for the offer. Just got back home and probably done for the season but may take you up on it next year! 45 degrees and bright sunshine yesterday. Sunburns all around.

The round trip from Canyons/Park City is definitely a lot for one day. I did it with a couple of my kids, though, so it was sort of like an all day treasure hunt. Constantly taking out the map and planning routes, wondering if we were going to make it all the way back to the orange bubble before the lifts shut down. What if we got stuck out there and had to go knock on Tom Cruise or Michael Milken’s $30m mansion door?? Cool to do once, but much more efficient to pick a side.

The development out there is nuts. I almost bought a little place in maybe 2012/13 or so and I was just kicking myself the whole time for not pulling the trigger on that. Would have cleaned up. Oh well. Have to head up to Ogden to find the bargains now.
 

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
SoSH Member
Sep 27, 2016
21,754
Pittsburgh, PA
I was there a few weeks ago to visit clients that own an 18,000 sq ft(!) house right below one of the lifts.

They need to sell it because they’re going to run out of money if they don’t, but they can’t bring themselves to move down to the slums where the places are only $2-3M. I don’t dislike many clients, but they are hard to deal with.

And Deer Valley is the worst mountain out there. Shitty terrain, shittier skiers.

$180/day for the privilege of slaloming around skiers with $1500 skis and 2k worth of mountaineering outerwear to aid in their snowplowing criss-cross of the famed groomers.

Had to ski there one day with the clients - I bought lunch at the place of their choosing. 3 burgers at mid mountain hotel: $100, not including drinks.

Deer Valley honks.
Sounds like the people you deal with honk. I paid $60 for the day (which I mention because, again, happy to share the love with anyone here), we parked at the Jordanelle gondola and walked right onto the lift, and avoided all of those snowplowers by going to the trees off the Ruby and Sultan lifts - which were excellent. I was skiing with locals and they kicked my ass (despite being many years my senior), but I had no complaints about the terrain and I think those who do probably aren't going the right places. As for the food, I'm used to having to pay upwards of $20 for lunch at most ski resorts if I don't pack a PB&J and tough it out till last chair, but at DV I had a cafeteria-style meal at the base lodge and it really was worth my $18, just great food. Maybe your enjoyment of the day was colored by it being work (and/or the company).

Either way, though, we agree that the on-mountain lodging there is the craziest thing we've ever heard about and if I had that kind of money I'd sooner be kicked in the nuts than pay it for that sort of return.
 

Mr Mulliner

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 16, 2001
793
Sounds like the people you deal with honk. I paid $60 for the day (which I mention because, again, happy to share the love with anyone here), we parked at the Jordanelle gondola and walked right onto the lift, and avoided all of those snowplowers by going to the trees off the Ruby and Sultan lifts - which were excellent. I was skiing with locals and they kicked my ass (despite being many years my senior), but I had no complaints about the terrain and I think those who do probably aren't going the right places. As for the food, I'm used to having to pay upwards of $20 for lunch at most ski resorts if I don't pack a PB&J and tough it out till last chair, but at DV I had a cafeteria-style meal at the base lodge and it really was worth my $18, just great food. Maybe your enjoyment of the day was colored by it being work (and/or the company).

Either way, though, we agree that the on-mountain lodging there is the craziest thing we've ever heard about and if I had that kind of money I'd sooner be kicked in the nuts than pay it for that sort of return.
Trust me, we skied everything, including dropping into the Daly chutes and the traditional stashes in the trees on each peak. My clients have lived there forever and are very good skiers - they tried to give the best impression possible, but it couldn't hold a candle to Solitude or Alta/Snowbird from the previous few days. DV was more crowded, had less(no) untracked stashes, average terrain significantly less interesting/challenging, typical skiers were well below replacement level, etc. (not that I said that to them).

It's a less exclusive version of the Yellowstone Club - people are there for the luxury, to say that they are there, for someone to carry their skis for them, and to take a couple relaxing runs between bloody mary's before knocking off at 2pm to the $10M slopeside "cottage" for some apres. And with Big Sky next door - you couldn't pay me to ski YC over Big Sky, the same way I'd never willingly choose DV over Alta/Snowbird/Brighton/Solitude or even Park City for that matter.

Assuming an advanced/expert level of ski ability and a preference for off-piste and sidecountry, DV is far behind the other resorts in terms of terrain - that's not even debated by locals. DV has the reputation best/most grooming, but I thought Solitude's groomers were way more fun, and they were certainly less crowded (and everyone at Solitude told us it was the busiest day of the year when we were there). Plus, with a little hiking, we skied untracked powder in bowls and glades all day at Alta and Solitude, despite it not having snowed for a week.

Anyway, all my personal opinions, of course. I don't mind paying extra for things I value, but Deer Valley caters to people who like things I don't care about.
 

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
SoSH Member
Sep 27, 2016
21,754
Pittsburgh, PA
I won't argue "better" when it comes to Solitude, Alta, Snowbird etc. Just arguing that DV was a great time. I don't have some passionate need for "the best", as long as lift lines are reasonable and there are some good tree runs and it's not too icy, I'm a happy guy. More like a bar to clear, than a competition. Though on those counts, DV did better for me than a few days at PC/Canyons, where it was hard to find something that wasn't really scrape-y, had to really work to find any powder at all, and some lines were hysterically long for how many lifts they have.
 

Spelunker

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 17, 2005
11,862
I was at PC on Friday-today (Monday). The weather was wonderful- bluebird all the way, and I have a ridiculous burn to back it up- and the lift situation was interesting: really short lines in the morning all weekend, getting progressively worse later in the day. Never made it to the Canyons side, though, so I can't comment about that. But today we'd get down to the base and immediate be on a lift, because no one was in line.

I stayed at the St Regis back in November in a random, pre season weekend, but prices were starting at $1715/night the weekend so we airbnb'd a PC condo instead.We bounced over there on Friday for apres-ski out of curiosity, and man that is about as bougie as it gets. I can't imagine what the skiing at Deer Valley must be like.

Having never skied PC before, the run to downtown, across the snow bridge over the street, and finishing at the High West distillery is one of the most wonderfully unique things I've seen.