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There was a great article written yesterday on thestreet.com about ways to save some money while still enjoying the legendary fresh powder which the Utah ski resorts have to offer.

Why Utah? The best reason to go is the snow. The ski resorts closest to Salt Lake City average 430 inches per year — many received 700 last year (58 feet!) — and it’s almost always light, fluffy powder. Colorado, the Sierra Nevadas and even the Pacific Northwest get plenty of powder, too, but Utah’s dry climate and the effect of Great Salt Lake means exceptionally dry snowflakes, containing as little as 4% water. The result? Ice, a staple for East Coast and Midwestern snow riders, is virtually nonexistent. And in February, the sun shines about 60% of days.

Access and variety also separate Utah from the rest of the country. Seven ski areas lie within 38 miles of Salt Lake City International Airport, a major hub with 800 nonstop arrivals every day. There’s also the Utah Transit Authority, or UTA, a public transit system that can get you from the airport, downtown or just about anywhere else in the metro area to the lodge quickly and cheaply.

Alta, Brighton, The Canyons, Deer Valley, Park City Mountain Resort, Snowbird and Solitude, each with its own character (and price range), offer a combined 14,000 skiable acres, compared to 5,800 for the combined membership of Ski Vermont.

Here are some of the articles suggestions to save some money:

Plan ahead. From lodging to lift tickets and equipment rentals, everything is cheaper if you book early in the season, often before early December. Once you’re on the ground, remember that buying lift tickets and renting equipment before you get to the mountain can also save you money.

Stay in town. Try hotels and condos in Midvale, Cottonwood Heights or Sandy for easy access to the Cottonwoods. Downtown Salt Lake also works well, offering a short trip to Park City and a slightly longer one to the canyons. Check rates at the Residence Inn Salt Lake City Cottonwood or the Best Western Cottontree Inn. If you’re focused on Park City, poke around The Canyons resort and the town’s outskirts, because the town has a fabulous, free shuttle system that runs morning, noon and night.

Take the shuttle or city buses. Loading yourself, your equipment and your ski clothes onto a bus doesn’t sound like fun, but it’s cheap ($2.25 each way). Besides, even with a rental car, you may have to take public transportation to the Cottonwood resorts. Avalanches and avalanche prevention often shut down the roads, or restrict them to buses or four-wheel drive. If it snows overnight, call the resorts’ ski conditions hotlines for road information before you decide where to ski. If you do rent a car, consider your winter driving skills or an all-wheel/four-wheel-drive rental if you’re planning to drive up the canyons.

Scout out discounts. Deals abound, online and on the ground. Wherever you stay, they’ll likely offer discounted lift tickets for nearby resorts. Many offer the Salt Lake Super Pass, with discounts on one to six days of skiing at Alta, Brighton, Snowbird and Solitude (with a free day if you buy three days or more by Dec. 1). It’s also available from Ski-SaltLake.com, CheapTickets.com and other travel Web sites. The vouchers include rides on the UTA buses to the resorts. For the Cottonwoods and the Park City resorts (The Canyons, Deer Valley, Park City Mountain Resort), you can also buy tickets at area ski shops such as Canyon Sports or Ski ‘N See in Salt Lake (but not at Park City stores). You can save up to $18 — provided you buy before you head up.

You probably already know that Utah has the Greatest Snow on Earth ®, well once again we’re a the top of the pile in many resort rankings.  Below are Utah resorts ranked according to Ski Magazine

Overall
#1- Deer Valley Resort
#5- Park City Mountain Resort
#13- The Canyons Resort
#22- Solitude Mountain Resort
#25- Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort
#28- Alta Ski Area
#30- Snowbasin

Snow
#1- Alta Ski Area
#2- Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort
#3- Powder Mountain
#5- Brighton Resort
#6- Solitude Mountain Resort
#9- Deer Valley Resort

Grooming
#1- Deer Valley Resort

Terrain/Challenge
#3- Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort
#4- Alta Ski Area

Value
#1- Powder Mountain
#3- Alta Ski Area
#5- Brighton Resort
#7- Solitude Mountain Resort

Lifts
#1- Snowbasin
#4- Deer Valley Resort

Service
#1- Deer Valley Resort
#3- Snowbasin

Weather
#1- Deer Valley Resort
#2- Solitude Mountain Resort
#4- Alta Ski Area
#5- Brighton Resort
#8- Park City Mountain Resort

Access
#1- Park City Mountain Resort
#2- Deer Valley Resort
#4- The Canyons Resort
#5- Solitude Mountain Resort
#6- Alta Ski Area
#7- Brighton Resort
#8- Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort

On-Mountain Food
#1- Deer Valley Resort
#2- Snowbasin

Lodging
#1- Deer Valley Resort
#8- Park City Mountain Resort

Dining
#2- Deer Valley Resort
#9- Park City Mountain Resort

Apres-Ski
#8- Park City Mountain Resort

Off-Hill Activities
#6- Park City Mountain Resort
#9- Deer Valley Resort

Family Programs
#7- Deer Valley Resort

Terrain Parks
#9-Park City Mountain Resort

Overall Satisfaction
#1- Alta Ski Area

#4- Deer Valley Resort

#6- Solitude Mountain Resort

With south facing slopes were starting to melt out around the Salt Lake Valley and mountain slopes turning to spring corn this past week and it felt like winter had made an exit. That was until Monday when it stepped back onto center stage for an encore. Storm totals in the Cottonwoods were in the 16-20″ range with the Park City areas receiving just over 10″ and Snowbasin to the north getting in on the fun with near 18″. Cold temps and cloudy skies the past two days have kept the snow fresh. With near record snow depths at many of Utah’s resorts it’s the perfect time to get out and ride.

Tim from Ski Utah was up at Solitude on Monday to get evidence that Winter is still open for business.

This past week Ski Salt Lake held a unique photo contest called the Ski Salt Lake Shootout. It featured 4 Utah resorts, local athletes, and a number of top photographers from around the western United States and Canada. The recipe for getting stunning images of the Cottonwood Resorts was the brain child of Adam Barker.

Here’s how the Recipe played out:

1. Heavy dose of Ski Salt Lake’s 4 resorts (Alta, Brighton, Snowbird, Solitude)

2. A small handful of local ski athletes like Sage Cattabriga-Alosa, Ben Wheeler, Jamie Pierre and more

3. 1 bunch of top notch ski photographers (1 bunch = 7 photographers)

The final and secret ingredient - 2 feet of fresh Utah Powder - air chilled at 15 degrees overnight

Let the mixture loose for 5 days, uncovered and unencumbered.

The result? Well, the results of the Ski Salt Lake Shootout are in and the final product is nothing short of amazing.

While I love the powder division winning shot of Snowbird local Ben Wheeler gasping for air amidst flying powder, the overall winning image by Grant Gunderson is a shot taken in the early hours of the morning near Alta of skier Bryce Phillips. It’s not hard for me to say that it’s one of the most diverse and amazing ski images I’ve ever seen.

Categories included Air, Powder, Big Mountain, Mountain Lifestyle, City Lifestyle with each category winner taking home $1000. Grant Gunderson’s image landed him a cool $4K as the overall winner.

Check out the winning photos at Ski-SaltLake.com

Every time I think I’m “in the know” of who’s who in Utah skiing I see an article like the one on Brian Clark’s Snow Blog and realize I’ve got a long way to go.

That’s the beauty of the various ski resorts - each resort has their own crew of permanent fixtures who appear each fall with the snows and slip away with the melting snow into “other lives” until the smell of winter’s snow fills the air.

Jim Engle has been part of this routine at Solitude Mountain Resort for over 25 years - faithfully showing up at the season pass office to plunk down his hard earned cash in trade for hopes of powder days and sunny spring corn. The ROI must measure up as the following season he ponies up once again.

From the article Jim is says of Solitude:

“There is good out-of-bounds access here like other ski areas, but I really think the snow is better here,” said Engle, who moved from his native New Jersey to Utah in 1982.

“But because of the way Solitude is laid out on a north-facing ridge, the snow stays better here longer,” he said. “Alta and Snowbird are the most impressive resorts in Utah, but I think the snow stays better here longer.”

I’m sure every skier who calls him or herself a local at one of Utah’s resorts could quickly point out similar reasons they call their hill “home”. For Jim, it’s enough to keep him coming back and silently getting down to the business of skiing powder all season long.

– Check out the whole story of “Skiing with Solitude’s ‘Grizzly Adams’” on SignOnSanDiego.com

With a 120-inch mid-mountain base, 412-inch total snowfall to date and 7-inches of pow in the past 24 hours, Solitude Resort was primed for the picking. Driving up Big Cottonwood Canyon, the road was fairly clear as this storm was a tad warmer than other recent storms have been. The sloppy-wet snow in Salt Lake City translated into some well-needed snow in the Wasatch. While it’s really only been a little more than a week since the last snowfall, it seems like a month.

In the parking lot, the decision begins… super-fat Black Diamond Zealot skis or only sorta-fat Scott Mission skis? Hmmm… I opt for the Scott Missions with their 90mm waist and shapely profile to not only float in the powder, but also lay down perfect railroad tracks on the groomers. These have a similar profile to the Ski Utah-approved Rossignol Scratch Brigade or Brigade Pro skis.

Though Solitude is well-known for it’s hidden powder stashes, the groomers turned out to be impeccable, thus paving the trail back to the lift. Our first ride up Sunrise Chair was completely solo–nobody in sight. We were anxious to hit the Summit lift and see the conditions in Honeycomb Canyon. After one lap in Honeycomb, we decided to maximize our powder time by lapping the Summit Chair.

Our mission turned into one of traversing further and further into the Northeast-facing Evergreen area. A relatively quick traverse into this area pays back in spades as we continued to find untracked stashes weaving in and out of the pines. Evergreen can be steep and tight in spots and the traverse unforgiving, so staying on top of your game is the best option. Luckily, we were typically the only ones on the traverse, so the bumper cars scenario that often characterizes short and sketchy traverses was avoided.

Traverses weed out the weak and reward the diligent and the Traverse into Evergreen is one that not many take, but those who do can enjoy some of the best turns on the mountain. We were rewarded with mostly untracked turns lap-after-lap. That is why I like to call Solitude’s Evergreen Area, Everwhite.

If you missed my SICK day alert yesterday I hope that you didn’t miss taking a sick day today as it was SICK in the good sense.

I remember my first winter living in Park City during the 96-97 season. During the month of January there was a string of 18 powder days in a row. After anywhere from 6″-18″ overnight, most days dawned bluebird. Sometime after noon it would begin to cloud up and start to snow through the night until the next morning when it would bluebird again. It was like Christmas every day.

After about day 10 it was absolutely absurd to be honest with you. Days blurred together, deep powder runs were obscured in the grey mater by the shear volume of them and every local who dared call himself a local came out of the woodwork to participate in this once in a lifetime event. Little did we know that it would happen a mere 11 years later.

It was while driving to Solitude this morning that I remembered those bluebird days of January 1997. When I hit the sack last night there was no way I could have imagined it dawning bluebird. Solitude had reported 11″ yesterday and another 14″ overnight. It’s like I had traveled back in time.

Honeycomb didn’t open but it wasn’t necessary. A couple of laps off Powder Horn and the Headwall of the Summit Lift got us started. Upon arriving at the top of Summit Nick turned to me saying, “Feel like going to church today?” and I knew it was time to head to the Cathedral for worship. After that, the morning was a blur of untracked lines and cliff hucks. I wish you knew how good Solitude was today, but I’m kinda glad you don’t.

Evidence:

Wednesday was the definition of a Bluebird day. Mike (photographer) and I escaped from the depressing smog of the city by driving 26 miles up to Big Cottonwood Canyon’s Solitude Resort. With 17 inches of powder left from Monday’s storm, blue skies, and an empty parking lot, our experience was as heavenly as the name implies.

Not only is Solitude known for its peaceful serenity, but it also has a reputation for its meticulously groomed runs, abundance of tree skiing, its wide open bowls. We spent our first two runs on Parachute and Milk Run which we accessed from the Powder Horn lift. These runs are where incredibly steep slopes, cliffs, and an ancient forest combine to hide deep powder pockets for days after a storm.

After that, we headed over to the famous Honeycomb Canyon via Summit lift. We didn’t need to go far to find open bowl powder skiing. The first run off the Summit lift, Black Bess, produced amazing results and after my second turn I was beginning to chock on a mouthful of the finest Utah powder. Two-thousand vertical feet later we were at the bottom of the Eagle Express lift with nothing but two big smiles to show for the endeavor.

Solitude has the convenience of being right by the city, but gives you the feeling that your not. It is a unique place in the world of skiing, with stellar views and fun runs, not to mention the untracked powder that lasts for days.

“Forgive me Solitude for I have sinned. It’s been 3 years since my last visit. I confess I’ve been unfaithful in the past and I’m not worthy of this fine untracked reward…”

These were my thoughts as we stared at what was our third untracked line in the Cathedral area at Solitude Mountain Resort. My introspective thoughts gave way to burst of “waaaahhoooo” as I subsequently dropped into yet another untracked line of knee to thigh deep blower pow. And all of this with no overnight snow following an “all time top 10 powder day” according to my longtime buddy Erik Seo. Thankfully there was more mountain than skiers and we were cleaning up.

——-

As we walked up to the lifts just after 9am I asked Nick and Jay where everyone was. With a chuckle and a “Welcome to Solitude” we hopped on Powder Horn.

From Powder Horn lift to the Summit lift via Parachute we found deep untracked lines with other pockets of 3-10 turns rewarding our search for pow. But it wasn’t like we really had to search that much. Rather, one just needs to open their eyes and the stashes were everywhere. Littered with rocks and cliffs the Parachute and adjacent Milk Run area was a great place to start things off.

Once on the Summit lift you get a good overview of the goods. On the lookers Milk Run, Parachute, Middle Slope and then the Cathedral appear as you are riding up. To your far left is Evergreen (hard to miss with the tree lined chutes and a healthy spattering of cliffs) which is accessed by a small hike and to the immediate left is the Headwall Forest.

From the top of the Summit lift you get an eye popping view of Honeycomb Canyon and the endless options there. We opted to maximize lap potential on the Summit lift but despite the couple dozen people headed out the traverse on Honeycomb they couldn’t have skied it out if they had a week.

——

We dropped into the front side traverse from the top of the Summit chair and alternated laps between the Cathedral (go up on this traverse) and the Headwall Forest (go down from this traverse). Put simply, deep untracked ultra light powder was found, rocks and cliffs were hucked, WOOT’s were heard, poles were clicked and smiles were contagious. Rolling into the Summit chair each time there might have been one person in front of us but instant gratification was the name of the game.

I guess truth in advertising is for real with Solitude with catchy lines like “Thier ignorance is your bliss” and “If you only knew“.

I’m certain that it won’t be another 3 years until I visit the Cathedral area of Solitude again. I confess, it’ll be more like 3 days or 3 weeks max.

Today was another AMAZING day of Utah skiing. I came out west a few weeks ago to spend a month skiing the famous Wasatch Mountains of Utah. It was Christmas Eve and I had only one thing on my Christmas wish list; Powder.

Well, Santa has been extra good the last two weeks. Since I got here it has snowed over 70 inches. During last weekend’s storm we drove the 23 miles from Salt Lake City to Solitude Mountain Resort. As more and more terrain opened up throughout the day there were constantly new powder lines to ride.

Today at Snowbird it was the same story. It was a day of continual freshies as new parts of the mountain were cleared and opened by ski patrol. My time out here has been great thus far and I know it is going to be another great year to ski Utah!