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Drumroll please…… the rest!

Beaver Mountain

Recent upgrades to Beaver Mountain’s food service have caused more skiers to gather in the Resort’s traditional A-frame lodge for lunch. As a result, Beaver Mountain will make over $300,000 in improvements to the lodge adding additional seating to better accommodate guests.

Brian Head Resort

Brian Head Resort, in southern Utah, has been busy putting final touches on the major expansion which combined their two separate mountains in the 2007-08 winter season. Details include new rock work on the retaining walls, additional slope grading and mountain landscaping.

Powder Mountain

Powder Mountain has added a new Mountain Adventure Center located near the Timberline Lodge which will house all of Powder Mountain’s adventure programs including Snowcat Powder Safaris, Mountain Adventure Tours and the Snow Sports School. Last season, Powder Mountain started all-day guided snowcat tours called Snowcat Powder Safari. Due to the popularity of the program, the terrain available via the snowcat has been increased 100 percent to 2,000-plus acres.

Restaurants in all three lodges have been renovated to improve guest flow and to allow additional menu options. All changes are designed to minimize the time guests spend off the slopes on a powder day.

Powder Mountain is also taking steps to ensure everyone can enjoy and afford the sport of skiing. The price of a night lift pass will be rolled back to 2002-rates.  An adult night pass will be $15 and a child (7 – 12) will be $12. Night operations will start one hour earlier than previous years, at 3:00pm, so guests can enjoy a few hours of sunlight.

Snowbasin

Snowbasin Resort has replaced the Little Cat lift which services beginner terrain, with a new detachable quad chair lift starting above Earl’s Lodge and ending at the upper parking lot. The new lift will span 1,578 feet in length with a vertical rise of 173.5 feet. A 1,000 foot per minute line speed will yield a carrying capacity of 2,600 people per hour.

The new lift will better accommodate the beginning skier by reducing the intimidation from downhill skier traffic and easing loading and unloading due to the detachable lift’s design.

Sundance Resort

Sundance is continuing to preserve its beautiful protected setting, against a 12,000-foot backdrop of Mount Timpanogos. Sundance offers 41 runs spread over 500 acres of snow-smothered terrain suitable for beginning to expert levels. Experts enjoy the steep and the deep in wide open bowls and narrow gladed chutes, while all can enjoy our immaculately groomed slopes. Sundance prides itself on being a place where families can gather and hospitality is a way of life. Special kids programs and a variety of activities keep the family smiling all day.

Sundance’s cross country ski center has a full 26 kilometers of daily groomed trails and are available for skating and classic skiing. Snowshoers can explore Sundance’s terrain on 10 kilometers of dedicated trails through the woods.

Wolf Mountain

Wolf Mountain is an integral part of Wolf Creek Utah’s complete amenity package, offering the best guest experience available. Major improvements for the 2008-09 season include expanded beginner learning terrain, a more convenient skier/guest drop off area and continued improvements to its terrain park. The Wolf Mountain Learning Center offers the best value in ski and snowboard education, with the “Get on Board” pass. For only $200, a new skier or snowboarder can take three lessons with equipment rental and receive a free season pass at the end of their lesson series.

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

A buddy of mine was looking for a new bed for his dog and came upon and article and interview that Glenn Close had written for fetchdog.com after a visit to Utah where she skied Sundance Resort. Wait a second. I knew she was an actress. But a skier, dog lover and a writer? You go girl, right on!

The article is about her experience while skiing Sundance with her husband David when she became acquainted with the avalanche dog Mick and his trainer Tracy Christensen who is on ski patrol. She and David had the chance to be in “a problem” for the avalanche dog. Of this experience she said:

Fascinated by Mick’s talents and by the amazing affection and trust we saw between Mick and Tracy, my husband, David, and I volunteered to participate in what the ski patrol calls “a problem.” They would carve out a coffin-sized hole on the side of the mountain and we would crawl into it and be buried for as long as it took Mick to find us. It was dark and scary in that hole, but around the 15-minute mark, we heard Mick barking above us and were “saved.”

From the arcitle Tracy speaks of how he chose Mick to be an avalanche dog

GC: How did Mick come into your life?
TC: I was amazed with avalanche dogs and how skilled the handlers and the dogs are. When Sundance had an open dog handler position, my ski patrol director gave me the “ok” to start the search for a good working dog. I looked around at several litters of dogs, there was just something about Mick - I knew he was it. I just had a feeling about this big-pawed clumsy puppy, and I just knew we were going to be a team.

The bulk of the article is an interesting inerview about Mick and Tracy but the video narrated by Glenn is worth watching so check it out on FetchDog.com

There is something refreshing about Sundance. While most other resort over the past few years have strived to expand and offer more and more to their guests, Sundance has been content to keep things simple. Offering up what seems to be a minuscule 500 acres serviced by only three lifts, Sundance still has more than enough to keep almost any level of skier or snowboarder occupied.

Having never been to Sundance before, when I looked at the map for the first time I scoffed. Used to much larger resorts like the Canyons or Solitude I figured that a full day of Skiing here would be a waste. After two runs I knew I was wrong. From the top of Arrowhead you have access to some of the most diverse terrain I’ve encountered in all my years skiing. From smooth and fast groomed trails like Amy’s Ridge and Bearclaw to more entertaining mogul filled runs like Bishops Bowl or Pipeline. Even a challenging double black area called Far East.

In such a small area Sundance has managed to create enough runs to keep you interested for many return trips. And at $35 for a midweek day pass, its a deal that truly can’t be beaten anywhere in Utah. So whether your a local who hits the slopes every free moment or a visitor looking to get in a few good runs before heading back to your less snow endowed point of origin, give Sundance a try.

The local crowd at Sundance is always strong. With two large universities (BYU and UVSU) and many growing families looking for an inexpensive and fun place to ski, Sundance has a lot to offer. When you try to compare Sundance with other resorts to the North, there’s a huge X-factor that Sundance has going for it. That X-factor is the sheer beauty of the place.

During my college days, I had two years with a full season pass to Sundance, so I know the place pretty well. Hitting it again today conjured up many of those long-forgotten memories like seeing Robert Redford standing in a lift line, watching the kids from the Sundance Ski Team rip up the mountain (US Ski Team Member, Steven Nyman grew up skiing at Sundance) and hucking off what we call Bishop’s Rock.

Just 15 minutes from Provo and Orem, Sundance is a great local’s hill with plenty going for it. The upper mountain houses some great glades, groomers and some great bowl skiing off the summit. Though it only tips the scales at 450 skiable acres, there’s enough variety and amenities to keep the whole family entertained–all for a reasonable $45 lift ticket (only $35 midweek non-holiday!).

If you hit it on a cold (4 degrees in the parking lot today) or snowy day, you’ll likely have the entire upper mountain to yourself–like we did. The little secret of Sundance is when we get the occasional southern storm. Instead of pummeling Little and Big Cottonwood, Sundance and Deer Valley are the ones that get pounded from the southwest flow. So, check the weather… if we’re getting snow from the south, hit Sundance and you’ll have one of the most beautiful resorts in the state all to yourself.

Sundance, one of my personal favorites was… beautiful as always. There is something about Sundance that is so calming and peaceful. Maybe it’s the whispering electric lifts, or maybe the wide open runs. At Sundance you can really get away from the busy life, and relax enjoying some quiet time on the mountain. The weekdays are really calm here. You can seemingly enjoy the entire mountain to yourself. It is a great place to take the young kids out on the big mountain. Sundance is a great resort for the whole family.

We had a great time Thursday with 4 inches of powder laying over the main runs and up to 12 inches on the paths less traveled. It was cloudy, menacing a little at first, but it made for a great day. I have been skiing the last few times so I decided to break out my board and I was back on familiar ground. We took a few runs on the front mountain to warm up then it was deep snow on Back Mountain all day. Sailing through the snow felt so good. I had some tumbles, even managed to get stuck in the deep powder a few times and had to dig out, but that’s the point RIGHT! Take a day to come and ride with me at Sundance over the holidays.