words by Melissa Fields
You wake with a jolt to what sounds like a bomb going off right outside your window. But instead of feeling alarm, you’re full of anticipation as you jump out of bed and pull back the curtains in your hotel room at Snowbird’s Cliff Lodge. Because you are familiar with that boom; it’s the mountain’s morning siren song of avalanche control work. Outside your window, the craggy mountainsides are coated with a fresh layer of white, just now being illuminated as the sun turns the sky from velvety navy to clear bluebird. You grab your phone and tap the new Snowbird app. A grin spreads across your face when you see the snow report and weather forecast: 13 inches of new snow overnight and sunny skies with highs in the mid-20s. You turn to begin your day, considering your friends who opted not to book slopeside lodging, and think, I guess this is what ‘to the victor goes the spoils’ is all about.
After what turned out to be the longest summer season ever, this scene is not just a dream, but a well-deserved reality at Snowbird. On Monday, November 30, the resort triumphantly re-opened with top-to-bottom skiing and snowboarding for the 2020–21 winter season. When you go, you will notice a few pandemic-related changes related to Snowbird’s Operation Stay Safe and free but reservation-required parking procedures. But all the things that make the ’Bird one of the top-ranked winter resorts in the U.S. are gratefully still in place: fantastic terrain, abundant snowfall, a friendly and professional staff and stellar lodging and dining. What’s more, Snowbird has rolled out a slew of new amenities and services sure to make a day, weekend or week spent there even more memorable, including:
The new and free Snowbird app. Consider this super sleek and intuitive app your keys to Snowbird’s skidom. In addition to using it to check snow totals and weather, some of its features that let you explore the ’Bird in a whole new way include: tracking your stats and your friends stats (days, runs and vert skied/ridden, for example); accessing real-time traffic and road conditions and public transit info; and booking parking, treatments at the Cliff Spa, dining reservations and much more.
Ticket pick-up boxes. Getting your ticket to ride at Snowbird has never been easier. Simply purchase your day pass online in advance of your visit. When you arrive, swing by one of the resort’s ticket pick-up boxes (located at the Snowbird Center, Cliff Lodge and Creekside Lodge), grab your pass and you’re good to board the lifts.
New dining options. You’ll find two new food trailers parked in Gad Valley and on the Dick Bass deck—Gadzooks, serving burgers, fries, chili, etc. and the Subie Shack, with a healthier-options menu that includes poké and acai bowls; a new table-service format, pub-style menu (that, have no fear, includes the popular MidGad burger) and full bar at the MidGad restaurant; and multiple new grab-and-go food stations located throughout the resort.
Something else that hasn’t changed in this crazy year is the best way to ski or ride the ’Bird, as your aforementioned self did: sleeping on it. Staying slopeside not only gets you first in line for the goods but, during this pandemic, gives you the peace of mind of having a private place to warm up or eat lunch during your ski day. Some of the screaming lodging deals in effect through April 3, 2021 at Snowbird include: the Ski Free 5th Night Free deal: book four nights and get two free adult lift tickets and ground transportation to and from the airport; the Mountain Vacation includes four nights or more of lodging, a 4-day adult Snowbird lift ticket per adult and one complimentary group half-day snowboard or ski lesson per adult (ages 13 & older); or exercise your newfound work-from-home flexibility with the Early Week Stay & Ski package, which when you book a minimum of two nights Sunday through Thursday, you get daily lifts tickets for each adult.
Those stay-and-ski deals are just the beginning, however. Other lodging specials available at Snowbird this winter include multiday packages with Powderbird helicopter ski guides (Yes, the heli-skiing in the backcountry adjacent to Snowbird is as spectacular as what you’ll find in Canada—and our borders are wide open.), specific packages for Mountain Collective and Ikon passholders and discounted room rates for season passholders. And most lodging specials include free skiing for kids age 12 and under each night of their stay and free ground transportation to and from the Salt Lake City International Airport
There’s plenty to choose from in terms of different types of lodging at Snowbird, too. Options range from the Cliff Lodge’s well-appointed hotel rooms and thoughtful in-house amenities (multiple pools, the world-class Cliff Spa and the retro SeventyOne restaurant) to the luxurious condominiums with Mission-style furnishings for two to 10 people at the swanky Cliff Club. Families return year after year to the Lodge at Snowbird and the Iron Blosam Lodge where room configurations range from studios to spacious condos with full kitchens, après-ski pool time is boisterous and each operates its own in-house restaurant. Those looking for a slightly quieter, off-the-beaten-path experience book the cozy units (most with kitchens) at The Inn.
So why not make this the year you book a slopeside vacation—or staycation—at Snowbird? The reasons you should are even more plentiful than the 500-plus-inches of snow that grace its slopes every winter. Ski you at the ’Bird.
This post is sponsored by Snowbird.
This post is sponsored by Snowbird.
