One thing that every visitor wants to do on their vacation is get that one amazing picture to make all the friends and family back home green with envy. Here in Utah we have some amazing vistas to enjoy from the top of our many resorts. The following are a few of my favorite views that I consider to be very family friendly. In that I mean that each of these views are some of the highest points and their respective mountains BUT also offer some pretty easy access back down the mountain (typically blue runs).
Brighton; Top of Great Western… The Great Western Lift’s view is pretty amazing. You get an excellent glimpse of Mount Timpanogos and if you look carefully across the resort past the Millicent side you can see the Snowbird Tram. Pretty cool. When you’re done with the photo op it is an easy trek down either the Western Trail or Elk Park runs (both blue) to more manageable terrain.
Powder Mountain; Sundown Lift… The Sundown lift is the smaller double chair on your left just as you arrive at Powder Mountain. It is the night terrain area for powder Mountain. A ride up to the top of Sundown gives you an amazing view of the valley below and a view through Ogden Canyon in the distance to Ogden itself. The view is even more amazing late in the day as the sun is going down, hence the Sundown name (duh). In fact I would say this view is so nice it is worth taking the extra time at the end of the day to ride up Sundown Lift one time to experience it. Getting down from Sun Down ridge is pretty easy. All runs except for directly under the lift are categorized blue or green.
Park City; McConkeys Lift… While Jupiter lift without a doubt takes you to the best view at PCMR it does not offer an easy way down to the less advanced skier or rider. McConkeys on the other hand does. Once atop McConkeys vistors can enjoy some pretty amazing sites. In one direction you can look down over PCMR and neighboring Deer Valley into Park City proper. Turn around the other direction and you have a nice view of near by Heber in the valley below and Timpanogos across the way. Not bad, not bad at all. Riding up McConkeys the terrain may seem a bit daunting but Georgeanna is a nice mellow blue run that goes along the ridge back down to the heart of the resort.
Snowbird; Top of the Tram… Saving the best view for last, the top of Snowbird's Tram is jaw droppingly amazing. You can always tell when someone is getting up there for the first time as their reaction is some sort of combination of gasps, stammering, and eventually either silence or an expletive. The Tram offers a great line of sight view of Mt Superior which lies across the main road from Snowbird. You can look down into Mineral Basin, over to Baldy, into Alta, and the icing on the cake into the Salt Lake Valley to SLC itself. To me it truly is the best resort view in Utah, simply stunning. The easiest way down from the Tram is obviously in the Tram but if you are a novice and still want to ski or ride take Chips Access to Chips Run which will guide you safely down a mellow blue run through the middle of some of Snowbirds most formidable double black terrain in Peruvian Gulch.
These are but a few of the amazing views Utah has to offer and far from a definitive list. No matter what resort you choose to visit, from Beaver Mountain in Logan to Brian Head down south, remarkable vistas are just waiting to be enjoyed.
