Steep and Deep: The Snow Skiing/Boarding Thread

[BigPiney]

The snow yesterday, at least on the upper half of the mountain, was some of the best ever. It was like boarding on feather bed or huge slabs of butter. Simply amazing. In between getting up there and the afternoon there was close to 6 inches of new snow everywhere.

The base at Mammoth Mountain is building up nicely and tomorrow the whole mountain is open. Looking to be a much better year than last year.

[Goatnapper'96]

I went to my local ma and pa joint, Pomerelle Mountain, on Friday afternoon and the conditions were likely the best I have ever skied in my life. It was pure velvet and very few people had been there that day so it was great. The pine trees were covered in snow and it was so beautiful and peaceful.

I plan to take my clan to Solitude on Saturday. It is an old HS friend's favorite place and he is supposed to be heading up this way from Orange County, CA. I checked out the trail map and I think it will work well for my clan of intermediate level skiers. I like that the lifts lead directly to intermediate level runs because one of my twins is kind of a do-whatever-the-hell-I-want type and I get nervous when I have to go over a lot of cat trails to get to runs on which they would be comfortable. For those of you who have been to Solitude am I reading it wrong? Is Solitude a good place for a family of folks who max at the blue runs? How is the ski school as I still like to get my 4 year old professional help rather than myself trying to coach him.

I am trying to get my schedule set so that I can head up Thurs afternoon for what one might call a "leader's recon."

[Shaka]

Solitude is a hidden gem. You will love it.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Solitude is a hidden gem. You will love it.

The biggest problem with Solitude is you are only 10 minutes from Brighton when you are there.

[Shaka]

The biggest problem with Solitude is you are only 10 minutes from Brighton when you are there.

Back in my teens there was no comparison between the two. Brighton was certainly fun but the bump skiing, lack of lift lines, and Honeycomb Canyon on a powder day, were worth skipping Brighton. Snowboarding is a riot there too. I love both places but Solitude is fantastic.

[Surfah]

The biggest problem with Solitude is you are only 10 minutes from Brighton when you are there.

As someone who plans on naming a boy (should we ever have one) Brighton, I couldn't have said it better.

[mUUser]

The biggest problem with Solitude is you are only 10 minutes from Brighton when you are there.

Truer words have never been spoken.

[pellegrino]

Back in my teens there was no comparison between the two. Brighton was certainly fun but the bump skiing, lack of lift lines, and Honeycomb Canyon on a powder day, were worth skipping Brighton. Snowboarding is a riot there too. I love both places but Solitude is fantastic.

I couldn't have said it better. When the snow is good, Solitude, and in particular Honeycomb Canyon definitely beats Brighton and IMO is one of the best places along the Wasatch front to ski. I could ski Summit lift all day and be happy, so many great options off of that one lift. For me there are only two other spots in Utah that rival it: the Supreme lift at Alta (I like East Greeley a lot too) and the Gad II lift at Snowbird. IMO, those three lifts form the holy trinity of Utah skiing.

[hostile]

As someone who plans on naming a boy (should we ever have one) Brighton, I couldn't have said it better.

I have a niece named Brighton.

[Goatnapper'96]

I couldn't have said it better. When the snow is good, Solitude, and in particular Honeycomb Canyon definitely beats Brighton and IMO is one of the best places along the Wasatch front to ski. I could ski Summit lift all day and be happy, so many great options off of that one lift. For me there are only two other spots in Utah that rival it: the Supreme lift at Alta (I like East Greeley a lot too) and the Gad II lift at Snowbird. IMO, those three lifts form the holy trinity of Utah skiing.

I don't think I should go to Honeycomb Canyon, regardless of my 10 yr old or twin 8 yr olds - especially if their "help" is myself and my wife. One of the advantages I liked about Solitude, based solely on my trail guide analysis is that if you ride the 4 lower lifts, all but Summit and Honeycomb Return, you can get straight onto intermediate level runs without having to ride any cat trails to get there. One of the complaints I have heard about Solitude is that the runs are shorter and there is a lot of time spent getting back onto the lifts, but that seems to be mitigated by the lack of lift lines. I will love to get to Brighton sometime, and I think it has night skiing so hopefully some evening when I am stranded down in Eagle Mountain I might head over for an evening of Brighton, and Alta as well but I am excited to get to Solitude this Saturday. In Utah I have only been to Sundance so I am excited to get to some of this world famous Cottonwood Canyon snow.

Perhaps someday I will go to Honeycomb Canyon but that day ain't gonna be Saturday unless some hippy ass longhair wanker academic is showing me up and I have to follow him down one of those shutes to kick his ass.

[Lost Student]

Yesterday my FiL took one of his daughters, her husband, and me up to Whistler Blackcomb for the day. It had snowed a few inches the night before and about a foot last week. The snow was exceptionally dry and light (for coastal snow)--it was pretty much like Utah snow. The sun came through the clouds for most of the day so visibility was good. This was taken mid-morning:



Here's a shot from the same place a few hours later after the fog rolled in:



I wasn't sure if I should put this in the Fund Razor thread or this one. Commando was right, the all-natural face warmer was nice and totally worth the snide remarks from family and friends:

[Lost Student]

Yesterday my FiL took one of his daughters, her husband, and me up to Whistler Blackcomb for the day. It had snowed a few inches the night before and about a foot last week. The snow was exceptionally dry and light (for coastal snow)--it was pretty much like Utah snow. The sun came through the clouds for most of the day so visibility was good. This was taken mid-morning:

I forgot to mention: I didn't bring my skis up to my in-laws' so I rented some there. I was given some Solomon Rocker2 90 skis and loved them. To me, they are optimal all-mountain skis--wide enough to handle powder but narrow enough underfoot with small enough sidecut to turn well everywhere else. I even took on large moguls without too much trouble.

Great skis and I think I'll try to pick some up when I am able.

[Pheidippides]

Back in my teens there was no comparison between the two. Brighton was certainly fun but the bump skiing, lack of lift lines, and Honeycomb Canyon on a powder day, were worth skipping Brighton. Snowboarding is a riot there too. I love both places but Solitude is fantastic.

Honeycomb canyon on a powder day is silly good skiing. Last time I was there was in 2004 I think, off of break from law school. It had just dumped like 24 inches of awesome and school wasn't yet out in SLC so I had the place mostly to myself. Not even the crappy rossingnols I was on could ruin that day.

[hostile]

Here are my youngest three after yesterday's skiing.

[doctorcoug]

Here are my youngest three after yesterday's skiing.

I'm visiting St George and was thinking about taking my kids to Brian Head. They have never been before, so it would be a full day of teaching them how to ski. Any thoughts on how young to take up? My oldest is nearly 9 and I think I would take my 7 and maybe my 5 year-old, though I don't know if I could handle three to teach.

Any tips on teaching?

via a galaxy s3 far far away