USA, Ultimate Snow Journeys blog
Utah Skiing
Some resorts in Utah have around 12m of ‘champagne powder’ fall per year, and with many resorts within a short distance of each other, it makes visiting multiple resorts easy. Since the Winter Olympic Games were held in Salt Lake City in 2002, many of the resorts have benefited from increasingly developed infrastructure.
Park City and Deer Valley (no snowboarding) are very popular resorts and are only 45 minutes from Salt Lake City International Airport. These resorts claim they have the greatest snow on earth, and they have a right to, Utah is up amongst the best destinations in the world for skiing/snowboarding.
Deer Valley has consistently won awards for the best resort in North America, it is very family friendly and the groomers are so good they are talked about around the world.
Alta ski resort is a favourite amongst many, it is one of the oldest in the US (it also doesn’t allow snowboarding). Take a peek at their Youtube video to get a glimpse of just how good it is. You can access Snowbird from Alta, another popular resort with fantastic snow, the off-piste skiing at Snowbird is raved about.
Brighton is one of the oldest ski resorts in America, and was Utah’s first. It was also the first resort in Utah to allow snowboarders, and it is still a favourite with great terrain parks, natural features and a huge amount of powder. It is a family friendly, good value resort.
The Canyons Resort is a monstrous resort with almost 3,700 acres of terrain. It caters for all abilities however the advanced and expert skier will thoroughly enjoy the challenges here. Because The Canyons is located in the Park City ski area, it is a short drive from Salt Lake City.
As I said in my last article, a USA snow trip this winter is highly recommended due to the high quality snow and the strong Aussie dollar, which has recently fallen just below parity, but still is good value. Everything in the US is supersized and one can easily get by for under $100 a day (excluding lift tix). Consider renting a car as they too are inexpensive and ‘gas’ (commonly known as petrol or fuel) is incredibly cheap especially after becoming used to $1.50/L here in Australia – it hovered around $3 per gallon when I was there earlier in the year which is less than $1/L.
Stay tuned for more from the USA soon.
Read more about Ski USA this 2011-12 Winter: Utah >
USA, Ultimate Snow Journeys blog
The USA is well known for all things ‘super-sized’, and when it comes to skiing and snowboarding, there is no exception. There are some absolutely massive snow resorts, the most famous are dotted around the states of Colorado, Utah, and California. Aspen and Vail, both in Colorado are almost household names. Deer Valley, in Utah, has been voted the top ski resort in North America for four years, and up north in Wyoming, Jackson Hole has consistently been described as the most challenging terrain.
Colorado Skiing
With 27 ski resorts, Colorado has plenty to offer everyone. Thanks to the Warren Miller films, many ski resorts in this state have now become known across the globe, and with 300+ days of sunshine and some of the major resorts boasting 8m of snowfall per year, you can understand why!
There are a wide variety of resorts to cater for any type of skier/boarder. Aspen and Vail are huge resorts with all the facilities and more. Lift tickets aren’t cheap at these resorts, but you definitely get what you pay for. Other larger resorts include Steamboat, Telluride and Breckenridge.
Personally, I have skied Vail, and would highly recommend it to anyone. It is absolutely massive – I found myself in new terrain everyday for almost 2 weeks, and the snow conditions were great. It has a fantastic village with heaps of restaurants, bars and shops. The transport is great, an efficient bus network connects all areas.
Access is usually through Denver International Airport, which is a quick, cheap connection from Los Angeles.
As is the case with most ski resorts, Colorado is hectically busy during the Xmas/New Year period, and also during the President’s Day holiday during February. January is a cheaper and less busy time to visit, whilst March and April are great value and generally some good spring skiing is still to be had.
I would highly recommend a USA snow trip this winter for a couple of reasons. One is that the skiing is high quality and you are as good as guaranteed to see some heavy snowfall which means some epic powder days (during my 3 week trip last year I had no less than 7 of the best powder days I have ever experienced). The second is to do with the strong Aussie dollar and just how cheap living is in the USA. Eating and drinking is very cheap, and everything is huge!
Stay tuned for more from the USA soon.
Read more about Ski USA this 2011-12 Winter: Colorado >
