The ski trip is on! - Page 2

TheWife · December 10th, 2003, 00:10

There are some companies that will rent cars to anyone over 21 but they do usually have a surcharge.

TheWife · December 10th, 2003, 00:14

Hopefully there won't be much ice and no one will have to worry about it, but last year we tried the whole front wheel drive thing up the mountain and ended up sliding backward down hill with trucks waiting below for us to get out of the way. When it's just a road, not a big deal, but when it's a narrow road with a mountain on one side and a 300 foot drop on the other, I don't like to take chances. Of course, depending on where you go, what resort you want to go to and which way you get there, you may not have to deal with it at all.

As far as your drive from FAT to SLC, I always use www.mapquest.com to get driving directions and time estimates.

WillNotFly4Food · December 10th, 2003, 00:31

If we get a good storm while you're here (knock on wood) you'll definitely want 4WD. A lot depends on where you will be staying and where you plan on skiing. You can park at the mouth of Big/Little Cottonwood Canyons and take the bus to the resort in which case 2WD should be enough.

Ski Utah homepage - Info for all resorts, lodging, etc.

Big Cottonwood Canyon:
Brighton $41, Night Skiing! $35(?)
Solitude $45

Little Cottonwood Canyon:
Alta (No Snowboarding Allowed - woot!) $42
Snowbird Tram & Chairs $57, Chairs only $48

Park City:
Deer Valley $69
Park City $50
The Canyons $59

All prices are full day adult. Check the individual pages for other ticketing options.

My two favorite resorts are Alta and Brighton. I would stick The Bird in there but I am not too familiar with it. Only skied it twice since living here.

Now that we have a definite date I'll check on puting people up. From the sound of things Michelle has the higgity-hookup. Snowmobiles, big screens, pool table, fooz ball... hell make room for me!

Yes you can rent cars but there is a fee if you're between 21-24. I've seen it range from $5-40, sometimes free.

This is sounding like it will go down around the time I graduate from college which is good and bad. Good because no school commitments, bad because I may take off to Europe for a few months.

WillNotFly4Food · December 10th, 2003, 00:39

An aside. I have access to a 182 for about $60/hour. That may be a possibility if someone is relatively close and is looking to split some time on their way here.

That reminds me, Chuck we need to get some IFR action up in this piece.

TheWife · December 10th, 2003, 00:44

You all could just forget the 4WD's and split a helicopter and have them just let you jump out on the slopes! Lol. Keep in mind when deciding things, our cabin is about 30 minutes to Sundance, 30-40 to Park City. Of course, you could always skip the resorts and ski free where we snowmobile

TheWife · December 10th, 2003, 00:47

Oh-and depending on what and when you want to do where, you could always stay one day at one place, one day at another etc. But hopefully even for people that don't want to sleep at the cabin, we could maybe have one big dinner together or something there.

MrSkyKingRon · December 10th, 2003, 01:12

Hey Montanapilot, how 'ya doin friend?!! I'm toying with the thought of going but it depends on my schedule after I get to VeroB. And Wife staying with you guy's at the cabin sounds like the most fun. I can't confirm yet till I get to Vero and find out what my sched is like but I'm moving towards a plan on going. That's about as close as I can get to a confirm at this point, sorry. I'll do my best to keep you updated.

Talk to you tomorrow Kelly. I'm going flying on the Centenial out of Pearson. Want to go?

Blue Skies...

(will be in Vero mid Jan)

FLYMcDoofer · December 10th, 2003, 07:16

On the Rental Car thing....For a Hertz car no way are you renting one under 25 unless you have it worked out with the corporation you work for. I believe Avis will rent to 21 and older but it is a higher charge.

juskl · December 10th, 2003, 08:16

About five years ago I was in Park City and the situation was this. 65 and sunny in Salt Lake, and we had over four feet in Big Cotton Wood Canyon in about 36 hours. So heads up. The Wasatch is a very unusual mountain chain. I would recommend Four wheel drive heavily. They have had record snow falls up there this year. The highway that goes from Salt Lake to Park City area gets absolutely nasty when it snows. Little Cotton Wood (Alta and Snowbird) have been shut in routinely due to weather. Not bad to be snowed in in a ski resort though I guess. I will be up there on Jan 5-7 so I will let everyone know how it went....

TheWife · December 10th, 2003, 09:06

Parley's Canyon is also a nasty one and that's the road you take to get from SLC to Park City area. There are several accidents during the winter, Feb-March is the peak time. Hopefully if you can do most of your traveling durning the day, the ice won't be a problem, so try to plan to get to your destination before evening chills freeze the roads.

FL270 · December 10th, 2003, 09:08

Tony: I might be interested in going in on something hot-tub equipped.

PhotoPilot: I expect it will take you a zillion years to drive to Salt Lake from Fresno. If it were me I'd find a cheap plane ticket and go in with somebody else on a rental car.

Rental cars ... I'll probably rent an SUV for the trip and would be happy to shuttle people around with me if they kick in a little to help defray the cost of the car. For the younger folks (I'm only 26, so that was me not long ago ... I sympathize) ... 4WDs don't rent cheap, and with under-25 charges, it could be nightmarishly expensive. Seems like the right thing to do is to get as few cars as possible and carpool to save money. After all, most of us are college students/flight instructors/regional pilots/etc and are not exactly loaded!

Now to find a good deal on the airfare and a rental car ...

FL270

Ophir · December 10th, 2003, 10:33

Ophir · December 10th, 2003, 10:38

[ QUOTE ]
About five years ago I was in Park City and the situation was this. 65 and sunny in Salt Lake, and we had over four feet in Big Cotton Wood Canyon in about 36 hours. So heads up. The Wasatch is a very unusual mountain chain. I would recommend Four wheel drive heavily. They have had record snow falls up there this year. The highway that goes from Salt Lake to Park City area gets absolutely nasty when it snows. Little Cotton Wood (Alta and Snowbird) have been shut in routinely due to weather. Not bad to be snowed in in a ski resort though I guess. I will be up there on Jan 5-7 so I will let everyone know how it went....

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't know about the rental age thing. But the deal is that if you end up with a two wheel drive car (which I wouldn't recommend) there are intercept parking lots at the base of both Little and Big Cottonwood canyons that you can catch a bus from (Little=Alta/Snowbird Big=Brighton/Solitude, these are the really amazing places to ski and close to town.) Both canyons require either 4WD or chains to go up if it is snowy. The roads are really steep, 11-12% in places (trust me, we did a bike race up there this year, OUCH).

Kristie · December 10th, 2003, 11:09

ok - so someone explain this to me cuz i'm a complete newbie when it comes to skiing...

Are lift tickets for a weekend on the slopes or are they purchased on a per day/per slope period?

anyone know how much skii's rent for and what all we need to bring from home to be able to ski? do we have to purchase ski boots/coats etc? I live in AZ - I don't own much of a winter coat except for light weight stuff....

BobDDuck · December 10th, 2003, 11:15

The way it mostly works is you buy a lift ticket per day, or you can buy a multi day ticket at a *small* price break. As far as gear goes, I'm not sure what the going rate for equipment rental is these days... But when I was still renting it was around $25 for skis, boots and polls. As far as clothing... maybe someone has some extra stuff. It seems like sort of a waste to buy a nice parka and ski pants, hat and gloves for a weekend and then have them sit in a closet in AZ. Just my 2/100ths of a green back.

Ethan

FL270 · December 10th, 2003, 11:21

I'll let the local Utah folk tackle your questions on lift ticket packages. You can buy single-day tickets or multi-day tickets (the multi-day usually gets you a discount) and sometimes places will offer lift tickets that are good at multiple ski areas (the locals need to address that, since I've never skied Utah before).

Ski rentals are very commonly available in all ski areas ... I don't own my own skis, so I always rent. When you rent, you will be renting your skis, ski boots, and poles, so you don't need to buy any of those things.

When I ski, I wear a long sleeved thermal shirt and thermal "long-john" underwear. I wear a turtleneck shirt over that. Heavy wool socks (available in the outdoors/hunting dept at your local Target) work well. I then wear ski pants (warm and waterproof) and a ski jacket. Any good outdoors or activewear store can recommend ski pants and jackets. A hat (or if you prefer, an ear-warmer headband) and gloves are a must. Some people wear goggles, but I find that my sunglasses work fine ... sunglasses are important too, since it can get nice and sunny (still cold though!) and there's a lot of glare off the snow. Basically, that's it.

For after-ski activities, I bring blue jeans, hiking boots, and sweatshirts. I've always found that most places (restaurants, bars, etc) in ski areas are casual-attire, even the nicer ones.

FL270

stultus · December 10th, 2003, 11:22

Usually tickets are per day...and a lot of places you have to by a separate ticket for night skiing---so you don't even get to go for the whole day. You can also by 1/2 day tickets.

As far as renting skiis go, I think the last time I did that it was like $30/day for good stuff in Tahoe. Boots and poles are included.

Clothing...I'd try and borrow stuff too. It might not be a bad idea to buy some polypro long underware of your own, but buying jackets and pants just for one trip is going to make it pretty expensive.

RPM · December 10th, 2003, 13:29

Hey guys, I am a Utah local and snowboard for a living so maybe I can help! Stay away from Park City Mt., Deer Valley, go to the Canyons if your if your gonna stay in Park City. Alta is one of the best mountains in Utah but doesn't allow snowboarders, Brighton, Solitude and Snowbird are all pretty good, and if your a boarder or just want the best powder and backcountry terrain in the country, all the locals know to go to POWDER MT., best value 39$, best terrain by far and not overcrowded, its about 50 min from SLC.

Also go to SKIUTAH.COM for all the prices/snow reports.

Id wait a while though because the snow sux right now, its too early!
If ya plan to go to Powder Mt. I can let ya know all the secret places to go since I work there!

If anyone has any questions about what mountains to go to or whatever, feel free to ask, snowboarding in Utah is my life!

fly22 · December 10th, 2003, 13:31

Its been a while since I've posted. Have we decided where? I'm in, only if we can go where they allow snowboarders. Deer Valley and Alta do not so lets hit Snowbird or Brighton. If we want to stick to the resort feel Park City or The Canyons; but the snow up big or little cottonwood is much better.

Citationkid · December 10th, 2003, 15:48

I just noticed this thread. The families headin out to ski Utah early next year, maybe I'll ask if we can go that week.

TheShortOne · December 10th, 2003, 17:35

also for lift tickets last time i was in utah a lot of local stores around the base of the cottonwood canyons sold lift tickets at discounted prices.

kristie - as far as clothing goes the most important thing is to NOT wear cotton as your bottom layer. It absorbs the moisture and keeps it close to your body making you cold - especially your feet. i wear a silk/polyester blend for my long johns (shirt and pants) and then silk socks underneath my heavy ski socks. silk is ideal because it takes the moisture away from your skin.

Ophir · December 10th, 2003, 17:40

[ QUOTE ]

anyone know how much skii's rent for and what all we need to bring from home to be able to ski? do we have to purchase ski boots/coats etc?

[/ QUOTE ]

FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T SKIED RECENTLY

The changes in the ski industry with advances in equipment have been staggering in the past five years. If you own skis that have little to no sidecut and/or are long, leave em at home. Seriously, skiing is supposed to be hard and the new skis make it SO much easy mostly due to the length and the ease of turning due to sidecut. Where I used to race on 207-210cm for GS and 200-203cm for SL, I am consistantly on 170cm now. And I haven't slowed down! The new skis are amazing. The analogy I use with my clients is why drive a big ol boat like a Cadillac when you can be in a Porsche. Smaller means more agile and more versitile.

Additionally, if you rent or demo skis you will alway get well tuned skis that you can chose for the conditions (i.e. powder day=powder skis, drought=carving skis) and you won't have to lug them around.

Unfortunetly you have to own your own clothes.

montanapilot · December 10th, 2003, 17:51

[ QUOTE ]
The changes in the ski industry with advances in equipment have been staggering in the past five years. If you own skis that have little to no sidecut and/or are long, leave em at home. Seriously, skiing is supposed to be hard and the new skis make it SO much easy mostly due to the length and the ease of turning due to sidecut. Where I used to race on 207-210cm for GS and 200-203cm for SL, I am consistantly on 170cm now. And I haven't slowed down! The new skis are amazing. The analogy I use with my clients is why drive a big ol boat like a Cadillac when you can be in a Porsche. Smaller means more agile and more versitile.

[/ QUOTE ]

very true

a few years back i was renting old straight skis. then i got a set of Volkl V10's man what a difference they make (except they cost me an arm and a leg)

jtrain609 · December 10th, 2003, 18:04

WHOA! Skibum managed to find a SUPER great deal on a hotel out in Sandy, Utah. This is the town that her family has stayed at before, and it's not too far from stuff (she could tell you drive times, I think she mentioned 30 minutes to most places).

CHECK IT OUT

A studio suite with a queen bed (or two double beds) and a kitchen area for $50 a night. That's not $50 per night per person, that's $50 a night. We rarely find deals like that in northern Michigan in BFE. We just booked from the 26th through to the 1st there. It's STUPID cheap.

Cheers

John Herreshoff

TheWife · December 10th, 2003, 18:16

Sandy is about 45 minutes from the slopes. (Just an FYI

)