Generally speaking, my mental model of Utah consists of delicately-carved sandstone, gravity-defying rock formations, and endless desert stretching as far as the eye can see. The summer after I graduated college, I visited some of the national parks there with some friends, and that’s pretty much what we saw. I had a fantastic time hiking through slot canyons and stargazing on clear desert nights—all very warm-weather-coded things to do.
So, it came as a bit of a surprise when I heard that Ray was organizing a ski trip to Utah this winter. But I looked it up and apparently, Little Cottonwood Canyon in Utah’s Wasatch Range is one of the snowiest places in the continental United States, and in fact the snow is supposed to be really high quality to boot.1 I, of course, am a man of science, and so upon hearing this, I just had to go test out this Utah snow and see what all the fuss was about. I ended up joining Ray, Josh, Tyler, and Steven for three wonderful days of skiing at Snowbird.
For some reason, we decided to take a 7am flight out of Newark, so I ended up just pulling an all-nighter to pack2 and then taking an Uber to the airport at like 5am. (I, uh, did not trust the NJ Transit to run without delays at that hour.) I got about as much sleep as I could reasonably get on the flight, and we landed in Salt Lake City early in the afternoon. After leaving the airport, we had lunch at an Indian restaurant3 before running off to do some errands (groceries, ski rentals, etc.). In between, we had some time to drive through downtown Salt Lake City, checking out Temple Square and the State Capitol. It’s honestly a pretty enough city, though naturally, the biggest draw is simply its location so close to the mountains.
But of course, we weren’t there to sightsee; we were there to ski. And ski we did…we got incredibly lucky with the conditions, and there was an unexpected bit of snow the first night, dumping about 4 or 5 inches of fresh powder on the slopes. Our first day of skiing was a powder day! As an east coast skier,4 I’d never skied through deep powder before, but I honestly get the appeal now. It took some getting used to (turning is harder), but the feeling of gliding through deep, fresh, powdery snow quickly grew addicting. I guess all the hype about the Utah snow quality wasn’t just marketing after all.
Between the fresh snow, clear skies, and great views of the Wasatch Range, I was having an absolute blast. It was a little bit cold in the morning (like around 7°F in the parking lot), but it warmed up quite nicely as the day progressed, and I shed a layer after the first run. Speaking of which, I was trying out a new jacket combination for skiing: my down jacket5 for warmth, plus my bright red rain jacket as an exterior layer. I was originally afraid that it wouldn’t be warm enough, but I ended up way too hot; I eventually settled on just a thermal base layer, a thin synthetic jacket, and the rain jacket. I’m a big fan of layer versatility, and it was surprising how my usual hiking layers ended up working pretty well for skiing.6
The second day brought some more great skiing. We took some interesting transit options on the mountain: we rode the jam-packed aerial tram to the top of the mountain, and we went through the tunnel to the back side of the mountain. The tunnel was especially cool; it included a conveyor belt to transport skiers and some museum exhibits at the side detailing the history of the mining operations in the canyon.
The third day was a bit of a mixed bag. It snowed all day, which meant that visibility was quite poor—not quite whiteout conditions, but in some places, you could scarcely make out the slope twenty feet in front of you, making skiing quite challenging. But on the other hand, there was a bit of fresh snow accumulation by the end of the day, which was a pleasure to ski through. We also did a couple of runs through some glades, which was a first for me. It was a slightly terrifying but also very exhilarating experience for someone more used to staying on piste. Between the poor visibility and dodging trees, the lesson of the day was to trust instincts and not overthink things.
Although I was having a great time, unfortunately the lifts do close at some point, so our skiing had to come to an end. The last night, we had a steak dinner at a local grill, where we chatted a bit with the waitress about Salt Lake City real estate and the Mormon Church. The food was actually fantastic; I had a really good ribeye for about thirty-five dollars. I was just as happy with it as I was with the ribeye that I paid about twice as much for at Del Frisco’s in Manhattan (though maybe I just don’t have very discerning taste when it comes to steak).
And so the vacation was over; we flew back to New York the next day and actually got lucky with the weather a second time, as we had been nervous that a forecasted storm would delay our flight. Overall, I have to say that I was quite impressed with the quality of skiing at Snowbird, and I’d definitely love to go back someday and ski it again.
Something about the nearby Great Salt Lake increasing the salinity, leading to especially dry, powdery snow?↩︎
Yes, I am a huge procrastinator when it comes to preparing for trips. But in this case, it kind of paid off: I found out last minute that Josh’s friend could get me half off Snowbird lift tickets, which was quite nice. Good things come to those who wait, or something like that.↩︎
The proprietor was a nice guy and asked us to leave a review, so here it is: I enjoyed the meal at Karuwaa Express. The portions were generous, and the mango curry had a unique taste.↩︎
I grew up skiing a decent amount, but it was all on the small mountains near New Jersey. I’d only ever skied out west once before, at Mt. Rose out around Tahoe.↩︎
Karena, if you’re reading this, don’t even think about it.↩︎
I will say: stepping out of my ski boots at the end of the day and donning my hiking boots was perhaps one of the most luxurious experiences of my life. I never thought that I’d describe my hiking books as “soft” and “pillowy,” but next to the ski boots, they felt like clouds attached to my feet.↩︎
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