We took our final (!) big ski trip of the year over February break when we flew to Salt Lake City and skied seven different resorts in the space of six days. After all that, we (Mom and Dad at least) are ready to call it a season. We had great conditions - two 'bluebird' days of clear blue skies and great scenery, and two 'powder' days with fresh snow. Each of the resorts were very different and it gave us a chance to explore around some world-renowned resorts, many of which had hosted events for the 2002 Olympics.
On day one, we skied at Park City, which is the largest and is actually made up of two separate resorts - the main Park City resort and Canyons. It was a clear blue day and the views were great. The boys mostly skied Canyons and parents skied Park City.
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| Jack and Henry plotting out their course at the start of Day One |
At the end of the ski day, MJ and John went over to the Olympic Park, which is where the ski jump, bobsled, and luge events took place in 2002. It's still used as the main training center for the US Olympic Team - the trials take place here to see who goes to the Olympics and all the training for those events take place here (there aren't many bobsled tracks in the US! - just Lake Placid and Park City). We rode a 4-man bobsled run down the mountain, going 3/4 of a mile (the official Olympic one is 1 mile) dropping 332 feet in elevation in a bit more than 47 seconds. It was a great ride!
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| MJ exiting the bobsled after our run |
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| 47.44 Seconds! Not quite a course record |
On day two, we skied Deer Valley. This is the toniest of the resorts, with lots of fancy extras and many groomed runs.
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| Deer Valley |
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| Jack at the top of Bald Mountain |
On day three, we were back to Park City. It had snowed heavily the night before, so there was about a foot of fresh powder on the slopes. Everyone skied Canyons that day.
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| A powder day means long lines at the gondola before it opens! |
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| The powder was so deep, Dad's ski is sunk down a few inches |
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| Riding the lift at Canyons |
After that we moved to the other side of the mountain range, and on day four we skied Alta. It was a gray dreary day. Alta, similar to Deer Valley, is a ski-only resort, and doesn't allow snowboarders.
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| Alta |
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Jack and Henry skied so long that there weren't many cars left
in the parking lot by the time we were heading out! |
Day five was another crystal clear day - the most beautiful day we had. The boys skied Snowbird, which has the steepest terrain of all the resorts. It's actually adjacent to Alta, so Dad started at Alta and then skied over to Snowbird at lunch time. The view from the top of Snowbird was amazing - westward down the canyon to the valley where Salt Lake is located.
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| Beautiful scenery from the Supreme Chair lift at Alta |
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| Top of Sugarloaf at Alta |
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| Photo doesn't quite capture it - amazing view from the top of Snowbird looking into the canyon |
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Snowbird has a tunnel to get you from one side of the mountain to the other -
you get on a conveyor belt and after about a 5 minute ride you're on the other side! |
Day six, and our final day, we skied two more resorts that were adjacent - Brighton and Solitude. All of us started at Brighton, but then the boys skied over to Solitude. We left the slopes by 1:30 for our flight back to Seattle. On the way out of town we saw the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City.
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| Brighton |
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| Solitude |
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| Mormon Temple |
All around it was a great trip and a chance to ski some neat resorts in a new part of the country.
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