Only game in town - how much longer?

[saltyant]

1 minute ago, GSSucks said:

Make sure whatever car you rent is 4x4 or AWD with proper tires or you will not make it up the canyons if the traction law is in effect. They will turn you around, or just plan on taking the bus. 

Thanks, I rented a compact SUV from Enterprise but I'll have to see if it has AWD. I don't wanna take the bus, funk that.

[toast21602]

2 minutes ago, GSSucks said:

 PowMow has some of the most fun mellow wide open tree skiing Ive ever done, and its easy to get to. 

 

This is 100% true. It makes your feel like a bad ass skier without actually being one. Myself included.

[Schif]

8 minutes ago, toast21602 said:

This is 100% true. It makes your feel like a bad ass skier without actually being one. Myself included.

Says the guy who's been in Corbett's

[RidgeRacer]

Are you trying to have him not experience one if the best places to ski in Utah? 

He can do what he wants. If he's sticking to groomers and light trees like he says though I think Pow Mow is probably not the move but I have one ski day there so what do I know. Just offering up my suggestion he's free to do what he wants.

[Justo8484]

1 hour ago, GSSucks said:

Go to PowMow and ski the dam place, I think you will really enjoy it. Youre not an idiot, you cant get lost lifts to up, its a ski area, if you get lost or go out of bounds un-knowingly youre fucking dumb. PowMow has some of the most fun mellow wide open tree skiing Ive ever done, and its easy to get to. 

 

Make sure whatever car you rent is 4x4 or AWD with proper tires or you will not make it up the canyons if the traction law is in effect. They will turn you around, or just plan on taking the bus. 

Yup, winding groomer off of hidden lake quad that you can easily dip into the trees for as little or as much as you like is fun. There's obviously plenty more than that, but that's about the easiest access to mellow tree skiing with an easy bailout that I can remember skiing anywhere.

Also re: cars. In the past, I've always stopped at wally world or it's canadian equivalent when traveling and bought a set up tire chains or cables to keep in the car just in case. Had to use them a few times, and if you have to use them, then it's money well spent. If you don't need them, return them on the last day of your trip, no money wasted. A set of cables helped us make it up LCC on a 10" day one year, which might have been the scariest drive of my life. If i remember correctly, @toast21602 wore his helmet in the car while I was driving.

[saltyant]

At Killington my Sonic couldnt make it up the hill to K1 lodge. I went into Rutland and asked about tire chains and the people laughed.

[Justo8484]

2 minutes ago, saltyant said:

At Killington my Sonic couldnt make it up the hill to K1 lodge. I went into Rutland and asked about tire chains and the people laughed.

I think they were laughing at the sonic, not the request for tire chains. Clearance is probably gonna be your biggest obstacle with that thing. Minivan had probably 7-8" of clearance, so we weren't really plowing snow with it.

[theprogram4]

6 minutes ago, Justo8484 said:

 

. A set of cables helped us make it up LCC on a 10" day one year, which might have been the scariest drive of my life. If i remember correctly, @toast21602 wore his helmet in the car while I was driving.

This event was discussed in the lot on Sunday....it’s crazy to me there are no guard rails on the cottonwood canyon roads

[toast21602]

6 minutes ago, Justo8484 said:

A set of cables helped us make it up LCC on a 10" day one year, which might have been the scariest drive of my life. If i remember correctly, @toast21602 wore his helmet in the car while I was driving.

This is all true. All occupants of the minivan also promised to not fart for the duration of the ride so windows did not fog up. A surprising success for all involved.

[Justo8484]

3 minutes ago, theprogram4 said:

This event was discussed in the lot on Sunday....it’s crazy to me there are no guard rails on the cottonwood canyon roads

i'm guessing they'd just get taken out by plows, cars, or slides every year? not totally sure. we did see a sears furniture delivery truck flirting with death on the edge of the shoulder around a weirdly banked turn. why you're trying to drive that thing up the mountain with that much snow on the ground is a different story entirely though.

[theprogram4]

24 minutes ago, Justo8484 said:

i'm guessing they'd just get taken out by plows, cars, or slides every year? not totally sure. we did see a sears furniture delivery truck flirting with death on the edge of the shoulder around a weirdly banked turn. why you're trying to drive that thing up the mountain with that much snow on the ground is a different story entirely though.

Ahh that makes sense regarding plows and avalanches

[saltyant]

WJW, I'm not sure I'm up for risking death sliding off the side of a cliff. Of course I've driven Moki Dugway with no guardrails and in the pitch dark, but there was no snow or ice.

[Justo8484]

1 hour ago, saltyant said:

WJW, I'm not sure I'm up for risking death sliding off the side of a cliff. Of course I've driven Moki Dugway with no guardrails and in the pitch dark, but there was no snow or ice.

take the bus

[saltyant]

24 minutes ago, Justo8484 said:

take the bus

Only as an absolute last resort. I hate taking busses. People are too close, I get nauseous, have to wait all the time, stop a thousand times, and now they're probably at minimal capacity or I have to figure out what the root is, if theres some special reservation or nonrefundable payment required, if I need a vaccine certification to ride etc etc

[Schif]

2 minutes ago, saltyant said:

Only as an absolute last resort. I hate taking busses. People are too close, I get nauseous, have to wait all the time, stop a thousand times, and now they're probably at minimal capacity or I have to figure out what the root is, if theres some special reservation or nonrefundable payment required, if I need a vaccine certification to ride etc etc

I think you just drive to the start of the canyon, park at a specific park and ride, and the bus picks you up there and takes you directly to the resorts. 

[JFskiDan]

2 hours ago, Justo8484 said:

which might have been the scariest drive of my life. If i remember correctly,

@toast21602 used the exact same phrase Sunday when we were talking about it.  

Driving in snow doesnt sketch me out, but that Canyon Road with snow is a completely different animal.  Ask @mbike-ski 

[Justo8484]

15 minutes ago, Schif said:

I think you just drive to the start of the canyon, park at a specific park and ride, and the bus picks you up there and takes you directly to the resorts. 

Correct. There's a park & ride at the bottom of the canyons. I've also taken SLC public transit from wherever @GSSucks dropped me off when he had to work and couldn't ski with us that day. Ended up taking about an hour total to get to brighton from his house, including the bus ride, when driving would have taken maybe 40-45 minutes? It really didn't take much longer at all, as the stops are very minimal. Not having to deal with parking at the resort is pretty nice, too. Totally get your concerns about taking the bus during Covid times though.

[GSSucks]

6 minutes ago, Justo8484 said:

Correct. There's a park & ride at the bottom of the canyons. I've also taken SLC public transit from wherever @GSSucks dropped me off when he had to work and couldn't ski with us that day. Ended up taking about an hour total to get to brighton from his house, including the bus ride, when driving would have taken maybe 40-45 minutes? It really didn't take much longer at all, as the stops are very minimal. Not having to deal with parking at the resort is pretty nice, too. Totally get your concerns about taking the bus during Covid times though.

The bus & train in SLC is super easy. Park at the lot at the bottom of either canyon or the second stop at either of the Smith stores. You may get looks driving up the canyon alone, Solly also charges for parking now I think its $20, but may be more if you're in the car by yourself. 

[saltyant]

8 minutes ago, Justo8484 said:

Correct. There's a park & ride at the bottom of the canyons. I've also taken SLC public transit from wherever @GSSucks dropped me off when he had to work and couldn't ski with us that day. Ended up taking about an hour total to get to brighton from his house, including the bus ride, when driving would have taken maybe 40-45 minutes? It really didn't take much longer at all, as the stops are very minimal. Not having to deal with parking at the resort is pretty nice, too. Totally get your concerns about taking the bus during Covid times though.

I hiked 13 miles in Glacier National Park and then had to wait for the bus to get back to my car. It was so annoying. Then a bus would come and they'd be like, "nope we're full, wait for the next one". Ugh. I just wanted to go take a nap. So yeah, I'll avoid public busses when I can.

The shuttle for our condo at Steamboat was fine, though, because they sent a driver within 10 minutes after calling them.

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

2 minutes ago, saltyant said:

I hiked 13 miles in Glacier National Park and then had to wait for the bus to get back to my car. It was so annoying. Then a bus would come and they'd be like, "nope we're full, wait for the next one". Ugh. I just wanted to go take a nap. So yeah, I'll avoid public busses when I can.

The shuttle for our condo at Steamboat was fine, though, because they sent a driver within 10 minutes after calling them.

I don’t like buses either Salty..reminds me of this. 

 

 

[saltyant]

3 minutes ago, GSSucks said:

You may get looks driving up the canyon alone

That's fine, I'll just stare them down. Like Cartman says, whatevah, whatevah, I do what I want!

[pcklein31]

At least for Brighton, the downside of the bus right now is there is not access into the locker room.  It appeared you could check bags, but that would annoy me as I'd prefer to bring food/drinks with me right now versus using the lodge.  But as other's said the bus is convenient and runs quite often when I used it in previous years during snowstorm.

 

My VW Tiguan went up and down the canyon in about 5inches this year without problem.  Just take your time and it is not bad if you know how to drive in snow.

[mbike-ski]

my KIA rental minivan they gave me instead of the reserved AWD SUV made it up BCWC ok, down not so much lol!

[C1erArt]

WJW, I'm not sure I'm up for risking death sliding off the side of a cliff. Of course I've driven Moki Dugway with no guardrails and in the pitch dark, but there was no snow or ice.

Have you done the road up to Bear’s ears?

[saltyant]

7 minutes ago, C1erArt said:

Have you done the road up to Bear’s ears?

I think so. Drove there after Moki Dugway and a stop at Natural Arches. However, I dont recall the road being treacherous so maybe I wasnt actually at Bears Ears.

I just know I ended up on the longest most desolate dirt road I've ever been on in my life. It must have been 30 miles without seeing a single car or house. Also no cell service. If I broke down I was totally funked. Was thrilled to finally emerge near Moab.

Edited January 14, 2021 by saltyant