Powder Mountain, UT 1/16-1/17

Day 3: Sunday 1/16 Powder Mountain
Finally get the crew to agree to go to PM.  It was the last day of the trip for a few guys so there was lots of pressure to deliver the goods.  The guys like to bust chops so I heard nothing but noise for the 1:20 minute ride north from SLC.  The GPS on the iPhone had us getting off I-15 and going through downtown Ogden.  Mistake. We should have stayed on I-15 until we got to the 12th street exit.  Almost as soon as we got off I-15 it started raining.  Increased noise from the crew.  We should have gone to Park City, we should have gone back to the Bird, blah blah blah.  Rain all the way up to the Wolf Creek condos that sit at the base of the canyon road and I was starting to get nervous.  A couple of the guys hit Snowbasin a few years ago and it rained all day on them so I knew I would never hear the end of it if we had a repeat experience.  Luckily when we started up the final stretch of the canyon road it switched over to snow, but along with that came low/no visibility.  We got to the top of the mountain where the main lodge sits and were happy we had 4wd as lots of people were spinning and struggling up the canyon road with 2wds.  The last few miles are STEEP and with snow, rain or ice you NEED 4wd.  Even the Powder Country bus was fishtailing a bit later in the day.  

We picked up our lift tickets and a single cat ride ticket each and started to check out the lift map inside the main lodge.  A mountain host came over and got our heads spinning with information.  She suggested that since we had never been to Powmow and the visibility was very low that we may want to consider getting a guide.  I had heard the same advice from no less than 5 people.  I figured it would be a hard sell for the other guys but after they heard the river of information from the mountain host they too were convinced that we could get ourselves into some real trouble without help.  The other carload of guys arrived ahead of us and were nowhere to be seen so the 4 of us headed over to the yurt and hooked up with Joe who was our guide for the day.  We were lucky enough to also have Chris with us who was a “guide in training”.   The list price for a half day guided tour is $140 for a group of 6.  For a full day it is $195.  What we didn’t realize was that the full day also includes a cat ticket for each person in the group.  So, if we had done the math we would have been better off with a full day tour (cat tickets are $15 each).  We had a few Navy and Marines with us and the Military rate lift ticket was $41 so we didn’t feel to bad shelling over some additional coin for the guide service.  We told the guides that there was a small chance we would hook up with the other guys and if so we would hook them up since we had a few more than 6 people.  No problem.  

On that note we buckled up and headed down to the Timberline triple.  As we loaded the triple we noticed no safety bar and no footrest.  The Timberline triple and the Sundown double are old school lifts that have neither.  This is a bit of a problem for a snowboarder as your board ends up dangling on one leg.  I learned my lesson quick – sit on the right so you can shimmy your right leg into your binding to support your board.  Once on the lift Joe filled us in on an interesting fact that puts the sheer size of Powmow in perspective.  Powmow is over 4700 acres of terrain serviced by 4 lifts, a rope tow, a bus, and a cat.  Vail is over 5200 acres of terrain serviced by 31 lifts.  The way they laid out the lifts at Powmow is near perfect for the terrain.  No duplication and no unneccesary flat runouts, etc.  In addition to the 4700 acres of serviced terrain there are another 4000 acres of backcountry that can be accessed through an all day powder cat safari or skin tour ($$$).

From the Timberline lift we traversed on 3 mile to the Hidden Lake lift line and dropped into some moderate pitch aspen stands that were delicious.  At least a foot of snow had fallen since Fuje was there and man it was sweet.  We cruised through the trees down to the Hidden Lake lift and somehow spotted the rest of our crew that was in the other car.  We bombed another run to hook up with them then rode the HL lift back up for our first foray into Powder Country.  Powder Country was the most fun we had the entire trip.  Awesome barely tracked powder in moderate to steep pitch with nicely spaced trees.  Once we got to the bottom we had to ride a narrow cat track right next to the road down to the bus pickup.  We were basically riding down the top of the snow bank that the plow had pushed to the side with cars whizzing up the mountain.  Only moderately frightening.  The bus runs constantly and we never had to wait more than 5-10 minutes to hitch a ride.  We hopped off at the first stop which is the Sundown lift.  The Sundown lift takes you up to the cat loading station for the trip to Lightning Ridge.  

Cat Loading


The cat ride was the first for all of us and it was pretty cool even if we couldn’t see a thing.  Once we got up to Lightning Ridge on Cobabe Peak we had a choice to either hike in powder over to James Peak to the skiers left or to traverse and do a small hike to skiers right to get some nice steep pitch trees.  None of us were in the mood to hike much – especially after the easy goods we found in Powder Country so we decided to go with option 2.  Note that Cobabe Canyon is not the same as Cobabe Peak.  The canyon is on completely opposite side of the resort.  Chris cut some avalanche tracks at the top of the run just to be sure the snowpack was stable.  The canyon on both sides is susceptible to slides and only the guides had Avy gear.  Everything was good so we dropped in for more untracked powder in steep trees.  At the bottom we had a fairly long runout to the next ridge on the skiers left.  At this point we were kind of in the center of the canyon.  I didn’t have enough speed to make the top of ridge so I had to wrap around to the skiers right.  The other snowboarder with us had no speed at all and just bailed to skiers right which drops into the runout to the Paradise lift.  We got some more sweet powder on a moderate pitched wide open piece of terrain which led us down to the Paradise runout.  

Second Ridge


As we approached the Paradise lift it started raining pretty good.  This is the lowest elevation point on the mountain so it is most prone to rain and warmer temperatures (which was important to know the next day).  The guides wanted to take us on some of the terrain at paradise, but the boys didn’t want to get wet so we headed back down to the Hidden Lake lift to get some more of Powder Country.  When we got up to the top of the Hidden Lake lift we kissed the guides good by and dropped into PC.  More of the same goodness.  

Powder Country on HL / Timberline side




Still no visibility anywhere but the trees helped keep us from getting vertigo.  On the bus ride up a guy told us we could access the other side of Powder Country from the Sundown lift so we hopped off at the first stop.  We found it was much quicker to do laps of PC that way then to go up to the top and access the other side via either Timberline or Hidden Lake.  

Powder Country on Sundown side


We did a few more laps and on our last run we raced to the top to try and get one more run in PC.  The sign at the top of the Sundown Lift said PC was closed but we rode down to the first entrance and there was a nice ski patroller who let us duck in.  He gave us some advice to stay away from the far right and he also told us if we got lost we were on our own.  Powder Country is not “officially” patrolled area.  PC on the Sundown side is a big horseshoe.  If you drop in at the first entrance you can traverse around to the right, center entrance right down the middle, last entrance traverse around left.  We tried every one of them and had a blast.  All of the runs drop you down into a runout where you want to stay left.  The runout eventually drops you out onto the road right across from the shuttle pick up.  If you go right you will end up hiking up the canyon road.  We hopped on the last bus to the top and left as quick as we could.  It was dumping snow and they were calling for a foot overnight.  General consensus was that we all had a top 10 if not a top 5 day.  Along with Snowbird, Powmow is now one of our favorites.

Day 4 Monday 1/17 Powder Mountain
When we woke up on Monday they were only reporting 2 inches at powmow and the Bird reported 6, but after the day we had on Sunday we headed north.  What we found out when we got there is that they had rain overnight with the 2 inches and most of the mountain was crusted up.  Powder Country was not open.  

A beautiful view, but the rope was up:(


We did a few laps on Hidden Lake and the trees were downright scary - with the layer of crust it was hard to turn.  

Views from Hidden Lake Lift




We decided that lower down the mountain the warmer temps might be a better bet so we rode down to the Paradise lift and did laps off that.  You can see the top of the Paradise lift on the top of the peak in the picture above.  Thank goodness we did because it saved the day.  It was still a little crusty, but for the most part it was either light carvable crust or mashed potatoes.  We ended up having a really good day.  Not epic like the day before, but good.  There is a ton of good terrain off that Paradise lift.  It is a big spine with a wide cruiser down the middle and steep tree lined terrain interspersed with open bowls all the way to the bottom.  

James Peak in Background with Cobabe Peak in Foreground from top of Paradise lift


Paradise spine with James Peak in the background


Tree run to skiers left off spine of Paradise




We finished up the day with some fried cheese curds and grilled bbq wings at the Powder Keg in the base lodge.  Delicious.  The lodge is every bit as Spartan as people say.  If you are looking for atmosphere and ambiance, Powmow is not your place.  If you are looking for no crowds and some very diverse powder terrain you should check it out.

After our good but not great day, we were kind of second guessing our decision to go to Powder.  However, when we got back to the hotel we found out it had rained in the Cottonwoods AND they had high winds that caused the upper mountain lifts to be on wind hold.  Even out there it is not always powder.  I think we made the best choice for the day.  Lesson in the future is to check and see if Powder Country is open before heading north.  If it is open it is worth the trip.

This is a cool report.

It's always tough when YOU are the guy pushing a strategy...sounds like you did ok.  The disdain for the crappola you were getting ... it's a nice touch.

How much farther from SLC is PowMow vs Alta and Snowbird?  

Personally, I'd always go with a guide. The money spent is probably a small percentage of total expenses, and probably doubles your chance for a great day. You learn a ton from those guys.

Powder Country sounds like a dream. And PowMow sounds exactly like my idea of ambiance and atmosphere!

Thanks! Between this report and Fujative's, I feel like I've been there. Definitely a "call ahead" type of place, but somewhere I've always wanted to go. As mentioned in the other thread, I'm always drawn in by the inescapable pull of Snowbasin, and never made it all the way to PM.

What exactly is the inescapable pull of Snowbasin?

Harvey44 wrote

What exactly is the inescapable pull of Snowbasin?

As I mentioned after my last visit to Snowbasin:
-- 3,000 verts with three top-to-bottom high-speed lifts
-- incredibly varied terrain: chutes, cirques, and bowls at the very top for the hardcores, and gullies, meadows, and skiable trees everywhere else.
-- small crowds, especially compared to the LCC and Park City areas
-- three insanely swanky lodges (not what I usually gravitate to, but definitely a unique experience)
-- food as good as what you'd get at a decent restaurant
-- no more than 40 minutes from SLC

Jamesdeluxe wrote

Harvey44 wrote

What exactly is the inescapable pull of Snowbasin?

As I mentioned after my last visit to Snowbasin:
-- 3,000 verts with three top-to-bottom high-speed lifts
-- incredibly varied terrain: chutes, cirques, and bowls at the very top for the hardcores, and gullies, meadows, and skiable trees everywhere else.
-- small crowds, especially compared to the LCC and Park City areas
-- three insanely swanky lodges (not what I usually gravitate to, but definitely a unique experience)
-- food as good as what you'd get at a decent restaurant
-- no more than 40 minutes from SLC

Great answer. I wasn't sharp enough to get all of that from the FTO TR.

Sorry for the thread drift Danzilla.

It's 35 mins from our hotel in Midvale to the LCC/BCC resorts, 1:10 to Snowbasin, and 1:35 to PowMow, according to Google maps.

Good to hear you guys got some good snow! The problem with PowMow is the elevation is a lot lower than some of the major resorts in LCC/BCC. Then again, that may have played in your favor if they got crust, too.

PowMow is a nice break from the bigger, steeper and swankier resorts. It's down to earth and has enough interesting things to do there to keep you busy for a day. Every time I go there I find/learn new things, and since we go after the other resorts are all tracked out, we usually get quite a bit of untracked snow, a few days after a snowfall. If it stays cold there, the powder stays nice. But the low elevation can make for less-than-optimal conditions if the temperatures get above freezing. With the right information, PowMow make for an awesome addition to any Utah ski vacation.

Sorry guys - kinda fell off the map since I got back.  Other than a trip or two to mountain creek or mount peter (both for tmy 2 1/2 year old daughter) my season is done.  Waiting for daughter #2 to arrive in the next few weeks.

Harv - we stayed at the marriott in downtown SLC.  It is around 45 minutes to Snowbird, Solitude and Brighton (and Alta).  Realistically an hour and 15 minutes to the top lodge at Powder.  We did get lucky and hit powmow on a good day.  If our first day had been the second day we were there I would have never heard the end of it.  Definitely Powmow is more prone to weather variations and the snow is not the same super fluff consistency of the cottonwood resorts.  Not quite eastern powder, but definitely a higher moisture content.  I don't know that you need a guide there unless the visibility is bad.  If we had been able to see we would have gotten around just fine.  Another cool thing about powmow is how much of the resort you can see on a clear day from the various peaks.  It is really wide open and you can see someone skiing way off in the distance and wonder "how the heck did they get to THOSE goods".

I wish I had taken a picture of the inside of the lodge.  Harv you would love it.

It is really interesting to hear the various opinions from people on the different resorts out there.  One our guides said he thought snowbasin was the biggest bore in the world.  I rode a lift with a guy and his two 10-12 year old kids and they said powmow was their least favorite place in Utah and that snowbasin and park city were their favorites.  Lots of various opinions.  The thing I have come to realize is that the resorts out there are all a little different and unique.  I was amazed on my last day of the difference between Solitude and Brighton and the are only a mile or two away in the same canyon.  One way or the other if you live there you have a plethora of great resorts all within a relatively short drive.

One of these days I will post a short TR from my last day at Brighton.  

Well done. thanks for the TRs.

congrats on baby#2

Too bad about the weather. Rain in Utah is rare. Powder is a great mountain, the place to go three days after it dumped down in SLC to find powder, especially if it's midweek. I had the pleasure to ski Snowbasin pre Olympic infrastructure (two triples, two doubles, no people) during a three day dump (I think it was '93), and it is still the finest powder experience of my life, even though I can ski pow better these days. There were eight people standing at the lift in the morning on the third day after it snowed a foot overnight. I kid you not.
The downside is, well, Ogden and surrounding scene. zzzzzzzzzzzzz.........
Friends of a friend just got back from Powder the other day and described it as skiing virgin for three days. I nodded in recognition.
Did they still have the snowmobile-with-a-rope-off-the-back as a lift up on the Lightning ridge? That was fun.

Hey Benny.  We "detoured" through downtown Ogden the first day we went up there and it doesn't look like a place to hang out.  SLC is pretty good since they did away with the membership required bar scene.

I think they replaced the snowmobile tow with the cat skiing on lightning ridge.  At some point they had heliskiing too, but didn't see any signs of that this year.  They now have a $375 all day powder cat safari that is all day in some untouched back country that you have all to yourself.  I don't know if it is worth it since there is so much untracked in powder country, paradise, and other parts of the mountain.

It was some unique weather - especially since the cottonwoods got a dose too.  I have heard that powder and snowbasin are more prone to rain due to elevation.