School me on Park City / Canyons

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Not this again
PC is the crappiest western skiing imaginable
Canyons is Sunday River on steroids and not in a good way. Short runs decent runs that funnel into canyons with long run outs.  It's traverse hell.
PC is Miles of repetitive blue groomers covered in what eastern skiers would consider poorly made blown snow that is covered then with thousands of Midwestern and Texan Gapers
There are a few decent terrian pods.  Mcconkeys and Jupiter.  The first takes a min of 5 lift rides to get to and Jupiter is 6 to 7 lift rides from the bottom depending on how much you want traverse.  
If your friends picked this for thier guys trip it's time to find new friends.  Friends don't let friends ski PC.
You can salvage this by renting a car and driving to LCC or BCC

Z - tell us what you really think.

Coach Z wrote

Not this again
PC is the crappiest western skiing imaginable
Canyons is Sunday River on steroids and not in a good way. Short runs decent runs that funnel into canyons with long run outs.  It's traverse hell.
PC is Miles of repetitive blue groomers covered in what eastern skiers would consider poorly made blown snow that is covered then with thousands of Midwestern and Texan Gapers
There are a few decent terrian pods.  Mcconkeys and Jupiter.  The first takes a min of 5 lift rides to get to and Jupiter is 6 to 7 lift rides from the bottom depending on how much you want traverse.  
If your friends picked this for thier guys trip it's time to find new friends.  Friends don't let friends ski PC.
You can salvage this by renting a car and driving to LCC or BCC

I don't always agree with Coach...
But he is on point..

on top of it, you don't even feel as though you are in the mountains...just a blah experience..

Just go back to Steamboat like you did last year.

Look I know PCMR's and Canyons' shortcomings.  The decision is already made.  Since this is a 100% paid-for "work" trip (yes, I work for a cool company) I have little reason to moan and cry like a 3-year-old that the terrain is not up to my standards.  I smile and happily go along wherever the group decides to go each year (last year was Telluride, Alta/Bird the year before, Big Sky the year before that.  I threw Jackson Hole in the hat for this year, but oh well...).

So, for those who skied PCMR/Canyons, give me some pointers to find the goods.  It's a good snow year so I'm sure I'll find some good stuff, and I'll bring back some pics to prove it

And yeah, Steamboat would definitely be a good pick for our group. It'll probably be my top recommendation for next year.

After skiing Okemo last year, Z told me that it was exactly like Park City, meaning that they cater to rich people that can't ski well.  I was thinking about going there, but realized that most of the runs are Mountain Creek size, like 1000 vertical on most lifts.  That quickly motivated me to decide to go to Steamboat instead, where two of the lifts serve twice the vertical that any PC lifts do.  Vertical is a huge factor in the quality of a ski experience, and of the major resorts, Steamboat has the best.

I've been skiing UT for years (back when The Canyons was called Wolf Mt.), as a really good friend has lived out there for a long time.  While we usually head to LCC/BCC, we will usually do a day in PC to break it up, especially if we end up staying up in PC which has happened when we stay with our friends since they live 5 mins from the resorts.

While I agree there's too many run outs, traversing, and short vert of actual skiing.....there's some fun to be had there.  I can' t speak much for PC Mt. as I have skied there only once....but have been to Canyons several times.

Sounds like you'll want to head for 9990...that's pretty much the steepest stuff there.  You can take the 9990 chair, then do a short traverse/hike/traverse/hike to the ridge lookers right to some descent lines.  At the top of 9990 chair there is a gate almost in the unloading zone for the chair, it's extremely obvious, that does a short bootpack upwards to a sidecountry gate...I've been in here several times, it's right along the resort boundary pretty much and funnels right back in to the resort.  Yeh, you'll be out of bounds, but not by much...up to you if you want to mess with that with limited BC gear on hand.

Also Murdocks is good...another short hike that's worthwhile if everything else is tracked out or lack of recent snowfall.  These areas are pretty much on opposite sides of the place so you can check out the stuff in between getting to and from those zones.

I'd really try and get yourself over to LCC/BCC since it's only like 45 mins.  Looks like you've been there before so I'm sure you know the deal.  Can even rent the cheapest S*itbox you can get your hands on and then utilize the buses that run up the canyons for a few bucks if it ends up being 4x4/chain req.

I'll post some pics at home tonight

Umm....Jeff doesn't need to be convinced PC/Canyons is a shitty choice for his FREE work trip for his COOL ASS COMPANY (hey, any openings?) that takes him on KICK ASS FREE, repeat FREE, ski trips.  So enough with that.  

Help him make the best of a oh, so unfortunately BAD  situation if you can help him find the goods, otherwise there's lots of other threads to pontificate in.

Nice Intel Mike!

Lol, its funny when people really HATE a mountain. I can relate because I HATE hunter mountain. That being said, I'd ride anything that has actual real snow, something Utah is known for. I haven't been out once this year yet, I really hope it snows soon!

ADmiKe wrote

I've been skiing UT for years (back when The Canyons was called Wolf Mt.), as a really good friend has lived out there for a long time.  While we usually head to LCC/BCC, we will usually do a day in PC to break it up, especially if we end up staying up in PC which has happened when we stay with our friends since they live 5 mins from the resorts.

While I agree there's too many run outs, traversing, and short vert of actual skiing.....there's some fun to be had there.  I can' t speak much for PC Mt. as I have skied there only once....but have been to Canyons several times.

Sounds like you'll want to head for 9990...that's pretty much the steepest stuff there.  You can take the 9990 chair, then do a short traverse/hike/traverse/hike to the ridge lookers right to some descent lines.  At the top of 9990 chair there is a gate almost in the unloading zone for the chair, it's extremely obvious, that does a short bootpack upwards to a sidecountry gate...I've been in here several times, it's right along the resort boundary pretty much and funnels right back in to the resort.  Yeh, you'll be out of bounds, but not by much...up to you if you want to mess with that with limited BC gear on hand.

Also Murdocks is good...another short hike that's worthwhile if everything else is tracked out or lack of recent snowfall.  These areas are pretty much on opposite sides of the place so you can check out the stuff in between getting to and from those zones.

I'd really try and get yourself over to LCC/BCC since it's only like 45 mins.  Looks like you've been there before so I'm sure you know the deal.  Can even rent the cheapest S*itbox you can get your hands on and then utilize the buses that run up the canyons for a few bucks if it ends up being 4x4/chain req.

I'll post some pics at home tonight

Haven't a fair amount of people died in avis back there since they opened those gates? From what I understand, it's a very dangerous intersection of uncontrolled terrain and easy access for Texas gapers.

Benny Profane wrote

Haven't a fair amount of people died in avis back there since they opened those gates? From what I understand, it's a very dangerous intersection of uncontrolled terrain and easy access for Texas gapers.

yes there have been incidents there...that's why I was saying not sure if you want to mess with that.  It is very easy access and gives off a close to resort type of look. Which it is I guess...just uncontrolled.  I've been over there just twice, once following patrol guy.  Never ventured to deep in from the boundary line.  Obviously things can still happen.  These days, I don't go past the ropes much when I'm out west...not worth it.  Been keeping an eye out for beacon on sale for future trips. And some EC BC too hopefully.


However, you can take that boot pack and use it to gain some extra vert and drop in lookers right, which would avoid the need to do the other traverse/hike combo I mentioned, since it would tie into that

For the OP, if it snows, go to Deer Valley, if your freebie trip includes that ticket. Trust me. Best of the three mountains in that valley on a snow day. Only if you get a free ticket, though. I'm guessing it's almost 200 a day there, these days.


Or take the bus to Alta.

Benny - DV for $200? No, not even close. Full day walk up is $120. You can't get discount tickets to the PC area resorts in PC anymore...you have to go back out to the ski shops near/in SLC and buy them there to save a little $. Last year I think you could still get under $100 day tickets if you did that...but we didnt' ski any of the PC areas last year, instead opted for LCC/BCC areas a nd Powder.

 OP - I've only skied the Canyons twice, never skied PCMR. I had fun both times at the Canyons, but the first day was definitely spent in lot of traversing around trying to figure the place out. Go there with an open mind, explore, and you will have a lot of fun. I don't recall specifics, but I do recall t hat the more time we spend in the trees and off the groomed runs, the more we liked the place. Yes the vert is interrupted, yes there are long traverses / green runs to get around, but it's better than a stick in the eye. There used to be a helipad right at mid mountain...I think near the top of the gondi. Maybe you can talk your boss into springing for a heli trip :)

IMO, it doesn't suck there. I've skied places I've liked better, and it wouldn't be my first choice in Utah - but it doesnt' suck.

But Snoloco can give you better advice. He's read about it on the internet.

Wow, you're right, Deer Valley is, heh, only 120 at the window, which is strange, because a lot of mountains are over 150, and they were always in a head to head with Aspen for the most expensive ticket back in the day. Liftopia has them listed, but, at the same price, 120. That's weird.
I used to know somebody that had a transferable season pass, so, I never paid, if you don't count the time the ex wife and I sat through a time share spiel for a pair of tickets. That was torture. And then, they hassled us at the end about the tickets. They didn't know what they were dealing with when my ex walked in the room.

Colorado lift ticket pricing is much higher than Utah, and in some cases it's VERY hard to find discounted tickets in CO. Steamboat for example. Their business model is to book everything through their central reservations, and you'll get some discount on tickets that way. Besides that there are a couple multi-day passes where you can get a few days at Steamboat at a discount - like the 4x40 pass or maybe its called the Route 40 pass now (two days at WP, two at Steamboat) - but there is almost no way to get a single day discounted ticket at Steamboat (on short notice anyway...you can get discounts by buying ahead a week or two).

Yeah, true, that's why I bought the Colorado Super pass for my stay out there. Six days at Steamboat. Yes, window prices are absurd, but season pass pricing is the cheapest in the country.

For my family's trip, lift tickets cost a total of over1600 dollars.  That's more than 4 MC passes.

I skied the Canyons one day a couple years ago in late December. Trees were a bit scratchy then, the best terrain seemed to be off of 9990 but to be fair I didn't get to ski the whole mountain.

If you do spend a day or two at Deer Valley shoot me a pm, my Aunt has a condo there and my family usually goes about once every two years. I know the place fairly well. Since most skiers there don't leave the groomers the powder lasts long in the trees.

billyymc wrote

Yes the vert is interrupted, yes there are long traverses / green runs to get around, but it's better than a stick in the eye (...) I've skied places I've liked better, and it wouldn't be my first choice in Utah - but it doesnt' suck.

This ^^. I went there a number of times during the early-00s and remember a lot of great tree skiing and if you're there after a (comparatively rare) storm that favors the Wasatch Back, it's a fun time. Ignore the haters.