nellyei82

Hi All,

as the title says I have a trip to Vail & Park city lined up for early Feb, will be taking a plane trip worthy of comparison to Frodo's trip to Mordor... travelling from Perth, Australia

any tips on those places people care to share - can be from places to dine, runs to ride etc.

im staying at the Evergreen lodge in Vail, and in Utah at Park City Peaks Hotel, anyone got opinions on these places...

by the way I'm so unproductive at work right now under a month to go

onel0wcubn

damnnn man.. thats a hella far trip from perth to the US...
Both places are great.

Everything in Vail is expensive but they have some nice bowls in the area. If you have a car and time make the drive to Breckenridge ( about 30 min) and go ride over there too. Breck has more restuarants and clubs/bars then vail.

In Park City just have fun! I love Park.. ride both park city and the canyons..plenty of terrain to be had there. Park citys night life is great.. lots of clubs and bars..

have a great trip

NoOtherOptions

One member here (Hikeswithdogs?) lives in park City. There's been a thread on it before. Good place, lots to do there. Park City's nightlife centers on "main street", which is nice because the city also has an awesome shuttle system so check it out. Some good places with happy hours down on main so you can get a decent burger for a few bucks without breaking the bank if you are at Park City Mountain Resort and take the town lift down on riding days.

BarrettDSP

I stayed at Evergreen Lodge last year with a buddy. Its a average place to stay. I think we had a mini fridge in the room and its a short walk to Lionshead Village. There is also a bar and resturant in the lodge that O.K.

WasatchMan

What kind of terrain do you like to ride?

Utah has 14 resorts, 11 of which are within 30-45 minutes of downtown Salt Lake City/Park City.

Park City is known for it's park riding and town, it's very touristy, lot's of amenities. You have PCMR and The Canyons and Deer Valley (No Snowboarding Allowed) - All three resorts average about ~350 inches of snow per season. They are very mellow in terrain, as in not very steep.

Just one canyon over you have Big Cottonwood Canyon and Little Cottonwood Canyon.

Big Cottonwood has Brighton Resort as well as Solitude Resort.
- Both resorts average ~500 inches of snow.
- They are known for their powder, trees, chutes, cliffs and all around great terrain.
- They also have very mellow terrain for beginners and intermediate riders
- They are not known for their amenities though, they are pure ski/snowboard resorts,
the terrain and massive snowfall is what drives people to ride here.

Little Cottonwood Canyon has Snowbird and Alta (No Snowboarding Allowed at Alta)

-Snowbird is known for it's steep natural terrain
-Massive snowfall and powder days
-It's more crowded than BCC
-It has a tram
-It has better amenities than BCC
-It has something for everyone

You also have Snowbasin and Powder Mountain which are both about an hour drive north of SLC.

I highly recommend getting out of Park City for at least a couple days and experience 'real' snowboarding. The Cottonwood canyons is surrounded by big steep over-powering mountains, unlike Park City which is in the north valley which is more like rolling hills. Most Utah locals do not prefer to ride Park City and prefer the surrounding mountains. Not to make Park City sound bad, it is still better than A LOT of mountains, but if you're into serious riding - natural terrain, powder etc. BCC/LCC is what you want. If you're into cruising groomers, park riding such as jumps, rails etc. The Canyons and Park City Mountain Resort is what you want.

You can't really go wrong in Utah.

hikeswithdogs

Agreed with everything said above, Park City a great place to eat\party but the real riding in Utah is in Little\Big Cottonwood Canyons just 30 or so minutes away followed up by Powder Mountain and Snowbasin in Ogden about an hour away from Park City.

Also cheap Snowcat rides and inbounds backcountry(called Powder Country) at Powder Mountain should NOT be missed on ANY trip to Utah.

Hit me up if your planning to ride Brighton and I'll be happy to show you around if conditions are right and I can get time off of work.

Here's a link to my video @ Brighton on December 27th if your interested
brightonblower jenkins - YouTube

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Argo

What kind of cuisine? Evergreen is really right in the middle of vail village and lions head village. It's behind the hospital. It's an average place, not the worst and far from the best. Lions head places - Pizza I like old forge and blue moose, coffee is remini gelato by the ice skating ring. Snowboard shops Vail Skate Supply or One Track Mind. Best patio for an après drink or burger is garfinkles which overlooks the gondola and chair 8. There is a place for breakfast burritos right by the skier bridge across from the gondola called El Sabor....

Vail village - pizza here would be Pazzos or vendettas. Burgers is Bully Ranch. Prime rib or steak stuff for $$$ is Lancelot or russells... Drinks après - red lion or any other bar with a crowd. Coffee is yetis grind in the solaris complex. There is a great theatre there too called cinebistro but if you wanna see a movie buy tickets a day ahead at least. There's a bowling alley too, both are nice high end places. Snowboard shop - Buzzs Board shop...

Any specifics just post up and I will try to reply

nellyei82

Thanks for the response, that is awesome information.

the type of terrain I like is what you described that is in Big Cottonwood, so I will definately have to make plans to ride there. Im not big on ammeneties as this holiday is still pure snowboarding holiday.

better start doing some planning on getting a hire car

nellyei82

I will take you up on that offer bud, and def keen on using the snowcats! will PM my email

jdang307

What is needed to ride Powder Country? Are you full on backcountry boarding with them just providing a ride up there? Full avy experience, training and equipment?