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12th-17th Utah Trip

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  • 12th-17th Utah Trip

    Arrived on the 12th, didn't get to snow slide until the 13th, and have been too busy since finishing up to post this thread until now. For those who don't know, I'm using ACTUAL skiboards now rather than the 99cm short skis (and prior to that, full-sized skis) I've ridden during the past two decades.

    Day 1: Brighton (West) 01.13.2014

    There was good and bad today. I managed to get the whole party out of bed and down to hotel breakfast bright and early, but the rain on the drive to the resort was incredibly worrying. As we got up into the mountain it turned to snow, though, and the very low amount of wind meant it wasn't drifting. Solitude was firing avalanche cannons most of the morning, which was some interesting background noise. For only a 61" base the snow at Brighton was fantastic, and as only 6 or 7 people made it on the lifts before my group there was ample powder - which is both good and bad when you're learning to slide on a new type of sticks... I'll talk more about that later. We stuck mostly to the west half of the mountain as we intend to go again on Wednesday.

    In line for the lift to my second run, halfway up the mountain, disaster struck. I noticed that the base plates on my ski boots (yes, heel and toe on BOTH FEET) decided to completely shatter at some point, and I was forced to head back to the lodge. For 45 minutes a shop tech monkied with my boots and finally managed to jerry-rig a solution with newer plates that he managed to chop to the proper size with a bench grinder. I guess my boots are like 20 years old and they just don't make the parts in the same size these days. Anyway, the boots got fixed and I was out the door.

    The rest of the day went without any more such technical difficulties. Things didn't start to freeze until 3pm, and even then there were SOME runs without ice on them all the way up until 4pm. All in all it was a fantastic outing. But anyway, back to my change from skis to skiboards...

    I'm riding Revolt Trees with original Bomber Elite bindings. While they weren't the floatiest they handled the powder adequately and there's no way I'd have made due in the deep stuff with my 99cm short skis. I struggled a bit with the "centered" position of the boot and kept bumping the ass ends of my skis together while pedaling. Also, constantly having to lean back (for powder riding) did a number on my upper legs. Solitude is tomorrow, and for the first half of the day I intend to ride my boards with the "main" four binding screws installed so that I'm ever so slightly set back from center. I can still adjust the bale mounts back further if this isn't enough... project for lunchtime tomorrow possibly.
    Signatures are the online equivalent of an elevator fart. Here's anther one for you: CUPCAKE!

  • #2
    I'd be interested in hearing your opinion of Brighton and Solitude. I've never been to either before. My plan right now is to be at Solitude on Feb 4th and Brighton on Feb 5th.
    Boards/Bindings:
    2013 Spruce Sherpas w/Tyrolia Peak 11s
    2023 Spruce Stingers w/Tyrolia Peak 11s
    2015 RVL8 Blunt XLs w/Tyrolia Attack 13s
    2020 RVL8 Sticky Icky Ickys w/Tyrolia SX 10s


    Boots:
    Salomon X-Pro 80

    Past boards: Salomon Snowblades, Line MNPs 89 & 98 cm, Five-Os, Bullets, Jedis, Spruce 120s, LE 125s, Ospreys, Crossbows
    Summit 110s, Nomads, Jades, RVL8 ALPs, BWPs, KTPs, Tanshos, Rockets, DLPs, Blunts, Condors, RCs, Revolts, Spliffs

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by sempai View Post
      I'd be interested in hearing your opinion of Brighton and Solitude. I've never been to either before. My plan right now is to be at Solitude on Feb 4th and Brighton on Feb 5th.
      I favor Brighton over the more famous Alta and Snowbird, they are just to commercial for my taste. Brighton has a very relaxed, friendly vibe, and no shortage of challenging terrain. We went there on a knee deep powder day, which helps. Never been to Solitude, it's next on the list.
      Just these, nothing else !

      Comment


      • #4
        Day 2: Solitude 01.14.2014

        62" base. Sunny, ~30 degrees. Well groomed runs, but I only managed to find powder on some VERY difficult and obscure terrain after taking the most terrifying lift I've ever been on in my life. Learned a lot about my skiboards today.

        Within an hour of arriving 25% of my group decided to hit the lodge until 1pm. They are huge powder snobs and didn't like the conditions whatsoever. The same people called it a day at 2:30pm and had to wait two hours for the rest of us to finish up... basically the party poopers paid $70 for three hours worth of slope time.

        Solitude has some DANGEROUSLY steep runs, and coupled with the icy conditions (thanks, sunlight) it made for some spectacular spills. I won't mention others' crashes, but I had a couple severe ones. The first resulted in me sliding over 200 ft. downhill on my back while I struggled to stop myself. The second time I had to bail at high speed and lie down on my side in order to not run into someone who was stopped in a blind spot . In the process of saving her life, my skiboards ended up catching the hill juuuuust right to send me cartwheeling through the air for a good 10 feet before touching ground again. Thankfully I know how to fall, so I was unscathed, but I did have a ski patroller and a lift operator rush over to me to see if I was okay.

        I decided that my bindings on groomers should be centered. Although the powder I encountered at Solitude was a piece of cake with the back-set I decided to try, the fact of the matter is that I didn't come across enough to justify it. Depending on conditions at Brighton tomorrow I'll likely be re-centering. I will also be getting my edges tuned... just realized they are duller than a spoon and likely the reason I lack any type of control.

        How do Brighton and Solitude compare? Personally, I prefer Brighton. I'd like to point out that this has NOTHING to do with the fact that Brighton had FEET of powder compared to Solitude's inches... it's just a very different experience for each resort. Brighton has very well-defined runs, and lots of ski-able trees and passes between them. Solitude, on the other hand, is a very wide-open area where runs more-or-less simply pour into each-other... but where there are trees between, it's non-passable in most places. Also, Solitude has a retarded amount of moguls. And they like to put them in blind areas so you can't see them in time to pick a different run. Or slow down for that matter as there are PLENTY of 60+ degree inclines with moguls.
        Signatures are the online equivalent of an elevator fart. Here's anther one for you: CUPCAKE!

        Comment


        • #5
          Day 3: Brighton (East) 01.15.2014

          61" base. Sunny. 30(ish) degrees.

          Reasoning that conditions at Brighton today would be similar to Solitude yesterday, my group decided not to head out until the sun was on the slopes in order to soften the snow. We got out around 11:30am local time.

          Had an unremarkable but amazingly fun time. I refined my technique a bit and even pointed some people toward the SBOL website/forums when they asked about my boards. Since sharpening the edges I found maneuvering MUCH easier despite the slick snow.

          Horsed around on the eastern most part of the mountain quite a bit, and the open feel/steepness of the runs was incredibly similar to Solitude (although the snow was MUCH better). The lift servicing the area is the second scariest I've ever been on after Solitude's summit lift. There was too much exposed rock in this area so I found myself moving back to the west side eventually.
          Signatures are the online equivalent of an elevator fart. Here's anther one for you: CUPCAKE!

          Comment


          • #6
            Brighton, Solitude, Snowbird, DONE

            Wow, sorry for the delay on this. Packing/travel got hectic.

            Day 4: Snowbird 01.16.2014

            63" base. Sunny. 34 degrees at the bottom of the mountain, 28 degrees at the top.

            Wow. Just... wow. HUGE place. Some stupidly difficult and dangerous terrain. Disgustingly commercial. $5-$7 for small/medium locker rental (with all day access). $13 for a bacon cheeseburger. I saw more injured people here than literally every other ski trip I've been on COMBINED, and heard at least a half dozen different languages being spoken during the three cable car trips I took to the top. It was a non-busy day and there were still 5 minute waits at the lift lines. Waaaaay too crowded and commercialized for my taste, and considering the conditions it was way too many people for the snow - things were icy the whole day and I damn near flew off a couple cliffs, which is a REALLY scary thing, and on a few occasions I was forced to dodge out-of-control people careening downhill.

            My group got to the mountain around 11am, once again hoping the sun would soften the snow. It did, but only halfway down the mountain. Above that (where we mostly hung out) things were a sheet of ice with occasional fields of chunks of ice just to break up the monotony. People were being ferried down in sleds left and right, exposed gravel and rocks littered the runs and tore the shit out of our bases, and anything more difficult than a blue was a virtual death wish.

            There was no technical appeal at all in the runs at Snowbird, but that's probably due to the conditions. I hear it's fantastic during powder, and it had some bowls and runs that looked like they'd be a total blast if your only concern wasn't trying to limit your speed to avoid launching down an icy death-chute. Snowbird would have been a fantastic place to ski back in the day before climate change destroyed the region's snowfall, but considering the kind of traffic it gets I sincerely doubt that I will ever be going back. I spent as much time waiting in lift lines as I did actual skiing which is terribly non-appealing to me.

            All in all I had a fun trip. Brighton certainly takes the cake as the best place to go. It's not a HUGE resort, but it's still bigger than anything around my area. There was a good mix of terrain, it wasn't overcrowded, and the way the sun hits it means that even though the conditions were poor it was still a blast to slide down. Brighton also has the best park out of the three, and although I'm not really a park rider it's nonetheless awesome to see people flying through the air while I'm taking a lift.

            P.S. Can a moderator please move this thread to the "Reviews" subforum?
            Signatures are the online equivalent of an elevator fart. Here's anther one for you: CUPCAKE!

            Comment


            • #7
              Thanks for the review, but reading about how bad conditions are in Utah is really bumming me out.
              Boards/Bindings:
              2013 Spruce Sherpas w/Tyrolia Peak 11s
              2023 Spruce Stingers w/Tyrolia Peak 11s
              2015 RVL8 Blunt XLs w/Tyrolia Attack 13s
              2020 RVL8 Sticky Icky Ickys w/Tyrolia SX 10s


              Boots:
              Salomon X-Pro 80

              Past boards: Salomon Snowblades, Line MNPs 89 & 98 cm, Five-Os, Bullets, Jedis, Spruce 120s, LE 125s, Ospreys, Crossbows
              Summit 110s, Nomads, Jades, RVL8 ALPs, BWPs, KTPs, Tanshos, Rockets, DLPs, Blunts, Condors, RCs, Revolts, Spliffs

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by sempai View Post
                Thanks for the review, but reading about how bad conditions are in Utah is really bumming me out.
                Sorry about that, but I'm just being honest. I've been snow sliding for over two decades now and it's obvious both anecdotally and measurably that average snowfall and coverage is decreasing. Most of the mountains out west should have another 5 feet of snow on them this time of year. Regardless of whether or not each individual believes humans are responsible for climate change it's pretty obvious that it's happening nonetheless and one of the best winter activities is suffering as a result.

                That said, peak skiing season in Utah is usually still a month away. Aside from there probably being better overall conditions there may be more short-term favorable events like overcast days and unexpected snow showers. The first day at Brighton was FANTASTIC snow, and even the third day with less-than-fantastic snow still had very skiiable conditions due to mountain orientation.
                Signatures are the online equivalent of an elevator fart. Here's anther one for you: CUPCAKE!

                Comment

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