Snowbird Utah 2015

It has been a generation in time since I skied The Bird www.snowbird.com. For a reunion with the resort I used to call home, the ski Gods were kind enough to deliver 6 inches of fresh powder. This was the first dump in six weeks, and the worst season in 35 years, until we arrived! The magic of Utah is that even though the temperature is just below freezing the snow is light and fluffy. So different than the Whistler west coast cement experience. They say it is the altitude of  the mountains as Salt Lake City is at 5000 ft. At the top of Snowbird it is  just under 11,000 ft.  The Great Salt Lake also plays some magic on the quantity and quality of the snow with the lake effect. Little Cottonwood canyon acts like a funnel that traps all the storms and the biggest deposits are on Snowbird and Alta. The leftovers go to Brighton and Park City in the other canyons

I had the pleasure to follow our mountain host Cynthia who showed us around with great American hospitality. For all those anti Americans out there I want to say that when you go the their house Americans are warm, friendly and inviting. Our guide took us all around Snowbird during a snowy day. The mountain remains the same,with many of the lifts replaced with new high speed quads. However the most outstanding development is the skier transport tunnel to the new back bowl called Mineral Basin. The terrain that this bowl opens up is amazing. On a powder day you need trees to ski in to provide some visual contrast, so I could not ski it well. Luckily I found a local skier and medical doctor to follow in the treed frontal runs. Raoul was a great host as he took me into Little Cloud, Gadzoom and the Gad 2 lifts.

Snowbird is the iconic Utah resort due to its location in the super snowy little Cottonwood Canyon. Created in 1972 by Dick Bass, a great visionary,  The bird receives an average of over 500 inches per year. It still has the toughest runs, the biggest bumps and the coolest skier tunnel in the land. The tunnel has a 600 foot magic carpet to take you to the new Mineral Basin bowl. It was designed because on super windy days the tram gets closed. So you can take the Peruvian Express chair and then the Mineral Basintunnel to find fresh Pow. Thank you Mr. Dick Bass for creating Snowbird.

A special mention about Snowbirds ski school director Junior Bounous. He mapped out the Snowbird terrain for Dick Bass in 1971. The Snowbird ski school is known to be one of the best in the country. A real inspiration for ageing skiers.

There is no place like home.

The Adventure Guy