As the Spring equinox brings about meteorological spring next week, it’s time again for my post about what I’ve been up to this winter. In short, I celebrated the holidays, started a new job, and did some skiing. Here are the photo and video highlights.
Skiing
Just like the last 5+ years, my primary winter activity was skiing. I started my season going to Seattle’s local ski areas, but after that I skied at destinations that required overnight stays. I went on 3 separate overnight ski trips (including 2 fly out trips) this season, which is a record for me.
Whistler
The first overnight outing was to Whistler with some friends from the Vancouver area. I haven’t been to Whistler in 3 years, since Whistler is on the Epic Pass and I switched to Ikon after that season. I still have Ikon this season, so had to buy the day passes which weren’t too expensive when purchased in advance.
We rented a townhome in Creekside and skied two days. Whistler Blackcomb is still the biggest and one of the best ski resort in North America. It was still early in the season, but it snowed during our stay so the snow was decent by PNW standards. I took it pretty easy during the trip since there were beginners amongst my friends, and it was mostly a trip to hang out with them. We had some nice dinners and board game nights. Given Whistler’s size and vertical though, it was still pretty easy to log some vertical descent during the times I was on the slope.
Utah
My next ski trip was to Salt Lake City, Utah. This is the 3rd time I’ve skied in SLC, and this time we hit up Snowbird, Deer Valley and Alta, the latter two I have not been to before. Our first stop was Snowbird, which certainly lived upto the “snow” part of its name, as it started snowy substantially as the day went on. It was interesting as the snow coming down was graupel (snow pellets), which actually hurt a little bit when hitting exposed skin. Skiing through graupel on the ground was interesting, since it’s feels like very loose sand and not the dry powder that Utah is known for.
We headed to Deer Valley next. Deer Valley is ski-only resort next to Park City that targets high end clientele. The lodges are nice, and there are several 5 star hotels and fancy vacation homes on the slopes. Weather was better when we went to Deer Valley, and the snow was pretty good, so we got to enjoy the resorts newly expanded footprint. The full expansion is open next season, but we got our runs down to the new East Village base area. The nice thing about Deer Valley is that they do cap lift tickets and Ikon reservations, so while still busy, they are not insanely busy during the weekends.
Our last stop was Snowbird’s neighbor, Alta. Also located in the Little Cottonwood Canyon, Alta gets the same or even more of the “Greatest Snow on Earth”. The vibe is a little bit different than Snowbird, as Alta is a ski-only resort, and has more of a local ski hill feel especially at the base. The skiing was great, probably the best skiing we got on the whole trip. The recent snow fall made the groomers fantastic and the off piste moguls soft. I can definitely see why the Alta-Snowbird combination is rated as the best in Utah and having the best snow for any North America resort.
Banff
Apparently one fly out ski trip for the season wasn’t enough, so I flew out to Calgary and went to Banff to ski at SkiBig3. SkiBig3 consists of the three ski areas located inside Banff National Park: Lake Louise, Banff Sunshine, and Mount Norquay. We stopped at Lake Louise Ski Resort first. The resort is located north of the actual Lake Louise, but you can see the lake from the front side of the ski resort. Simply put, Lake Louise is the most scenic ski resort I’ve visited so far. You get sweeping views of the majestic and rugged Canadian Rockies on both the front and back of the resort, enhanced by the fact that the mountains are snowcapped during the winter. Not surprising as Banff National Park is one of the most beautiful places in Canada. As for the skiing, Lake Louise is a big resort with good variety of alpine and tree cut terrain. Definitely a good ski resort worth visiting.
Our second stop was Banff Sunshine, also known as Sunshine Village. It’s a big ski resort located 20 min drive from Banff. Sunshine as a unique layout where the lone access gondola turns 90 degrees to bring guests up a valley. There is a mid station on the gondola that leads to the newer Goat’s Eye area, and the main hub, known as the actual Sunshine Village, is at the top of the gondola. The conditions weren’t the best when we were at Sunshine; not much sunshine to speak of, but flurries, high winds, and clouds at times, so wasn’t able to fully appreciate Sunshine’s scenery. It’s a big resort so even touring all the areas took most of the day.
Lastly, there was Mount Norquay, located across the Trans-Canada Hwy just north of the town of Banff. Unlike Lake Louise and Banff Sunshine, Norquay is a smaller local ski area, with only tree cut runs, but the runs are decently challenging, and you still get a great view of the town of Banff and the surrounding Rockies. What’s even better is that we got a nice powder day with good visibility at Norquay. The accumulation was light and powdery, so I was able to cut through the fresh snow without too much trouble, even though I don’ t have much experience skiing powder. The day at Norquay was definitely above my expectations for a small local ski area.
