Been a lurker for a year, finally joined

[mogulman]

Was thinking about a ski trip to Park City from CO, the first week in January 2018. I was trying to search for some ski reports and found out that Epicski is no more. Tragic. Any way... Happy to be on here I think Phil helped me with some ski recommendations a while ago. So figured this would be the place to migrate to.

I'm a 49 year old skier/snowboarder from CO. Ski mostly summit county but travel quite a bit. My son was a racer, but decided to give it up last year at 15, so now we can ski for fun.

 

[mogulman]

Btw I think the odds of Park City being good the first week in Jan are slim, but I know it had been good once in a while

 

[Brian Finch]

Welcome!!

 

[Tricia]

Well, lets get some Park City locals in here to share some knowledge.

 

[Jim Kenney]

About PC, not a local, but been there several times each of the last three seasons. A lot of folks will tell you to go to AltaBird but if you already hold an EpicPass from your Colorado activities, then it certainly makes sense to try it out at PC. It is correct that LCC and BCC typically have better shoulder season conditions, but PC is no slouch at snowmaking and grooming, so early Jan can be reasonably good in a decent winter. With respect to crowds, if you are going Jan 7, 2018 or later, then you can probably track conditions and decide pretty close to last minute to get room reservations in PC. If you are going Dec 31 - Jan 6, then it could be trickier. However, there are always tons of available motel rooms in SLC, so even that week you could decide last minute if you're willing to commute 30 or 40 mins from SLC each day (or maybe look at Kimball Junction motels 3 miles from PC). Generally plenty of early AM free parking at Canyons (cabriolet) and PC base lots. On decent days the SLC-PC commute is not bad and always less hassle than I70 from Denver to Summit Co. The secret to fun days at PC & Canyons for advanced skiers/boarders is to pick a few upper mtn trail pods and hangout around them most of the day. Stay out of base areas and a few mid-mtn collecting zones. Use of the new connecting gondi is very intuitive from Canyons side to PC, but slightly less obvious from PC to Canyons.

 

[mogulman]

I have a Copper Pass and an Epic Local (so free tickets for Powder, PC/Canyons). PC is blacked out until 1/1, so I was thinking of staying near Powder mountain 12/31-1/2 and then 1/3-1/6 PC/Canyons.

 

[Philpug]

I actually like the Canyons part of better, the back parts around McConkeys is fun and there are some great tree skiing back there. Food wise you cad get the Worlds Best Lobster right down town and The Yard is pretty good, even though it isn't real east coast pizza, the sausage/mushroom pizza is pretty good.

 

[mogulman]

I have a Copper Pass and an Epic Local. PC is blacked out until 1/1, so I was thinking of staying near Powder mountain 12/31-1/2 and then 1/3-1/6 PC/Canyons.

Would I be better off waiting until spring break, 3/19 week for snow conditions?

 

[Jim Kenney]

You have a lot of nice Colorado options, so I'd be hesitant to commit early to PC for Jan 3-6 in case conditions are weaker there. Are you planning to drive to UT or fly? If drive, then it's easier to play trip by ear and do last minute decision, leaving your March dates for Utah a consideration if January turns out to be a no-go. If you are planning to fly and need to buy airfare in advance, then I'd take my chances with Mar 19 over Jan 3.

BTW, I've skied Utah the last two Januarys, but it was late Jan and I skied mostly LCC, but did have good days at PC both of those visits.

 

[mogulman]

We are driving. That sounds good. I was actually thinking of waiting until last minute also. You confirmed my suspicions . Especially since it can be hit and miss and we have good terrain in CO, too. Some friends of mine basically called me a party pooper, because I wanted to wait and see what the snow was like. We get a lot of days in. I skied 50+ last year. My thought was, wait and see what the snow is like. Then I could go to Utah, Heavenly, Taos or wherever, or stay in CO.

They seemed to think you can't get a place to stay unless you book it 6 months ahead. I've been to Utah a few times skiing and never found it that hard to find a place.

Then again, they were OK with going to PC and just hanging out if the snow was no good. I'm not going to go there and hang out. I'd rather ski somewhere with good snow, or if conditions are crappy all over, go somewhere else or save my vacation for a better day.

 

[fatbob]

Worse case you end up staying in a motel down in SLC or Heber City even if you book nothing until week of travel I guess. I ended up in a great place for a week from priceline week after the JH gathering.