Wasatch

Picture of salt_lake_skyline As with our previous ski trip to Utah, we based ourselves in Salt Lake City which is convenient to a half dozen major ski areas and has a pretty good restaurant scene as well.
Picture of snowbird Our first day skiing was at Snowbird which in retrospect might have been poor planning. Snowbird probably has the most difficult terrain of any of the Cottonwood ski areas. Our favorite terrain was the bowl behind the main ski area which is accessible via a moving walkway through a tunnel in the mountain. It's a unique experience, the first time at least. The bowl (which also connects to Alta) has a European sort of feel to it as it's just a giant open in-bounds area in which you can ski wherever you like.
Picture of solitude Next up we intended to go to Brighton but cleverly left our lift passes in the hotel. Oops. So we went to Solitude next door (literally). Solitude has a lot of good terrain. On the down side, the dining options are pretty seriously limited - even at lunch.
Picture of white_pines We took a day off of alpine skiing in order to try some cross-country. This is the White Pines Nordic Center in Park City. There are a variety of trails, mostly set on the Park City golf course and some neighboring farms. Based on our very limited experience, cross-country skiing is fun for approximately 7-8km at which point your ankle tendons start making themselves known to you in new and exciting ways.
Picture of antelope_island Our day of 'rest' concluded with a short sight-seeing expedition to the Great Salt Lake Beach which has the vibe of a horror movie setting, at least in March which is well out of season. Across the mud and eventually the lake; this is Antelope Island.
Picture of brighton This is the portion of the trip where two feet of snow fell overnight. That's probably noticeable in this picture at Brighton (we remembered our lift passes this time). Melanie was knee deep in powder at times. The glade skiing on the west side of Brighton was particularly enjoyable, especially after we learned where the rock faces were.
Picture of canyons Our final stop was the Canyons. The Canyons is really really vast. Skiing across to the far side of it and back can easily take all day. The biggest issue we have with the Canyons is that crossing all of that terrain means a whole lot of traverses. Many of the runs have a nice downhill section followed by a very long run-out where you just have to maintain as much speed as possible to make it back to a lift.

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