Utah ski and snowboard latest news

Massive Snowstorm Leaves Utah Ski Resorts Primed for the Holidays

A massive winter storm moved in from the Pacific just over a week ago and dropped unreal amounts of snow upon Utah ski resorts, instantly transforming the state’s ski areas and locking in conditions for the all-important Christmas holiday period.

Brighton was the storm’s big bread winner, scoring 48 inches from the storm as snow fell at a rate of two to four inches per hour.

“This is just the storm we were waiting for to get the season off on the right foot,” said Bob Bonar, President of Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort.

“What a difference a storm makes,” echoed Krista Parry, director of marketing and communications for Park City Mountain Resort where over two feet of new snow was logged. “It just takes one big storm, like this one, to get the mountain in excellent shape.”

Indeed, many of Utah’s ski and snowboard resorts are now at or near full operation. And just in time to sweeten conditions for Christmas, another significant statewide snowstorm was moving into Utah at press time.

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Park City Mountain Opens Terrain Parks, Superpipe

Utah’s Park City Mountain Resort late last week opened its Eagle Superpipe, Pick ‘N Shovel and Jonesy’s terrain parks in time for the holiday season.

“The cold temperatures we’ve received over the last few weeks have been great for snowmaking, superpipe and terrain park building,” said Jeremy Cooper, Park City Mountain Resort’s new terrain park manager. “We’ve spent endless man hours building the pipe and park over the last few weeks to provide the best possible product for potential Olympians who will use our pipe as a training ground for the 2010 Winter Games.”

Park City Mountain Resort’s Eagle Superpipe is the first and largest Superpipe to open in Utah for the 2009-10 season. The historic pipe, where U.S. athletes swept the men’s podium and won gold in the women’s event during the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002, will entertain the masses with Olympians again. The U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix makes its final stop at Park City Mountain Resort for back-to-back night competitions, Jan. 22-23, after which the winners will be crowned and the 2010 U.S. Snowboarding Olympic halfpipe team will be named.

Pick ‘N Shovel terrain park, located at the base of the resort, has intermediate to advanced features including five jumps ranging from 30 to 50 feet and up to ten jib features. Jonesy’s terrain park, located off the Bonanza lift, is suited for beginner to intermediate terrain park users and includes ten features.

The PayDay terrain park will remain open with jib features for the remainder of the season. Beginning Christmas Day the PayDay jib park will be lit for night skiing.

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Raise Your Skiing Ability a Notch with a Deer Valley Specialty Program

This is the season to take your skiing ability up a notch, and Deer Valley Resort’s Skier Services department offers a selection of specialty ski programs designed to improve skiers’ skills, confidence, knowledge and overall enjoyment of the sport. Whether you’re a beginner skier who wants to get the basics down, a youngster who is just starting out, a teenager who needs a gang of kids to cruise the mountain with or an accomplished athlete who needs a little brushing up on skills, specialty programs offer focused attention for all ability levels. Programs offered at Deer Valley this season include:

Mahre Training Center Ski Camps: For the fifth consecutive season Deer Valley will present the Mahre Training Center Ski Camps, hosted by American Olympic medal winners and brothers Phil and Steve Mahre. Participants will receive six hours of daily instruction by Deer Valley’s top ski instructors, the chance to ski with Phil and Steve Mahre during the camp, daily lift tickets, evening sessions, the unique Mahre Training Center progression, a video and other amenities.

Adult Specialty Programs: Deer Valley will also continue its highly popular Men’s and Women’s Adult Specialty Programs this season, conducted by Deer Valley’s top ski instructors. The programs feature stance, balance and alignment analysis, Dartfish technology video analysis, new equipment demo and a get-acquainted social, as well as multiple hours on the slopes perfecting and enjoying the craft.

Children’s Programs: Deer Valley Ski School offers a wide array of children’s lessons for kids from 3 to 14 years old. Specialty Programs offer children the opportunity to improve their skiing in a fun, safe environment. Children’s programs include the Pre-school programs, the Friday afternoon program and Saturday and Sunday Ski Experience.

Advance reservations are required for all of Deer Valley’s specialty programs. For more information visit www.deervalley.com or call (800) 424-DEER (3337).

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Free Avalanche Awareness Class at Snowbasin Resort Jan. 9-10

The Snow Safety division at Snowbasin will host a “Know Before you Go” avalanche awareness class on Saturday, Jan. 9. The class will be held in Earl’s Lodge at the Utah ski and snowboard resort near Ogden, and will begin at 6:30 p.m. There is no charge for the hour-long class, which will be presented by G.R. Fletcher and Frank Waikhart of Snowbasin, and Craig Gordon of the Utah Avalanche Center.

As a follow-up to the class, Snowbasin Ski Patrol will lead a field day the following morning. Those who attend the class on Saturday are invited to meet at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 10 at bottom of the ski area’s Needles Gondola. Ski Patrol will guide a two-hour practical session on the mountain, where they will talk about control work at Snowbasin and safe backcountry travel. Proper backcountry gear and safety will also be discussed. There is no charge for the mountain session with the purchase of a lift ticket.

“Our patrol is available as a resource to guests on our mountain,” said Waikart, a patroller at Snowbasin. “This outreach effort is intended to enhance guests’ skiing experience. We will provide tools for skiers to explore their own boundaries safely through education.”

Reservations are not necessary to attend.

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Ring in 2010 on the Slopes of Powder Mountain

Powder Mountain will extend night skiing hours on Dec. 31 to 12:15 a.m. so that New Year’s revelers can count down the beginning of 2010 on the slopes. Night skiing will open at its regular time of 3:00 p.m. and the schedule for the free shuttle service will be adjusted to accommodate New Year’s Eve guests. Children are invited to participate in a glow stick parade at 9:00 p.m.

A special $30 New Year’s Celebration package will be offered to the first 300 guests who purchase online at www.powdermountain.com/mtn_new_years.php. It will cost $20 for children 12 and younger to attend. The package includes a pasta dinner at the Timberline Lodge, night lift pass and party favors. Powder Mountain season pass holders may purchase the dinner package for $10.

Those interested in skiing only may choose to purchase a night lift pass at the regular price of $15 for adults and $12 for 7-12 year olds. The Sundown Lodge and the Powder Keg restaurants will extend their operating hours until midnight, allowing guests to order off the regular menus as well.

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Conde Nast Ranks Sundance Resort in the Top 10

The Sundance Resort has been listed in the December 2009 issue of Conde Nast Traveler magazine as within the Top 10 of the Top 50 Best Ski Hotels in the U.S. & Canada. The reader poll was based on categories that included rooms, service, dining/food, location, overall design, activities/facilities and rates.

Conde Nast Traveler also ranked Sundance Resort 27th among the Top 75 Mainland U.S. Resorts in their November 2009 issue. Each year the November Readers’ Choice awards list the Best in the World for hotels, airlines, cities, and cruises. The Readers’ Choice Awards are rated by 25,000 discerning travelers.

“Sundance is very proud to again be listed in this prestigious list. It means a great deal to us for our hard work and commitment to excellence to be recognized by such an esteemed publication as Conde Nast Traveler,” commented Chad Linebaugh, General Manager, Sundance Resort.

In the 2008 Gold List, the Sundance Resort received special culinary recognition for Best by Food with a score of 96.8 and has also ranked highly in past years in Conde Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Award, including ranking second for the Top 50 United States Resorts with a score of 94.6 and 34th in the world in 2007.

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Deer Valley Offers “Unreel” Packages During Sundance

Deer Valley Resort’s Lodging and Reservations department is offering lodging specials and package through Feb. 9, 2010, including during Park City’s famed Sundance Film Festival.

“During this early winter period after the holidays and before the busy President’s Week holiday, we have a wide range of accommodations available and are now able to offer unprecedented pricing with relaxed minimum night stay requirements,” says Dirk Beal, Resort director of sales. “Now is a special time of year to enjoy a very affordable vacation at Deer Valley, even if it’s just for a day or two of skiing and a few nights of dining and lodging.”

During Sundance, Deer Valley’s Lodging and Reservations Department is offering a fourth night free for those who puprchase three nights at select Deer Valley properties Jan. 17-Feb. 9. Call one of the department’s Vacation Planners at (800) 424-DEER (3337) for assistance in selecting available accommodations and mention SFF Special to receive this offer.

The Exceptional Value Package includes lodging and daily lift tickets for each adult in your party Jan. 3-14, Jan. 17-Feb. 9 and Mar. 22-Apr. 12 at a 25% discount. This package is also available Feb. 22-Mar. 7 at a 15% discount. Children’s two-day or longer lift tickets also available for purchase at a discount.

For more information visit www.deervalley.com.

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Utah’s Powdr Corp Successfully Completes Acquisition of Copper Mountain Resort in Colorado

Powdr Corp, based in Park City and owner of Park City Mountain Resort, this past Friday announced that it has successfully closed on its acquisition of Copper Mountain Resort in Colorado from Intrawest.

“We appreciate the hard work put forth to finalize this acquisition,” said John Cumming, chief executive officer at Powdr Corp. “We are thrilled to work with the experienced team in place at Copper Mountain and grateful for the opportunity to expand the Powdr family into Colorado.”

This winter there will be no impacts on the guest experience at Copper Mountain. Powdr Corp will work together with Intrawest to ensure that all of the multi-mountain season pass products, vacation reservations and joint marketing initiatives will be honored for the 2009-2010 winter season.

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UTA Ski Buses Now Running

Utah Transit Authority (UTA) has begun its regular ski service to resorts in Big and Little Cottonwood canyons, including Alta, Brighton, Snowbird and Solitude, as well as to Sundance Ski Resort in Utah County.

Route connections in Salt Lake County may be made from downtown Salt Lake City and the University of Utah, and at the following TRAX stations and park and ride lots:

* 3900 South Wasatch Boulevard park and ride
* 4500 South TRAX
* 6200 South Wasatch Boulevard park and ride
* 6600 South 1000 East (Union Park) park and ride
* 7200 South TRAX
* 9400 South 2000 East park and ride
* 10000 South TRAX
* Big Cottonwood Canyon park and ride
* Little Cottonwood Canyon park and ride

In Utah County, riders can board the ski bus to Sundance resort at park and ride lots located in Orem at:

* 1200 South 800 East
* 800 North 800 East (Harmon’s)
* Canyon View park and ride lot at the mouth of Provo Canyon

Ski bus fare is $3.50 one-way or $7 for a ski day pass. The ski day pass is valid for unlimited travel on ski buses and TRAX. The one-way cash fare is valid for travel on ski bus service to participating resorts only. Reduced fare is available for seniors and other reduced-fare eligible customers.

UTA also offers an intra-canyon shuttle for travel between Brighton and Solitude ski resorts. The intra-canyon shuttle one-way fare is $1.75.

For complete ski schedules and routing details, visit www.rideuta.com.

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Powder Mountain Announces New Marketing and Public Relations Director

Powder Mountain Resort Management, LLC has announced the promotion of Dave Jessup to the position of Marketing and Public Relations Director.

Jessup began his career at Powder Mountain over 18 years ago as a Lift Operator. He has progressively accepted greater responsibility over the years including managing Powder Mountain’s Terrain Parks and Events for the past 11 years, and he has spearheaded the creation of the Powder Mountain Conservancy and Sustainability programs.

In addition to his new duties this season, Jessup will continue to oversee Powder Mountain’s Terrain Parks and Events.

Jessup has been a resident of Utah since 1990. He graduated from Weber State University in 1998, and spends a good amount of his free time reducing litter in his community. He and his wife have adopted six miles of highway in Ogden Valley, and helped initiate the “Pickup 3″ anti-litter campaign at Powder Mountain.