On Thursday December 22nd Snowbasin will expand their terrain even more with opening the Porcupine Triple Lift allowing skiers and snowboarders access to the Middles Bowl Traverse and Porky Face runs. Keep checking back to the Snowbasin Blog becuase we will be expanding more terrain as weather permits.
Becker Lift will be opening tomorrow Friday December 9th to increase our lifts to three during the week and expand Snowbasin’s beginner and intermediate terrain. New trails to open with Becker Lift are Willow, Slo Road, and Penny Lane. Middle Bowl Triple will also be open weekends to increase weekend lifts to four.
Lift tickets will remain at their early season rate stated below:
Adult Full Day $58 Half $48
Youth Full Day $34 Half $26
Senior(65-74) Full Day $46 Half Day $36
Senior(75+) Full Day $14 Half Day $14
Little Cat/Becker Full Day $38 Half Day $32
Little Cat Full Day $23 Half Day $19
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Wild Powder Wednesday, where did everybody go? After a weekend of miserable rain and warm temps, father winter came back to reality and dropped 5+inches on Snowbasin in the middle of the night. Those who watched the snowstake knew what to do on Wednesday…GET UP TO Snowbasin ASAP for more fresh powder turns. Quite frankly, it might have been the least crowded powder day in our memory. At one point in the am the top was very socked in (couldn’t even see the next lift pole), but we got luck and almost all the clouds blew out leaving was with some stellar sunny conditions until about 2:30 when it became overcast and started snowing lightly.
Even though there were fresh tracks everywhere, there were also patches of ice from the prior rain, this was especially true on steeper aspects. Those who knew what to do spent the day over searching out low angle runs on Strawberry, riding endless lines of untracked powder down Main Street, Elk Ridge, Moonshine and WFO. Later in the day we were even treated to an opening of the Sisters for even more fresh terrain.
We also had some great runs down Dan’s, Wildcat Ridge and Wildcat bowl where long after lunchtime we still were finding huge glades of the fluffy white stuff. Even though we pushed it till the very end of the day we left quite a bit for Thursday’s visitors to Snowbasin. Wow, what a day.
Spring Skiing in January??? That’s what it felt like today. For what it was, it was actually a lot better than it should have been! Overnight the region got hit hard with preciptiation and wind, the only problem was that the temps were never below 35F, so that means rain 
All those dreams and prayers for colder t…emps last night never manifested so the snow conditions took a bit of a beating.
With that said, and considering the continuing moist and warm conditions we actually got lucky today with no rain and some fairly decent visibility, even though the light was flat. What could have been a foggy rainy day was actually more like an overcast April Day. Firm mash potatoes that were best ridden on the groomers. Off piste conditions were crusty and grabby and not fun. The winds were high as well with gusty blasts at the top and bottom. At the end of the day it was still well worth it to strap the boards on and carve fun turns on the groomers.
Extended forecast looks promising with lower temperatures and possible new snow.
An Avalanche Advisory does exist for backcountry skiers, please always check current conditions and posses the proper equipment and training before leaving Snowbasin’s boundries. http://utahavalanchecenter.org/advisory/ogden
The Cinnabar lounge was serving a great breakfast buffet too, available on holidays, Saturday and Sunday.
Today was an awesome powder day at Snowbasin. The early bird gets the worm and those who came early were treated to an incredible layer of dense 5-8″ powder just about everywhere on the mountain, some drifts were considerably deeper. You could still feel the bottom at time but that didn’t seem to matter much as most skiers and boarders came down with some huge smiles on their faces.
We started the day with a few laps on John Paul, tearing it up right under the lift at the top and sweeping out onto the Grizzly Downhill and The Hollywood Hills. After getting our fill of steep, deep and fast we ventured over to Strawberry for even more wide open powder fields. Even thought it was only partly sunny in the morning, the visibility stayed good until about 12:30 and then the flat light took over and the fog rolled in. Ski Patrol was kind enough to open No Name so we ran back over there after a few runs off Upper Main Street and our favorite, Moonshine Bowl. No Name had deeper drifts that rewarded with a few face shots as we worked our way down the ridges.
We also had the Salomon Ski Crew setup on the plaza demoing their new BBR ski. Interesting design, reminds us of an old Winterstick snowboard stretched out like silly putty. Those who clicked in came back with huge grins and lots of positive comments on this great all around powder ski. The day wrapped up with Friday Night Lights Rail Jam getting set up with lots of young riders showing off their stuff.
You got to love Mondays. Lot B 1/4 full. 10F at 10am. 2-4″ windblown. Pockets of slightly deeper pow, if you could see it. The day started with the sun trying to break through but eventually it lost the battle. In exchange it started snowing around mid day and by 2pm was coming down fairly strong at the base. Th…e morning started out cold and we were treated to some incredibly smooth groomers with barely anybody on them. You could really stretch your turns out, going side to side all the way down Blue Grouse and Sweet Revenge. We took a trip over to Strawberry while the vis was still decent, set the bootpack up to the Arrowhead and watched the clouds roll in. The top of the chute was firm and not so fun, the bowl had more fresh snow but the lighting made it difficult to choose the best line. Dew Tour features beginning to emerge. Great way to start the week. Tomorrow should be a fun day to go in late or take off early from work and head to Snowbasin.
December 29
A strong Pacific storm hit the entire Wasatch Range early Wednesday morning and continues to hammer the entire region with FEET of powder. We just plowed 20″ out of the drive so we could make it to the mountian. Make sure that you check the weather forecast and come prepared for some awesome powder and extreme weather (cold) tomorrow and Friday. Thursday: Snow showers. High near 15. Wind chill values as low as -11. North northwest wind between 6 and 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
When we we arrived at Snowbasin the holiday crowds were a bit heavy but the snow was piled high and continuing to pour out of the sky on top of 1-2′ snow drifts. We found a little jump off Wildcat Ridge, landing into a big powder puff. Lot’s of powder, faceshots and wide open powder fields. Some places had a bit of wind buff and wind lips which were tricky because of the the flat light and limited visiblity from blowing snow. Some aspects were windscoured on south facing slopes. Aside from that there was a ton of powder on the mountain today, tomorrow should be just as good.
The John Paul lift was opened at the start of the day then was placed on wind hold for about an hour. Reopened about 11am for lots of POW in the trees. Strawberry was closed all day due to wind and vis. No Name and the Allen Peak Tram were also closed.
To sum it up, there was powder everywhere today! There’s a lot of snow coming down and high wind conditions. Snowbasin Snow Safety makes the call on what can open and when. The key getting the goods is paying attention to the conditions and being on the mountain!! Even though lift lines were heavy at times today due to the conditions, holiday season and lift closures most people had a ton of fun. Compared to anywhere else on the planet you can bet that most people on the mountain today had one of their best powder days ever! We sure did.
December 30
Today was an awesome powder day on the mountain. Just about everywhere you looked there was a consistent 12-18″ of fresh powder for all the hungry holiday powder hounds. Lots of locals and visitors caused some delays on lift lines but in general things moved swiftly. The worst of it was when Strawberry opened and apparently everyone went there at the same time. Nonetheless we had great runs off the White Room, Moonshine, and Elk Ridge. The tram also opened around mid day as well as No Name. We did some great powder drops off the Allen Peak Tram and two laps on No Name. Earlier in the day we found lots of powder off of the John Paul lift, Hollywood Hills and the Grizzly Downhill. We even hit Philpot Ridge on the way back from Strawberry for some very thick and fluffy turns.
The holiday season brings some interesting visitors; we had skiing animals from Orange County CA, bare chested Tarzans and even someone in shorts. Crazy if you ask me, it was COOOOOOLD out there today, but fortunately it was much drier than yesterday. The snow began to fall again lightly around mid day and is expected to deliver a possible 3-5″ additional inches overnight tonight.
Tomorrow also begins the New Year’s Eve celebrations at Snowbasin. Join the New Year’s fun in the Cinnabar Lounge. Rick Hoxer will be performing on New Year’s Eve. New Year’s Day we will have our favorite local legends, The Kap Brothers performing all your favorite rock tunes. Apres ski entertainment runs from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m
Thursday was another special day at Snowbasin. We still had plenty of powder lying around from yesterday’s storm. JP and No Name were both open and surprisingly the day ended with still many fresh lines to be taken for those willing to walk 100 paces. Conditions were BRISK in the morning, the groomers were fast, wide and uncrowded. Lots of smiling face coming in from the Snowsports Learning Center as well as those taking a break in the sun on Earl’s Plaza. If you haven’t tried the tomato bisk you are missing out!
We woke up to 8″ on the snowstake. Tons of fresh powder everywhere. JP Lift was open, and then at lunch time we had the first opening of the season of No Name Peak. You had to boot pack it but it was worth it. Incredible runs down No Name and Shooting Star. Even got a taste of the Pyramids. Thanks to Snowbasin Ski Patrol for getting more of the mountain open.
Photo Note: Somehow we left the camera by the door, call it powder day jitters, today’s photos and video were taken with an HTC Evo cell phone camera. Not bad.