This time of year, it’s strange to be writing about backcountry skiing, but the Wasatch Mountains look more like February than May at the moment. There’s still a lot of snow and backcountry skiing to be had, and Silver Fork Canyon, located next to Solitude Mountain Resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon, is always a...
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Fireworks have already been shot back and forth between Solitude Mountain Resort, backcountry skiers, the US Forest Service and watershed protectors over Solitude’s proposal to expand the ski resort boundaries into Silver Fork Canyon. Now Solitude is backing off their original desire to occupy the entire drainage. The new expansion has been cut back...
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Willow Heights or “the Willows,” is a backcountry ski area across the highway from Solitude Mountain Resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon. It’s a lesser known but awesome place for either a short tour or all day yo-yo fest. Open, low-angle bowls next to steep tree runs covered in well spaced pines is the main...
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Of course this happens in April. After an extremely dry winter, most skiers and snowboarders had written off the season. Then… BAM! The biggest storm of the 2010 ski season slammed into the Wasatch Front, dumping seven feet of snow in seven days… in April. The week-long storm started small but created consistent snowfall every day. Skiers rejoiced but still hit the...
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Spring skiing, with its warm weather, blue skies and corn snow, is the perfect reason to get into the mountains while the rest of the masses break out golf clubs and mountain bikes. Skiers instead choose to revel in the high country while wearing t-shirts and sunglasses as they seek out that short window...
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Salt Lake City is home to some of the best skiing on the planet. As a result, Utah is also home to some of the best ski photographers in the industry. So it’s obvious for Ski Salt Lake to combine the two into a crazy, photography shootout over the course of seven days. As...
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Location: Solitude Mountain Resort, Utah Activity: Skiing the first time in over a year. If you’re a fair weather skier, read on. If you ski no matter what the conditions, stop now or you might want to throw your old rear entry boots at me. I could lie and say I’ve done tons of...
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The Wasatch front is experiencing high avalanche danger this season, which is a good reminder that backcountry travelers need the knowledge and skills to stay alive in avalanche terrain. Backcountry skiing has exploded in the past few years, and in response it seems every ski resort, including Solitude, is hosting an avalanche awareness course....
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A few weeks ago I mentioned to my husband that our neighbor wasn't going to shave his beard until the first powder day. Jared thought that was a great idea. I thought the powder day would happen sometime that week, so I said go ahead and grow a beard....
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As a skier who enjoys riding both in the backcountry and at resorts, I have mixed feelings when stories are told of resorts trying to expand their acreage by overtaking pristine mountain landscapes. On one hand, I think it would be awesome to have new in-bounds terrain to explore. On the other hand,...
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