Ski Conditions Report for Park City Canyons Utah
Day 21- December 10, 2014
We finally completed and put into inventory our new Mittens! So, that took a couple of days of moving boxes. Still plowing through many boxes doing Quality Control (that is highly arduous). But late in the afternoon before the daily postal run, I headed to the Canyons to shred some steep carvy north face, stumps and rocks. It's kind of amazing how the snow holds up in the late Fall, as we have been under brutal high pressure for some time now with daily highs at 7000 feet of 50 degrees. The weather monkeys promise a change in the weather pattern this weekend but we shall see. We don't need a foot of snow, we need 4-5 feet to really get things operational.
Day 20- December 7, 2014
Warm, sunny groomer day again at PCMR. Still crowded but fun getting there right away and skiing long laps on Crescent and Silverlode. You can get a lot of vert at PC shredding the groom. Skied with Roy and Genius Martin (he's trying to cure Malaria for reals) .
Day 19- December 6, 2014
Skied right away in the morning at PCMR with Roy. Partly cloudy warm morning, continued high pressure. PCMR has lots of groomer terrain open, and they ski really good, but getting really bored with this uninspiring setup. Forecast does not look good for the foreseeable future. Met the Dirty Bird Ski company guys. Nice dudes, cool concept and skis. Plus they make kite-surfboards! Shredded for a couple hours until it got really crowded, before going home to work.
Day 18- December 5, 2014
The bleak weather see's no end, as I made a late appearance at the Can for some Pines skiing off our one lift, Saddleback. Snow was soft and surprisingly nice, despite the super-thin snowpack. The awesome guys at Canyon Mountain Sports gave my rock skis some new life with a base grind and a little extra love, so amazingly my Bluehouse rock boards are back in action!
Day 17- December 4, 2014
Warm and cloudy still. Very bleak forecast and snowpack. At least this nightly thermal setup has had a very positive impact on the depth hoar/facets on the ground, which has been causing so many slides. Went up late to Canyons and skied the steeper north facing trees called The Pines. Finally something other than groomers... soft, stumpy and rocky but enjoyable.
Day 16- December 3, 2014
Another warm and cloudy day with a trace of new snow. Skied PCMR with Will, Micah, and Skylar, The camaraderie dulled the uninspiring conditions, but at least PCMR has significant amount of groomer terrain open. We're all a bit perplexed by Canyons and their owner Vail Resorts over all the endless pre-season advertising claiming major expansion of snow-making and a more future aggressive terrain opening regime. They have just flat out abandoned that notion, following the modern 2014 marketing strategy of just lie and say whatever you have to say to get a sale. Oh well...
Day 15- December 2, 2014
Another dry, partly cloudy day with temps in the mid 30s. Started off the day at Canyons and slkied a few runs on the 2 functional runs open. Dropped into the newly opened rock and stump fest "The Pines" . Very thin, but at least it was a welcomed change from the groomer. Skied with Cutter and Ryan Watts for a few runs until we changed venue to PCMR. Still, lots more terrain open and saw lots of Team Free the Powder members shredding the groom, Roy, Micah, Will. Skied 5/6 runs then headed home. They are promising a brush by storm and a few new inches. I'm not too excited about that. We need feet, not inches.
Day 14- December 1, 2014
Afternoon shred time at PCMR with Cutter and Nina. The sun finally came out and it was cool, upper 20s on the mountain. The snow conditions were pretty good and there is a lot more terrain open than the Canyons. Still all groomers with a man-made base. It really makes you wonder what they are doing over there at the Can. Every year they talk a big game pre-season but then the season starts and it's a big Dud again. You have to figure Vail Resorts running the place is eventually change something.
Day 13- November 30, 2014
A slow moving cold front pushed through mid-day with minor snow flurries. No accumulation, but a bit cooler. Went to Canyons in the overcast gloom and skied a couple of runs. Only two totally lame flat runs. Packed it in and headed for PCMR and they at least 100 times more acreage open. (Apparently they're running it like an actual ski resort). Went up and found Silverload open. Not very crowded like previous days. Decent, thin skiing, but bad flat light.
Day 12- November 29, 2014
Another cloudy, warm and windy day with very little snow (that is melting) at Canyons Resort in PC. Finally the mountain was totally dead, despite it being a Saturday. Must be all the blacked out passes and people going home after the Thanksgiving holiday. Not much open still, but got out for a few groomers.
Day 11- November 28, 2014
Opening day at the Canyons Resort. Very warm. Forecasted high of 58 for late November in Park City not good. Just an entirely nicer set-up than Park City Mountain Resort where I've been skiing for the previous week. The parking lot is sufficiently big for the customers (duh), the parking lot has attendants, and it's all very organized, in stark contrast to the crowded chaos of PCMR.
Canyons has been my home ski area since it was called Parkwest. Rode up the cabriolet, which I have always hated, and discovered it's a whole lot better than the endless trudging from the parking lot to the lifts, like most ski areas. Got off the people-mover cabriolet and was immediately greeted with free Starbucks hot cocoa. Very nice. No lift lines at all and no congestion (like Park City). Skied 6-7 runs on Saddleback. Although very limited terrain, there were no crowds, and especially nice, there were not a vast horde of total gapers bombing down the mountain on their brand new $1200 skis.
Nice to be home.
Day 10- November 27, 2014
Skied Park City again this morning. Warm sunny morning, headed for a very warm overcast day. Skied Bonanza with Bruce and it was pretty good until it became scary crowded on limited open terrain. People are seriously out of control on these groomers with their hero hardpack skis. Canyons opens tomorrow.