Those who have skied in Utah...one more question...

[StantonHyde]

On the one hand, I totally agree with geochick. (I live/ski in SLC) On the other hand, if money is the tipping point, then stay in Salt Lake or a suburb and drive to the different resorts. They are all within 30-45 mins. The roads are plowed. You can even park at the bottom of the canyon and take the bus up if it scares you. You will need to rent a 4WD vehicle--so that does add to the cost. That way you have a LOT of reasonable dining options and you could take kids into SLC to see the kids museum etc if you want a break from skiing. You could even rent a house in various neighborhoods on VRBO. Depends on whether you need more convenience or less expensive.

[jerseygirl07067]

I am 20 minutes from Snowbird and 30 minutes from Brighton right now.

Here are the basics: Brighton isn't in a resort-like area. There are no places, really, to eat. Childcare is limited. It would be nice if you want to rent a condo away from it ALL. Snowbird has more options for a vacation. There are several restaurants/bars/resort options with pools. There are more childcare options. Snowbird's elevation is higher, so even if we get little snow for the season, Snowbird will have more than Brighton. Park City is a whole town devoted to skiing in the winter. Several resorts to choose from. Hundreds of hotel/lodging options.

Brighton/Solitude - 2 resorts up a simple little canyon. Not too many amenities. Brighton's ski school is amazing.

Snowbird - a single resort up a canyon next door to Brighton's canyon. Higher altitudes = more snow than Brighton/Solitude. Several dining options. Several pools (if you stay at the resort). Great skiing. Good ski school. Some shopping. It's next door to Alta. Alta is a quieter area, but within about a mile of Snowbird. I LOVE skiing at Alta!!!

Park City - about 20 minutes east of Salt Lake...a ski town. Many ski resorts. Many hotels. Lots of shopping. Lots of nightlife. Ski town rather than a ski resort.


Best ski school = Brighton
Best skiing = Alta or Snowbird
Best resort = Snowbird or one of the Park City resorts
Best shopping = Park City
Best restaurants = Park City
Best single resort with bang for your buck amenities = Snowbird

Good info, thanks! Quick question, what is it about Brighton that makes the ski school so great? I have heard this a lot and wanted to know more specifics. They have higher ratios than the others I looked at and I didn't like the age groups 4-7 and 8-12. I'm most worried about my 4 y/o and was hoping to put her in ski school with other 4 year olds. I may be over thinking this, but her liking it will make for a much better vacation One never knows what will happen but I want to have our best chance of success.

[geochick]

Good info, thanks! Quick question, what is it about Brighton that makes the ski school so great?

I think the instructors are better with kids than anywhere else we tried. I adore the cute little beginner's run and lift. It's isolated...just for beginners. Wide path. Short lift. The instructors ALWAYS remembered my kids from week to week! Holy Cow! How did they remember the names? They were so patient! They really seemed to care.

I love Stanton-Hyde's idea of cutting financial corners by staying in SLC, and commuting in to different resorts to save some cash. I'd stay somewhere in Cottonwood Heights - easy access to Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons, and 20 minutes to Park City.

[mom2binsd]

I agree about not staying up big cottonwood canyon, neither Brighton nor solitude are great choices coming from afar. Even staying at snowbird you are a little bit limited.

I lived at the mouth of little cottonwood for five years and although I'm used to winter driving I still didn't love driving those roads and they can be closed due to avalanches too.

Either stay somewhere along the East side near I215.

Have you priced out canyons resort, it's up near Park City, so lots of great options for eating and shopping, tube tobogganing etc.

Coming from out of state I'd stay up in park City or the canyons.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

[jerseygirl07067]

Ok my source said that Solitude is the way to go if deciding between Solitude and Brighton. Brighton apparently has little to do with no real hotels (you'd have to rent a house/condo) or restaurants, while Solitude has a lot of new accomodations, pools, restaurants. HTH!

Thanks so much!

[marinkitty]

Take this with a grain of salt b/c I'm not a local and only have first hand experience with the Park City scene, but we have several sets of good friends who have done family vacations at Solitude (coming from the midwest and families who have skied at many various spots out west) and been very happy. These families had kids ranging from aged 3 - 10.

We have been warned off Snowbird/Alta until our kids are older (our youngest is turning 6) as they are mainly expert terrain and their ski schools start older so they aren't as set up to cater to the littles. Again, all second hand advice but our philosophy is that we choose the mountain to provide the best possible experience for our youngest skier and will have plenty of time to ramp up as the kids age.

[jerseygirl07067]

I did look at Canyons Resort too. it seemed more economical to ski there vs Park City for sure!

[geochick]

There's a brand new Hyatt Place in the perfect SLC location near both Cottonwood Canyons: http://www.yelp.com/biz/hyatt-place-...nwood-holladay

[geochick]

One thing we've tried in the past...private kid lessons, or semi-private. We actually had the most success with these. My kids are 2 years apart (my daughter was 3 or 4 when we started these), and they were okay in the same semi-private lesson. They had a lot of fun with their instructor, and learned a lot more than with a larger group.

[mom2binsd]

Have you looked at vrbo or some of the other condo rentals in Park City, there are hundreds of private rentals that would be perfect for a family vacation, you could save $ on accommodations, make some meals in the condo and eat out a few times.

http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/usa/utah/park-city