alg Jers, Elle, Betty

At Some Ski Areas, the Flavor Really Lasts

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Brighton’s drumstick trio: “Jers,” Elle & Betty

A rag-tag snowboarder with a ratty-looking mop of hair held the door open for me. Then he graciously acknowledged my thank you.

A staff wearing a headband with jiggling Thanksgiving drumsticks raced by to check on something. I burst out laughing.

A lodge cleaner guy pushing a vacuum around the locker room looked up to cheerily wish: “Happy Thanksgiving and have a great day out there.”

I’d been in the lodge less than 3 minutes, and the staff’s exuberance was already showing the flavor of this ski area – Brighton. It’s always been like that.

It was Thanksgiving day and my first day back in over 2 years. Health things have kept me away. The staff has changed a lot, and I scarcely knew anyone. But the flavor was still the same– unleashed happiness and fun.

At some ski areas, staff members are uniformed and groomed to perfection. At Brighton it’s often hard to identify the staff from the skiers and riders. Some ski areas are upscale. Brighton is down home.

Today, too weak from recent chemo to ski, I brought my computer to the lodge intending to get some work done. I went for a cup of coffee and the cashier noticed my season pass but my non-ski clothes, and she said the cup of coffee was on her. Only at Brighton. She was new. I’d never seen her before but she had the Brighton spirit. Her kindness brought tears to my eyes.

I was pounding away on my laptop when a long time ski patroller stopped by with a hug. Hugs are common. Brighton is family.

Looking back over the years, Brighton has become a snowboard haven with woods and cliffs and radical off-piste terrain. Some people hate snowboarders partly because they are often counter-culture with a rumpled and unsavory look. But when I crashed a few years ago, it was Brighton’s snowboarders who stopped and stayed with me. Several times it was Brighton’s snowboarders who dug my car out during a powder dump. And today, it was a snowboarder who held the door open.

Brighton, at the head of Big Cottonwood Canyon beyond Salt Lake City, Utah, is family. And whether you’re a skier or snowboarder, Brighton has a flavor that lasts.

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Skiing History Magazine

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Skiing History Nov-Dec 2022 Cover

The Herminator Turns 50, Collecting Books and a US Ski Team Reunion

The November-December issue of Skiing History magazine is on press, but you can read it now, online.

The Herminator Turns 50: Top story comes from Patrick Lang, who recently retired after a lifetime covering the Alpine World Cup circuit. Patrick summarizes the career and bucolic retirement of Hermann Maier. During 11 seasons the Herminator won 54 World Cup races, four overall World Cup titles 10 discipline titles, plus 10 Olympic and World Championship medals, including five golds—and he came back from nearly losing a leg in a motorcycle accident. Now, Patrick reports, Maier lives quietly and secretively, protecting the privacy of his wife and young daughters. 

Boot Camp on Mount Rainier: A week after Pearl Harbor, John Woodward and Paul Lafferty began teaching recruits in the 87th Infantry Regiment how to ski, working out of a lodge on Mount Rainier. Their greater purpose, according to author John Lundin, was to figure out how to train the thousands of troopers who would, within the next year, become the 10th Mountain Division.

Caroline Lalive and Nelson Carmichael: After earning America’s first Olympic medal in freestyle, two-time World Cup champion Nelson Carmichael went home to Steamboat – where he married Alpine Olympian Caroline Lalive. Edith Thys Morgan catches up with them.

A Dusty Passion: Everything you need to know about the collecting rare books about skiing. Meet the history nerds who love old books. Maybe you’re one of them.

Other stories:

And: Ski with the ISHA gang at Big Sky Resort, March 21-24. We’ll hold our 31st Annual Awards Banquet there on March 22. Be there!

greg-rosenke

New Parking Policies and Prices at Utah Resorts

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Photo by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash

The good news is that several ski/snowboard resorts in Utah have increased parking spaces, paved lots, preferred close-in parking for vehicles with three or more passengers, and added shuttles from outlying lots to the base area. The bad news is that parking is likely to cost you more this season.

Here are the new parking policies and prices in Utah.  But first, the advantages of taking the UTA Ski Bus:

The UTA Ski Bus picks up at several locations in Salt Lake City and throughout the Salt Lake Valley and beyond, including at special park and ride lots. Many resort season passes and the Ikon Pass offer FREE fares for their passholders.

The UTA Ski Bus takes riders directly to the following resorts:

So here are the new parking rules, by area:

Alta Ski Area – For the 2022–23 season, Alta requires a $25 parking reservation for Friday-Sunday and during holiday periods. For those who purchase an Alta day pass, parking is only $10. No reservations are required any day after 1 p.m.

Find information about reserving your early morning parking spot here. Your Alta season pass and/or Ikon Pass comes with a free UTA ski bus pass, and carpoolers (3+ passengers) get preferred parking.  Alta is releasing parking spaces every Sunday afternoon during the winter season.

Snowbird – There’s a a variety of parking options, from their Preferred Parking Pass and valet to $25 parking reservations and free first-come parking. Snowbird is making carpooling a priority for vehicles with 4+ passengers by providing expanded carpool-only parking areas at all the entry points. There are free UTA bus passes for all-season passholders and employees.

Brighton – Since free parking is known to fill up quickly, you can guarantee a spot by reserving one of their 120 VIP parking spaces between Great Western and Explorer for $30.

Solitude Mountain Resort – There is a fee now for all lots. Cost depends entirely on the number of people in your vehicle and whether it’s weekday or weekend or holiday.  Fees range from $5 to $35, but parking after 2p.m. is free. Here’s a breakdown of what you can expect to pay for parking this season.

Vehicles with 4+ occupants: Free parking opening day through December 11. $5 Friday through Sunday after December 11 and holidays/peak periods.

Vehicles with 3 occupants: Free parking opening day through December 11. $5 parking Monday through Thursday. $15 parking Friday through Sunday and holidays/peak periods.

Vehicles with 2 occupants: $5 parking opening day through December 11. $10 parking Monday through Thursday. $20 parking Friday through Sunday and holidays/peak periods.

Vehicles with 1 occupant: $10 parking opening day through December 11. $20 parking Monday through Thursday. $35 Friday through Sunday and holidays/peak periods.

Sundance Mountain Resort – In keeping with their long history of conservation efforts, Sundance has introduced winter paid parking for select lots for cars with 1-3 occupants on weekends and holidays. Cars with 4 or more occupants receive complimentary parking.

Lot B (Premium) – Weekdays 7am – 2pm: $25/day or $5/hour • Weekends & holidays 7am – 2pm: $45 all day

Lot A & C – Weekdays 7am – 2pm: Complimentary • Weekends & holidays

7am – 2pm: $22/1-3 occupants, complimentary/4+ occupants

Lots D&E – Weekdays 7am – 2pm: Complimentary • Weekends & holidays 7am – 2pm: $5/1-3 occupants, complimentary/4+ occupants.

Park City Area Parking Information

The UTA PC-SLC Connect is a great public transit option between Salt Lake City and Park City. Once you’re there, the town of Park City buses are all free. Park City Transit routes can be found here.

The Mountain Village base area moves to a parking reservation system with a combination of paid parking – up to $40 a day – with free parking, and incentives for carpooling and public transit.  Paid reservations are now required at the Main, First Time and Silver King surface lots and in the Mountain Village Garage. Here are the details:

Reservations will be required seven days a week until 1:00 pm, and are available online. After 1:00 pm, all parking is free and no reservations are required.

The fee for paid reservations will be $25 per vehicle per day in the surface lots, December 12 through April 2.

Early and late season parking reservations are free in Main, First Time and Silver King surface lots, but reservations are be required.

Reservations for surface parking are free for vehicles with four or more occupants, but reservations are still required.

The fee for paid reservations is $40 per vehicle per day in the Mountain Village Garage for the entire season.

Free parking will remain available at the Canyons Village base area, Park City High School (on weekends and holidays) and High Valley Transit Park-n-Ride locations.

In partnership with the City, Park City Mountain is establishing a new traffic circulation plan in the Mountain Village base area that will prioritize bus and transit access seven days a week.

Park City Mountain also is implementing text message alerts to provide updates to text subscribers in real time.

Make your 22/23 season parking reservations here

Richardson Flat – The park and ride has more than 700 parking spots and will have bus service every 20 minutes from 6am to 11pm. This route also services the Park City Heights neighborhood.

  • Learn more about this route here.

Woodward Park City – Parking is free, but the lot can fill up quickly. If you’re in the town of Park City, take the free PC Transit Bus

Deer Valley Resort – There is free parking at five base area parking lots below Snow Park Lodge, along with a complimentary shuttle to the lodge. There is also limited complimentary parking at the Jordanelle Express Gondola.

Limited paid parking is available mid-mountain at the Silver Lake Lodge. There is no day skier parking at Empire Canyon Lodge.

All day lodge locations are serviced by Park City’s complimentary transit system, which runs frequently throughout the greater Park City area and within the Deer Valley Resort area.

Vehicles containing three or more people are allowed to park in Lot 2 during busy holiday periods and on weekends throughout the season.

Snowbasin Resort – There is free parking in five locations: Earl’s Lot, Maples Lot, Canyon Rim Lot, Wildcat Lot and Green Pond Lot. Snowbasin has expanded the total number of parking spots, and those who carpool with three or more in their vehicles have the option to park in the carpool lot closest to Earl’s Lodge.

  • The UTA Ski Bus also runs routes to Snowbasin from Ogden.
  • Find more information here.

Powder Mountain – Free parking can be found at the Timberline, Hidden Lake and Sundown base areas. The UTA Ski Bus also provides routes to Powder Mountain. More information can be found here.

There are complimentary shuttles between the Powder Country area, Sundown Lodge and Timberline Lodge.

These Utah resorts provide complimentary parking, but do not have UTA Bus Service:

Brian Head Ski Resort
Beaver Mountain
Cherry Peak
Eagle Point
Nordic Valley

This list was assembled from a combination of press release information from Ski Utah and from individual resorts.  Of course, make every effort to be factual and accurate, but sometimes things change after an article has been published. If you find that one of the prices or conditions is different than what you read here, please let us know so we can fix it.

See you on the chairlift. Or gondola. Or Magic Carpet.

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