Alex, Rod and Ed at Deer Valley
I took a week to visit Utah in the spring! Alex and I packed up the car and headed out.
I took a week at the end of March to ski the Wasatch Mountains and ski in Park City Utah and also camp in the Moab, Utah region! My friend Ed lives right at the base of Park City Ski Area so I simply had to go out for a visit. I brought Alex along – Alex and I have been ski buddies all this season. Time to ski a real ski resort…and enjoy some desert sun too!
The weather leading up to our visit was all over the place! It was 45 degrees in Portland, and 65-70 degrees in Idaho and Utah, yet it snowed two feet in Utah seven days before we got there. It is a 13-hour drive from Portland to Park City. We planned to ski and also visit Arches National Park and the Moab region all in one week!
It would be winter on the mountain and summer in the canyons! Ed’s got a camper van so this was to be a certain boys week! Alex and I headed out on a Sunday starting at 6:00 a.m. Sure enough in Idaho and then in Park City it was over 65 degrees. We got to Ed’s house and unpacked.
Then, we walked around the Old Town part of Park City and had some pizza and beers. Park City is very much a “liberal” enclave in otherwise conservative Utah. But after the 13-hour drive and meal we had to call it quits – tomorrow is a ski day!
The forecast called for up to five inches of snow on Monday. We didn’t believe it. Although it had snowed up to two feet earlier in the week, the slopes looked pretty pathetic when we arrived. So with the warm temps we kind of thought it was impossible to snow that much Monday. But this is the Wasatch.
Monday it did snow. We awoke to a big snowstorm! I couldn’t believe it. And, we had free passes to Deer Valley Ski Resort. What more could you ask for!? The forecast said it would be windy so we did not hurry up. That was a good move! Once we got there, lifts that had been closed were opened! The wind had totally calmed down.
Nothing like FREE skiing in Utah! We took Alex all over Deer Valley, exploring this mega resort. It may not offer the world class big mountain terrain of Snowbird or Alta, but for today, it’s all we can handle anyway. Just perfect, and minutes away from Ed’s house.
I got a video of Ed and Alex skiing through the trees. Fun!
We were planning to pack up Ed’s camper van and head to the canyon lands Tuesday and Alex had ideas about packing Monday night. I told him, he’d be barely able to walk after the Utah skiing and he sure was wobbly legged after the afternoon! We tried to ski as much of the lift system as possible. We were totally fortunate…
We even had some tree skiing! Just to think it was 65 yesterday!
Tomorrow we switch seasons – we are off to Arches National Park, and Moab Utah!
Cabin Fever Chronicles - Getting Outdoors with Rod 