Most of my sledding memories were formed on the hilly golf course next to my childhood home in Northern Michigan. But after I moved to Utah in my mid-twenties and had kids in my mid-thirties, I found that my hometown sledding terrain pales compared to the sledding opportunities to be had here. Sledding was a part of most winter weekends when my kids were young; a practice that waned as they entered high school. Recently, however, I’ve realized that whooshing down a snowy slope on a plastic sled is not only fun but a fabulous complement to all the other winter sports I like to do, too.
The leg muscles we use to propel ourselves up to the top of the sledding hill—gluteus maximus and quadriceps—are also the prime movers for skiing and snowboarding. But that’s not all that gets worked on a sledding hill climb, so says Michael Krushinsky, owner and head coach at Wasatch Fitness Academy. “Additionally and at least as valuable, is how it works your body’s responsiveness to changing terrain,” he says, “Slight undulations in the ground, slipping a bit in the snow and slogging through untracked snow, all ask the body to instantly use stabilizing muscles to support the hips, knees and ankles in ways that are beyond the demand of walking uphill on pavement.” Pulling weight behind you, like a young child in a sled, for example, gets your torso, abs and back muscles in on the action, Krushinsky added.
PHOTO MELISSA FIELDS FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Author Melissa Fields, her sweet pooch Bell (seen here photo bombing), Christine Mikell, Jen Mijangos and Kelly Bollow.
Along with the physical benefits, I’d argue that adult sledding offers a pretty unique mental health boost. Last winter I began joining my neighbor in her before-work sledding sessions, and I found that on the days I sledded, I felt a bit lighter, more settled and generally happier for the remainder of the day. The fresh air and exercise were probably part of the equation, but I also attribute the bump to laughter. Something about flailing uncontrollably down a hillside, trying to avoid trees and other obstacles with snow flying on my face, strikes me as hilarious. Turns out my post-belly-laugh good vibes are not all in my head. According to the Mayo Clinic, laughter enhances oxygen intake, activates and relieves the stress response and soothes tension, leaving the laughter with a greater sense of well-being that can last for hours.
Adult Sledding Hills
As you may have gathered, the physical and mental benefits of adult sledding are mostly about hiking uphill and then using a sled to avoid the knee-wearing walk back down. While sledding hills like Sugar House Park, Donut Falls in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Flat Iron Mesa Park in Sandy and Mountain Dell Golf Course in Parley’s Canyon are home to some of the area’s most popular sledding venues, they are not as ideal for adult sledding. Neff’s Canyon, Millcreek Canyon, Park City’s Round Valley and City Creek Canyon (closed most weekdays until 2027) provide a steady, longish and not-too-steep but still heart-pumping uphill hike followed by an easily navigable descent.
Just remember to keep an eye out for other trail users, like hikers and skiers, on your downhill runs and prepare to yield (basically, wreck) to make way for uphill traffic. Happy sledding!
Sleds that Shred
Zipfy Mini Luge Sled, $54.99, Scheels. This sleek, compact luge-style snowslider is easy to carry uphill and provides a fun, core-challenging ride on the way down. Recommended for tighter, already broken-in sledding zones. scheels.com
Flexible Flyer 48-inch Snow Boat, $28.99,Ace Hardware. This classic sled has a grooved undercarriage for better steering, a cushioned seat to help absorb the bumps and is extra wide to allow for a small passenger. acehardware.com
L.L. Bean Polar Slider DLX Sled, $69. This high-quality plastic sled is an upgrade that is fast and light but still steerable. It comes with a durable nylon webbing tow rope, ideal for hauling a small child back up the hill. llbean.com
The global popularity of Utah’s National Parks has created a dependable summertime mob. At least once a summer, Arches National Park makes the news as crowds clamoring to get a glimpse of Delicate Arch shut down Utah Highway 191, just outside park gates near Moab. Even on the least busy warm-season days, the lines of cars cruising popular sections of each park fulfill Edward Abbey’s 1960s prescient lines from Desert Solitaire predicting the “serpentine streams of baroque automobiles pouring in and out, all through spring and summer, in numbers that would have seemed fantastic when I worked there…the ‘visitation,’ as they call it, mounts ever upward.”
Is this the great outdoors? Or a parking lot? Plus, it’s hot in all but the highest elevations, with temperatures hovering around 100 degrees for most of the summer season. But in the off-season? The parks are yours. Open roads and open trails, comfortably cool daytime temperatures and blessed quiet offer a rare solitary view of the overly viewed vistas. Of course, there are some hurdles to wintertime adventures, like weather. The second obstacle to traveling in Southern Utah is a dearth of lodging and restaurants, a downside to solitude. But amid seasonal closures, we found a pleasant selection of year-round places to stay in each of the communities near the park areas and some surprisingly good eats along the way.
Capitol Reef — National Park
One of the most under-appreciated national parks, Capitol Reef should not be. So appreciate it already. Its winding canyons and Parisian boulevard-like washes offer stunning displays of the power of wind and water to shape the land. The park was essentially empty last February and perhaps the best and loneliest of the parks in winter.
Photo Credit Adobe Stock
The Big Hike
The Frying Pan Trail — Distance: 7 miles
This hike will take you into the heart of the Reef, and along the way, you’ll get stunning views from both below and above the underrated Cassidy Arch (named after Butch Cassidy of “and the Sundance Kid” fame, who hid out in the area). The trail starts at the Grand Wash, a ramble up a wide avenue of the former riverbed. The Cassidy Arch trail starts at 3/4 of a mile in on the right and is a strenuous climb up to the top of the Waterpocket Fold. Once you’re up there, however, the going is pretty easy. Cassidy Arch is a spur off the main trail and worth the detour, but in snowy or wet weather, stay well away from the edge. You’ll follow the Frying Pan Trail out, through the goblin-filled Cohab Canyon. Unless you have two cars, you’ll need to ply your hitchhiking skills on Utah Highway 24 back to the Grand Wash trailhead, which in an empty park can take a while.
Off-season Eats
Red Cliffs Restaurant
Pickings were slim last February as far as restaurants in Torrey go, but Red Cliffs Restaurant served up a decent take-out pizza during a winter storm that had pretty well shut the rest of town down. 56 E. Main St., Torrey, 435-425-3797
Off-season Stay
Broken Spur Inn
The Broken Spur is the only lodging open off-season in Torrey, just outside Capitol Reef. The homey, family-run establishment is the type of place that has Zane Grey books in the lobby and a hearty western breakfast included in the cowboy-comfortable dining room. 955 E. Utah Highway 24, Torrey, brokenspurinn.com, 435-425-3775
Canyonlands — National Park
Perhaps one of the park system’s most disjointed areas of majesty, Canyonlands is truly a puzzle. Divided by the rugged topography of the landscape into three districts—Needles, Island in the Sky and the honestly named Maze—the park befuddles. The Islands in the Sky area is the most easily accessible, while Needles and the rugged Maze offer more backcountry than many national parkgoers expect. Regardless of the district, every trek into Canyonlands is marked by a steep descent into and a rugged climb out of the deep canyons carved by the Colorado River and its tributaries.
Photo Credit Adobe Stock
The Big Hike
Murphy Loop (Island in the Sky District)—Distance: 10 miles
From the rim, the trail seems to disappear right into the cliffside. The steep 1,400-foot descent is a real thrill—remember that secret trail Frodo and Sam climbed in Lord of the Rings’ Mordor? The precarious perch on the cliffside offers stunning vistas at every turn. At the bottom, you’ll hike through a sandy wash in a loop that returns you to the cliff base for a tough climb out.
Off-season Stay
Dead Horse Point
The road into Canyonlands’ Island in the Sky District passes by Dead Horse Point State Park, a worthy side trip in and of itself. Last year the state park installed three yurts on the edge of its famous overlook. The yurts are open year-round, with a toasty heater. The yurt deck is a prime seat for stunning sunsets and sunrises, and on a moonless night, you’ll lose count of stars and feel super insignificant under the twinkling blanket above. Reservations in the off-season are easy and can be made up to four months in advance at stateparks.utah.gov.
By the Way — Kanab
Kanab is a popular destination with a bus-touring set. Located in the center of the Grand Circle, a set of byways that includes stops at Bryce, Zion, Lake Powell and Arches and the Northern Rim of the Grand Canyon, Kanab is an excellent way station open in wintertime. Many Hollywood westerns were filmed in the area, including John Ford’s classic starring John Wayne, The Searchers. The town pays homage to that legacy with kitschy western gear shops and tourist traps complete with old movie sets.
Off-season eats
The Rocking V Cafe
Kanab’s Center Street mainstay, the Rocking V. is a solid bet for a good meal and offers the gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options often missing on southern Utah menus. 97 W. Center St., Kanab, rockingvcafe.com, 435-644-8001
Off-season stay
Quail Park Lodge
This classic mid-century motor lodge has been upgraded into a campy mid-century modern boutique hotel. The rooms are retro chic, with big comfy beds and well-appointed bathrooms. Free breakfast is across the street at The Victorian Inn, which features an equally hip lobby filled with the owner’s collection of Dale Chihuly’s sculptural glass works. 125 N. 300 West, Kanab, quailparklodge.com, 435-215-1447
Arches – National Park
The most popular park in Utah lives up to its name, with a vast array of mind-boggling sandstone arches around every corner. The park is packed in summertime, mainly because of the easy hike to its show pony: Delicate Arch. But like every park in winter, it’s blissfully deserted come February. The park is near Moab, which provides an excellent base of operations for exploring Southeastern Utah.
photo credit venti views
The Big Hike
Double O Arch (via the Devil’s Garden Primitive Loop) — Distance: 7.2 miles
If you’ve bagged Delicate Arch, head to the back of the park and take the trip to Double O Arch. Along the way, you’ll see other marquee arches like Landscape, as well as the ominous Dark Angel tower. The hike will have you scrambling over slick rock fins back to the trail’s namesake arch. Instead of heading back the way you came, take the primitive loop back to the parking area. The trail marches you through Devil’s Garden, over even more slick rock obstacles and again with the stunning scenery.
Off-season Eats
Moab’s Winter Offerings
More than most park-adjacent towns in Southern Utah, Moab has more year-round offerings for the winter traveler. Find unexpected Southeast Asian fare at Arches Thai (archesthai.com) or Bangkok House Too (bangkokhousetoo.com). For meat and potatoes (with a view) try Sunset Grill (moabsunsetgrill.com). Finally, one of Moab’s best restaurants isn’t anything fancy but the family-owned El Tapatio (tapatiorestaurants.com) offers warm, comforting Mexican fare, perfect for warming up after a day of winter hiking.
Off-season Stay
Fairfield Inn
The Fairfield Inn on the edge of Moab is a clean, breakfast-included base with comfortable, business-class rooms. Predictable and easy, it was ideal after seven days on the road. 1863 N. Highway 191 Moab, marriott.com, 435-259-5350
It’s 50 degreesat the end of February and a light dust of snow drifts down from the churning grey-and-white sky. I begin the ascent to Cassidy Arch, clambering up the switch-backed trail out of Capitol Reef’s Grand Wash. I’m rewarded with the grand view of sandstone and snow all to myself.
Snow-filled tracks on the trail are evidence that other hardy souls are somewhere ahead, but for now, it’s just me on a trail of quiet and solitude. The slick rock is appropriately slick under the new snow, making my hike across the red-rock plateau above Cassidy Arch less hike, more scramble, but the slipping and sliding lend a comical exuberance to my exertions, which are blessedly unobserved—like a clown falling in the woods with no one else to see.
This is day four of a seven-day wintertime road trip through Utah’s five national parks and on every excursion, in every park, I am essentially by myself, only occasionally passing others on the trail, mostly foreign travelers who were somehow whispered the secret: Southern Utah’s mild winters make it the perfect time to tour the Mighty Five—Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks.
The global popularity of these parks has created a dependable summertime mob. At least once a summer, Arches National Park makes the news as crowds clamoring to get a glimpse of Delicate Arch shut down Utah Highway 191, just outside park gates near Moab. Even on the least busy warm-season days, the lines of cars cruising popular sections of each park fulfill Edward Abbey’s 1960s prescient lines from Desert Solitaire predicting the “serpentine streams of baroque automobiles pouring in and out, all through spring and summer, in numbers that would have seemed fantastic when I worked there…the ‘visitation,’ as they call it, mounts ever upward.”
Is this the great outdoors? Or a parking lot? Plus, it’s hot in all but the highest elevations, with temperatures hovering around 100 degrees for most of the summer season. But in February? The parks are yours. Open roads and open trails, comfortably cool daytime temperatures and blessed quiet offer a rare solitary view of the overly viewed vistas. Of course, there are some hurdles to wintertime adventures, like weather. Yes. I encountered rain and snow in all the parks, but apart from one blizzard in Bryce Canyon (the highest-elevation park at 8,000 to 9,000 feet on the rim), it was manageable with sensible clothing layers and an adventurous heart. Meanwhile, the moody weather’s layers of cloud, snow and sky invited rare reflection. The second obstacle to traveling in Southern Utah is a dearth of lodging and restaurants, a downside to solitude. But amid seasonal closures, I found a pleasant selection of year-round places to stay in each of the communities near the park areas and some surprisingly good eats along the way.
Photo Credit Hans Issacson
Bryce Canyon National Park
Home to some of the most stunning vistas in the national park system, Bryce is known for its abundant hoodoos. Rising out of the canyon floor like stalagmites, some are diminutive while others reach as high as 10-story buildings. The optimistically named Bryce Canyon City borders the park boundary. It is home to Ruby’s Inn, founded by Reuben C. Syrett, an intrepid pioneer who settled in the area in 1916 to ranch. When the park (first a national monument) was founded in the ’20s, Reuben, or Ruby, was poised to capitalize on the influx of visitors that continues to grow each year.
The Big Hike
Fairyland Loop Distance: 8 miles
This hike down into Bryce Canyon offers the park’s most spectacular display of its hoodoos. It’s also a good workout. You’ll hike down and back out of the canyon through the magical Fairyland, a maze-like trail at the base of the towering hoodoos. Tip: Do this loop clockwise, and get the least-charming canyon rim section out of the way first instead of at the end of the long hike.
Off-season Eats
Foster’s Family Steak House
This wooden-walled diner is one of the few year-round dining spots outside of the Ruby’s Inn enclave and it’s worth the short drive. Outside the kale-and-quinoa zone, expect the wilted salad bar (with “both” kinds of dressing, ranch and Thousand Island). But it’s hearty meat-and-potatoes fare, with simply prepared steaks and meatloaf and pies baked each day. 1150 Highway 12, Bryce City, fostersmotel.com, 435-834-5227
Off-season Stay
Ruby’s Inn
Ruby’s Inn is pretty much all you’ve got for lodging—even the park’s rustic lodge is closed. The hotelier has two lodges on either side of the main drag and is home to one of the only liquor stores in the area. The rooms are clean and situated nicely at the edge of the park boundary. It owns much of the land adjacent to the park and offers a slew of wintertime activities on its property. 26 S. Main Street, Bryce Canyon, rubysinn.com, 435-834-5341
Zion National Park
Overcrowding in peak season made Zion National Park the first in-Utah park to move to a mandatory shuttle system. But in February the roads are empty and its two most popular hikes, The Narrows and Angel’s Landing, are blissfully free of the human traffic jams and bottlenecks endemic to the summer season. Zion is Utah’s lowest park in both elevation and latitude, so its weather tends to be fair year-round. You can expect rain but rarely snow. You’ll encounter cool temperatures, especially in sunless canyon bottoms like The Narrows. Springdale, located just below the park entrance, is for the most part open for business in the winter season, but restaurants and stores often limit their hours. The Cable Mountain Lodge has a helpful “what’s open” guide.
Photo Credit Adobe Stock
The Big Hikes
Angel’s Landing — Distance: 5.4 miles
This is a pre-lawyer hiking trail. It’s a butt-kicking climb to the very top of Zion Canyon, famously completed by a “chain route”—where the vertiginously narrow trail offers chain handholds as you crawl up tummy-turning sections with sheer drop-offs. Yes, people have fallen. No, they did not survive. Yet the trail remains open, perhaps because the payoff is so spectacular—a perch on Angel’s Landing with stunning views in every direction and a sense of fear-facing accomplishment. Do not do this hike in less-than clement weather.
The Narrows—Distance: 9.4 miles
The Narrows is a scramble up the Virgin River. You splash over and around river-rock bowling balls as towering rock walls close together as you ascend the canyon. In the summertime, people tackle The Narrows in sandals and shorts, but in February you’ll need some gear. Rent a dry suit from Zion Outfitters (zionoutfitter.com). The thick, rubbery suits keep the water out and you warm and dry inside. And although you’ll look like you belong on a Star Trek landing party, you’ll feel invincible wading through the chest-deep water near the top. The kit also comes with extra-grip water shoes and a giant wooden pole that makes your scrambling easier. The hike terminates at the backcountry boundary (permit required). And although you’re not hiking uphill, all the wading and clambering is tiring, so remember you’ll have to return the way you came. Consider turning back before you’re all gassed out.
Off-season Eats
Whiptail Grill
Whiptail Grill is a cute cantina in a converted gas station, serving creative takes on Mexican cuisine. 445 Zion Park Blvd., Springdale, whiptailgrillzion.com, 435-772-0283
Off-season Stay
Cable Mountain Lodge
Located right at the mouth of Zion Canyon, Cable Mountain Lodge is practically in the park. The lodge has standard hotel rooms as well as family-sized suites with kitchens and plenty of space. Bonus: The hot tub is open year-round. 147 Zion Park Blvd., Springdale, cablemountainlodge.com, 435-772-3366
Get the Gear
While wintertime in Southern Utah is much, much tamer than you imagine weatherwise (you’re not summiting Everest, you’re going on well-traveled hikes in national parks) you’ll still need to deal with cooler and widely fluctuating temperatures as well as intermittent rain and snow. The Boy Scouts have it right: Be prepared.
Hiking boots.
Your light trail hikers won’t cut it. You’ll want a breathable, waterproof boot with a sturdy, super-grippy Vibram sole.
Clawing your way up snowy and, at times, icy trails and across wet slick rock (which unlike dry slick rock is genuinely slick) can be tricky. Some nice sturdy, collapsible poles with a rubber tip will give you an extra place to put weight down while on slippery descents.
Wicking fabrics are a must; they’ll keep the moisture away from your skin as you sweat. After you stop moving you’ll cool down quickly and want to keep yourself as dry as possible.
You’ll need a waterproof (or at least resistant) pack with enough room to stash all your layers as conditions change. Size matters: Make sure you’ve got room for snacks, water, a beanie, gloves, an extra-mid layer and room to stash your outer layer if things heat up. Hiking in cold weather is about staying dry, so don’t be a hero. If you’re sweating a bunch, stop and peel a layer or two.
REI Co-op Trail 25 Pack – Women’s, $79.95, rei.com
Final Note—NO SNOWSHOES.
Too often touristas clomp around on packed-snow trails in snowshoes which are more of a hazard than a benefit. You will only need them if you are venturing well into the backcountry and off, off-trail in very snowy conditions. Basically, if you don’t know how to use snowshoes you probably aren’t going to be in a situation where you’d have to know—make sense?
Every resort in Utah has that one Run. It’s the name on the trail map that makes you wonder, “Can I?” Everyone knows someone who has tackled these runs and told the tale. But the truth is, skiing and snowboarding, for all the camaraderie on the lift, are individual sports. Once you drop in, you are on your own and no matter your level of competence, there is a personal relationship with each run you attempt, because, well no one else can ski for you. It’s up to you to know your limits and push them. These five iconic runs symbolize the aspiration behind the sport. They are the high bars that draw us to the mountain to ask, “Can I?” They respond with, “Well, can you?” This season only you can answer the question.
1. Ted’s Rock—Beaver Mountain Ski Resort
For longtime Beaver Mountain devotees, the area accessed by Marge’s Triple Lift is still “that new part” despite the fact that the “new” lift has been spinning since 2003. That’s the way it is up on Beaver Mountain; things don’t change (even when they do). And that’s what’s truly great about Beaver, it’s its own world where powder, untrammeled by crowds, lasts for days. There’s no better example of this than Ted’s Rock, a fast shot off of Marge’s Triple that is plenty of fun on a groomer day and otherworldly on a powder day. This mildly pitched intermediate run is the perfect trail for newcomers to powder skiing learning to get in the back seat and float.
The Cirque at Snowbird is one of the most sought-after and well-known sections of powder at Snowbird. Photo by Chris Pearson, Ski Utah.
2. The Cirque—Snowbird
On the first tram of the day at Snowbird, the conversation is all about The Cirque—five black- to double-black-diamond runs accessed from the Cirque Traverse below the tram station on Hidden Peak. Why all the fuss? Well, for starters, you can see the Cirque from the Tram and appraise its potential. Tram riders, especially those lucky enough to be aboard the first tram of the day, crowd the window as they cross into Peruvian Gulch, like kids looking at puppies in a pet store. It’s a wide bowl that drops into Peruvian, with multiple entry points that often offer the best powder shots of the day, if you can get there first, that is. Because of its visibility, it is also among the first tracked-out sections at the ’Bird, where the early bird gets the powder.
The Ski Utah Dawn Patrol rides the powder on Baldy Shoulder. Photo by Chris Pearson, Ski Utah.
3. Baldy Shoulder—Alta Ski Area
Alta skiers know that at this resort you have to earn your turns. The best runs are accessed by traverses into the wide open bowls, that are deliberately left untrammeled by the grooming crew. Baldy Shoulder, accessed by the Shoulder Traverse from the top of Collins Lift, below Alta’s highest peak, Mt. Baldy. The traverse cruises above the intermediate run, Ballroom, in case you chicken out and concludes with a boot pack up to the ridgeline where you’ll steel yourself for the drop into Baldy Shoulder, less of a run and more of an exercise improvisation.
Search for leftover powder stashes at Brighton Resort with the Ski Utah athlete team. Photo by Chris Pearson, Ski Utah.
4. Milly’s Bowl—Brighton Resort
This famous bowl is part of Brighton’s famous “sidecountry,” meaning out-of-bounds backcountry areas that can be accessed by lift, in this case, Milly’s Lift. To drop in, hike up the shoulder and don’t be lulled into complacency by the lift access. Once you exit the resort through the Brighton Gate, you are on your own. Brighton patrol will close the shoulder hike and the gate during high-risk avalanche conditions but otherwise know that you are not in Kansas anymore.
5. Stein’s Way—Deer Valley Ski Resort
Named after the man who brought skiing into the imagination of America, Stein Ericksen, there is no more quintessential Deer Valley run than Stein’s Way. A steeply pitched groomer from the top of Bald Mountain, this run is a leg burner that will test your ability to “ski like Stein.” But the big appeal of this iconic run is the view from atop Bald Mountain, which stretches out across the Heber Valley and remains in your sight with every turn on the ridge before you pass into the trees. Do it again via the Sultan Express lift.
On a sunny day at Deer Valley, the iconic run, Stein’s Way, is one you’ll want to lap over and over with for its speed and spectacular views. Photo by Chris Pearson, Ski Utah.
If You Dare… Baldy Chutes
While you’re collecting yourself to drop in, to Baldy Shoulder, it may occur to you that it is also possible to scale the heights of Mt. Baldy above. It’s occurred to many but is dared by the few. This is one of the toughest runs at Alta and thus one of the toughest runs in North America. Moreover, to access Baldy Chutes you’ll take the longest boot pack at Alta (from the top of Sugar Loaf Lift) via the EBT cat track, past the Snowbird gate, and, well, straight up the mountain to the peak. Baldy Chutes, you might want to know, is a wild series of five black diamond chutes at a white-knuckle 40-degree pitch that drops you into Ballroom. Buckle up!
The landscape of Utah’s canyons might be changing with transportation developments, learn what to expect here.
A frequent point of pride you might hear from a longtime Utah resident is, “At least we have seasons!” This is technically true. Spring and fall are brief and summer is too hot but, boy, can we do winter. While some locales wear a fresh coat of snow well, others commit to a full transformation once the temperatures drop. Take, for instance, the Midway Ice Castles, which emerge every winter like the Northern Lights, seemingly out of thin air. While enough to stand on their own, the Ice Castles are just one of Utah’s winter wonderlands that you’ll find outside of traditional ski resorts. Some you can see in a day, but others provide a full weekend of winter activities.
Heber Valley
Midway Ice Castle. Photo Credit AJ Mellor/courtesy midway ice castles
While Park City might be the obvious choice for the winteriest of Utah’s winter wonderlands, Heber Valley might be the most wonderful. In the winter, you’ll find sleigh rides, ice skating, ice fishing, snowshoeing, snow tubing and Utah’s only ice castles.
As the story of the Midway Ice Castles (icecastles.com) goes, a father from Alpine built an ice cavern in his yard for his kids during their first winter in Utah.
It was such a success, the enterprise grew. The current iteration is a sprawling architectural marvel and the work of dozens of artists, featuring ice caverns, slides, tunnels and sculptures, weighing more than 25 million pounds. Nearby, Soldier Hollow Nordic Center (utaholympiclegacy.org) is home to a 1,200-foot-long snow-tubing hill, with multiple lanes, for some high-velocity winter thrills. It’s a must for kids and families that like an adventure they can do together. Likewise, in winter months, Wasatch Mountain State Park (stateparks.utah.gov) is open for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling through alpine terrain.
In the heart of Midway, the Midway Outdoor Ice Rink ( midwayicerink.com) at Midway Town Square is a spacious, open-air rink. In Midway and Heber, you’ll also find local outfitters who offer horse-drawn sleigh rides (rockymtnoutfitters.com) at the Ice Castles and guided ice fishing tours on Strawberry Reservoir (utahicefishing.com), which is especially scenic covered in ice and a blanket of snow.
Salt Lake City
When holiday shopping drives the crowds to Downtown Salt Lake City, anywhere you look winter magic can be found, and no visit to the Gateway Mall or City Creek Center is quite complete without a little holiday treat. People strap on skates and sip hot cocoa while taking the sights and sounds of the season at Gallivan Center Ice Rink (thegallivancenter.com). The outdoor public ice skating rink is open all winter long.
The Holiday Window Stroll at The Grand America. Photo courtesy of The Grand America.
A staple on the list of seasonal sights is The Grand America (grandamerica.com) in the heart of Downtown. Seemingly overnight, the hotel is decked with hundreds of thousands of twinkling lights (70,000 strands of lights, to be exact) and the pièce de résistance is the window displays. As visitors progress from window to window on The Holiday Window Stroll, artists tell a beautifully intricate visual story with Christmas themes.
Northern Utah
A little north of Salt Lake City, discover a mix of winter adventure and small-town holiday charm. Tour Bountiful, all lit up for holidays while taking a spin on the Ice Ribbon (southdavisrecreation.com)—a 520-foot ice loop. Further north in Ogden, the Ogden Christmas Village (christmasvillage.ogdencity.com) illuminates downtown with North Pole-inspired cottages, lights, entertainers and fireworks at the Ogden Amphitheatre. The centerpiece of the season is the Ogden Electric Light Parade on Washington Boulevard.
Fireworks above the Ogden Christmas Village. Photo courtesy of Visit Ogden.
Unlike last year, Park City Mountain’s parking lot was empty over the summer. In advance of the 2022-2023 ski season, the behemoth structure of a new chairlift sat in pieces in the Mountain Village parking lot, awaiting construction as part of the resort’s chairlift upgrades meant to ease on-mountain congestion and increase uphill capacity. Now that chairlift is doing what most of us always wish we could: permanently relocating to Whistler.
That’s right, two new chairlifts intended to shorten base-area lift lines—a six-pack chairlift slated to replace the little-used Eagle and Eaglet lifts and an eight-pack chair intended to upgrade the frequently slammed six-pack Silverlode Express—are headed to the vaunted British Columbia resort to replace Blackcomb’s Jersey Cream Express and Whistler’s Fitzsimmons Express.
The story of Whistler Blackcomb’s new chairs started with a successful appeal in 2022 by four Park City residents. The appeal led City Planning Commissioners to determine the resort’s lift proposals were not included in the mountain upgrade plan as part of the resort’s 1998 development agreement. Originally the lift upgrades had been granted administrative approval by former Park City Planning Director Gretchen Milliken, but the planning commission determined upon hearing the appeal the plan didn’t meet the requisite criteria for such approval, rendering the upgrades subject to a planning commission vote.
“We continue to disagree with the decision the Park City Planning Commission made in overturning our permits for Eagle and Silverlode, and our appeal is currently pending before the district court,” says Park City Senior Manager of Communications Sara Huey. As of publishing, the appeal of the appeal was still awaiting resolution.
Sitting in limbo, Vail Resorts—owner of Park City Mountain—decided not to let a couple of perfectly good chairlifts go to waste and shipped them north of the border as they iron out the details locally in Park City. One of the primary issues at hand concerned parking at the resort. The Planning Commission deemed Park City’s outlined paid parking system wouldn’t adequately mitigate the increased demand the new lifts would cause, a point Huey disagreed with based on last season’s implementation of paid parking at the Park City Mountain Village base area.
“During the 22/23 winter season, an average of 63% of cars parking in the Mountain Village surface lots had four or more occupants, and that jumped to nearly 70% on weekends. Park City Municipal confirmed that they saw a reduction in overflow and cutting through neighborhoods surrounding our base area. In addition, High Valley Transit reported a 20% region-wide increase in transit ridership over the winter ski and snowboard season,” says Huey.
The SNAFU hasn’t totally derailed Park City’s lift upgrade plans. Red Pine Gondola in Canyons Village has all-new cabins for this season, a welcome addition as the moribund state of non-functional gondola cabins last season left guests peeved despite cheeky signs promising replacements were on the way. Vail Resorts also reached a joint funding agreement with the Canyons Village Management Association for a gondola with 10-person cabins from the base area to the mid-mountain Red Pine Lodge, replacing the Sunrise double, which had essentially only served to take hotel guests to the base area.
Canyons Village sits in unincorporated Snyderville, so the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission, rather than Park City, will have jurisdiction over this lift upgrade plan. Recent experience with the relatively new Quicksilver Gondola and Over and Out Chairlift suggest the resort won’t run into the same types of delays along the 36-month timeline to get the Sunrise Gondola operational.
Skepticism surrounding resort plans is often warranted, as changes on the mountain are frequently felt downstream in the community. That said, increasing base area uphill capacity is possibly the most skier-centric move Park City Mountain could make outside of ditching the multi-resort mega pass, which frankly isn’t going to happen. Locals have been clamoring for exactly the type of upgrade the Sunrise Gondola represents, and a similar move at the Park City Base Area would do wonders to help spread skiers out across the resort’s significant terrain.
More skiers are coming, whether there’s new infrastructure to accommodate them or not. Incentivizing skiers to use public transit while helping them get up on the hill faster on powder days is something the community should seemingly get behind.
The Sun Rises on a New Gondola
The Sunrise Gondola will whisk skiers 1,100 vertical feet in 10-passenger cabins from the south end of Canyons Village up to Red Pine Lodge at just over 8,000 feet. The new gondola will help alleviate base area pileups that plague powder days while providing additional access to higher-elevation terrain, which is increasingly important for early and late-season operations as climate change encroaches on both ends of winter with higher temperatures.
There’s a stillness to the mountain air when tucked into a remote yurt in Utah, a quiet at times which is almost startling. It’s the kind of quiet where the only thing breaking the hush is the mild tinnitus acquired from loud concerts, late nights and a life spent in earbuds. Now more than ever that audible void is serenity and safety, the chance to breathe deeply, filling your lungs with cool air instead of pestilence and anxiety.
It’s tranquility you won’t find on a typical ski vacation. Don’t look for it in the mess resort skiing’s become, what with mandatory online pass reservations and clandestine skier limits. Finding it means venturing beyond the frenetic restaurants, hotels, resorts and shops to somewhere more remote.
I’m talking about comfortably warm, rustic lodging for the medium-core outdoor enthusiast. You know, something in between the indulgent comforts of a posh slopeside Airbnb and the excruciating type two fun of winter camping. Lodging that requires some self-reliance but comes with outrageously convenient access to the outdoor activities that drive you. These three yurts in Utah are an escape. Exit chaos and enjoy.
Cross Country Ski at the Bear River Yurts
The Bear River Outdoor Recreation Alliance (BRORA) grooms the trails on a weekly basis and after large storms, and they also manage a system of yurts in Utah that lets you ski the trails right from your doorstep. Bunks, cooking utensils and propane stoves in the six yurts provide everything you need to stay warm and well-fed after a day spent working your lungs and legs. Reservations can be made by calling the Evanston Recreation Center, or book online. Yurts start at $100 per night and require a $20 BRORA membership. brorayurts.org
Mountain Bike at Gooseberry Mesa
Composed of surrealistic sandstone shapes in Southern Utah’s red rock country, Gooseberry Mesa is home to famously technical and unique mountain bike trails. Even the desert gets chilly at night this time of year, which makes the Gooseberry Mesa Yurts your perfect hideout. Owner Kenny Jones, who coaches local rippers for the National Interscholastic Cycling Association’s mountain bike team, knows a thing or two about riding through the unique, iconic terrain atop Gooseberry Mesa, which is why he’s spent the past decade building and maintaining the yurts adjacent to the trails.
The yurts aren’t bespoke glamping shelters, and they aren’t ideal as a basecamp to explore nearby Zion National Park—the unforgivingly rugged road to the top of the mesa isn’t exactly a cakewalk, especially for low-clearance vehicles—but they’re the perfect temporary Gooseberry Mesa home for enjoying a little sun during an off season bike trip. The four structures dot the mesa’s edge with incredible views of the surrounding landscapes.
Reservations can be requested online and are available starting at $175 per yurt, which can fit between four and seven adults depending on how cozy your group wants to get. 801-318-6280, gooseberryyurts.com
Snowshoe and Backcountry Ski at The Castle Peak Yurt
Tucked atop a knob at 9,600 feet in the Uinta Mountains, the Castle Peak Yurt isn’t exactly a piece of cake to get to, but it’s well worth the effort. The yurt itself is unremarkable, just another iteration of the Gooseberry Mesa Yurts traditional temporary Mongolian shelter with a few amenities like a wood stove, some bunk beds and a gas stove, but its remote location makes it the perfect basecamp for high alpine adventure.
Inspired Summit Adventures manages the yurt and offers both guided and unguided trips depending on your comfort in winter camping and experience in avalanche terrain. Those who want to go it alone can reserve the yurt starting at $450 per night (accommodates a group of four) for snowshoeing and backcountry skiing and snowboarding. Those who prefer a more inclusive experience can sign up for a guided trip that not only helps you safely find the best snow around but will also give you a snowmobile bump for the six miles trip to the yurt and cater your meals. Reservations available online at inspiredsummit.com.
With your upgraded gear, navigating Utah’s plethora of outdoor winter adventures is a breeze. Read on for the complete guide to Salt Lake City, Ogden and Park City.
The two largest canyons within the mountains that tower above Salt Lake City City, Big and Little Cottonwood, are your access to four of Utah’s most famed ski resorts—Brighton/Solitude in Big Cottonwood and Alta/Snowbird in Little Cottonwood. Each canyon has its own vibe that derives from the landscape itself, which, in turn, influences how the resorts make use of the terrain. Big Cottonwood is a wider canyon with more gradual walls, meaning Brighton and Solitude feature wider runs and, for the most part, more gradual inclines. Little Cottonwood, on the other hand, is much more narrow and steep which informs Alta’s and Snowbird’s reputations for steep and, for the most part, narrow runs. (Read On)
Park City is a world-renowned ski destination and the home of Park City Mountain (the resort) and Deer Valley, both situated near the actual town of Park City and its lively Historic Main Street and iconic town lift (serving Park City Mountain). Lodging and nightlife abound, drawing visitors from around the world in every season. (Read On)
The secret is out about Utah’s second city and its easy-to-access resorts—Snowbasin, Nordic Valley and Powder Mountain. In fact, even though both are farther from Salt Lake, they are often easier to get to than Park City and the Cottonwoods when snarled up with traffic. Ogden is the yin to Salt Lake’s clean-cut yang. Ogden-ites pride themselves on their town’s outsider status. Redneck rebels, tattooed, bearded hipsters and hard-drinking old timers all mingle on 25th street where you can play at night after a day on the slopes. (Read On)
The venerable chairlift has been the primary tool used to ascend hills on skis since the prototype appeared on the slopes of Sun Valley in 1936. Its ubiquity is embodied by the low-pitched hum emanating from the terminal that’s so ever-present, it’s hardly noticeable until it fades into the background. Sure, centuries of incipient skiers had to laboriously trudge towards summits, but several generations of recreational skiers have known little beyond navigating a maze of ropes and accepting a firm thud against the upper calf in exchange for a ride to the top of a crowded, groomed slope.
No more. Helicopters, snowcats and human-powered backcountry tours, once the exclusive realm of hardened experts and professional skiers with extravagant film-production budgets, are exploding in popularity throughout Utah as everyday skiers long to explore the mountains beyond the groomers, moguls and resort boundaries. There’s powder in them hills. Get after it.
Heli-Skiing in Utah
No disrespect to Snowbird, Alta, Brighton and Solitude—resort skiing doesn’t get much better—but spend enough time looking across Little and Big Cottonwood Canyons and the mind starts to wander to those looming peaks in the distance. Powderbird heli-skiing gives unparalleled access to powder-filled slopes in the Wasatch by whisking skiers to the top in mere moments via helicopter.
Talk about luxurious convenience, but it doesn’t come cheap. An individual seat on a Powderbird helicopter starts at $2,000 per person. A private guided group runs $20,000 and can accomadate one to eight guests. Get beyond that barrier to entry, and you’ll experience thousands of feet of powder skiing deep in incredible terrain throughout the Wasatch no matter if you start from their base in Park City or at Snowbird.
Don’t be intimidated by the thought of stepping out of a helicopter onto an exposed ridge with massive cornices. Powderbird guides are well-versed in tailoring terrain selection to suit each group’s abilities. Whether you’re a group of hardcore shredders looking to eke every inch of vertical out of the day or you just want to make some creamy powder turns with jaw-dropping scenery, you’re covered. The cost means Powderbird heli-skiing may be a once in a lifetime experience for many, and the exhilaration of riding in a helicopter and ripping untracked powder will make it exactly that.
When it’s dumping snow, helicopters are grounded. Snowcats, however, can get to the goods regardless of the weather. Add in a substantially lower cost than its airborne counterpart, and cat-skiing offers a far more accessible path to powder-filled skiing and snowboarding. Powder Mountain’s cat-skiing operation is uniquely affordable and flexible. With a lift ticket, you can purchase single cat rides for just $39 each—season pass holders pay only $29.
Take a ride up the Lightning Ridge cat for powder-filled turns down Weber Bowl and Cache Bowl, or tackle some more technical terrain on Waterfall, Big Middle and Hair Raiser Chute. From the top of Lightning Ridge, hearty shredders can hike or skin to the top of James Peak to ski down from 9,422 feet. The Rain Tree cat accesses terrain west of the resort where untouched turns on moderately steep, tree-filled slopes linger long after storms pass.
All in, Powder Mountain’s cats access more than 4,800 skiable acres in a way that fits any budget and ability level. Powder Mountain also partners with nearby Whisper Ridge Backcountry Resort for full-day, guided cat skiing adventures for those willing to shell out for a more extravagant experience.
Get back to skiing’s roots with human-powered backcountry tours. Earn your turns by skinning to the top, all while avoiding the environment-destroying carbon emissions and solitude-ruining racket of helicopters and snowcats. There’s no better way to fully immerse yourself in the mountain environment.
Backcountry ski guide J.T. Robinson runs Vertical Integration, a full-service hosting company for human-powered backcountry tours. Robinson can help arrange lodging, transportation, gear and logistics, and he’ll take you deep into the mountains to safely see and ski terrain you wouldn’t be able to access on your own.
Robinson has permits to lead trips from the classics like Gobblers Knob in the Cottonwood Canyons to the North Face of Ben Lomond Peak near Ogden to the high Uinta Mountains where you can use snowmobiles to access remote peaks before heading to the top using your own two feet. Plus, he’s the only guide on earth with permits to ski on the backside of Mount Ogden—it’s private land. Tours with Robinson are fully customizable to meet varied preferences and ability levels, and they start around $250 per person, per day. Get in touch with Robinson through the Vertical Integration website to plan your perfect trip.
Squinting through bleary eyes I feel like I’ve engaged the hyperdrive in the Millennium Falcon. The headlights give the falling snow a disorienting luminescence, but the way the flakes are piling up on the pavement makes me think the white-knuckle journey will be worth it. The license plate on my truck says, “Greatest Snow on Earth,” but every now and again a string of splitter storms leaves the central Wasatch high and dry. Some folks cut bait to warm themselves like lizards on desert rocks, but I’m in search of snow. I’m also looking for an escape from the homogenized commercialization permeating skiing. I’m after deep snow and warm yurts in remote mountains. I want cheap lift tickets with an old-school vibe and a watering hole that wears its carpet stains with pride. I’m yearning for some skiing in Northern Utah.
Powder Paradise
After a winter like last year’s, during which a record-setting amount of the Greatest Snow On Earth blanketed the Beehive State, it’s no surprise to see Utah resorts receiving some well-earned accolades. Still, it caught our attention when Powder Mountain, with its famously low-key vibes, topped the SKI magazine western resort rankings for 2024. The publication—part of the Outside mega-conglomerate—electronically polled more than 200,000 people to compile this year’s rankings. Previous reader surveys have regularly leaned toward destinations with swankier accouterments than the ski-centric Pow Mow offers, but readers this year clearly gravitated to the resort’s core skiing experience.
Powder Mountain – Ian Matteson
Pow Mow limits daily lift tickets to keep lift lines in check and offers a refreshingly uncomplicated experience. Ski down, hop on a lift, and maybe stop in an unpretentious lodge for a reasonably-priced burger and beer if the mood strikes. The resort also gets a ton of snow and has more than 8,400 acres of skiable terrain above the Northern Ogden Valley. They even offer $19 night skiing, a welcome sight in a world of soaring lift ticket prices.
While in Paradise it’s best to lean-in and fully embrace indulgence. Whisper Ridge’s yurts take luxury glamping to the next level. The Perch Yurt Village is atop a backcountry mountain ridge with 360-degree views of the Wasatch as well as an outdoor hot tub and a recreation yurt with ping pong and billiards. Don’t forget a dinner prepared by a five-star chef to refuel after a day of ripping powder. Ski and lodging packages start at $930.
Prudent in Poki
After emptying the 401k for a day of cat skiing, it’s time to climb the latitudes for a more frugal adventure in Idaho. The miles tick by quickly on the hour and 45 minute drive North on I-15 from Paradise. Columnar basalt formations dot the landscape as you approach the Portneuf Range and your ultimate destination: Pebble Creek Ski Area. Pebble Creek—known locally as The Rock for its steep and rocky nature—is a little-known stone in the crown of the Gem State that’s been in operation for 69 years and counting. The understated base area sits in the shadow of Bonneville Peak and its 2,200 lift-accessed vertical feet is more than 50 percent advanced and expert skiing. A full day ticket can be had for $69, and it’s only $54 for a half day, or go full night mode for only $25.. You could take a family of four skiing here for about the price as a single ticket at one of Utah’s corporate mega-resorts.
Photo courtesy of Pebble Creek
Each of Pebble Creek’s three chairs is a fixed-grip triple, so you’ll have to embrace the slower pace of the day. Your legs will probably be thankful for the extra rest as the laps start to pile up on The Rock and Rattlesnake off the Skyline Lift. The resort backs up to the Caribou National Forest, which offers endless backcountry skiing opportunities for the knowledgable and incredible views for everyone else.
You will miss out on a couple things skiing at Pebble Creek. Mostly lift lines and overpriced food and drinks. A beer at the Rock Bottom Saloon is $2, and the popcorn’s free. Local bands liven up the apres scene on Sunday nights and move to the outdoor deck when things warm up in the spring. There’s not much else going on Inkom, so make your way over to Pocatello for the evening. Try Jim Dandy Brewing for a beer and a bite with a rotating cast of craft brews and popular food trucks.
