Your correspondent pens this piece in the aftermath of a top ten ski day here in Little Cottonwood. After a foot of fresh on top of seven more feet of fresh on top of a mountain with no people, January 17 th proved to be one of those days where despite how hungry you are you don’t dare stop to eat. Late morning when our valiant ski patrol dropped the rope for Catherine’s it was time to start making laps. Ten laps as it turns out. This is where Canyon Blog would normally insert a few great photos to induce jealousy on the part of the loyal readers of this space. Sadly, they were not to be. Why you ask? Because this writer wasn’t stopping to snap shots because it was just too damn good. And besides, as you’re well aware, photos don’t do justice to epic conditions. The best your correspondent can muster is a few shots on the final run to the house off Powder Ridge via Wildcat lift. Those and one shot of a significant ice beard buildup. Well, here’s one additional shot from Snowbird yesterday when they’d just opened Peruvian lift at around 2pm. Several days of closures had the Peruvian snow primed for tracking even if the wind scour faces were a little crusty. What’s the point of these bragging lines you may wonder. Simply this: The storm cycles are still aligned and the snow gods favoring our little canyon. So you better hop on that plane, get up canyon, and drop your bags in one of our deluxe properties because staying down canyon isn’t going to do you any good when the canyon closes for the next storm. Note on our previous photo challenge: The image on the concrete buttress is actually the last chairlift pole as you ascend the Collins lift.

If you’re a reader of this space then you know that happiness can be found at ten thousand and 12, feet and inches that is. Your loyal correspondent is pleased to share that if you’re one of those then the 2022/23 ski season is well under way. To commemorate the first 50 inches of snowfall, and in the interests of thorough investigative journalism, Canyon Blog spent the past week in pursuit of first tracks at both Snowbird and Alta. As you can see, the base is not only enough already to establish a great foundation, it excludes any artificial snow making. Au naturale is such a wonderful feeling under foot. Though most of these shots were taken mid storm or snowfall, in between fronts shows a bit of the grandeur you’ve come to love in Little Cottonwood Canyon. And even though these solo tracks may induce a flash of jealousy there’s no need to feel that. Alta’s opening day is November 18 th , with Snowbird right behind on the 30 th . Ccome out for Thanksgiving and enjoy the feet and inches for yourself. It’s going to be a fantastic season opening with new chairs and trams. And better still, more snow. This weekend promises another 20 inches and the cycles are lined up even further out. Who needs snow making or inferior Colorado or, worse still, east coast snow? So, okay, maybe jealousy is called for. On your friends’ part when you send your own season first track photos from your early season outing.

Skiing in Utah Archives - Canyon Services

Surfin’ the Wave at Snowbird
Surfin’ the Wave at Snowbird

Surfin’ the Wave at Snowbird

One of the great things about spring skiing in Little Cottonwood is the light, smells, and space that pervades the senses. Because the temps are up, even though the snow is still flying, people find creative ways to enjoy the mountain. The typical example are the snakes that appear at Alta and Snowbird, usually in Ballroom and Shireen (just off the Road to Provo cat track). However, your correspondent’s favorite playground terrain is the ridge that separates Shireen from Mark Malu Fork where the exhibitionists of spring tend to gather to demonstrate their aerial skills and basically have a great [...]

CanyonBlog2024-04-05T01:24:24+00:00Local Flavor, Outdoors|

OMSG
OMSG

OMSG

Your correspondent pens this piece in the aftermath of a top ten ski day here in Little Cottonwood. After a foot of fresh on top of seven more feet of fresh on top of a mountain with no people, January 17th proved to be one of those days where despite how hungry you are you don’t dare stop to eat. Late morning when our valiant ski patrol dropped the rope for Catherine’s it was time to start making laps. Ten laps as it turns out. This is where Canyon Blog would normally insert a few great photos to induce jealousy [...]

CanyonBlog2024-01-19T20:30:30+00:00Outdoors, Winter|

Top Reasons to Visit Our Utah Ski Towns
Top Reasons to Visit Our Utah Ski Towns

Top Reasons to Visit Our Utah Ski Towns

Looking for the perfect Utah ski towns to visit this winter? Look no further than the ski towns of Alta and Snowbird, two of the state’s best ski resorts readily accessible from Salt Lake City. Enjoy deep snowpack, the state’s longest skiing season, and challenging runs at our ski resorts. Choose Canyon Services to host your winter getaway and stay within five minutes of both resorts with our Alta Snowbird vacation rentals! 5 Reasons to Visit Alta and Snowbird Alta and Snowbird are best known for their abundant snowfall, offering some of the best powder for advanced skiers. But there [...]

webservices2023-11-01T19:18:58+00:00Winter|

An “Outside” Perspective on Alta’s Record Storm
An “Outside” Perspective on Alta’s Record Storm

An “Outside” Perspective on Alta’s Record Storm

For followers of Canyon Blog and Little Cottonwood Canyon, you can find a summary of our wild two weeks of storms and avalanches penned by your correspondent in Outside Magazine's online site: https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/snow-sports/alta-snowbird-interloge-little-cottonwood-canyon-snowfall/ It was a season full of superlatives and if you can't make it out here before Snowbird shuts down daily operations on May 14th (weekend trams and some lifts will continue beyond that date) your blogger wishes you a wonderful spring and summer.

CanyonBlog2023-04-16T00:31:43+00:00Local Events, Outdoors, Winter|

A Dispatch from the Trenches
A Dispatch from the Trenches

A Dispatch from the Trenches

Well, much as your correspondent hates cliches, this is one for the record books. Snowbird passed its all-time season snowfall record yesterday which was 782”. As of this morning, where Canyon Blog remains trapped in Alta, they’re standing at 805”. And it hasn’t stopped. Alta is sitting on, or rather under, 874”. It was only one week ago today that this space was reporting 764 Alta inches. If public math serves that’s 110” of new in a week. In April. The day before yesterday’s interlodge was one of the top three ski days of this powder hound’s career, someone who [...]

CanyonBlog2023-04-05T17:57:46+00:00Outdoors, Winter|

Drop What You’re Doing (an emergency announcement)
Drop What You’re Doing (an emergency announcement)

Drop What You’re Doing (an emergency announcement)

Rarely does Canyon Blog issue public service announcements, but such are the dire circumstances that it’s demanded of your correspondent in the interests of your health and mental state of mind. With that out of the way, here’s the deal. Whatever you’re doing, and regardless of where, you simply need to stop, book a flight, toss on a few layers of gear, and slap some fiberglass or carbon to the bottom of your feet. As your correspondent writes this (March 29th) Alta is reporting 764” for the season, but that’s simply not going to be true by the time you [...]

CanyonBlog2023-03-31T01:29:04+00:00Outdoors, Winter|

Rush Out Here and Then Slow Down
Rush Out Here and Then Slow Down

Rush Out Here and Then Slow Down

The snow continues to drop in Little Cottonwood Canyon and the skiing is beyond compare. And by that, your correspondent does mean anywhere. Readers of this space are only too familiar with the superiority of Wasatch powder and the fact that leasing one of our properties puts you into a skin-in ski-out experience not available anywhere else. To prove that point your faithful investigative journalist is winging his way to Austria and Norway to compare this season’s snow with other world class destinations. Such is his dedication to his profession, but he digresses and will report back on that when [...]

CanyonBlog2023-03-03T21:35:18+00:00Outdoors, Winter|

Heli-skiing with Powderbird’s 50th Year
Heli-skiing with Powderbird’s 50th Year

Heli-skiing with Powderbird’s 50th Year

Followers of Canyon Blog will undoubtedly be aware of the helicopters that often nest just off the bypass road between Snowbird and Alta. And that they support Little Cottonwood Canyon’s heli-skiing. What you will not likely understand though is how heli-skiing works or even how to go about dipping a ski into the aviation facilitated snow pond. Despite 30 years of helicopter work in his military career your correspondent has to sheepishly admit that they’d never considered heli-skiing and assumed (incorrectly) that it was somehow out of his reach. To rectify this terrible oversight, he sat down with VP of [...]

CanyonBlog2023-02-17T18:57:05+00:00Interviews, Local Flavor, Outdoors, Winter|

First Tracks
First Tracks

First Tracks

If you’re a reader of this space then you know that happiness can be found at ten thousand and 12, feet and inches that is. Your loyal correspondent is pleased to share that if you’re one of those then the 2022/23 ski season is well under way. To commemorate the first 50 inches of snowfall, and in the interests of thorough investigative journalism, Canyon Blog spent the past week in pursuit of first tracks at both Snowbird and Alta. As you can see, the base is not only enough already to establish a great foundation, it excludes any artificial snow [...]

CanyonBlog2022-11-05T03:30:40+00:00Local Flavor, Outdoors, Winter|

An Interview with Alta’s Lift Operations Supervisor Shannon Corey
An Interview with Alta’s Lift Operations Supervisor Shannon Corey

An Interview with Alta’s Lift Operations Supervisor Shannon Corey

Your correspondent had the opportunity to sit down with the most important person on Alta’s mountain if you’re here to ski. What got him thinking about this interview was Alta’s splicing of cable on the Collins chairlift this summer. More on that in a moment. But first, our interview subject. Shannon Corey is a fourth generation non-LDS Utahn who learned to ski from the Albion lift when she was seven. In addition to the usual mountain upbringing she played the piano from an early age (hold that thought because we’ll come back to it). After completing a degree in anthropology [...]

CanyonBlog2022-10-04T17:52:48+00:00Local Flavor, Outdoors, Winter|