Recommendations for Utah skiing in January?

I was a Snowbird Faithful until I skied the other "lesser known" mountains further down big cottonwood canyon. Brighton, and Solitude are money for one day, have far less people, cheaper tickets and endless opportunities for BC from the lifts, and if the snow sucks there will still be groomers to ski that aren't all tracked up. Ditto what Zap said about Honeycomb Canyon, it is also pretty sweet.

At Brighton you can hike above the lifts to the summits and ski great glades that are often untracked with 20-30 mins of work. Clayton Peak is what you are looking for there and is often untouched even on the weekends, just get off the great western express chair and hike straight up the ridge for easy turns thru sweet trees. There are also tons of BC access points there as well.

www.skibrighton.com/_DOWNLOADS/TrailMap_brochure_.pdf

If I were you I would not do the resorts proper and do the Utah Interconnect tour which circumnavigates Wolverine Peak and goes through 4 resorts and their connecting backcountry. No skins required, beacon provided and great guides to show you the goods, all in one day. It is several great runs of powder in the backcountry and I probably logged 4,000 feet of fresh powder all day.

www.skiutah.com/interconnect/

But you can never really go wrong with Alta or Snowbird, so either way you have a good dilemma coming. If my friend didn't move away and get a real job I would be there this Jan too, whooping it up in the "hero" or "cold smoke" snow they often have.

From Snowbird you can take the Baldy Express lift to the top then hike up the ridge to the top of Baldy proper 11,068' and drop into Alta via the Chutes and take a shuttle back to Snowbird. Or you could take the Sugarloaf lift from the Alta side and ski to skier's left to the Alta-Snowbird connect station and hike up the same ridge to the top of Baldy and ski the chutes from there. You can also buy a Snowbird-Alta pass so you could ski both resorts in the same day using both sets of lifts. Really the options are endless and you have too little time. I would extend my trip and ski all four resorts to make the most of it, but that's me.

By this you can tell how much I love skiing that place, it really is heaven on earth. Thank god I live in the PNW, lots of great options here and looks like our season will be off to a better start than Utah's. Historically Jan and Feb are the best months to be in Utah so you should have a blast either way.

Cheers,

Chris

you can't really go wrong with lift-served skiing in the Wasatch.

Snowbird and Alta after a nice dump are a treat.  take the high T from Germ and ski the upper slopes at Alta  or go explore Supreme.  as others have mentioned, Mineral Basin is a blast, but get there before the crust forms.  on average, S/A offer a bit more technical and challenging terrain compared to say, Solitude and
Brighton in Big Cottonwood.  but on weekends S/A can be a zoo.  i used to ski inbounds until lunch, then do a short tour up Powerline Bowl, Flagstaff, or Grizzly to finish the day.  at the end of Grizzly, a right turn puts you at Wolverine Cirque.  the other option is to drive down to the small parking area below the first parking lot of Snowbird, then go play around the White Pine area.  my mouth is watering just writing this...

one of my favorites when the body count was high in Little Cottonwood was
to ski at Solitude -- i love that mountain.  there's plenty to do in Honeycomb Canyon: stay high on the traverse after you get off the Summit Chair and make your way to Boundary Chutes and No Man's Land.  it's worth the trek.  from the Powder Horn chair dropping into Honeycomb via Here Be Dragons or Navarone is also nice.  now there's a chair that takes you back up for more without having to swing around.  if you want to do a little touring, then check to see if the gate at the top of the Summit Chair is open.  from there you can quickly skin to Alta and the mouth watering lines below Wolverine Cirque.  you can ski down to Brighton, then catch the bus back to Solitude.

oh, don't forget to pack your camera (and  snorkel) along with your probe, shovel, and beacon -- i for one would like to see photos!  

have fun.

Zap, Normally I like to ski Powder mountian /Snowbasin = less tourists ! But now you got me thinking of Solitude.Thanks for the tip. Less driving too cause my sis lives between Mill creek and little cottonwood.
Having said that Alta still is the mecca . Kam not after a dump but when its coming down! I guess any place out there is awsome.

I am going to be in UT for 10 days after christmas. I was there the same time last year as well and am now conseidering moving there because the skiing is sooo good. I would have to reccomend Powder Mountain. No crowds, 5500 acres, and freshies a week after the storm when Alta and the Bird have been tracked out for days. Snowbasin is rediculous (good), a little more folks to contend with, but the Ogden resorts are often quiet, and provide tons of vert in fresh pow most of the time. Powder Mt. may seem not as exciting, but a skin up lightning ridge can yield tons of options with so little time. I am going to be at Brighton and Solitude a bunch just because of the Alpy pass deal. There is great terrain there too. BC stuff is off the hook too, Cardiac Bowl and Days Fork have been recommended, but are dangerous in dumpage weather. Utah is amazing, have a good trip!!!

I have so much homework to do now!! Thanks for everyones advise and suggestions! I am really looking forward to this trip. Skierlyles, I am going to look into the Utah Interconnect as that seems like it would be a lot of fun. Kam, I checked out your photos on your website, and I really enjoyed all of them. I just want to say that everyone on turns-all-year rocks. Thanks for sharing the knowledge.

-Chris