11 resorts in one day: Utah skiers have it good

The "11-in-1" ski adventure last week was one of those unfortunate duties that go with the job. But a curt "Oh, so sorry," is as close to any sympathy I got.

I didn't do it simply to ski, but more so to prove a point, which is that Utah skiers really don't know how good they have it. Friends in other states tell of driving hours to ski one resort, which is usually crowded and shy on snow.

Here, it's possible to ski 11 in only slightly more time than a normal workday.

And, while there are no records to prove it, those in the ski industry that I've talked with couldn't think of anywhere else in the world where it's possible to ski so many world-class resorts in a single day.

Oh, the things I do for the Deseret Morning News.

Back East, there are states with more resorts where it would be possible to ski as many, but it's doubtful they would carry the prominence of a Snowbird, Alta, Deer Valley, Park City Mountain Resort, Solitude, Brighton or The Canyons. All of these have, at one time or another, been listed by ski magazines as being among the best resorts in the country.

Deer Valley and Park City are consistently listed in the top 10. Deer Valley was voted the Nos. 2 and 3 best ski area in the country the past two years, respectively, and was No. 1 three years ago. The Alta/Snowbird connection was voted the No. 1 the past two years.

Reflecting back on the trip, there were a couple of things that truly surprised me.

The first was that this adventure could have been done in much less time than the 9 hours, 41 minutes we took.

We could have started with the official opening of Sundance at 9 a.m., made fewer turns and finished well within regular daytime operating hours — 5 p.m.

The second thing that struck me was how each resort truly held its own distinct personality.

Sundance is scenic, a perfect picture postcard with Mount Timpanogos as a backdrop.

Deer Valley is elegant, from the finely manicured runs to the matching green attire of its entire staff.

Park City Mountain Resort is big and bold, starting with its six-passenger lift at the base and reaching way back into Jupiter Bowl.

The Canyons is tempting. Once you hit the summit the whole world opened up like an umbrella into some incredibly fine terrain. It was hard not sampling a few more runs.

Solitude is wide open and unrestricted. Runs fed into each other like streams into a river.

Brighton is fun, like a roller coaster . . . easy cruisin' with peaks and valleys.

Snowbird is majestic . . . rugged mountains to the east and north and some of the best snow conditions we encountered holding off the Cirque.