Bad skiing in Utah? No such thing

I've said it before, and I'll say it again — a bad day skiing in Utah is better than some of the very best days at some of the other ski resorts in the country. And, from what I've heard since I've yet to ski outside the country, in other resorts in the world.

All you have to do is check out the ski reports over the course of the winter. While some Utah resorts are reporting a packed base of more than 100 inches, resorts to the east are reporting bases under 30 inches, and many are putting up numbers in the teens.

Realize, too, that for the past two years Utah's higher resorts have received more than 600 inches of snow over the course of winter, and two winters ago it was closer to 700 inches.

To put this much snow into perspective, 600 inches is enough snow to bury a six-story building.

Realize also that this snow that is falling is lighter than a feather and dry enough that it flies around rather than settles.

Being in a desert climate, the water content of the snow that falls in Utah is much less than in other parts of the country. Snow at Alta and Snowbird routinely has a 5 percent moisture content, which makes for a light, fluffy snow, which is what Utah has become famous for. There are storms in other parts of the country were the water content is closer to 30 and 40 percent, which results in a heavy, hard base. The average density for Alta/Snowbird snow is around 7 percent.

I've always said that skiers in Utah are spoiled. We have the snow, the mountains, world-class resorts, the shortest drive time in the country and scenery to boot.

I remember skiing several years back on one of the worst days I could remember — high winds, drifting snow, poor visibility and temperatures in the teens.

Next to me on the lift at Snowbird was a skier from New York. After an exchange of hellos, he turned to me, and in a voice I can only describe as excited, said something like: "Boy, is this great or what?" It was his first trip to Utah, and he called it his best day skiing ever.

I recall skiing at a resort back east several years ago. It was early March, and their water had been cut off for the season, so snowmaking wasn't possible. What I skied was a surface of solid ice. There were places where I could look down, through the ice, and see bare ground. When I set an edge on the top of a steep face, I slid sideways all the way to the bottom with no chance of an edge catching or initiating a turn. It was that way all day. Survival skiing. Those used to it called it good.

Eastern skiers have told me they sharpen edges after every trip to the slopes for that very reason. There are skiers in Utah I know who haven't touched the edges of their skis since they were tuned by the shop where they were purchased.

And therein lies Utah's story: Utah skiers are treated to light snow, and lots of it, and low humidity, so there's not that bone-chilling feeling, and some of the finest ski resorts in the world. It can't get much better.

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E-mail: grass@desnews.com