Snowbasin Resort — Resort boasts Olympic downhill course

Week 3 of series on Utah's signature ski runs.

Signature Run — Grizzly Downhill

The run is, as the name indicates, a real Olympic downhill course, made famous in 2002 as the official men's course. The run starts at the 9,289-foot elevation at the top of a very steep face that delivers instant acceleration. Consensus of those Olympians who raced was that they liked the course, found it to be technical, with some nice jumps and variety — hills, valleys, dips, jumps, bumps, sidehills and sweeping turns to keep racers guessing.

Some have called it the most technically challenging course in the world, which, of course, makes it attractive to any skier. Expert skiers can take it at a good speed, certainly not as fast as Olympians. Intermediate skiers will find it challenging and worthy of some good hard edging on the steeper faces.

The run is 9,895 feet in length, or just under two miles, and drops 2,897 feet. The steepest face is 74 degrees. It is accessed off the John Paul high-speed quad, with a short, steep ride from there on the Mountain Allen Tram.

The run got its name from a legendary grizzly, Old Ephraim, which once roamed this country and raised havoc among ranchers. Several turns on the course, in fact, such as Three Toes, are attributable to the old bear. This is a black diamond run.

No. 1 Run — Dan's Run.

The best way to describe this run is "variety." The run offers a lot of different terrain, which makes it interesting and fun. Access is off the Needles Express gondola, which leaves from the lodge area and goes to the unloading area below Needles Peak. Once at the top, the Middle Bowl chair returns skiers to the top for another run on Dan's. From the top, the Strawberry Traverse runs along the ridge, and from there skiers and boarders can drop into the Middle Bowl area and Dan's Run.

It is considered an easy intermediate run that can be challenging. The run lends itself to some good, smooth radius turns. A series of short traverses along this run delivers skiers into some excellent tree skiing.

Top 10

1. Dan's Run off Needles Express is an intermediate run;
2. The Diamond run off Strawberry Express is a black diamond;
3. Griz off Needles and Strawberry gondolas is a black diamond run;
4. Moonshine Bowl off Strawberry is a black diamond run;
5. John Paul Face off John Paul quad is a double black diamond;
6. Wildcat Bowl is accessed off Wildcat chair and is an intermediate run;
7. Sunshine Bowl off the Becker chair is a black diamond run;
8. Main Street off Strawberry starts as a black diamond but turns into an intermediate just below the lift;
9. Blue Grouse is reached off the Needles gondola and Wildcat chair and is an intermediate run;