The Canyons were a side trip for me while on a group ski vacation in Cottonwood Canyons Wasatch Forest and Ogden area Cache Forest. I had previously skied Deer Valley (www.deervalley.com) and Park City Ski resort (www.parkcitymountain.com) before starting this goal of skiing sixty new ski areas by my sixtieth birthday. I wanted to get back to the area to the ski The Canyons (www.canyonsresort.com). How surprised was I to see the growth of that area over the last seven years!
As many of you know I have had surgery to both knees over the years…and with age a little arthritis has set in. So I am not keen on resort parking lots that require bus transport between the parking lot and the base. Canyons has solved that problem with an open bucket lift system known as the Canyons Cabriolet that moves you from the parking lot/base camp to the main lifts. Even better they offer a fair priced Valet Parking at the Grand Summit Hotel…I took advantage of this service. You don’t need to be a hotel guest to valet park. Sweet!
After taking advantage of valet parking I was welcomed to boot up in the hotel and leave my boot bag with the rental office. Such service I have yet to see. Once geared up I was greeted by a mountain affiliate employee who provided me and my ski mate tickets to enjoy the mountain. Given an overview of the mountain by the host we realized the Canyons had many acres to cover, in fact, 4,000 acres to cover. It is the largest ski and snowboard resort in Utah and one of the five largest in the US.
Being on the recovery side of fever the day before (or so I thought) we chose skiing trails that would not exacerbate what made me weak the day before. We realized skiing the whole mountain was unlikely but we would give it our best. We loaded the Orange Bubble Express for an express lift experience not to be missed. An orange bubble to protect you from the elements can be pulled down as you sit on a heated chairlift seat. Wow! The eastern ski areas could certainly attract skiers with one of these! From there we worked our way across the acres going skier’s left at the top of the lift. We had hoped to hit the Ninety-nine 90 Express to hit the summit with wild tree and steep terrain. Unfortunately when we got there a notice of thin cover and no easy access out combined with my weakened state made it an easy decision not to go to the summit. I love the name of the lift though advertising the summit is 9,990 feet above sea level. The base being at 6,800 feet gives the mountain a vertical of 3,100 feet. We made it to the Peak 5 Quad and I ran out of steam. Hoping lunch would generate enough energy to tackle the Dream Peak we headed in for lunch at the Red Pine Lodge. Unfortunately the fever returned and my day was done.
My ski mate returned with me to the Grand Summit Hotel and continued skiing to check out terrain on the skier’s right at the top of the Orange Bubble Express. We vowed to return to this mountain and spend more than one day doing the acreage justice and absorbing more of the views, the dining choices, hotel accommodations and the village shopping.
If you get a chance to ski Canyons please share your experience with me so that I can maximize my return trip! Oh Canyons…I will be back!