Snowbasin Ski and Snowboard Terrain

Snowbasin Resort hosted the Downhill and Super G events at the 2002 Olympics, which provides some indication of the terrain. With 2,915 ft of vertical, decent lift infrastructure, plenty of pitch, and wide open highway runs, the Snowbasin ski area can be a real leg burner. A huge amount of the trails at Snowbasin Resort are ideal for advanced and expert skiers, and this doesn’t include the many off-piste areas through powder bowls and gladed areas.

Orientation to the Snowbasin Resort is easy considering that the terrain is essentially spread across one face. The Snowbasin ski area can be loosely divided into three vertical sections: Strawberry; Needles; and John Paul/ Allen’s Peak. The Strawberry section is serviced by a fast gondola, the Strawberry Express. The trees are relatively sparse, and much of the terrain is bowls for intermediate and advanced riders. The Needles section encompasses the original terrain prior to the Olympics expansion and includes a few slow lifts along with a couple of fast ones. The trails are wide and get progressively gentler as they near the base. The John Paul/Allen’s Peak section is serviced by the John Paul Express quad lift and the Mt. Allen Tram. This is where the Olympic downhill course zipped down the incredibly steep trails. The terrain is gnarly and predominantly for experts, with lots of tree skiing. Expert terrain in the form of chutes, cliffs, and cornices ring the resort above the lift serviced runs.

Getting between the 3 vertical zones can incorporate some time on groomed traverse trails. 

Snowbasin Lifts

Plenty of vertical can be covered in a day considering the mostly efficient and speedy lifts. Two gondolas service almost two-thirds of the Snowbasin ski area, so it would be possible to avoid any cold chair lift rides. A good chunk of terrain is also serviced by the high-speed 6-pack and high-speed quads.

The slow chair lifts service some magnificent terrain, and provide the best way to avoid some powder morning lift lines. Some of the original triple chair lifts access some under-utilised terrain that is perfect for the powder hound.

The history of the Olympics at the Snowbasin ski area is obvious on the Strawberry gondola where each gondola cabin is dedicated to a country that participated in the 2002 games. And if you want to ride the Mt Allen Tram to have a look at the Men’s downhill start, it will be made very obvious to you that there is no easy route down. Not only is there signage, but they also employ someone specifically to sit in the tram to tell you. This is definitely not a lift for canoodling! 

Lift Tickets

Snowbasin Resort lift ticket prices have soared in recent years in line with the increasing popularity of Snowbasin. Lift passes are particularly expensive for window purchase, and as is common, you can save with pre-purchase. Lift passes are more expensive on weekends and holidays, and kids 6 and under ski free with a paying adult.

Snowbasin is accessible on the Ikon Pass so it can get really busy, especially when the Cottonwood Canyons are closed.

Snowbasin Snow and Weather

The Snowbasin ski area scores an average of 300 inches of snow annually, which is a very respectable number, except when you compare it to some other Utah ski resorts that get a whole lot more. For example, Alta is blessed with 1.8 times more snowfall than Snowbasin. Snowmaking is required particularly early season. During these times the cover can be thin on the lower parts considering Snowbasin has the second lowest base elevation in Utah (2nd only to the little Nordic Valley) and the top elevation is the 3rd lowest in Utah. About 21 percent of the terrain has snowmaking, and Snowbasin is incredibly proud of the magnitude and technology related to their artificial snow. However in addition to the usual shortcomings of skiing on fake snow, the artificial snow has a suspicious yellow colour to it!

A positive for the Snowbasin snow quality is that many of the slopes have a northeast aspect, especially in the John Paul and Needles zones.

Fog can wreak havoc with Snowbasin at times and visibility can be an issue because some of the groomed runs are exposed and wide, with little protection from trees. If it wasn’t for the ugly lines of snow-making guns, it would be hard to detect the edges of the runs. The ski area isn’t very well protected from the wind and the Strawberry Gondola frequently goes on wind-hold, although the Snowbasin Resort isn’t always very forthcoming with current information about wind or weather issues.

Snowbasin Skiing for the Beginner

Not too long ago, 7% of the trails were rated as green, but in a marketing ploy to attract more beginners, the trail stats magically realigned so that 20% of the terrain was rated as green, which is a major over-exaggeration. There are much better Utah mountains for learning, but nevertheless, Snowbasin has adequate terrain for beginners because most are too busy falling over to worry about more trail variety.

Novices have an area serviced by the Powder Puff magic carpet and the Little Cat chair. It includes a dedicated fenced off area away from the scary fast riders descending to the Needles gondola. For more progressive beginners there are a couple of trails off the Becker and Wildcat chairs. 

Intermediate Skiing Snowbasin

The Needles and Strawberry areas both provide a decent amount of variety for intermediates. Snowbasin is characterised by long top to bottom groomers that will guarantee to have the legs burning by the bottom. Elk Ridge is a classic example!

Unfortunately Snowbasin doesn’t have the fall line skiing of Deer Valley or Park City, with various runs on significant camber. Another slight downfall is the lack of sign-posting on the way down, so on a low visibility day it’s possible to accidentally stray off the main trail. A pro for Snowbasin is that usually a few blacks are groomed, which can be tackled by upper intermediate riders.

Intermediates trying their luck in powder for the first time will find oodles of opportunities either side of the groomers under the Strawberry Express, skiers’ right off the Becker Chair and under the Porcupine chair. 

Terrain Parks and Pipes

Snowbasin is not set up for major freestyling action but it has a few small terrain parks as well as some natural half-pipes. The Littlecat terrain park is located near the base and designed for apprentice shredders. Slightly more challenging hits can be found at Grouse Park near the top of Wildcat lift. Another terrain park is located near the base of the Needles gondola, and is mostly small to medium jumps and some rails.

The superpipe near the base of the John Paul Express is no longer in operation. 

Advanced Terrain

Advanced skiers and boarders are superbly catered for at Snowbasin. Test your mettle from the top of the Mt. Allen Tram and zoom down the Olympic Men's Downhill course but don’t give the passengers on the Mt Allen Tram any thrilling spectating of massive stacks.

Going rider’s right off the John Paul quad will lead towards a selection of smaller ridges. Wildflower Downhill, Grizzly Downhill and Hollywood are the runs to check out. For the speedsters the Grizzly Downhill and Wildflower Downhill are the place to press the pedal to the metal. Both are deceivingly steep with double fall lines. Runs beneath Needles Pork Barrel and Moose Mound will challenge advanced skiers.

In the Strawberry Peak area the most difficult terrain is to the skier’s far right towards the area boundary. This area is reminiscent of a smaller version of Vail’s Back Bowls and Jackson’s Hobacks – great fall line, ridges, light trees and bowls. Buckets of fun! 

Expert Ski and Snowboard Terrain

Snowbasin is blessed with a plethora of expert terrain. The majority of the mega steeps and chutes require some bootpacking and a little bit of local knowledge. Talk to the friendly locals as you ride the gondola. They are a great source of info and can point you in the right direction. A great option from the top of the Mt Allen Tram is to take the main groomer down the ridge to No Name Peak. This will require a little skating and a 10–15 minute hike, but it will be worth it. From the top of No Name, get ready for a steep consistent pitch of 2,800 vertical feet to the bottom. Lines of choice are anywhere between Wheeler’s and Shooting Star. This entire area eventually funnels into a giant natural halfpipe, which is a bonus after an already epic line. Be aware of cliffs and carefully consider your exit routes, as you can easily end up a long way from the base area, particularly if you ski The Pyramids.

For tree skiers, head left off the Hollywood run to a large section of double-black-diamond trees (Ellison’s, Deane’s and Janis’s). Really steep and consistent lines are found throughout this part of the mountain and will test your skills to the maximum. Remember to exit stage right before you hit the bottom of the gully! Other highly prized expert terrain includes Lone Tree and Arrowhead of De Moisy Peak (access via 10-15 minute bootpack from the Strawberry Express). 

For the Powder Hound

Powder hounds will find numerous freshies for a while after a storm if you work for it, particularly midweek when the Ogden locals are all at work. A conservative ski patrol means some expert areas (hike to terrain on the Needles De Moisy Peak and the Mt Ogden chutes etc) may open one to two days after snowfall - saving it for powder hounds.

Easy to get to places for freshies include Surprise, skiers right off the top of the Porcupine Chair, and anything between the top of the Becker Chair and Penny Lane. In the Strawberry Area, The Walrus Fields and anything off Philpot Ridge will get you face shots, as will anything skiers’ left of Moonshine Bowl. The John Paul section holds freshie hunting prizes for a while off No Name.

Snowbasin also has an open boundary policy with various access gates to the backcountry areas.