This past week, we finished up skiing in northern Utah, one of our favorite places for lightweight powder.

Many think of ski resorts like Park City and Deer Valley when planning a ski trip to Utah. But did you know there are lesser-known ski areas nearby that have amazing powder, less crowds, and cheaper access?

Our recent travels took us to:

We managed seven days of skiing in a two-week period, five of which were powder days.

Here are our trip notes:

Week 1

Where we stayed

• ​Mountain Valley RV Resort​ (Heber City) – Sundance (20 minutes), Park City (30 minutes), Deer Valley (30 minutes)

What we did

• 3 days of skiing at Sundance
• A walk in downtown Park City
• A trip to urgent care

Memorable eats

• Little India (Heber City)
• Tony’s Tacos (Heber City)

Ski Day 1 (Friday) – Sundance, sun, and tearing my left tricep

This was our first time skiing Sundance, but not our first time on their slopes. Back in 2016, a lift-served mountain biking experience inspired us to return for skiing.

Sundance was a big motivator for getting Ski Cooper passes this season. As far as I know, they don’t partner with many mountains accept Ski Cooper, Snow King, and Power Pass.

Our goal on day 1 was to figure out how to navigate the mountain before the forecasted Tuesday powder day. We also wanted to understand the parking situation and fill up on sunshine before cold and snow returned.

Sundance is the first ski area where we’ve paid for parking in six ski seasons.

We didn’t park in Lots A or B closest to the main lodge because they charge $45, Friday through Sunday ($25, Monday through Thursday).

Instead, we paid $10 to park in Lot C next to Jake’s Lift (free, Monday through Thursday).

We showed up at 7 am to beat any crowds which turned out to be overkill. Most people didn’t start showing up until 8:30 am, 30 minutes before lifts start spinning.

Walking around the base area, we could tell mountain conditions were going to be on the firm side. We watched as the sun came up and it seemed like the Wildwood Lift was getting first rays. So, we went there first.

Well, it was sunny, but the groomers were borderline icy. We took a couple of runs and decided we’d seen enough. We moved over to Outlaw Express.

Conditions weren’t much better, but at least we got to see the main base area. We needed to go much higher.

We hopped on the Flathead Lift and got excited about what we saw. The runs underneath were ungroomed and steep, and the snow gave the impression that it was powdery goodness. We saw other people skiing and snowboarding some of the Flathead runs from afar, so we thought it would be okay.

Well, remember how I mentioned tearing my tricep in a previous newsletter?

We dropped into Redfinger and as we lost elevation, the snow became less forgiving. Bumps were minor, but the problem with less-trafficked resorts is that bumps don’t get packed out.

Death cookies made edging difficult, and it wasn’t long before I was no longer upright. I went down so fast, I fell incorrectly, tearing my tricep.

I could barely push myself up, but I was eager to get down to the lift before anxiety kicked in. There was a still a lot of vertical to conquer through more bumps and death cookies, and I wanted to get it over with.

I couldn’t believe I made it down without falling again. I’m sure people watching from the lift saw my awkward form and were wondering why I thought that run was a good fit for me.

I was feeling super bummed because our day was just starting and Sundance was supposed to be a highlight of our season. I was determined to keep going. You don’t need your left arm to ski right?

We rode Red’s Lift to Sundance’s highest point, hoping for improved conditions. We watched as people skied Bishop’s Bowl, and nobody looked timid or off balance. We couldn’t hear edges on ice either, so we figured it had to be good.

And it was! The snow was perfectly soft, so we spent the rest of the day exploring most of the runs around Red’s.

Regardless of screwing up my arm, we accomplished our goals. We figured out parking and how to navigate the mountain for the upcoming powder day. The double blacks above Bishop’s Bowl and Pipeline would be our main targets.

The views at Sundance are spectacular, so that also helped to make up for the awkward day.

Sundance’s neighbor, Park City Mountain Resort, was recently recognized as the most Instagrammed ski area in the US. However, if the same number of people that visit Park City were to visit Sundance, I’m pretty sure there would be no contest.

Ski Day 2 (Tuesday) – Sundance and powder on crust

Powder day! Almost half a foot fell. That was the good news. But because of all the sun and warmer temps over the weekend, almost everything was crusty underneath.

We were disappointed to skip the double blacks we had scoped out on Friday. And skiing under the Flathead Lift was out of the question after what I did to my arm. I still couldn’t use it for poling.

We were determined to find the best snow and our persistence paid off. If you’re looking at Sundance’s trail map, runs to the right of Red’s Lift had the most agreeable conditions of the day.

Urgent care (Wednesday)

I thought my arm was healing well until five days post-injury when I started having circulation issues.

A nurse practitioner checked my tendons, ligaments, and nerves and determined all were intact. I just needed compression to help the swelling and from blood continuing to pool farther down my arm. A nurse wrapped it for me, and within a couple of hours, it was already feeling better.

I picked an urgent care in Park City because I figured they were highly experienced with ski injuries.

The downside of choosing Park City though, was traffic. My decision to go to urgent care landed us in Park City at 2:30 pm. The urgent care was pretty speedy and I was out of there just before 4 pm.

Problem was, everyone was finishing their ski day. I wanted to grocery shop in Park City for better options than Heber Valley, but that was a mistake.

It reminded us why we’ve been staying away from Epic and Ikon mountains and focusing on lesser-known ski areas.

Ski Day 3 (Thursday) – Bluebird day at Sundance and best snow

We were going to call it quits after two days at Sundance, but blue skies were back in the forecast. We had one more free ski day to redeem, so we thought, why not? We weren’t missing out on powder days elsewhere.

Surprisingly, day 3 ended up being our best day. Much of the crust disappeared and we could find packed powder at the highest elevations. But I still didn’t have the guts to ski under the Flathead Lift again.

Our timing for Sundance was just off, and we look forward to trying again.

Week 2

When we arrived in northern Utah, we thought we would ski Sundance and move on to Wyoming or Idaho. But then, we learned two things.

The biggest storm of the season was about to hit the west, including Utah.

Also, rumors were swirling that Powder Mountain, only two hours north of Sundance, was planning to leave Indy Pass next season.

PowMow became an instant favorite after our first visit in December 2019 using Indy Pass.

They limit daily skiers and riders which means when snow falls, we can find fresh lines around their 8,400+ acres all day, and sometimes, for days afterward.

Since the ski season started off with meager snowfall, we were planning on rolling our 2023/24 Indy Passes to 2024/25 using their Pass Protection Program. We would just stick to our Ski Cooper pass partner benefits.

But how could we pass up PowMow if this season might be our last chance to ski two free days with Indy? And we could plan them for powder days?

OpenSnow was forecasting the most powder for Sunday and Wednesday, so we reserved our tickets and extended our stay in northern Utah.

Where we stayed

• ​Riverside RV Resort​* (South Weber)
• ​Traveland RV Park​* (Logan)
• ​Willard Peak Campground​ (Perry)
• ​Aspen Grove RV Park​* (Trementon)

*​CampersCard discount

What we did

• 2 days of skiing at Powder Mountain
• 2 days of skiing at Beaver Mountain

Memorable eats

• Ogden Valley Pizza (Eden)
• Tamales from a guy selling them out of his car at Smith’s grocery store (Logan)

Ski Day 4 (Sunday) – Powder Mountain storm skiing

The storm of the season had us hesitant to drive SR-158 to Powder Mountain. The access road has a 16% grade and is one of the only roads where we’ve felt both of our Sprinter vans struggle going uphill. Going down, we’ve burnt up our brakes.

We chose to park our van at the Eden Park-N-Ride, so we could take the UTA Ski Bus for $10 each roundtrip. A bus to PowMow would be departing at 8:04 am, and we’d arrive at the mountain in time for first chair.

By the time we arrived at the Park-N-Ride, we only had 20 minutes to eat breakfast and gather our gear. Our commute from Riverside RV Resort in South Weber took longer than anticipated as snow was dumping on all valley floors.

We decided to wait for the next bus scheduled for 9:19 am. We wouldn’t make first chair, but PowMow always has plenty of snow to go around.

8:04 am came and went as a bunch of skiers and riders waited patiently in the parking lot. The bus pulled up late which wasn’t shocking due to the heavy snowfall. But when I looked inside the bus, it was packed so full that people were standing in the center aisle.

After an exchange with the bus driver, everyone walked back to their vehicles, loaded up their gear, and started driving to PowMow. The bus didn’t have capacity for more riders.

Since the 8:04 am bus was late, one could only assume that the 9:19 am would also be late, as well as full.

I wasn’t super thrilled about driving, but the clouds were starting to part, and I could only hope that plows were working tirelessly to keep SR-158 clean for the buses.

Our drive up turned out to be much safer than I was anticipating. Pavement was showing the entire way up; a stark difference from valley and canyon roads from South Weber to Eden.

The only minor problem was that any time traffic would stop or slow down on the 16% grade, our Sprinter would refuse to accelerate when trying to move again. I’d push the pedal to the floor, and it wouldn’t go anywhere. I had to coax it by pumping the accelerator.

Regardless of arriving at Hidden Lake Lodge close to 9 am, we still got a front row parking spot along the cat track to all of the lifts.

Later that day, I saw on PowMow’s website that parking was full by 10 am, and they were instructing people to take the bus. I wondered how that worked out for late risers.

We spent a few hours at the Paradise Lift where you can drop in on both sides of a ridge. The wind was fierce at times which made snow on one side a little wind blown and compacted, but still good.

The lift line only took about a minute, and even though each chairlift was full, there was plenty of powder for everyone.

We took laps until we couldn’t stand the cold anymore. Temperatures were in the low teens, but with added wind chill, we were suffering on every lift ride. Our van registered 13 degrees Fahrenheit in the morning, and it showed the same in the afternoon.

We spent about ninety minutes in the van eating snacks, drinking hot beverages, and taking advantage of our diesel heater.

Part of me wanted to call it quits. The storm skiing was brutal. But it was our second to last day at Powder Mountain, maybe forever.

We went out again to do a loop – Village lift to Hippie Hill, Mary’s to Raintree, then back to Paradise. But by the time we got to the top of Mary’s, we were freezing again. The wind was worse than before our break, and with snow still falling and more heavily, visibility was deteriorating.

From the top of Mary’s, we fumbled our way back on a green run to Hidden Lake Express and called it a day. It was the craziest storm skiing we’ve had in a while.

Ski Day 5 (Monday) – Beaver Mountain and endless powder

When we decided to stay in northern Utah for Powder Mountain, we didn’t make immediate plans to also ski Beaver. Beaver is two hours north of PowMow.

I figured that Monday and Tuesday between our reserved days at PowMow would be rest days. But since we wouldn’t be rolling our Indy Passes to 2024/25, it made sense to redeem tickets at Beaver too.

Beaver had snow in their forecast, but Monday was supposed to be in the single digits and just as windy as our storm skiing day at PowMow. We decided to go anyway, even if it meant we wouldn’t last long on the mountain.

We were so glad the forecast was wrong about the wind part. It was barely breezy, and light, fluffy snow came down all day. Our storm day at Beaver was even better than our first day at PowMow.

The snow was effortless and Beaver was nearly empty. We lapped the trees around Marge’s Triple for half a day. When we left in the early afternoon, so much snow had fallen that chair lines had completely untouched powder just as they had in the morning. I felt bad for not pushing through to last chair, but I needed to save my legs.

We hadn’t planned on doing a second day at Beaver, but with even more snow in the forecast, we had to return the next day.

Ski Day 6 (Tuesday) – Beaver, more powder, and pushing boundaries

OpenSnow said Beaver only got two inches, but because there was so much untouched powder leftover from Monday, we were knee deep on Tuesday. The parking lot was emptier too.

Instead of migrating to Marge’s Triple, we spent our entire day on Harry’s Dream Lift. So many freshies!

With every run, we kept traversing farther from Marge’s toward the top of the Little Beaver lift. We wanted to see what was along Beaver’s boundary on that side of the mountain.

There’s a boundary rope that starts at the top of Marge’s, but then, the rope ends abruptly, and it seems like any terrain lower than the rope is fair game. No signs are visible.

We entered the trees where the rope ended, but became nervous as the slope moved away from the resort and tracks started to disappear. We traversed out and found an out-of-bounds sign many yards from where we entered.

I was certain we could start at the top of Marge’s and remain inbounds until we hit the top of Little Beaver, so we tried another run.

Well, after finding some amazing pockets of untouched snow, we narrowly missed Little Beaver. There were no ropes, no signs, and we’re pretty sure we would’ve ended up on the highway very far from the ski area.

Maybe if we kept going, a boundary rope would’ve presented itself, but hiking seemed likely.

Looking at the trail map, it’s possible that by going past the top of Little Beaver along the outer edge, we would’ve reentered the resort at Cotton Tail or Whooziwatzit, but I’d want to check with ski patrol. I don’t trust trail maps that aren’t a topo and just an artist’s rendering.

Anyway, be careful if you’re pushing the boundary limits at Beaver!

Ski Day 7 (Wednesday) – PowMow and our 4th day of powder

The day started off with heavy snow and a scary drive to Hidden Lake Lodge. While snow wasn’t falling in the valleys and SR-158 was practically snow free, the snow level started as we reached the resort area.

A two-wheel drive Toyota truck was in front of us. I was nervous as it went around the hairpin turn closest to the first PowMow parking lot at the Sundown lift.

It pulled through fine until turning right toward Hidden Lake Lodge, the same place we were headed.

The falling snow was thick and plows had not come through yet at about 7:45 am. Not really their fault. It was coming down fast.

Fortunately, I was keeping my distance because all of a sudden, the truck was on the other side of the road, slamming on their brakes, and going head first into a berm.

The truck driver wasn’t deterred, though. They backed up and continued up the road to Hidden Lake Lodge.

The road is two lanes, narrow, and relatively steep. It didn’t take long before the two-wheel drive truck was spinning their tires and getting sideways.

I turned on our flashers and started backing down the hill. The Sprinter van behind us did the same, and the truck followed our lead. Fortunately, the truck got down the hill okay, and we were able to proceed to the lodge.

I’m so grateful for our four-wheel drive Sprinter with amazing BFG T/A KO2 tires because it was like driving in mashed potatoes. I could keep the van straight, but I could tell it was working hard to maintain a line.

I had those same BFGs on my Toyota FJ Cruiser while living in Lake Tahoe, and they never disappointed, even in heavy, wet snow.

PowMow is a top down mountain, so we took our first run from the parking lot all the way to the Paradise Lift.

Fortunately, wind was almost non-existent this time, maybe just a minor wind gust here and there. The powder was even better than Sunday. It wasn’t compacted and it was a smoother ride.

We spent most of our time dropping off the ridge to the right of the chair, picking a different starting point each time.

I was so happy to get some of my best turns of the season since it might be the last time we ride PowMow.

Let’s hope they join another multi-resort pass. Their day tickets are $229. Eek! (Supposedly, they’ll be transitioning to dynamic pricing.)

Upon leaving PowMow, we drove to Aspen Grove RV Park in Trementon, Utah, very close to the Idaho border.

We want to hit our favorite Idaho Indy mountains during what might be the last real storm of the season. Late-season storms aren’t out of the question, but spring weather will set in across the west by mid-March.

Other Utah mountains you should check out:

Northern Utah

• ​Nordic Valley​ (Eden) – Power Pass resort
• ​Cherry Peak​ (Richmond) – Freedom Pass + Indy Allied

Southern Utah

• ​Eagle Point Resort​ (Beaver) – Freedom Pass + Indy Pass
• ​Brian Head Resort​ (Brian Head) – Power Pass