Alta or Snowbird for Family?

[CarveMan]

My Brother, his wife & 2 kids (5 & 7) are thinking of a trip from Australia to Utah next January. They will do a week in PC and then move around to LCC.

Brother and sister-in-law are both very strong skiers but family needs are first & foremost, 7yo nephew will be skiing easy blacks but the 5yo niece will probably be limited to greens & blues.

I've skied Alta & Bird plenty but never with family/low-end skiing in mind. I'm leaning on Alta as a base for them due to the Sunnyside/Cecret area, seems better for the kids than Big Emma etc at the Bird.

What do mags think?

Also I've never stayed up the LCC - what sort of accomm would be good for kids in Alta? They are not worried at all about nightlife etc, the kids will be wrecked and in bed by 7pm every night & my Bro/Sis know full well that evenings will be quiet and they are cool with that. As long as there is something fun for the kids in the afternoons then that will be cool.

Thanks.

[Hott Butt Mud]

Alta for the kids.

[OldSchool1080s]

Another vote for Alta for the kids. If they end up in BCC, Brighton would be a solid choice for them as well.

Sent from my PC36100 using TGR Forums

[yellofin]

Alta. The supreme chair has long blues it's a mellow area away from the Collins crowds and it also has good steep tree skiing so you can split up and meet at the lift. It's good for all abilities

[Downbound Train]

No Brainer....Alta.

It's easy enough to pop over to the Bird with an Alta/Bird pass so base camp at Alta is the best of both worlds.

As far as accomadations... Rustler Lodge is sweeeeet. Oudoor pool for the kids. Very relaxed atmosphere. Kinda spendy though. It's also very close to the Albion basin (Green Runs) so it's a little shorter ride on the transfer tow.

Oh, and make sure the kids take this lesson on proper transfer tow usage....

[baron]

on weekdays either would be great.Mineral has cool intermediate skiing,Even the kids can handle the alta link. I 'd say ride a few days on the combo ticket ! Its about the same price as park cty lift ticket.

[baron]

No Brainer....Alta.

WOOOooooooahhhhhHHH! that was way funnier than the guy who exited mid station ,in front of me ,2 yrs ago! FREE case of HINEYCAN for anyone who can ride like that all the wayto the end!

[bestskieratsnowbird]

stay the fuck away from snowbird.

[smuggs]

^ yea that guy is right. bird only offers terrain for the most arrogant of assholes. alta is alot more family friendly.

[bestskieratsnowbird]

alta's full of arrogant cocksuckers as well, go to BCC for true family friendliness (that's an honest suggestion, not just an LCC asshole telling you to "stay away from our canyon").

[Supermoon]

Utah sucks. Just go to Colorado.

If you must come to my canyon, go to Alta. Rustler lodge and Alta lodge are both really nice and kid friendly. Sunnyside lift has some really nice beginner terrain and some pretty fun mini golf stuff underneath it. Sugarloaf and Supreme have a few nice blues with some beefier stuff as well for the grown ups.

You could pretty much stay anywhere up the canyon though, and use the free bus service to shuttle you from the bird to alta if they wanted to stay at the Clif or something.

[CarveMan]

stay the fuck away from snowbird.

It's OK, I used to ski Snowbird, but moved on to a real mountain.

[schindlerpiste]

Sleariously, just consider that Alta/Bird base is at 8500' and the summit is 11,000'. (as opposed to Park City 6500/10,000). If your kids are not used to altitude, they may experience major discomfort. This would not only ruin their time, but yours as well. Having said that, Alta offers much more kid friendly terrain than Snowbird. Other than skiing, there is not much for kids at either area.

[skew]

My family learned to ski at Snowbird when were 40, 37, 10, 8, and 6. It worked out ok and Bird is still our main mountain. If I had to do it over again I would pick Alta. It has more beginner-friendly runs and no snowboard complications. The Bird made us very good skiers and we didn't know any better when we started.

One thing to consider that no one has mentioned: FOOD. Wherever you end up in LCC, you will pretty much have 4-5 restaurants as your only choice. If you have a car or can somehow get down to the Smiths on Bengal Blvd., this will greatly improve your options. Eating in LLC can get very old, very quickly not to mention $$$.

[fat yeti]

You might also want to consider Solitude up big cottonwood smaller crowds and good terrain for younger kids.

[AlpineZone]

Hi CarveMan! May I suggest that instead of overrated, overhyped and overpriced Utah, that you consider a ski safari to the northeast USA instead? The conditions are actually more dependable and consistent to anything you will find in the west due to the superior snowmaking. Also the terrain is truly fabulous, the partying is unmatched anywhere(can you say "hot New Jersey Italian babes?") and the setting is Norman Rockwell-esque! Pursuing the plethora of hot NYC/NJ and Boston "chicas" in their stretch pants can be even better than the great skiing, but I must warn you they are quite feisty and outspoken, unlike the laid-back western gals. Try Killington, Vermont, and when you score your first powder day in the glades of "Anarchy", "The Throne", "Chop Chop" or "Patsy" , you will be grinning from ear to ear, I promise you! Both Smugglers Notch, Vermont or Waterville Valley, New Hampshire would be a good choices as well.
I would also like to take this opportunity to formally invite you (as well as all of the lurkers and non-lurkers alike) to come join our fun-loving but responsible bunch of snowriding aficionados who know the benefits of what good moderation brings to an on-line community. I think most all of you will find that our seasoned moderators "keep the bar high" by maintaining a sense of order and decorum, while encouraging quality discussion about our favorite pastime. We also have superior bandwidth and response times on our 502g superfibre network as well as a state-of-the-art virtual blade server farm with 5000 terabytes of virtual disk space for your photos, blogs etc. It may take a small amount of getting used to, as we do have reasonable standards as far as language and image posting that are strictly enforced. The registration is easy and painless, and the rules will be explained in detail during the process. I will warn you however up front that registering an ALIAS is strictly "VERBOTEN", and something we have zero-tolerance with. If you are tired of the juvenile hypocritical guttersniping at TGR and yearn for a snowriding forum that matches your maturity level, all I can say is: "Come join the fun"!

[~mikey b]

shut the fuck up Greg

[Tippster]

Ski both.

Stay at the Lodge at Snowbird & cook your own food, take the Peruvian lift up to the Basshole, go through (kids think it's cool) and ski down the easy side of Mineral, then head through the Alta gate when that's played out for the kids.

Game room in the Cliff if they're bored of the pool. 5 decent restaurants within walking distance. El Chatanal next to the game room has good margaritas.

[powdork]

Sleariously, just consider that Alta/Bird base is at 8500' and the summit is 11,000'. (as opposed to Park City 6500/10,000). If your kids are not used to altitude, they may experience major discomfort. This would not only ruin their time, but yours as well. Having said that, Alta offers much more kid friendly terrain than Snowbird. Other than skiing, there is not much for kids at either area.

my personal experience is that the altitude affects adults much moreso than kids. where i work altitude sickness is not all that uncommon among guests, and it is never the kids.

[MTT]

I am a tourist in the LCC on occasion.

If I were visiting as a family with kids and money were no object, I would stay at the Cliff Lodge and primarily Ski Alta.

You would probably also want to Ride the tram and tour around Snowbird for a couple of half days,

The the Southeast part of Alta is VERY KID / Intermediate freindly. and more important all the runs funnel into one area so its easy to keep track of the family.

[pruitt]

I took my family to Utah last year. Wife and 2 kids... 4yr and 5yr.

We went to Park City, Snowbird, Alta and Brighton.

Top of the list for my kids and us was Alta. A close second for the kids was Brighton. Then Snowbird and Park City in a close tie. I would say for me and my wife Snowbird was right behind Alta.

If we went back we would probably split our time between Brighton and Alta.

Just a few thoughts

[bridge]

Another vote for Alta, the terrain, and quite frankly the skiers, are more family friendly in my experience

[goathead]

Alta.
I (still--under new management) love the Snowpine. No pool (but a hot tub) good bkfst and dinner and good family rooms.

[smartyiak]

You could pretty much stay anywhere up the canyon though, and use the free bus service to shuttle you from the bird to alta if they wanted to stay at the Clif or something.

Just remember, the bus stops running at 4:00 or so...if you eff around too long, you'll have to call for a shuttle...or catch a ride w/ some grungy EC kids in town for the college X/C championships.

Seriously though, I'll be the dissenting voice and say: Snowbird. Took my son to Alta and Snowbird last March. My son can ski greens, blues, and easier blacks. Everyday the temp got in the upper-50s and there was no new snow; lots of spring corn and slush.

He did not enjoi the many traverses and flats at Alta. Snowbird was pretty much plug-and-play. The warmer temps made the stuff off the tram accessible for him. If the kiddos are gonna be in lessons, the Alta ski school was great.

I get why people prefer Alta when there's pow. But with no new snow and high temps...the boy had more fun at 'bird.

-Smarty

[CarveMan]

Trolled by Greg. My life is complete.