To bird, or not to bird:

[Coño Frío]

To bird, or not to bird: that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous Maggots,
Or to take arms against a sea of trolls,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;


....perhaps I should sink the soliloquy and instead reach out to the Mags in Mormonandia to answer this eternal question.


Background:
3 families making a pilgrimage from the East Coast to a house of refuge in the Big Cottonwood Canyon (Walkable to Brighton). 5 nights, 4 days on the slopes. We currently plan to hit Brighton, Soli (cause we’re right there), and then venturing over to LCC for a day at Alta. I realize the bird has better terrain than the two in BCC, but the debate is whether making a second trip to LCC will be worth packing up the kids and driving down and up the canyons? Or do we just unleash the munchkins on another day at Brighton and numb our disappointment with coors lights!

[DeepHelmet]

Im not a fan of Brighton, but it's really hard to beat Solitude if you are traveling with kids. Started my kid skiing there and it was a great place to do it. Depending on weather, the drive may not be worth it anyway if there's delays or closures.

[AmmergauerTele]

How good are the kids at skiing? Assuming they are decent. I was just out there in early December - have a feeling that a day at Solitude would be better than the 45 minutes to Snowbird. So many options for the whole family there. Yeah, not as big but I'm assuming you will have high quality snow - Hit the trees right next to the groomers, pop out next to the kids, wash, rinse, repeat. Logistics with the family (x3 families) are a pain in the ass - KISS, keep it simple sh&thead. If it is sick - ditch the kids with the wives and hit Snowbird.

[ill-advised strategy]

I say make it condition dependent.

When I had passes in BCC and LCC, I did the opposite of what most people did: Most people say if it's snowing go ski LCC while it's soft, but if it hasn't snowed in a while ski BCC because you can still find soft snow.

I say if it's not snowing go ski LCC because if you're not skiing pow at least you're skiing great terrain; if it is snowing avoid the frenzy of LCC and stick to skiing deep pow on smaller terrain in the nooks and crannies of BCC.

[bushbiker]

If only those BC touring hippies weren't around and they could put up lifts to create one mega resort so visitors would not be faced with such tough dilemmas...

[pvars]

In my opinion, Snowbird is hands down the best mountain in Utah (better than Alta), and competitive for all of North America. Great steep, featured terrain that's easily accessible, large area, great snow. Coming for a ski vacation in SLC and skiing everything but Snowbird seems strange. But Brighton, Solitude and Alta are all great too and you will have a sweet vacation even if you miss it. The logistics of getting 3 families with kids over to another canyon seems like a lot of trouble. You gotta make some decisions about your priorities and how much work you're willing to do to meet them. If you can, I'd say skip the bird and Alta, watch the weather (Wasatch Snow Forecast website) and then take a last minute solo trip or adult trip when a good storm is hitting and ski LCC.

One last thought, if its a bluebird weekend day with ~8" or more, don't even bother trying to get up LCC it will be a traffic/crowded shit show, but if its cold, windy, snowy storming day a lot of people won't come out and its the best - storm skiing with free refills. And even though its Utah, we can do better than Coors Light too. Enjoy your trip!

[mfa81]

if you are good skiers you brighton will get really boring, soli has decent terrain and not as crowded as lcc!

for 3 families with kids I'd only do lcc on a sunny day or like suggested adult trip!

if a kid is bored or wanna go home they you are in trouble at lcc, chances for that on a good day are much smaller!

I'd first do a day at bird instead of alta! much more terrain accessed right at the lift, while really good and challenging terrain in alta would require traverses, side steps

[old goat]

When you hit the Bird be sure and have Gnarhucker show you around. He knows all the gnarliest lines. Your kids will have a blast.

[TeleMac VT]

I 100% agree:
I say if it's not snowing go ski LCC because if you're not skiing pow at least you're skiing great terrain; if it is snowing avoid the frenzy of LCC and stick to skiing deep pow on smaller terrain in the nooks and crannies of BCC.[/QUOTE]

[stuckathuntermtn]

More threads should be started like this.