Oh hi, have you missed me? I was away on vacation and came back to a totally slammed schedule but I finally have time to give you the inside scoop on my trip! Utah had been on my to-visit list for years. In fact, going skiing in Utah is on my 30 Under 30 List that I wrote 2.5 years ago. With only a month and a half until my b-day, it’s a good thing I finally scheduled a visit. MM, some friends and I planned this trip a few months ago with visits to three local mountains.
We flew into Salt Lake City on Thursday night and rented a condo walking distance to Park City Mountain and downtown Park City. Due to some flight delays and a not-so-quick visit to the nearby grocery store, we arrived at the condo around 2am. Because of this, we figured it would be a late start the next day.
We had a leisurely wake up, made a hearty breakfast then around noon headed to Deer Valley. Deer Valley is probably the most posh of the Utah ski resorts. And when I say ski resorts, I mean SKI because they forbid snowboarders. As a snowboarder, I was a bit offended but also had heard such great things about the mountain that I wasn’t going to let a little skiing keep me away from the slopes.
DV was nice enough to hook me up with rentals and lift tickets for the day. Everyone at DV was so friendly and helpful. I got set up with my beginner skis (it’s recommended you book this ahead of time on their site) and headed for the greens. I skied as a kid but the last time was around middle school so my skills were a bit rusty. I only had one minor spill, no big falls for me. I was very cautious on the slopes and made my way to some blues but took them slow and steady.
At first I felt very off-balance but was impressed that within an hour I was feeling pretty comfortable on the skis. My legs were seriously burning as I strained my muscles to stay in control. We took a mid-mountain breather at Stein Erikson, I was told the chocolate chip cookies here were a must. By this point in the day we worked up an appetite so we ordered choco chip cookies, pb cookies, spiced nuts, a soft pretzel and cocktails (bloody mary for me). I was disappointed in the choco chip cookies. I mean they were fine but they were so built up and they were just your basic ole cookie. Maybe they changed the recipe? Is this possible? [BREAKING COOKIE NEWS: we went to the wrong place, apparently the famous cookies are only available at a resort day lodge…I will have to go back to accurately review these cookies]. I preferred the pb cookies and the soft pretzel was the winning app. My bloody mary was quite delish as well.
As these ‘quickie’ stops go, by the time we were back on the mountain it was almost closing time. Good thing too because I was feeling that bloody mary! We skied down one last slope and called it a day at 4pm when the slopes closed.
Though the skiing was challenging, I enjoyed that it was something new (or rather, new in the last 15 years). Snowboarding for me at this point is second nature so I loved the challenge of getting back on skis, although I was happy to be back on my board the following day. I’d be open to trying skiing again although I’m in no way converting back to it.
Deer Valley was a fantastic experience! I had a limited view of what the mountain had to offer since I couldn’t go beyond the easier blue trails but the service was top notch, views were incredible and the mid day snacks were fab. If you’re a skier visiting Utah, get over to DV.
Visit HERE to learn more about Deer Valley.
