Solitude still skiing's best kept secret

January 3, 5:32 PMSalt Lake City Outdoor Recreation ExaminerJared Hargrave

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Photo by Steve Lloyd, Solitude Mountain Resort

Today it was a 12-inch powder day at Solitude, and leave it to me, a professional photographer, to forget a camera. In any case, me and my friends Fields, Adam and Mandy, hit the slopes at Solitude and it looked something like the image on the right downloaded from Solitude's webpage. Yes, at times the snow was that good, flying over our shoulders on some turns where the snow had been deposited by wind.

Solitude is one of my favorite places to ski, if not my favorite overall. Sure, I love skiing the steeps at Alta and Snowbird, but even on a powder day, there are no crowds at Solitude. While skiers elbow each other in Little Cottonwood for fresh tracks, at Solitude you hardly have to fight. There are no lift lines, no racing across traverses to powder stashes, and all the unspoiled lines you want roll out beneath you all morning long. On a powder day, the ski patrol opens up the mountain in stages, so you can cut up runs under the Eagle Express and Powderhorn lifts until Summit opens up. Then when that gets tracked out, the ropes drop at Honeycomb Canyon. In effect, there is a chance of getting fresh powder all day long.

It never ceases to amaze me why Solitude isn't more popular. On days like today I wonder, how is it possible that there is over a foot of new snow and nobody around to ski it? Well, I'm not complaining and I hope Solitude stays that way.