Snowbasin Ski Resort Guide & Reviews Ski Area, Apres-Ski, Things to See & Do at Snowbasin
Snowbasin Review
As one of the venues for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, Snowbasin has everything you could wish for on the slopes. The resort is known for its vast ski terrain, excellent service and high quality infrastructure and facilities.
In the resort, there are three plush day lodges with bars and restaurants as well as the Grizzly Center guest services building at the main base.
Ogden Valley and the towns of Huntsville and Eden are the main bases with regular ski buses up to the slopes - there is no mountain side accommodation.
Après-ski
The Cinnabar in Earl's lodge is lively with bands playing between 3pm and 6pm. Apart from that, the main apres-ski is back in towntown Ogden where historic 25th Stret has fantastic dining, cool bars with live music, eclectic shops and beautiful galleries.
Huntsville and Eden have a more relaxed and quiter apres-ski scene but equally good fun.
| Key information (whole area) | |
|---|---|
| Altitude | 1986m |
| Top lift | 2888m |
| Family | |
| Beginner | |
| Intermediate | |
| Expert | |
| Ski area (acre) | 3000 |
| Longest run | 5 km |
| Off piste | |
| Cross country | 26 km |
| Season | Nov - April |
| Snowboard parks | 4 |
| Heli Skiing | ✔ |
| Summer skiing | ✘ |
| Glacier skiing | ✘ |
| Babysitting | ✘ |
| Creche | ✔ |
| Apres ski | Relaxed |
Snowbasin Ski Area Guide
The ski area is impressive with 3000 acres of skiable terrain offering over 3000 feet of vertical. With an annual average of 400 inches of that famous Utah powder, the ski season is long, typically starting mid Novemeber running though to mid April.
The skiing is divided into 3 areas...
- The De Moisey and Strawberry Peaks to the southeast of the resort are
accessed by the Strawberry Express Gondola. From the top, you have 2500
feet of vertical
- The Needles Express Gondola takes you up to 9010 feet at the top of Needles -its a popular
area for intermediate and advanced skiers
- To the northeast of the resort is the Mount Ogden area which is accessed by the John Paul Express Quad and Allen Peak Tram. From the top, there is 3000 feet of vertical!
Beginners
The base area near Earl’s Lodge is the main hub for families and beginners. There is a dedicated area for first time skiers and is where the ski school meets.
Intermediate
The Needles and Strawberry areas have lots of long cruising trails of up to 5km long that are ideal for perfecting your carving turns. The gladed trails with deep powder are not to be missed either and are seriously good fun.
Advanced
There is a slight bias towards black runs with around 30% of the trails graded for good intermediate and advanced. A must is the The Olympic Grizzly Downhill nick-named the Kitzbühel of North America — seriously fast and dangerous. For steeps and gladed trails, the pistes under the John Paul quad are not to be missed.
Snowboarding
With the vast quantities of snow that falls on the mountains at Snowbasin, surfing through the deep powder is a dream for any snowboarder plus there are very few flat sections.
For terrain parks, Snowbasin has 4 with state of the art features including a massive 65 rails! The Blue Grouse park is a firm favourite as it has something for all abilities - located just off Boardwalk at the top of Wildcat Run.
Snowbasin Lodging
The downside to Snowbasin is that there is no mountain accommodation. However, just 8 miles away in Ogden Valley there is a good selection of chalets, condos, guesthouses and lodges. The neighbouring towns of Huntsville and Eden on the shores of Pineview Reservoir are just 15 minutes away and also have a wide selection of chalets to rent.
Childcare
Ski schools take children from the age of 3 years but if you have toddlers, the High Altitude Kids Children’s Center can look after youngsters from 8 weeks to 12 years old. Its a safe and entertaining place to play and relax while parents are skiing.
Things to See & Do
A superb resort for all the family with many things to see and do no matter what age. A few suggestions for your ski holidays...
- Snow tubing on the 6-lane hill
- Nordic skiing around 26km of trails
- Toboganning
- Snowmobile guided tours
- Heli-skiing at Powder Mountain
- George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park in Ogden
Our view on Snowbasin Ski Resort
Snowbasin is off the grid for most skiers and boarders and thats how the locals like it - but for how long? With its state of the art lift system, excellent snow record, first class mountain lodges serving high quality, value for money food, our guess is not for long.
The only draw back is the lack of mountain accommodation but with downtown Ogden, Huntsville and Eden so close, the ski bus gets you to the slopes in no time and the quality of the skiing more than makes up for this.
