Best place to ski for beginners in Utah
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Anonymous
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My never skied before daughter will be skiing for the first time. My older children are good skiers.
What is our best bet for winter break? I hope it isn't too late to book. I know this is peak travel time. I feel overwhelmed with Salt Lake City, Park City, Alta, Deer Valley. Are they mostly all the same? Jackson Hole, Wyoming has also been on my to visit list for the past decade. I believe Salt Lake City is one of the airports to get to Jackson Hole. Not sure if it is worth to split our trip up and also go to Jackson Hole. |
Anonymous
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Also, we are Marriott Bonvoy so a Marriott property would be preferable.
No real budget. Expecting to pay $1-2k per night for lodging for peak winter break prices. We often fly south somewhere warm. I'm pretty sure we spent $2k+ per night last winter break for the Caribbean. |
Anonymous
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You might try Solitude. It is pretty low key and fun for beginners and maybe won't be overrun like the major SLC resorts.
You can drive to Jackson from SLC - it's about 4 hours I think. |
Anonymous
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For beginners, I recommend Solitude over PC. The issue is that Solitude lodging is mostly VRBO or AirBnB. Having said that, Park City is probably the way to go for you if you need to use points. The other resorts do not have the big brand hotels. They are all independent. Park City is a cute town with lots of nightlife. I learned to ski as an adult at Park City 30 years ago. We don't go to Park City because we like the resorts on the IKON pass over Epic. Most of the resorts in Utah are IKON, but for Park City/Canyons.
Also, depending on when you go, you are looking at $1000+ for airfare. We are going to Snowbird/Alta for the holidays this year and this is the first year we have to change planes because the direct flights for the days we were going to be there were 4500 total for the 3 of us. Alta/Snowbird and Solitude/Brighton are much more isolated. There is a village at Solitude but it is small. I would recommend Alta for beginners but not Snowbird. Alta only has 5 independent hotels that all serve breakfast and dinner included in the price of the room. Development was restricted in Little Cottonwood Canyon so there aren't many condos either. I've never skied Brighton but it is right next to Solitude. Also, if you are making reservations now, whatever you decide. Make your ski school reservations now too. Ski School fills up quickly. I made the reservations at Alta last year for my son in November and I was able to get 3 days but they weren't the days I wanted. |
Anonymous
| Deer valley and put her in ski school |
Anonymous
OP here. DH has been to deer valley and thinks it is wonderful. He hasn’t been to the other places so he can’t compare, especially for a beginner. I have heard park city has a nice town. I don’t know anything about Alta but from google, it is our supposed best bet for dec skiing. |
Anonymous
| DV is really Lux and lovely. The St Regis there goes for about $3k/night for their standard room. Excellent ski school (as any I’ve seen in Utah) |
Anonymous
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Alta is the best bet for December skiing and has a great ski school but road to the mountain can get backed up with traffic and there are just a few hotels at the mountain (and no town). How old is your daughter? I took my five year old to Solitude and found the base area to be tough to navigate without poles and one of the major lifts did not have a safety bar and went over some huge drops. It was fine but I definitely held on to him for the entire ride! (That was ten years ago so hopefully that has changed!).
I love Deer Valley but conditions are hit or miss for Xmas. You might also consider Steamboat if you are open to Colorado. Great town, more reliable early season snow and I think there is a Marriott property. |
Anonymous
My daughter is 7. |
Anonymous
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Alta and Snowbird are connected at the top, which gives you some options. The Snowpine at Alta is great and has 2 restaurants (fancy one and a pub). Nice pool annd hot tubs annd ski lockers. Plus cocoa and cookies in the afternoon. Unlike the other Alta hotels meals are not included. At Christmas you would really want to stay at Alta or Snowbird to avoid canyon driving and parking hassles.
Snowbird has 4 hotels with the Cliff being the only ski in ski out. The other 3 are very close though and most have kitchenette units which is convenient. There is a small grocery in the tram base. But neither area has a town of any sort. Jackson Hole is not great for beginners although has more options now with a new beginner area. I prefer staying in town and most hotels provide a shuttle to the mountain. There are also nice hotels in Teton Village including a four seasons. I’ve stayed at Terra and the Teton Lodge, as well as hotel Jackson in town (love the latter!). Jackson has a big airport so easy to fly there. |
Anonymous
Park City is nice. Lots of restaurants and shops. Alta is good for skiing but not much else. I would much rather stay in Park City. Steamboat is the other place that we really liked, although harder to get to from DC area. And even with a direct flight, so many get cancelled because of snow and how small the airport is. SLC is at a much lower elevation and a big airport. |
Anonymous
Also- unless someone wants to snowboard, Deer Valley is > Park City. Less crowded and nicer. Plus no snowboarders 
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Anonymous
Bryan Head is the answer -- its half greens but it isnt fancy and does not have the cute little ski town. Its cheap! Like you can get tickets for $10 if you book now. Or buy a weekday season pass for $300. Also, kids under 12 ski free. |
Anonymous
| 7 is really the perfect age for Steamboat and it tends to have good early season conditions, it has a rec center with hot springs and a water slide and a cute western town replica the kids ski through. You can fly direct once a week from Dulles or drive from Denver or connect and fly into the local airport. |
Anonymous
| Everywhere in Utah has beginner slopes. Deer Valley has arguably the best but most expensive ski school for beginners (lots of instructors for privates or small groups with good ratios), but it's a matter of preference. Solitude is great. Snowbird and Alta are the most challenging mountains, but have beginner areas. |