Best place to ski for beginners in Utah

[Anonymous]

I would not choose Park city for brand new beginners. Just my personal opinion. My kids learned to ski in Vail and had an excellent experience. When I went to Park city we were a little bummed at the amount of open beginner trails, but that may have been due to the strike.

[Anonymous]

Park City is so "fancy" and a little annoying imo and overpriced with overbearing tourists. My kids learned to ski in Winter Park (not a bad drive from Denver) and the ski school was affordable, the area is very pretty too. Devil's Thumb Ranch is beautiful to go cross country skiing as well (we did that while kids had lessons)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Deer valley and put her in ski school

This

And they are ALL going to be super crowded over winter break

[Anonymous]

We liked solitude and brighton. Have not made it to snowbird / alta yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We liked solitude and brighton. Have not made it to snowbird / alta yet.

We’re doing solitude/Brighton for spring break in late March. However, take a look at the trail maps. Solitude doesn’t have a lot of beginners terrain. Brighton has more.

[Anonymous]

Park City but the Canyons side. There is a gondola that takes you up to the perfect beginners area, and the ski school is wonderful too.

[Anonymous]

Agree with Solitude/Brighton recs. As for Deer Valley, I suppose so but honestly, I had a subpar experience there last year. The amount of ice on the trails was shocking. Skiers were littered all over the place. And I’m an east coast skier, very accustomed to ice. I thought I was escaping it by going to DV which is so well known for its amazing grooming, but not so. Luckily it was only a day trip and maybe it was just a bad day but my experience was such that I wouldn’t chance going there again. The snow in the cottonwood canyons is far superior in my experience.

I personally wouldn’t bring a beginner to Snowbird or Jackson Hole. Alta, yes, I would bring a beginner there, although it doesn’t have a lot of beginner friendly terrain, but there is enough, and the snow is pretty reliably great in my experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Deer valley and put her in ski school

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.

Deer Valley over Alta.

[Anonymous]

It doesn’t really matter for the beginner. They all have bunny trails for beginner lessons. Go where the good skiers want to go and get lessons for your daughter.

[Anonymous]

I’d go to Colorado. Measles is spreading throughout Utah and frankly I’d rather spend my money elsewhere anyway.

[Anonymous]

We went to Solitude on the recommendation of this board and it was fantastic for me +2 kids who never skied before, and DH who skied out west a lot when he was a kid but hadn't been on the slopes in 20 years. We've actually been to Solitude twice -- the first time we stayed in the "village" which was fine but not flashy, and the second time, we AirBNB-ed in Cottonwood Canyon which was great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It doesn’t really matter for the beginner. They all have bunny trails for beginner lessons. Go where the good skiers want to go and get lessons for your daughter.

This is the answer. It doesn’t matter for your daughter. She will be on the bunny trail and greens all day. She doesn’t even need to go out west. You would save a ton of money going locally.

The point of going out west and spending big money is to ski the longer and harder runs and different trails and terrain, etc..that you just can’t get on the easy coast.

Go where the best skiers in your group want to go. If they are advance, that is the differentiator and experience that you can’t get here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Park City is so "fancy" and a little annoying imo and overpriced with overbearing tourists. My kids learned to ski in Winter Park (not a bad drive from Denver) and the ski school was affordable, the area is very pretty too. Devil's Thumb Ranch is beautiful to go cross country skiing as well (we did that while kids had lessons)

We LOVE winter park for the tree skiing. Not good for beginners but your green / blue learner can do the run and the more advanced group can dip in and out of the trees if you’re comfortable with it.

I’d advise against Jackson hole unless you plan to outsource the learner via ski school entirely. The Tetons are not really good for beginners and as a mid/advanced skier in my late 30’s, it felt too advanced for me. Tons of blues but it’s really a black or double black on the top third with a lazy green at the bottom, so averages to a blue (look up the French translation). Not good for a family trip unless everyone is advanced, IMO.

[Anonymous]

Loved deer valley for learning to ski. Both ski school and private instructor route are great. Really long and wide green trails to learn on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d go to Colorado. Measles is spreading throughout Utah and frankly I’d rather spend my money elsewhere anyway.

Unfortunately, it's spreading quickly in the Utah-Arizona area.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/measles-spreading-beyond-the-center-of-the-utah-arizona-outbreak/ar-AA1P03UL?ocid=BingNewsVerp

Hopefully it doesn't get to Colorado.