Solitude Ski Area
Solitude’s modern lift system provides quick access to several faces that offer varied terrain. From the steeps of Honeycomb Canyon to the groomed runs off the Eagle Express, there’s something for every level skier at Solitude.
To call Solitude snowsure is to verge on comedy. A record low snowfall winter at Solitude would be a record high snowfall winter at dozens of resorts across the Rockies. Solitude is one of the snowiest places on earth. It receives the same 500″ of snow as Alta and Snowbird (only about 2 miles away as the crow flies) but only a small fraction of the skiers.
One of the benefits of receiving 500” of powder each winter is that the resort has a lot of snow to play with. Solitude has chosen to allow certain areas to remain ungroomed, while it utilizes its tremendous bounty of natural snowfall in other places to refresh its groomers. The result is a mix of outstanding advanced tree and bowl skiing and the best conditioned groomers in North America.
Guests staying in the village start their day with either the Sunrise Express or Apex triple chair. Day visitors to the Solitude park at the Moonbeam Base Area, one mile downhill from the village and closer to Salt Lake City. There guests will find the resort’s day lodge and plenty of parking.
Expert skiers flock to Honeycomb Canyon on the backside of the resort for an in-bounds backcountry experience and to the pine tree glades of Headwall Forest for world-class tree skiing. Intermediates tend to enjoy the groomed runs on the front side of the mountain off the Eagle Express. The core of the resort’s beginner skiing options is off the Moonbeam Express near the day lodge.
Solitude underwent a major lift transformation in the early 2000s that entirely changed the way the resort is skied. Some skiers have complained that removal a lift which stretched from the village to the top of the peak now served by the Powderhorn lift has limited the amount of vertical skiable in one run. This is a fair critique as it is difficult to ski long vertical at Solitude in a single run. However, the tradeoff when these new faster express quads replaced aging doubles has been that skiers can now make far more laps before.
Lastly, despite being able to snap off lots of quick laps, Solitude has a decidedly unhurried feel. Perhaps not having to fight in lift lines breeds politeness, but the resort has relaxed, almost country club like feel. It’s the type of place where parents still feel safe letting their children take a few runs by themselves and where a long lunch in the sunshine just feels right.