Saturday, March 5, 2011

Eagle Point Ski Resort



Last Saturday I was lazy and did nothing all day long and it rained ALL day long. Offpiste from Bogley gave me a free pass to Eagle Point and the more I thought about it the more I realized that Sunday was probably the last day of this ski season I would be able to use the pass. We are moving again and the next couple weeks are going to be busy with packing, work and moving. I really couldn’t have picked a better day to cash that pass in! We woke up at 5AM to get ready to go, the drive from St. George to Eagle Point is 2 hours. My goal was to leave by 7AM to make it there by 9AM, rent Spencer some skis and be on the slopes when the lifts opened.

We pulled out of town at 6:40AM. 20 minutes ahead of schedule, PERFECT! We are driving along and an old tradition of ours when we had to get up every Saturday for ski team was to call out our check list to make sure we didn’t forget anything. We haven’t done that in so long I kinda forgot about it. Spencer (he is so cute) starts hollering out the checklist like I use to and Sarah and I piped in together to confirm each item he called out. He gets done with the list looks over at me and says "we are ready Mom".

As we approach the Leeds exit there are about 25 Semi’s pulled off the side of the road and the exit. I am use to driving in some pretty shitty road conditions but to see this many semi’s pulled off before there is even any snow on the road had me very concerned! I have all wheel drive and a strong desire for some powder so guess we will see what is in store for the drive up. As we proceeded the terrain became dusted with snow. I do love the way this area looks with snow on it! So beautiful! The roads were completely packed with snow from New Harmony all the way to the resort. Both rest stops between here and there were FULL of semi’s. One of them a semi had started to pull out on the on ramp and promptly went off the road! Saw several cars off the side of the road on our drive up. Really crappy road conditions, overcast and miserable the entire way, we drove slow and took our time. There was only one other car in the canyon up to the resort. We arrived at 9:40 to a bare upper parking lot. In the whole lot there were 14 cars.

It was absolutely beautiful up there. The sun was shining and the powder was fresh! They received 16” overnight and 20” in a 48 hour period. We rented a ski package for Spencer and hit the slopes. We started off at the top of Eagle Point because that is where the blue runs are and Sarah’s level. After we made sure she was comfortable on Skyline chair. Spencer and I headed to the Lookout chair. I don’t think there was more than 150 people total on the entire mountain!

Spencer is not a powder skier and was a bit reluctant to come with me but the blues at Eagle Point are really more like greens for my kids. So he was bored on the upper ski area. I am glad he came because we experienced powder so light and fluffy it made the Easter bunny green with envy!!! He and I skied four really good powder runs and then mommy guilt kicked in and I had to get back with my girl. If she would have had someone to ski with I would have let them ski to their hearts content while I did the same. I could not, even in the name of powder, leave her by herself for very long.

We reconnected with Sarah and ate lunch at the upper lodge. Food service was painfully slow and the fries were so over done they were more like chips and they don’t serve beer in the upper lodge. Spencer’s bratwurst and kraut was delicious. After lunch we headed over to the Monarch lift and played as a family for the rest of the day over in that area.

Not a bad little ski resort and if no one bothers with it on a fresh powder Sunday definitely worth the trip to mess that powder up. There is another lift they are putting in on Delano Drop that will make this a much better resort. Right now when you are skiing those lower runs where all the black diamonds are you have to hike over to Delano Drop. Spencer was not up to that so we didn’t get over that far on the mountain.

The blue runs in my opinion are more like greens and the blacks seem a bit tame. Still I think it is a great little resort and cheap skiing. It only cost me $92 to buy two passes for the kids and a ski package for Spencer. If I had to buy my pass it would have been $137 as opposed to $200 at Snowbasin. By the time you figure the cost of gas in Eagle looks even better.

I can’t give a good comparison between Eagle and Brian Head as I have only skied Brian Head during late spring skiing and they had few runs open. I can compare it to Wolf Mountain up in Eden. Eagle has more black runs and actually I think a better place for beginners to learn. Those upper runs are great for a beginner. Short, wide, just the right angle and plenty to choose from. I wonder if Eagle will ever do night skiing?

One thing I can say is they have the LONGEST tubing hill I have ever seen. The kids and I would love to go back up and just go tubing. Only $15 for two hours.

Overall loved it! We had a great family day.



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