A group of 24, including 6 children, enjoyed the ski trip to Snowbird during the long MLK weekend. For the first time a trip organized by the club had more than one kid and only actively working members. In addition, about half of the participants were IMF employees, another first for the club.
Even though the snow conditions were not even close to the “powder paradise” that we expected, skiing was still quite decent and everybody enjoyed themselves on the slopes (Snowbird enjoys an average snowfall of 500″ by that time of the season and when we went the resort had only 145″). The flight arrived ahead of schedule in SLC on January 11th, allowing us to get to Snowbird before 11 am. I had liaised with the hotel in advance and the Cliff Lodge was able to check all of us in early so people were on the slopes by noon. It snowed a bit on the day of our arrival as well as most of the next day and for the rest of the trip we enjoyed sunny and blue skies. The mountain was a little bit busy on Saturday and the morning of Sunday as the locals tend to do day trips for the weekend. On Monday, January 15th, Mineral Basin, the back bowls of Snowbird, opened for the first time this season, which was one of the highlights of the trip. As the weather and conditions were good, most of us skied until noon on the day of departure as well, also thanks to the hotel as they granted late checkout to all of us.
In addition to great skiing, everybody loved the Cliff Lodge: its proximity to the slopes, great facilities such as the outdoor hot tubs and pool, as well as the three restaurants. Staff was also extremely friendly and helpful. Another highlight of the trip was the group pizza dinner on January 13th. The quality of the pizza was much better than expected and people enjoyed this gesture from the club.
Overall, the feedback from the participants was that they enjoyed the trip very much and would love to go back to Snowbird. Indeed, the direct flight to SLC and proximity of the resort to the airport makes the destination quite attractive. My family and I liked it so much that we went back in March!