Skiing engages all of your senses and conjures a range of emotions. It’s a lot like music, and whether or not you have headphones popped into your ears while shredding, you definitely have songs in your head while making that perfect edge on a perfect line on a perfect day. Indeed, there’s nothing wrong with a bluebird day on a groomer that makes your heart Sing.Out.LOUD! Here’s a sampling of ski and snowboard runs that make you feel like a rockstar.
Deer Valley Resort
Hawkeye, the longgg, perfectly pitched blue run, tucked on the far side of the Northside lift, may allow you to clock your highest speeds and angles and dream of selling it all to retire here one day . However, Fairview is also a gem. Hiding in plain sight, Fairview sits quietly between the Jordanelle Gondola, Mountaineer and McHenry Lifts. It sits at a lower elevation and ends at The St. Regis Deer Valley, where you deserve a famous Bloody Mary to celebrate a great day.
Park City Mountain
Park City has so much — and so much varied — terrain there could be several finalists. Sanctuary, a bobsled-style trail through luxury homes on the Canyons side, is probably the least known or skied blue run in the entire resort. However, Kings Crown has that perfect width, length and pitch that almost shouts at you to get on edge and finish out the day, not just like a rockstar, but a legend.
Snowbird
Known for its deep powder, Snowbird also has a few groomed runs that can put your skis and your heart on edge. In Gad Valley, the big, beautiful black diamond run, Regulator Johnson, is the bad boyfriend of skiing: he can treat you wrong one day and make you melt the next. On a springtime bluebird day, when the sun is high and the snow is soft, you soar down Regulator Johnson from atop a steep Northwest facing bowl hovering close to 11k’ and cannot imagine being anywhere else.
Alta Ski Area
There are some ski runs that, once you figure out where to slow and where to go, you — like your favorite songs — put them on repeat. At Alta, arguably, this list includes Mambo or, even better, Main Street to Mambo. Dropping in from the top of the Collins Lift, skiers on the upper section of Mambo prance carelessly around the top, losing partners to the high-kicking traverse gates. Meanwhile, the homogeneous-sounding Main Street sits in the shadow of the Ballroom, looking more like a wallflower. Never underestimate the wallflower! High Main Street drops hard and fast immediately, whispering, “Hold on!” before pirouetting into Mambo's middle and best section, where you'll find your groove.
Snowbasin Resort
Snowbasin was the venue for the Men’s & Women's Downhill in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, with the men's race taking place on Grizzly. Dropping 2,900 vertical feet stretching over two miles, it was called the “Kitzbuhel of North America.” The run remains daunting, taunting and tempting us to go for the gold and stand among the gods. For mere mortals, however, Elk Ridge to Main Street starts briefly as a black at the top of the Strawberry Gondola before transitioning into a true blue race to the resort's base. You’ll understand why everyone seems to be heading to Snowbasin this season…and, perhaps, the 2034 Games.
Beaver Mountain
For 85 years, the Seeholzer Family has kept the lifts at Beaver Mountain spinning without losing their groove. Generations of skiers and snowboarders — who aren’t named Seeholzer — call this place home. Like any family, no one agrees on which run would achieve rockstar status. Still, Stan’s Bonanza, off Harry’s Dream Lift, is one of Utah’s best fall-line groomer runs dropping from the summit to the base of the resort and is one of the reasons people keep coming back to “Ski the Beav!”
Eagle Point
Tucked away in the Tusher Mountains in Central Utah, it is a chart-topper for many reasons. Because it is only open on the weekends, Eagle Point collects more and MORE untracked powder throughout the week, leading to a frequent #PowderFriday. So, be ready to do fast laps on Satisfaction, Delano Drop and Vertigo, all adjacent to each other off the Lookout Lift, with a playlist to match.
Brian Head Ski Resort
Sliding off The Dunes lift (aka #7), sunny blue skies force your head to turn 180 degrees towards Daybreakon the left or Last Chance on the right, where white corduroy lines streak downward. These mellow blue runs drop just under 550 vertical feet, but your jaws will sink as you tip your skis downhill, look ahead and witness the rising red rock formations of Cedar Break National Monument.
Musical tastes change over decades and lifetimes, but the feeling that burns through your chest when cruising down any number of incredible runs at Utah's 15 ski and snowboard resorts is timeless. It'll melt your heart or, perhaps, rekindle it. Whatever your genre, you'll find at least one rockstar run that makes you sing or scream out loud.
