2026-04-03 Brian Head, Utah

I think it’s fun to discover something new that brings peace and excitement. I didn’t expect it to happen and there it was. I think what happened was that I took it for granted or didn’t give it a thought, really. Sort of like a second-rate resort, or something. I never travel to another resort. Why would I? I’m thirty minutes from the chair right now. It’s two and a half hours for me to get here, that’s a long drive. I guess I’m spoiled. 

When I lived in Salt Lake City, between 1995 to 1999, I was forty-five minutes from the Gad lift at the Bird. I averaged 80 days a year for the four and a half years I was there. I thought Snowbird was the best resort in the world. Coming from California I was blown away. Great terrain with a mix of steep granite, forests of fur and aspen. There were  incredible views and it was close to town and a beautiful drive to get to the all-season endeavors. Great community and the important snow chemistry. The single-digit-moisture-content conditions that truly make it the greatest snow on earth.  Nothing could be better than that. 

My bad. I just never felt the need to explore any other resort.When I made it back to Santa Barbara I would occasionally make a strike with some of the boyz up to Mammoth or Tahoe. I’m tellin’ you, those places have a hard time living up to the places in Utah. Maybe I just had a bad attitude. I felt like it was so low-brow. So, like, dirty, overrun and crowded. Not interested. 

So fast-forward to 2020, during the pandemic. I bring my wife out for a tour of the national parks in Southern Utah and she fell in love with it. It wasn’t long before we moved to Utah Valley. Sundance is close and easy. I can’t stomach the Cottonwood Canyons anymore. It’s too bad but it’s not for me these days. No crowds. No lines. That’s what matters to me. I’ve found that at Sundance. Sometimes, during popular weekends it can get a bit swollen, but it goes away. I ride during the week, usually. There’s nobody. 

I have been hearing about Brian Head for a couple years now and everyone has great things to say about. Its base elevation of 9500 feet creates the opportunity to get snow earlier and keep it longer. The red rock all around adds a very unique aesthetic that you will not see anywhere else in the world. Leave it to Utah. The snow was a bit lean for this time of year - April of 2026, maybe the worst winter in a hundred years - Spring conditions with a very shallow base equals an obstacle course of sometimes-snow and visible rock with a dash of frequent mud…and slushy at the bottom. But as I rode the lift my imagination rode some amazing lines through trees, over small cliffs, through some more trees, through open fields of pow and back up to the top and drop from a different point on the ridge. I weave my way down, then back up again. If there was snow here it would be insane. I can see it. I get it. Maybe I should give it a little more respect. I might even be spending the night in the parking lot for a few next winter.