6 Snowbasin Secrets

1. Carpool for Better Parking

Start your day right by carpooling. Snowbasin provides preferential parking for carpools (three or more people in the vehicle). Better yet, avoid the parking thing altogether and get dropped right at the curb by the UTA ski bus. 

2. Check the menu in advance to breeze through the servery faster

Snowbasin’s open-flow serveries offers a wide variety of amazing food…enough that guests are often paralyzed by the abundance of choice. Take a minute to review their menu offerings in advance so you can get in, get out, and get back on the mountain. You can find the menus for all of the lodges here.

3. Kick it Old School

The upside to Snowbasin’s geography is that it’s pretty hard to get lost. Everything eventually flows to the main plaza surrounding Earl’s Lodge. The downside is that on busy days, the line for the Needles Gondola can start to back up. On those days, take advantage of the older chairlifts around the mountain that virtually never experience lines, and make endless laps on Porcupine, Middle Bowl, Wildcat, and Becker.

4. Join the Conversation

When you board either the Needles or Strawberry Gondolas, pull out the earbuds and engage with your fellow skiers/riders. It’s a great way to pick up tips from locals on the best stashes or après ski spots. Chances are, you’ll make some new friends. And even if the conversation is lame, the gondolas are so fast that you’ll be off before you get bored.

5. Après the Right Way

Believe it or not, some people glance into the posh Cinnabar inside Earl’s Lodge and mistakenly believe that it’s some sort of private space for members only. Yeah…it’s that nice. However, it’s the place to be for on-mountain après ski with a full bar, live music (Friday-Sunday), and table service. And everyone is welcome.

6. Ride the Allen Peak Tram (even if you can’t ski it down)

The Allen Peak Tram accesses the highest point possible at Snowbasin. From the top, you can look north into Idaho, east into Wyoming, below at Utah, and west nearly to Nevada. The terrain is “expert only” as it was the start for the Downhill events during the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Even if you can’t handle skiing or riding the terrain, the trip to the top is worth it just for the view, and you can ride the tram back down to the John Paul Lodge when you’re done updating your Instagram.