I got to Eden, Utah, around 5:30 and checked into my Worldmark Wolf Creek resort condo. This was a first time stay in the area, and Snowbasin is a new ski resort for me. From my condo it was less than 30 minutes to the ski resort. I was excited to explore the next day.

I had cut out caffeine two days before, and the caffeine withdrawal headache was bothering me. Maybe I was drinking/eating too much caffeine. Two cups of coffee in the morning, a diet Coke during the day, a bit of chocolate intermittently. Hummm.

SnowBasin was a wonderful surprise. Like a movie, as I drove up to the resort, I broke through the fog, driving up the mountain, and the peaks of Snowbasin rose out of the fog. It was spectacular.

The day had been predicted to be partly sunny, but that poor sun couldn’t burn through the fog. The morning wasn’t too bad. I skied groomers mid mountain and the north end called Strawberry. For lunch I went to Earl’s Lodge for lunch. I thought I got an IKON Pass discount but I didn’t… I ate a $20 turkey pot pie. I choked on the price, but it was really pretty good. My memory for food isn’t good, but I would say it is the best pot pie I’ve eaten this season. Of course it was the first pot pie of the season, too.

After lunch I went back to the Needles Gondola which is right outside Earl’s Lodge but the visibility was so poor—the light was flat and I just got creeped out skiing blind. I called it a day, knowing I’d be back the next day. This mountain has no free mountain tours, which surprised me given its very toney, upscale feel. About six inches of new snow had fallen, so on top of not knowing the mountain, the powder skiing was challenging enough.

Good to my word, I was back the next day, starting out earlier so I got to the area before 8:30. By the time I gear up I’m not first in line. The day started sunny and clear so driving up I could see the enormous mountain. Snowbasin is one of the best kept secrets in the ski world. The Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Downhill was held here. Here are some trivia I picked up.

• The bougie lodges were built for the Olympics. They are really nice. As they say, nicest bathrooms ever.
• Look up when you go to the Lodges. The chandeliers are spectactular. Especially the ones at John Paul Lodge.
• You can ski the Olympic downhill course from the top of Allen Peak. A million years ago I skied the downhill course at Lake Placid. I skied part of the course here at Snowbasin. The Olympic skiers go SO FAST from the top of the mountain to the bottom. 80 MPH plus. These are black diamond runs. The parts I skied my max speed (when I was nearly out of control) was 35 MPH. And I thought that was death defying.
• Take the Allen Peak Tram to see the views. Four states—Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado, Utah—the Great Salt Lake, Mountain Peaks galore.
• The other amazing view is at the top of Strawberry Gondola. At both of these vantage points it is at the top of the mountain so the views are of both valleys.
• There’s plenty of parking and a good shuttle service so you don’t have to walk far.
• The chalets and outbuildings are made out of massive logs. Well done, they spared no expense.
• Rumor is that the Sinclair family (of Sinclair oil) owns both Sun Valley and Snowbasin.

The day was sunny and maybe that’s why people were friendly. There were lots of families, and lots of guys skiing together. On the gondola rides, I was with five guys, three brothers and two random dudes. I told them I was the luckiest girl alive to be surrounded by all that testosterone. They just laughed.

Lots of men who live in the Ogden area were with male friends visiting. There was only one other woman I rode a gondola with and she was with a guy. We were all around the same age, too.

Right before lunch I decided to go to John Paul to ski the north side. It’s a lot of black runs, but the mountain host at the trail map assured me there was a groomed blue down. I rode up with Greg and Mark. They had been friends since their days at UC Berkeley.  I gave them grief because I am a Stanford Grad from across the bay. Mark said there was a groomed black that went off the top of the peak and offered to show me the way.

I have promised myself to take it easy this year. ONLY GROOMED RUNS. So of course I took him up on his offer. It was basically one groomer track down, but that was good enough for me. The view at the top was getting obscured by clouds so it wasn’t quite as spectacular as I had hoped. It was a narrow chute from the top to the start of the Olympic downhill. So I got to see that. And I just turned, hopped, turned, hopped and before I knew it, I was down! Thanks, Mark!!

I had heard from the mountain host that the food at the John Paul Lodge was very good. Their specialty were waffles of all sorts. I got a Chicken Waffle with Bacon. Out in the dining room there were no empty tables, so I asked to join a group of guys. Of course. There were no groups of gals. NONE. We have got to change that up, ladies.

But these guys were so nice! They were my kids’ ages, and two lived in Park City and the third was visiting from San Francisco. They were having the waffles, too.

These waffles were fabulous!! The waffle itself was made on one of those hotel kind of round waffle makers that you put the batter in and flip it over for three minutes.  The chicken was deep fried—how can you go wrong with fried chicken? They sprinkled chives over it, syrup, and then two slices of bacon were garnish. The young men I sat with were all clean plate club boys. I left a few crumbs because, well, you know a lady always leaves a little food on the plate. But trust me, I could have eaten every crumb.

As I was leaving I bumped into Mark and Greg and they invited me to join them on a run. I just said “Groomed” and they assured me they would be. They were much better/faster skiers than I, but so kind. They complimented me—they thought I was their age, but I am ten years their senior. Or maybe they were just being nice.

That’s OK.

I am alive and having the time of my life!