This is our premiere North American Freeride Session! We’ve curated this adventure to encompass all the skills needed to safely navigate the trees, bowls, and steeps, of Northern Utah’s famously WILD WASATCH Mountains. Over 9 days we’ll explore 3 major ski areas, ride a snow cat to freshies, take a hike for powder, and weather permitting we’ll hop in a helicopter for turns far beyond the resort boundaries.
Whether you’re new to riding off the groomed and you’re looking for a safe introduction to off-piste, or you’re an experienced free-rider looking to push your limits away from the crowds, this session will expand your skillset and ultimately your ability to access incredible experiences.
Our journey starts at the Salt Lake City Airport, where we’ll pick you up and take you to our private slope side lodge in Eden Utah. (If flying’s not your thing, you can meet us at our lodge in Eden where you can park your car and leave the rest of the driving to us.) Here’s a link to our lodge.. it’s HUGE!
From there we’ll spend seven full days exploring the mountains. Each day will have an educational focus designed to prepare you for the next, matching education with real time access! Here’s a breakdown of the locations we’ll be riding.
Powder Mountain or Pow Mow “as the locals call it”, boasts an enormous 8000+ acres of varied terrain and a variety of lifts. The bulk of Pow Mow’s lift serviced terrain consists of gladded aspen groves, open bowls, and huge rolling groomers. The core of Pow Mow’s terrain is flanked by two giant ridges, Lightening Ridge and Raintree Ridge, these ridges have everything a free rider could ask for, from open powder bowls, steep trees, to tight chutes. Lightening and Raintree are accessed primarily by Snow Cat, Snow Shoes, or Split Board, with each run ending at the bottom of a chairlift. Lastly there’s Powder Country and Woody’s World, 1,200 acres of resort to road runs accessed by a 4WD bus that takes you back to the lifts after your decent. The best part of Pow Mow is the POWDER and they keep this good by controlling the number of daily lift ticket sales to ensure that there’s never a lift line, and there’s always a good chance for freshies.
Snowbasin is a massive resort of 3000+ Acres and 3000ft of vertical that was planned to perfection! The lifts are fast and comfortable, the lodges are built for luxury, the grooming is perfect, the parks are dialed, and the off-piste is an expansive array of glades, gullies, moguls, open bowls, and double black steeps that will challenge even the most experienced riders. However since this jewel of a resort has no on sight lodging and is further away from SLC than Snowbird or Park City it remains relatively unclouded. Snowbasin hosts more challenging terrain than Pow Mow, allowing us to take what we learn at Pow Mow to even more dynamic lines.
Nordic Valley is situated at an equal distance between Pow Mow and Snowbasin, approximately a 30min drive to either. Nordic Valley is smaller than the other two, hosting a vertical rise of 1700ft and 500 skiable acres, however this boutique ski area packs a lot into a small space, such as glades, open groomers, and a decent terrain park. We liked Nordic Valley so much we decided to book our lodge at the base of the mountain, steps away from the chairlift. To add to the fun, Nordic Valley operates their chairlifts until 8pm, giving us the option of night laps before or after dinner. Nordic Valley also serves as the perfect location for storm day riding in the event weather conditions limit our access to Snowbasin or Pow Mow.
Diamond Peaks Heli Boarding. This operation will take us far beyond the boundaries of the ski area and deep into the Wild Wasatch for arguably the best runs of your life. The helicopter takes us to a private range owned and maintained by DP, over the course of the day you’ll take up to 6+ massive runs of untouched snow, selected to match your skill level and ambitions. Groups total 5 people; a DP professional backcountry guide to select terrain and keep you safe, one of our coaches to help guide your skills, and 3 campers. Terrain available to us ranges from open ridges of easy powder turns, to challenging steep couloirs, allowing you to choose your adventure and how hard you want to push your riding. This is an optional adventure that costs an additional fee of $1599. you can add this adventure to your registration during booking! If weather prohibits our ability to access this adventure you will receive a full refunded.
Off hill we’ll support your adventure with hearty breakfasts, family style feasts, and fun après activities like; night riding, video review sessions, game nights, post riding stretch sessions, and technical discussions. Please review the Day By Day tab for an in-depth break down of each day.
This is a high intermediate to expert Snowboard session, participants must be able to safely make turns on black groomed terrain. This session has a minimum participation of 9 persons to operate, if minimum participation is not met within 30 days of travel you will receive a full refund, or you can elect to convert your reservation to a private or semi private session.
Register 4 or more on the same reservation and receive a $200 discount on the total of your registration
All Inclusive
- Transportation From the Start, We meet you at the airport or you can meet us at our lodge.
- Lodging, 8 nights of lodging in shared rooms. (If you’re traveling as a couple you can request to share a room at no additional charge, limited availability for a private room with an additional charge)
- Coaching in a group setting by a level 3 AASI certified coach. We keep our groups small (maximum 1 coach per 4 campers)
- All Breakfast, Breakfast will be offered at our accommodation daily.
- All Dinners, Group dinners will be hosted nightly
- 7 days Lift tickets ($340 Discount for Ikon Pass or Ikon Plus Base Pass)
- 2 single ride tickets for the Pow Mow snow cat
- Video review and goal setting sessions
- Scheduled Off hill activities
- Branded gift Something you’ll want to keep and use for years to come
- Certificate outlining your skill upon completion of the session against our 3 level freeride standard
- Adult Beverages, although some may be provided, in general you’ll buy your own beers
- Lunch on the mountain, we’ll stop for lunch but you’ll buy your own
- Domestic Flights
- Heli Snowboarding is an additional fee of $1599 that can be selected upon registration
- Night lift tickets at Nordic Valley if you decide you want to ride in leu of a scheduled activity
- Medical care, we’ll do our best to get you whatever help you need but you’ll be on your own to cover hospital expenses
- Snowboard gear, you’ll need to bring your own setup.
- Backcountry equipment, (Beacon, prob, shovel) we’ll have a few extra for training purposes but we suggest you bring your own if you have it, if not it can be rented if needed)
- Transportation outside of scheduled itinerary If you require any ground transportation outside of the scheduled itinerary, any costs incurred will be your responsibility; however, we can aid in securing transportation and we will do everything in our power to ensure your safe travel
- Guide Gratuities
Please note: This itinerary is a sample of our best laid plans, weather and the needs of the group may alter this itinerary.
Day 1, Saturday, Arrival Day
Arrive at SLC by 4pm, or to our lodge by 5:30pm. We’ll get moved in and have a social dinner where we’ll discuss the week ahead; you’ll have a chance to work with a coach to dial in your gear and discuss your ambitions for the week, and if you are hungry for some turns you can step outside for some laps under the lights.
Day 2, Sunday, Warm up, and Backcountry Education
After a leisurely breakfast we’ll head out the door to Nordic Valley. You’ll spend the morning warming up your legs while exploring a new resort. As we navigate the lifts coaches will take advantage of this time to gain a clear understanding of your riding, so we can group you with riders of similar skill and ambition. After a late lunch we’ll get back together as one large group for an introductory clinic on how to use backcountry gear, as well as how to respond in the event of an avalanche. After dinner we’ll break into small groups and make a plan for our fist day at Powder Mountain!
Day 3, Monday, Off-Piste Fundamentals and Terrain Acclimation
We’ll leave for the mountain around 9am. You’ll spend the day with your coach exploring the lift and shuttle accessed regions of Powder Mountain, focusing on the skills you’ll need to navigate your off-piste ambitions. Coaches will collect video of your riding in a variety of environments for later review on the big screen at our lodge. We’ll head back to our lodge around 4pm and dinner will be served shortly after. In the evening you’ll have the opportunity to review your riding on the big screen with your coach where you’ll gain insights on your personal performance along with tips for improvement. If your legs are still hungry for more you can head out the door for a few night laps, shoot some hoops in the indoor gym, or chill by the fire with a cup of hot coco.
Day 4, Tuesday, Diesel Powered Exploration
We’ll start the day in our small groups warming up with a soft focus on the previous days discoveries, Then we will hop on a snowcat for a ride to the top of Lightening ridge, home to Powder Mountains most extreme terrain, but don’t let that scare you. Fortunately this behemoth of a ridge has options for everyone, from open cruisy bowls, tight trees, to chutes and cliff drops. We’ll time our accent to meet the snow at it’s prime, assuming all goes well we’ll follow it up with a second lap! If anyone prefers to stay closer to the lifts we can accommodate that as well. After a great day on the mountain we’ll head back to our lodge for a relaxing dinner followed by a mandatory stretch session.
Day 5 – 6, Wednesday and Thursday, Shredding Snowbasin
By now your skills and confidence are at their peak and this is venue hosts perfect opportunities to push your riding to the next level. Over the course of 2 days you’ll work with your coach to decide your best path forward.. you can hike an unforgettable line, smash pow turns in the trees, ride a 12 person tram, lay down some carves on Snowbasin’s legendary groomers, or hit the terrain park for some freestyle fun. After riding each day we’ll host optional an optional evening activity.
Day 7, Friday, Choose your own Adventure
If you have elected to go Heli Boarding this is the day! If you prefer to keep your shred story on the ground you’ll have options. We’re taking a break from coaching this day, but we don’t want that to stop you from getting your turns in. On this day you’ll have the option to freeride Snowbasin or Powder Mountain for a 3rd day (lift ticket NOT included) or take it easy and spend the day close to home at Nordic Valley (lift ticket INCLUDED). We’ll follow up our day with a social dinner at our lodge.
Day 8, Saturday, Social Shred and Celebration
We’re keeping it loose this day, no groups, just a social shred back at Nordic Valley where our journey began. the lifts start spinning at 10am and they don’t stop spinning till 8pm. During the day you’ll have time to pack, sleep in, hit up your coach for any final words of wisdom, or participate in a mystery activity. We’ll cap off our good time with a Celebration worthy of our efforts!
Day 9, Sunday, Departure Day
All good things must come to an end (at least a temporary one). Departing flights must be scheduled after 9am. Coaches will make sure you are at the Airport at least 60min minutes before your flight departs. or to a Hotel in SLC if you’re looking to extend your adventure.