Eden Utah is a small farming town about a hour north of Salt Lake. This utopian valley is surrounded by three major ski areas; Nordic Valley, Powder Mountain, and Snowbasin. Eden has a long history of being a powder chaser’s paradise… almost “biblical” in it’s perfect diversity of terrain and wildlife. A place where people have a deep connection with nature and many live off the land. Unfortunately the clock is ticking for Eden, with ever expanding vacation neighborhoods it will soon look like any other ski destination, flooded with cars, condos, and flashy expensive restaurants that sell forgettable food. However in this moment, Eden is heaven on Earth. It is here we aim to build your skills and enhance your mountain awareness, so you can truly find your snowy nirvana in the heart of the Wild Wasatch.
Our journey starts at the Salt Lake City Airport, where we’ll pick you up and take you to our private 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, and YES it has a hot tub and a theater room.. it’s HUGE!
From there we’ll spend six full days exploring the mountains. Each day will have an educational focus designed to prepare you for the next, matching what you learn with real time access! Over the course of the week you’ll slash trees, jump off a cornice, ride a chute, find a beacon with a probe, and have an opportunity to earn some turns on a split board. Here’s a break down 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, to steep trees an tight chutes, which are accessed by a brand new quad chair or a small hike. 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 less than a mile from the base of mountain. 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.
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.
Use your Ikon Pass at Snowbasin and save $350 off the fully inclusive rate
This is a high intermediate to expert Snowboard session, to attend participants must be able to safely make turns on black groomed terrain. This session has a minimum participation of 6 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.
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 afterwards you’ll have a chance to work with a coach to dial in your gear and discuss your ambitions for the week.
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 core of Powder Mountain’s terrain, 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.
Day 4, Tuesday, The Fringes
We’ll start the day in our small groups warming up with a soft focus on the previous days discoveries, Then we will expand our lens to encompass the less obvious found off of Raintree Ridge and Woodies World. We’ll cap off our exploration with a session on lightening ridge, home to Pow Mow’s 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. After a great day on the mountain we’ll head back to our lodge for a stretch session, or you can elect to take some self guided laps as the sunsets at Pow Mow.
Day 5, Wednesday, Human Power
After a leisurely breakfast at our lodge you’ll have the opportunity to adorn snowshoes or a split board for a Human Powered half day tour designed to connect you with nature at a slower pace. If conditions are super stormy we’ll have the option to forgo the tour and do a half day of unguided decompression riding the lifts. If you just need to rest or catch up on whatever today is your opportunity to chill.
Day 5, Thursday, Level Up!
On this day we’ll explore Snowbasin, this resort has everything… expert chutes, steep trees, cruisy gullies, a pristine park, fantastic groomers, and a lodge experience you’ll never forget. The plan this day is to revisit skill development, find an area of terrain, or a skill you’re working on and zoom in so you can LEVEL UP! After boarding we’ll host a final video review session on the big screen at our lodge.
Day 7, Friday, Choose your own Adventure
For our final day on hill we are giving you the opportunity to choose your adventure. Each Coach will select a direction and you’ll have the chance to choose your own path, options include: Riding the Gnarly hike to chutes and steep trees, Carve with Style by switching up your stance to lay down some carves on Snowbasin’s perfect groomers, or Catch some Air in and out of the park.
After Snowboarding we’ll get together as one big group for an après celebration worthy of our efforts!
Day 8, Saturday, 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.
All Inclusive
- Transportation From the Start, We meet you at the airport or you can meet us at our lodge.
- Lodging, 7 nights of lodging in shared rooms.
- Traveling as a couple? you can request to share a room at no additional charge
- Need your space? we offer private rooms for 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
- Daily Lift tickets ($350 Discount for Ikon Pass)
- Video review and goal setting sessions
- Scheduled Off hill activities
- Branded gift Something you’ll want to keep and use for years to come
- A Post Session Report outlining your skill upon completion complete with notes from your coach for future improvement
- Adult Beverages, although some may be provided, in general you’ll buy your own alcohol
- Lunch on the mountain, we’ll stop for lunch but you’ll buy your own
- Domestic Flights
- 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 near buy 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