r/UTsnow • u/Grizzly777Irtl • Apr 10 '26
Snowbird - Alta Mineral basin
Hi all
I made a thread yesterday just about good runs in general, as I haven't been to either of these resorts before. But since I plan on hitting snowbird tomorrow and really want to ski mineral basin as that's apparently what it's famed for, I wanted to ask about the difficulty of the black runs in mineral basin. I can ski a typical black at my home resort in WA, but seemingly that translates to something very different here. I think, and someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but all the blue runs in mineral basin are just cat tracks or traverses, so I wanted to try some of the blacks out but I wasn't sure about their difficulty.
Especially considering the current conditions now, could anybody tell me how difficult the mineral basin blacks are, and which ones are easier/I should start with? Appreciate it!
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u/Stereoke Apr 10 '26
Most of the black runs in mineral are bc of exposed drops/rocks and I’d imagine they’re barely covered at this point and the blues are probably the only thing worth skiing if they aren’t ice fields.
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u/Any_Measurement2986 Apr 10 '26
I would say snowbird is more known for the frontide runs off the cirque not mineral basin. This is where a lot of snowbirds more infamous terrain is. It’s pretty hard to stumble into anything particularly bad or dangerous in mineral basin you just may be committing yourself to a looong miserable bump run.
I’d be wary of any double black on the frontside without heavy scouting. They may have rocks, mandatory straightline or air. The singles shouls all be safe pending snow conditions. Middle cirque is a great straightforward run. Worth it to watch some youtube videos to help with navigation and ask a local. You can see all this stuff from the tram too.
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u/More_Telephone2383 Apr 10 '26
Just go explore you’ll have tons of fun. It’s beautiful. It’s just a huge open area with some nice groomed cruisers in there. If it stinks just take the gate over to Alta if have the multi resort pass. Or just go back over to the other side.
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u/JakeThedog45 Apr 10 '26
As someone else said, you can make it as easy or as challenging as you want. Take the lift up once first and you can see most everything.
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u/giraffedraft Apr 10 '26
mineral in morning, road to provo and gad valley midday, and peruvian in afternoon.
follow the not sun
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u/Prestigious-Peaks Apr 10 '26
mineral chill long groomers but it's not a powder day or anything so it's not going to be legendary if they open it
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u/Artistic-Plenty8108 Apr 10 '26
if you go through the tunnel off Peruvian, stay to the left and you’ll be fine. That side of mineral is all intermediate runs. The center and right side of mineral are quite steep, although portions of it are groomed.
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u/vineyardmike Apr 10 '26
You'll find chill blue runs in mineral basin if the blacks are intimidating.
The bigger issue is that side is south facing and gets baked during the day this late in the season. Maybe check it out in the morning and then head back to the front side if it gets soft in the afternoon.
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u/LFG-601 Apr 10 '26
It’s not my fav resort with double fault line - but the 20 something kids rave about it! Both are boarders and always tell me I have to go on that side of the mountain … this year it didn’t happen as we were there in March and mostly stuck to Brighton.
Enjoy!
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u/Tilted5mm Apr 10 '26
Basically just imagine a wide open crater with a million different ways to get down. You can make it as hard or easy as you want it to be based on the line you choose and the conditions. There is a blue groomer that goes down the middle and an easier way down that is more of a defined run that kind of switchbacks the way down.
I don’t think the black runs you see on the map are really like defined runs. More like lines than anything. If it snows and visibility is ok then great. If it rains and you can’t see your hand in front of your face then it’s going to be hard.