By Kyle Aldous
Racing down the mountain, the snowboarder hit the booter, soaring through the air, rotating three times and throwing down what avid snowboarders would recognize as a switch backside 1080.
This scene, along with others like it, came from this year”s ESPN Winter X-Games. Students who watch the X-Games have imagined how great it would be to be able to throw down the tricks seen at these competitions.
But for most people, the closest they have gotten is playing ESPN Winter X-Games on Playstation 2.
Many students who come to BYU each year have never been snowboarding, and coming to a state that boasts the “Best Snow on Earth” presents an opportunity to learn in the best conditions.
Many resorts lie within a couple hours of campus, and it is a formidable task to decide where to begin. Some resorts have better snow, better prices, friendlier staff or a more convenient location. It is important to find a resort that provides the best overall experience when hitting the slopes for the first time.
A good overall choice among resorts is Sundance, the creation of Robert Redford, with a history that dates back to the late 1960s. Initially, Redford was advised by investors to fill the land with hotels and condominiums. He rejected this advice, and after years of adjusting, Sundance is now a premium resort. In 2005, Sundance was named a top-10 resort by Conde Nast Travelers Readers” Choice Awards.
The resort offers the cheapest day pass prices at $35 for a mid-week pass, and $45 for a weekend day pass. For another $35, beginners can rent all of the gear they will need for a day on the slopes.
Two triple chairs and a quad lift take boarders to the top, where they can then choose from 41 different Alpine runs suitable for all abilities.
With around 450 acres, the park offers beginners a suitable environment for learning. The park has estimated about 33 percent of the terrain is classified as beginner, which gives boarders a great opportunity to learn to stay on their feet.
Sundance is one of the closest resorts, roughly a 30-minute drive from BYU campus. Its proximity to BYU helps the resort generate a lot of business from students looking for some time on the slopes.
“It”s the closest, the cheapest, and it”s got the easiest slopes to learn on,” said Ashley Coleman, a senior majoring in German linguistics. Coleman said she would recommend Sundance to anyone that is starting to learn how to snowboard.
Sundance also offers beginners an opportunity to learn on slopes that are not as crowded as other resorts.
“It”s nice because there are usually never any crowds,” said Patrick Davis, a senior majoring in biology.
“The feel is different here at Sundance than most bigger resorts,” said Dan Ybarra, assistant supervisor at the snowboard school. “It”s a smaller feel, more of a family feel, which makes it not so intimidating.”
Another great choice for learning to snowboard is Park City. Although Park City is more expensive and further away from campus, there are many avid boarders who strongly recommend it as the only place to board. Transworld Snowboarding ranked Park City”s terrain parks No. 1 in 2005 and 2006.
A standard day pass at Park City will run $77, with a full rental package for an additional $31. The resort lies about an hour away from campus and offers 3,300 acres of varied terrain to ride.
More than 16 lifts take boarders from the 6,900-foot base up as high as the 10,000-foot top elevation. With 17 percent of the mountain deemed beginner terrain, there is plenty of room for beginners to start learning.
“Park City has a lot of flat runs and is really wide, so it”s the best place to begin,” said Trevor Patience, a sophomore from Mesa, Arizona. “They have four board parks there, so beginners can try out anything.”
Patience said that he would recommend Park City to everyone from beginner to expert because the snow is perfect, and the park offers more opportunities for boarders than any other resort in the area.
Other resorts to consider are The Canyons and Brighton. The Canyons terrain park was recently named the seventh best in America by Transworld Snowboarding Magazine. The resort boasts more than 3,700 acres and 152 different runs. Brighton has 850 acres of terrain and around 66 different runs to ride.
