xcskiing in Bryce

[TreeHugger]

We're heading down to Bryce to ski President's weekend. I havent done that before but have always wanted to. I imagine Bryce in the winter is gorgeous. Has any one been there? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[tanya]

We're heading down to Bryce to ski President's weekend. I havent done that before but have always wanted to. I imagine Bryce in the winter is gorgeous. Has any one been there? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

I can't think of a prettier place than Bryce in the Winter. I have never skiied there however. Usually if I go I just do the scenic drive and take photos. Bruce from Bryce that is in the group, actually works at Bryce. I think as a ranger.

[offpiste]

Been there a few times on ski's. It is nice the colors are brilliant, and trails are cruisers.

You will enjoy it greatly I'm sure.

[brettyb]

Did it a couple of years ago. Most of the groomed skis trails are actually outside the park, near Ruby's Inn. There are a couple of marked trails inside they park, but they aren't groomed, though on the Paria Loop(?), it was very strange, there were perfect ski tracks set, but obviously not by a groomer or a snowmobile towing a track setter. Not sure how much snow they've had this year. Have you inquired about their coverage?

All in all, it's awesome. They do have the winter carnival or whatever they call it on Prez Day weekend; not sure if that draws big crowds.

[TreeHugger]

Thanks for the info. I was figuring it would be mostly backcountry-type skiing on the park trails. We classic, and skate skis and snowshoes, so I figure we wont be hurtin' for fun times. Hopefully, there will be snow, for the views, if nothing else.

[stefan]

tree, you know, the morning you posted this, i sent a pm to bruce. but i just realized he's in hawaii. hopefully he'll post with some bryce info when he returns.

[TreeHugger]

Thanks, Stefan, appreciate it.

[brettyb]

Please let us know how it turns out. Here are some photos I took in January 2004.

[Sombeech]

Those are some great pics. I'm gonna snag one for the homepage. :2thumbs:

[stefan]

niiice, bryce + snow = gorgeous!

thanks for sharin' :2thumbs:

[TreeHugger]

Those pics are great - getting me really excited to go. Hopefully, there will be plenty of snow. Thanks for posting those!! :-)

[stefan]

hey tree,

well, i am not sure when bruce is getting back. an article tayna posted mentioned that there really wasn't any snow there.

the snowpack which is meaured around the state snowpack link (ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/data/water/wcs/gis/maps/ut_swepctnormal.pdf) (which you can always find at the bottom of the ski links sticky) suggests that the area around bryce right now is about 66% of normal.

have you called or emailed bryce canyon to find out? if you do/have, i'd be interested to hear what the current situation is. depth could be highly dependent upon aspect, so perhaps it's 66% at the guage, but quite a bit less in the open sunny meadows and south facing slopes?

[TreeHugger]

Well, there was no snow. No skiing. But it was beautiful, nonetheless. We went to Kodachrome Basin the day we arrived, and hiked a couple of hikes, then did Fairyland Loop the next day. It was Winter Festival so we went to a couple of sessions they offered - one was a guy that did a solo, unaided row across the Atlantic Ocean, very interesting! And a digital camera session and a watercolor demo. It was all very fun and just nice to get away. Thanks for all your advice and help! I'll post a few pics later.

Tree.

[stefan]

hmm, that's disappointing. glad it still turned out great!

looking forward to the photos!