r/UTsnow

What's going on with Nordic Valley?

Their GM was fired/stepped away after a DUI and accusations of verbally abusing employees. Before leaving the GM fired their mountain operations director near the end of last season and the ski patrol director has stepped away from his position. That's at least 3 leadership positions as well as the whole risk management team they will be looking to fill.

They haven't replaced their lodge since it burnt down 3 seasons ago, they had 10% of their terrain open last season, and they just removed beginner ski lift to start building homes/condos along its north border.

Meanwhile the last post on social media vaguely stated there would be "some big changes" coming.

Can't see wanting to put my family or loved ones on the remaining chairlifts there any time soon.

Hopefully the mods don’t take down because I specifically think that this is the demographic I am looking at.

I have an apartment available in Holladay that is a 2 bed 1 bath for 1300$ a month. I am interested in renting to snow makers or lifties or anyone looking for a space that is super accessible to the canyons. No dogs but cats will be considered. A willing to work with the deposit but you must pass a background check and have credit over 600.

Sounds promising for a good season! Assuming the temperatures provide!

Thanks all for your advice — ahead of the season (hopefully there are some deals?) looking to get winter tires and a set of dedicated winter wheels for going up and down LCC/BCC, wondering if you know of any shops in SLC area with especially good prices, packages, service, etc. They all seem the same but curious if there is a scheme that is particularly smart or a shop that is a step above the rest. Thanks again.

Hey UTsnow fam. My daughter is 4 turning 5 this April and I'm wondering where would be the best place, except for deer valley, for her to take ski lessons.

Hi! I’m a student based in SLC looking for a part-time job this winter for some extra income.

I’ve been skiing since I was three and worked a season on patrol at an east-coast resort; I have my AIARE level 1 and I’m also a certified advanced EMT. I know I’d enjoy a patrol gig more, but part time positions are hard to come by and it seems like a ski instructor position would be more flexible with higher earning potential (tips etc.). I’d plan to pursue PSIA certification during the season if I went the instructor route.

Does anyone have any experience with these gigs out here? Looking into Deer Valley, Park City, Alta/Snowbird etc. Would love to hear your opinions! Thank you :)

I posted this to r/skiing however given the topic it is most relevant to the folks here I hope it may be of interest:

Hi everyone, first of all I want to preface this by saying this was a fun project I undertook and I thought the findings were interesting enough to share in hopes of creating some conversation and stoke for the coming season. In no way am I trying to shit on anyone who follows the buoy (I do in-fact follow it), nor am I trying to suggest Michael Ruzek, who very kindly posts the buoy's data to The Powder Buoy on Facebook, is wrong at all. This was simply an exploratory project as part of my studies.

For anyone who isn't familiar there is some Wasatch folklore following NOAA buoy 51101 - a discus buoy off Hawaii measuring a variety of variables including swell height.
The buoy is used by many as an alternative (and novel) forecasting proxy: when the buoy shows large swell off Hawaii, there will be snowfall in the Wasatch in roughly 2 weeks time. There is a good article explaining it here.

Generally an accuracy of 80% is thrown around in conversation which, as a standalone indicator, seems pretty damn good (although we all know it should be taken into consideration with other indicators). I decided to have a look at the numbers.

I pulled the long-term buoy record and SWE data from five Wasatch SNOTEL stations, which owing to some gaps in the data, covered 22 useable winters.

The basic test was:

• A 'pop event' was defined as an unusually large wave-height event (wave height in the 90th percentile). I believe Michael may use a different threshold.
• A 'storm' is defined as a meaningful increase in snowpack at multiple Wasatch stations (0.5in of SWE).
• Investigate whether a storm starts 10–18 days after the pop (this was chosen since articles suggest people look at days around 2 weeks after).
• Six winters were completely held out and never looked at until the test was locked.

The finding: Large swell measured by the buoy is followed by a storm roughly 68% of the time. However, on any given day when the buoy wasn't firing a signal, a storm followed in the same sized window 63% of the time. The buoy does little to predict anything.

In other words, on any given day in Utah's winter, there is a 63% chance of a storm occurring roughly 2 weeks from that day; the buoy doesn't add anything useful. In other, other words: Utah is so snowy you've got a good chance of catching a storm any day in the winter!

As added conviction Michael Ruzek himself produced a figure of 66% accuracy for winter 2021. I am not trying to say there is no link between the pacific ocean and Wasatch pow days - simply that, much to my disappointment, the buoy actually doesn't help predict anything. There are of course other variables to test such as swell direction, swell period, individual ski areas etc but I deliberately refrained from fishing for a outcome that agreed with what was suspected.

Honestly I desperately wanted the buoy to be a great standalone indicator (because it’s a fucking cool concept) however it turns out it isn't much of an indicator at all (evidenced by the 63% figure). I have no idea if anyone cares much about this but if you do I can share my github repo and any additional figures.

Cheers!

Edit: Figures in reference to u/wa__________ge's comment

Fig 1

Fig 2

Hi, apologies for only being ski-adjacent. I live around here and would like to take an older family member up around a lodge for an afternoon in fall for some views. Is there any ski lodge in the Wasatch that has a cafeteria that’s a.open off-season and b. Would likely not be an issue if we just brought a couple sandwiches and had an ‘indoor picnic” of sorts? They have limited mobility and are sensitive to cold which is why I’m trying to prepare. Not super familiar with all the lodge options and obviously none advertise that you can bring outside food..

Hello r/UTsnow -

I am curious to hear what other skiers think about the 60-120% price increase for the 2026-2027 Blister Winter Buyer's Guide in print and digital download form. For reference, in previous seasons I paid:

 

Year	Price	Version(s)
2025-2026	$24.95	Print + Digital Download
2024-2025	$24.95	Print + Digital Download
2023-2024	$17.94	Print + Digital Download
2022-2023	$14.94	Print + Digital Download
2021-2022	$9.00	Print Only
2020-2021	$8.99	Print Only
2019-2020	$11.99	Print Only
2018-2019	$14.98	Print Only and bought as a replacement
2017-2018	$8.99	Print Only
2016-2017	$13.98	Print + Digital Download
2015-2016	$12.98	Print Only

 

The 2026-2027 Blister Buyers Guide are currently available with pricing options of:

 

Price	Deadline	Version(s)	% Increase Y/Y
$40	31 August 2026	Print + Digital Download	60%
$40	Presumably 2026/2027 Season	Digital Download	-
$55	Presumably 2026/2027 Season	Print + Digital Download	120% 😲
$60	Presumably 2026/2027 Season	Print + Digital Download + Blister Access Pass	-

 

Are you planning to purchase the Blister Winter Buyer's Guide at these prices?