Snowbird off-piste & powder guide

Utah, USA · 2515m to 3354m · 4 documented zones

Finding powder at Snowbird

Snowbird is organised around traverses. The Cirque Traverse and the High Baldy Traverse are cat-tracks that run out along the top of the mountain, and almost every good line here hangs off one of them: the further you are willing to walk or skate, the better the snow gets.

Lift-accessed zones — no walking

Ride up, drop in. These 3 zones need no hiking, which also means they are the first to get tracked out after a storm.

Cirque Traverse and Pipeline Bowl

Cirque sector

Inbounds - patrolledAdvanced

A wide open cat-track with unobstructed views, giving access to Pipeline Bowl, the Rasta Chutes and the Knucklehead Traverse. The spine of the mountain for anyone hunting steeps.

Inside the ski area boundary and actively avalanche controlled by patrol. Controlled does not mean safe: the resorts themselves are clear that control work reduces the risk without eliminating it.

Lift access
Aerial Tram
Walk in
No hiking — Skate or glide out along the Cirque Traverse from the tram.
Getting back
Lines drop back into the main Snowbird lift network.
Known hazards
  • Steep chute entrances off the traverse
  • Cliff bands

Gad Chutes

Gad sector

Inbounds - patrolledExpert

A set of steep chutes hanging off the Cirque Traverse just past Pucker Bush, and among the best of the many chutes on that traverse.

Inside the ski area boundary and actively avalanche controlled by patrol. Controlled does not mean safe: the resorts themselves are clear that control work reduces the risk without eliminating it.

Lift access
Aerial Tram
Walk in
No hiking — Out along the Cirque Traverse, just past Pucker Bush.
Getting back
Descends into the Gad valley lift network.
Known hazards
  • Steep confined chutes
  • Rocks and cliff bands

Mineral Basin and Bookends Bowl

Mineral Basin sector

Inbounds - patrolledAdvanced

Wide open and easy to navigate in clear weather, which makes it the friendliest big terrain here. The Bookends Traverse runs to the far side of the basin and opens five separate double-black lines.

Inside the ski area boundary and actively avalanche controlled by patrol. Controlled does not mean safe: the resorts themselves are clear that control work reduces the risk without eliminating it.

Lift access
Aerial Tram or Mineral Basin Express
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed, with a long traverse to reach the Bookends lines.
Getting back
Descends back to the Mineral Basin lifts.
Known hazards
  • Hard to navigate in poor visibility
  • Double-black terrain at the far end of the traverse

Worth the walk — hike-to zones

Every one of these needs time on foot, which is exactly why the snow lasts longer. Walk-in times below are as published by the resort guides.

High Baldy

Mount Baldy sector

Inbounds - patrolledExpert

Take the High Baldy Traverse skier's right from the tram towards 11,068ft Mount Baldy. The main chute and the narrower dogleg to its right both collect soft snow all season.

Inside the ski area boundary and actively avalanche controlled by patrol. Controlled does not mean safe: the resorts themselves are clear that control work reduces the risk without eliminating it.

Lift access
Aerial Tram
Walk in
15 min — Traverse skier's right from the tram, then hike around fifteen minutes to the chutes.
Getting back
Descends back into the Snowbird lift network.
Known hazards
  • Steep chute terrain
  • Exposed high alpine ground

The avalanche danger scale

Every European bulletin uses this five-level scale. The column that matters most is the last one: around half of all avalanche deaths happen at level 3, not at the extremes, because that is when the snow still looks worth skiing.

1. Low

about 5% of fatalities

Generally stable snowpack. Triggering is only possible with high additional loads, and only in extreme terrain. Natural avalanches are small at most.

The most favourable conditions of the season. Terrain choice still matters in isolated extreme spots.

Forecast on about 20% of the season

2. Moderate

about 30% of fatalities

The snowpack is only moderately well bonded on some steep slopes. Triggering is mainly possible with high additional loads. Very large natural avalanches are unlikely.

Conditions look benign and catch people out. Roughly a third of fatalities happen at this level.

Forecast on about 50% of the season

3. Considerable

about 50% of fatalities

The snowpack is moderately to poorly bonded on many steep slopes. Triggering is possible even from a single skier. Large avalanches are possible.

The most dangerous level in practice. It carries about half of all avalanche deaths, because the skiing still looks good and the snowpack no longer needs much provocation.

Forecast on about 30% of the season

4. High

about 10% of fatalities

The snowpack is poorly bonded on most steep slopes. Triggering is likely even from a single skier, and numerous large natural avalanches are expected.

Off-piste travel should be limited to low-angle terrain well away from anything steep above you.

Forecast on only a few days a year

5. Very High

rare enough that no share is published

An extraordinarily unstable snowpack. Numerous very large and often extremely large natural avalanches are expected, even on moderately steep terrain.

Do not go off-piste. Roads and parts of the resort itself may be closed.

Forecast on very rarely forecast

Scale and statistics from European Avalanche Warning Services - Avalanche Danger Scale.

What you need to carry

Transceiver

Worn on your body, not in your pack, and switched to transmit before you leave the lift. Every member of the group needs one; a single person without makes the whole group less safe.

Probe

Pinpoints the burial once the transceiver has brought you close, so you dig in the right place first time rather than in a hole beside them.

Shovel

A real collapsible avalanche shovel. Digging is the slowest part of a rescue, and it is what actually gets your partner out.

Airbag pack (optional)

Helps keep you nearer the surface in a moving slide. It supplements the three items above and never replaces them.

How to ski it

Read the bulletin before you go, every day

The danger level, the problem type and the aspects and altitudes it applies to matter more than anything on this page. Conditions change overnight.

Practise with your kit until the search is instinctive

Owning a transceiver is not the same as being able to use one under pressure. Run search drills at the start of every season.

Never ski off-piste alone

Companion rescue is the only rescue fast enough to matter. Burial survival drops sharply after about fifteen minutes.

Ski steep slopes one at a time

Exposing one person at a time keeps the rest of the group free to dig, and reduces the load on the slope.

Hire a guide for terrain you do not know

Local guides know which aspects have loaded, which lines cliff out and where this season's weak layer sits. Every resort guide on this page says the same thing.

Plan the exit before you drop in

Several classic routes finish in a different valley or a long way from a lift. Know how you are getting home, and what time the last lift and last bus run.

Keep planning

Snowbird snow report & forecastSnow history & depthMore resorts in USA