Fits on the Road: Park City and Snowbird!

I’m back with more Fits on the Road from Park City, Utah!

After Susie’s and my short high-altitude-holy-cow- am-I-out-of shape run, we were showered and ready to ski by 9 am. Our condo was very close to Park City Mountain Resort, so we decided to check out that resort on the first day. The really nice thing about Park City, Utah is that there are a TON of resorts very close to each other- Park City Mountain Resort, Snowbird, Brighton, Deer Valley (ski only), Alta (ski only), the Canyons, Solitude, and probably even more that I am missing.

We purchased our lift tickets for Park City Mountain Resort online ahead of time and probably saved about $25/ticket, paying about $78/ticket.(Definitely buy your tickets online ahead of time if you can, it’s worth it!)

Since we were there on a Thursday, it really wasn't so busy. I think Park City Mountain Resort has a little something for everyone. There were plenty of easy greens and blues, yet lots of black diamonds as well, and some challenging back country stuff for Dustin, Sam, and Jeff. Most of the time the ladies stuck to the blues, venturing occasionally into a few black diamonds (after which we were always quite proud of ourselves!) 

I ran into a skier with the exact same pants and coat as me. Twinsies!

I'm not into tricks and all that on a snowboard, but if you are, the Park City Mountain Resort has one of the best terrain parks out there. This is where the Olympics were held. It features 80’ kickers in the Pro Park. Even if you don’t ride park, it is fun to go and watch. It is not uncommon to see Sean White, or other professional riders. The resort is huge and features all types of riding. However, the downside is to Park City Mountain Resort is that it doesn’t get the deepest snow in the state. If it doesn’t snow within a week, the conditions won’t be great. The resort gets a lot of sun.

If you stay in Park City, you can take a lift right from downtown Park City into the resort. In fact, we took this "Town Lift" once, and it was really cute! Most lifts I have seen that pick you up right in town end up being really slow lifts to flat catwalk trails, where you have to kick for a while to get to a real trail, but the Town Lift actually took you practically to the top so you were in a good spot to ski!

The names of the lifts at Park City were a little questionable!

On our second day of skiing, we hit up Snowbird, and then on the third day, we actually went back to Park City Mountain Resort. Unfortunately, this does mean I only have the two resorts to review. We had debated going to the Canyons, but one of the members of our group was a little more "green" so to speak, and she didn't like the looks of the trail map for the Canyons after a tough day at Snowbird the day before. So we went back to Park City Mountain Resort instead on the third day.

On our second day at Park City (3rd day of skiing), the snow wasn't quite as soft, and the crowds were definitely bigger (it was a Saturday). However, the cafeteria never seemed that busy, even though we were usually breaking for lunch right at noon, and the lift lines still never seem quite as long as some of the lines I have experienced in Colorado.

Snowbird:
On our second day, we went to Snowbird and it was AMAZING. It was so beautiful, and had some really interesting features. Right away in the morning, we took one lift up to the summit that involved a tunnel with a magic carpet that went through the mountain to the other side. 

The other side was even less busy, and gorgeous! 

It was here that Kelly and I braved a few black diamonds. Sure, we took some falls, but that’s how you improve, right? We had such a blast on this mountain! Just one word of wisdom- this is not a beginner’s mountain. The greens and blues were very limited, and usually they were just catwalks to get from one area to another, with potentially very sharp drop-offs on both sides, and very narrow paths (a beginner’s nightmare!). I would not suggest this resort for a newbie. I definitely pushed myself pretty hard on this mountain, and was exhausted and very sore by the end of the day.

Sam's action shot!

Snowbird was a bit of a drive from our condo (about an hour) but it was definitely worth the drive. I don’t think there are a lot of places to stay in Snowbird, and if they get a lot of snow, the road through the canyon will be closed (which is great if you stay at Snowbird- no crowds!)

According to my coworker who grew up in Salt Lake City, Snowbird is a local’s resort that gets heavy snowfall. If you take the tram to the top, it is like a 3,500 foot vertical drop in one run. The resort has limited grooming and great backcountry. It doesn’t have a terrain park, so don’t count on that. If you like riding double blacks, it is the place to be. However, the downside is that is there isn’t any fresh snow, the resort isn’t the best.

We did take the 150 person tram to the top- it was pretty packed, and not a good idea if you are claustrophobic or scared of heights. It dropped us off at the summit, and you would need to be able to do at least a challenging blue trail to get down. But getting down is the fun part!

For reference, I have skied most of the Colorado resorts (Vail, Breckenridge, Aspen/Snowmass, most of the Vermont resorts (Stowe, Sugarbush, Jay Peak, etc). The past four winters, I have gone to Big Sky, Montana. I thought Utah (particularly Snowbird) was up there as one of my favorites so far, though I know there are so many other resorts out there that I haven’t tried yet.

Park City in general…
Park City, particularly downtown on Main Street, had more of an Aspen vibe, with fancier restaurants and cocktail lounges, as well as long waits for a table. Big Sky, on the other hand, has more of a cowboy vibe- very low key and casual. Park City was clean, cute, and fancy whereas Big Sky is casual, casual, casual.  Sure, we found some more casual bar-food type restaurants in Park City, but there were also quite a few very upscale places around as well.

Other highlights of the trip? 
Playing Quelf, Catchphrase, and Cards Against Humanity. Our condo also had a 5 person hot tub, which was thoroughly enjoyed after long days of skiing!

Salt Lake City
On Sunday, we had a lot of time to kill before our return flight, so we explored Salt Lake City. We toured Temple Square, the center of Mormon life. 

Most of the buildings were not open to non-Mormons, but we were able to explore the grounds.

We had planned to do a little shopping at the City Creek Center, but unfortunately ALL the stores there were closed because it was Sunday! We did fine another mall, the Gateway Mall, which was open, so we killed some time there. 

Candy store at the Gateway Mall

We ate late lunch at the Red Rock Brewery, which had really great food. Afterwards, we sat outside, as it was a balmy (balmy to Minnesotans!) 60 degrees. I was totally overdressed, and ended up stripping down to a tank top I had on underneath. Failed Fit!

I would go back to Utah to snowboard in a heartbeat. I loved that the resorts were very close to the airport, and VRBO has a lot of options for places to rent. It would have been fun if we had had really good snow at least one of the days, but the snow was still pretty good…maybe next year!

What's your favorite place to ski? Have you been to Utah? What did you think?

The Right Fits: Photo Dump....

By Cool J in Minneapolis

So I wrote about snowmobiling as an exercise (I vote no, definitely not exercise!) and LL wrote about whether skiing or snowboarding was a better workout (I actually think skiing looks way tougher!)....but there's still lots of random pics to share from our fun long weekend in Montana. They don't really fit into either fitness or fashion, so let's just call this a photo dump.

Besides, I just returned from a work happy hour for a coworker who is getting married in a few weeks (Congrats lady!) so I'm feeling lazy...Enjoy!

Buffalo charge in Yellowstone! 

Hot cocoa stop in Yellowstone

Elk along the river

Selfie on the slopes...

LL testing out the Old Faithful waters..

LL and Cool J- together at last!

Fitting Debates: Skiing vs. Snowboarding

By LL (in KC)

So which is a better workout...snowboarding or skiing?? I'm sure there are many of you on each side of the debate! Last week, Jess pondered on Facebook whether skiing or snowboarding burned more calories. On our most recent trip to Big Sky, this was also a topic of discussion. Both Jess and her husband snowboard, while my husband and I ski. We were on opposite sides of the debate. 

{Jess and D-Man boarding in Big Sky}

{My husband and me skiing in Big Sky}

We all agreed that beginners definitely burned more calories because they work a lot harder (i.e., snowplowing). But given a snowboarder and skier, both at the same ability level, which would burn more calories?

After some research, this is what I found.

Muscles Worked
Skiing - Skiing targets the lower body. In particular, skiing will work the thighs, butt and hips. Skiing works to tone the muscles in these areas.  Good core stability is also necessary to keep the upper body still, but still allow the legs to move beneath. The steeper the slope you are skiing, the harder the workout.

Snowboarding - Snowboarding targets the muscles in the back and abdominals from twisting during turns. In addition, core muscles are worked when getting up from a fall. Calf muscles work from the heel-to-toe motion. Here, snowboarders are burning more calories on flatter slopes as they have to work harder to move.

Calories Burned
Both skiing and snowboarding involve periods of intense effort and burn well in excess of 1,000 calories a day out on the slopes. An adult weighing approximately 150 calories burns around 350 calories per hour (an hour of vigorous effort...not including breaks and sitting on the chair lift. However, I found one resource that said that if both the boarder and skier remain upright (no sitting on the slopes, boarders!), a snowboarder will burn approximately 20 more calories than the skier throughout the day because when standing upright on a snowboard you are constantly active.

Most sources that I found discussing this matter - whether snowboarding or skiing was  a better workout - said that same thing: they are equal. Both are great workouts, burning a similiar amount of calories. The primary deciding factors are the terrain and the length of bouts of vigorous activity. So it looks like a draw...

Fresh New Fit: Snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park

By Cool J in Minneapolis

Hello readers, we're back! LL and I both returned to our respective cities today (Kansas City and Minneapolis) after a wonderful ski trip in Big Sky, Montana.

LL will be sharing with you all the joys and fitness from the slopes. We had three days of skiing (snowboarding for Dusters and me, skiing for LL and her husband) on the mountain, split up by a day touring Yellowstone National Park via snowmobile. Stay tuned for some great pics in LL's upcoming post!

Back to the snowmobile tour. In the winter, regular cars are not allowed into Yellowstone National Park. You can only tour the park by foot, cross-country ski, snowmobile, or one of these Snow-coaches.

My sister and her daughter on the Snow Coach tour in 2010

I took the snow coach tour of Yellowstone 3 years ago with my sister and her daughter (who was 7 at the time). It was a nice way to see the park, but unfortunately, you were inside the bus for the majority of the tour. 

This year, with both of the Right Fits' better halves also participating, we decided to do the snowmobile tour. On a snowmobile, we could be outside in the fresh air!

And then we could be right up close with the bison. Seriously. 

So, the four of us signed up for a tour through Rendezvous Snowmobile Rentals. Rather than spend the extra money for each of us to have our own machine, LL and I both rode on the back of our husbands' machines. 

We had the option to rent clothing and equipment, but we all decided just to wear our ski/snowboarding clothes. We did, however, have to rent the snowmobile specific helmets.

Failed fit?

Snowmobiling in a national park, that doesn't sound very "green."

As my brother-in-law so kindly pointed out, snowmobiling through Yellowstone has been a "thorn in the side of conservationists for years," and I did feel a little guilty participating in this activity. Yet the number of machines allowed into the park each day is highly regulated, and only guided tours are allowed in the park, and these guided tours are only on the groomed trails. If you want to just drive your snowmobile "free-style" you can do so in the surrounding national forest, just not in the actual Yellowstone National Park. I was also very impressed by our tour guide. He was very knowledgeable about the wildlife, the history of the park, as well as very adamant about respecting nature and the park. Before we encountered the bison herds, we knew exactly how we were supposed to act, and everyone on the tour was respectful of the space between us and the wildlife.  In the summer, there are hundreds of thousands of cars in the park. In fact, our guide said the crowds at Old Faithful are 5 people deep, whereas when we were there, there were only a handful of tourists. I have to think that the emissions in the summer must be worse than the snowmobiles.

Approaching the bison with respect

The tour went from the west entrance to the park to Old Faithful and back. I have to admit, Old Faithful was actually a bit of a letdown. We waited 90 minutes for it to "go off", and due to the weather, it was just a big steam spray...I do find all the geothermal activity pretty fascinating, but I found some of the other sites within the park much more interesting. I guess the great thing about Old Faithful is that it goes off every 60-90 minutes (it's reliable..hence the name!), whereas most of the other geysers were more sporadic and unpredictable.

Old Faithful

I found the other geothermal sites to be much more fascinating.  The fountain paint pots were a highly acidic (basically, at the level of battery acid) pond that bubbled and burped. The picture doesn't do the pots justice, but our guide explained that a curious tourist hopped the fence and stuck his boot tip in the pots years ago, only to have to finish his snowmobile tour with no boot (it burned off). Read more about this area of Yellowstone here.

Silex Springs was a hot spring- measuring in around 202 degrees. 

For a heart-breaking story, read about Ronald Ratliffe, who jumped into Celestine Pool at this same spot in Yellowstone to save his dog. They both died.

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/hotspring.asp

Silex Spring

Another geothermal feature in Yellowstone

So, this is supposed to be a fitness and fashion blog. Where is the fitness in a snowmobile tour?

I wondered the same thing. Is snowmobiling exercise? 

It definitely did not seem like exercise for LL and me, as we were merely riding on the back of the machines. However, we both had sore legs and backs from getting thrown around a lot throughout the six hour tour. But what about for the D-man and LL's husband?  As drivers, were they getting a workout?

They both claimed that even though it was fun to drive the machines, it was not a workout. Yet, as a Minnesotan, I have heard many others say that snowmobiling most definitely is a workout. I decided to do a bit of research, and found many sources that stated that snowmobiling is a workout. Really?

According to an article in "Wellness for Life",  snowmobiling can burn upwards of 300 calories an hour. I shared that statistic with Dusters, and he was very skeptical. Maybe the high calorie burn statistics are from when you're "free-riding", versus riding at 35/mph on groomed trails.

But still, he must have been burning some calories. According to the article, "even groomed trails are not straight and flat, so the driver has to maneuver the machine by leaning side-to-side around curves. And don’t forget—there’s no seat belt holding the driver or a rider in.  Both of these factors lend themselves to using a lot of abdominal and back muscles.  The arms and shoulders get a workout whether you’re the driver or a passenger hanging on.  Legs—especially the inner thigh muscles or adductors—are used in addition to the hands to stay on the machine."

Whether a calorie burn or not, I was glad that we did the tour. I am unsure if I'll ever be in Yellowstone in the summer, so it was cool to see it in the winter. And it was a great way to give our legs a break from skiing/snowboarding the previous two days! 

Thanks for stopping by readers

 from The Right Fits!

Failed Fit? Snowboarding in the Midwest...

By Cool J in Minneapolis

Hi readers! How was your weekend? Mine is still continuing on, as I have off of work tomorrow for President's Day. Woo-hoo!

Weekly recap?
Lots of running here.
Monday- morning run with Abby and Kelly
Tuesday- morning run with Abby and Kelly
Wednesday- complete rest day. I had planned to go to kettlebells, but got stuck at work. Failed fit!
Thursday- Valentine's Day morning tempo run with a great group of gals!
Friday- short run on the treadmill and Body Pump (read about Body Pump HERE)
Saturday- 14 mile run
Sunday- snowboarding

I made a rookie mistake of taking a body pump class at the Y on Friday night before my long run. Though the class isn't that tough, it is a lower body workout, and my legs were definitely feeling tired on Saturday's long run. I will be sure to take Friday as a complete rest day going forward. No reason to compromise my long runs.

The D-man and I have been meaning to head to a local ski hill at least once before we head to Big Sky, Montana with LL and her husband in a few weeks. As LL wrote about here, she's been doing some exercises to prepare her legs, but I just needed to hit the slopes a few times to remember how it feels!

A fellow run clubber also wanted to go, but he didn't want to drive too far, so we let him decide where to go. Normally, we head to Afton Alps, which is about an hour from Minneapolis. However, there are a few"hills" that are closer to the city, such as Hyland Hills which is where we ended up. Hyland Hills is only 10 minutes from our house. It's close, and a pass is really cheap (only $30!)

However...it was CRAZY busy. The lift lines were long, and the runs were short. And the lifts kept getting stalled. And unfortunately the hill was very small.

I know, I know, I live in Minnesota, why am I surprised? But I do think other local hills are a bit more challenging (like Afton Alps, Wild Mountain, and Welch Village) but for the price and the proximity, I really shouldn't complain. I probably shouldn't call it a failed fit. It was still an active day, full of fresh air and some fresh snow. I was happy to have the opportunity to regain that muscle memory for snowboarding.

We had a nice time; the sun was shining, the temperature was in the 30's, and I felt happy to be outside enjoying the winter in an active way (other than running for once!)

I take back calling this a failed fit. Truthfully, I'm happy to have been able to go, even if it's not that interesting of terrain. It was still good practice for Big Sky.

LL, can't wait to hit the slopes with you soon!

Fresh New Fit: Snowboarding and Skiing

By: Cool J

LL and I spent 3 full days on the mountains of Big Sky, Montana. It was a lot of fun, but also definitely a "fresh new" fitness endeavor.

We both agreed that on an easy run, it's more physically challenging (and in our opinion, you burn more calories) when you are a beginner. LL took a few semi-private lessons with a professional to work on her skills. I'm sure the repetition of the drills was quite the leg workout, whereas if a more experienced skier or snowboarder hits the same trail, it may not be as challenging, (since you're not working quite as hard to stay upright!)

At the same time, a large resort like Big Sky allows a more experienced skier or rider the opportunity to push himself or herself on the vast array of higher intensity runs. I think we all were pretty exhausted by the end of each day. And we definitely enjoyed the hot tub afterwards!

Downhilll Skiing
According to MayoClinic.com and Fitday.com, moderate-intensity downhill skiing burns 314 calories per hour if you weigh in at 160 pounds, and 391 per hour if you weigh 200 pounds. Higher intensity skiing (i.e., beginners, competitive racers, skiing moguls) can burn 450-600 calories/hr (for an adult weighing 165). Downhill skiing is a power sport consisting of short, strong effects followed by periods of rest, which is repeated throughout the day. It is also a full body workout.

Snowboarding
According to LiveStrong.com and Self.com, snowboarding burns between 400-500 calories per hour. Whether you are a pro boarder or can barely make it off the ski lift, the rigorous sport will leave you toned from head to toe (and probably a bit sore the next day). Snowboarding challenges your legs the most, but staying balanced on the board is a great core workout, too.

Both winter sports are great cardiovascular activities, but be careful for issues with the altitude. You can get altitude sickness and you may find it more challenging to catch your breath at the higher levels.

Note: the proper gear is essential. For day long activities like this, it is important that your boots are comfortable, your board/skis are the right size, and that you wear a helmet. Also, we recommend wearing layers. The first day out was very warm - so definitely shed a layer. The last day was cold and wet, so having a waterproof jacket, pants, and gloves was key to keeping us dry and comfortable.

The Right Fits enjoyed this "fresh new fit," and we hope to be back again next year!