Featured Image: Courtesy of Pit Viper
The traffic in Utah’s Cottonwood Canyons can be the stuff of nightmares. Luckily for you, there are ways of minimizing your frustrations and maximizing your ski day when the storm rolls in and the cars line up. One of those solutions is the Ski Bus from the Utah Transit Authority, and the LCC bus just got a massive upgrade.
The marketing gurus at Pit Viper have cooked up a winner in their latest stunt, wrapping the Little Cottonwood Canyon Ski Bus in signature style and declaring it the official pace car of the infamous traffic red snake.
“Canyon traffic is a nightmare. Hell, it’s the Utah state mascot at this point,” Pit Viper’s Head of Marketing Troy Haas told FREESKIER. “Single occupancy vehicles are everywhere, which has never made sense to me. I mean, why wouldn’t you want to be chauffeured in a stretch limo with 39 of your closest friends?”
With an optimistic way of looking at it, Haas makes a great point. Taking the Ski Bus, or Red Snake Pace Car, whichever you prefer, does have obvious advantages. You can catch the bus at numerous stops around Salt Lake City, with UTA offering free parking at several of the Park & Ride lots near major Ski Bus stops.
A one-way fare for the Ski Bus will cost you $5.00, and when you consider the benefit you’re doing for yourself and the planet, it’s a pretty screamin’ deal. The Transit App is a great resource to utilize, as it allows you to pay, plan your trip, find bus routes, check on crowds and view canyon alerts, road closures and more all in one place. If you are paying in cash, be sure to bring the exact amount you need as bus drivers do not carry change.
As if you needed more incentives, winter 23/24 marked the third year of the Ski Bus Priority Access Program. When LCC is forced to close due to avalanche mitigation or other causes in the winter, cars must wait on northbound shoulder of Wasatch Boulevard south of Little Cottonwood Canyon Road.
“In addition to keeping commuter and local traffic moving as normal along Wasatch Boulevard,” the official description reads, “this service eliminates traffic congestion on Little Cottonwood Canyon Road and allows the 994 bus to travel freely along this road from the UTA Park and Ride lot at 2000 East and 9400 South to the mouth of the canyon, where they are granted priority access into the canyon by Sandy PD.”
Backed-up roads and long wait times are becoming a norm for many skiers around North America, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Take a page out of the handbook of our European friends and utilize public transportation! Whether you’re heading up for a mid-season lake-effect-fueled pow day or closing out the season at the legendary Frank Day, gather your friends and enjoy having someone else shepherd your crew up to the hill.
If you do make it up to Alta on Frank Day, keep an eye out for the Pit Viper team. You’ll find them on the hill and next to the grill. “The Pit Viper employee personal record for hot dogs eaten [at Frank] was 42 last year,” Haas mentioned proudly. “But in total, we cooked around 200 plus 10lbs of chili. Checkmate, Coney Island.”
