Car for SLC area access

Hello MP!

I am looking for a new car and am considering moving to SLC. How is the access for most of the climbing/mountaineering areas (eg within 3 hr drive)? Do I need a 4WD, high clearance, and/or is 2WD ok? How about the ski roads? Is 4WD necessary?
Used car shopping blows!

Also considering the inversions/snow/etc, how often (% or days/yr) is it possible to commute by bike?

Cheers!

You will spend a lot of time chaining up driving up the canyons to ski in the winter in a 2WD(legally required for a good chunk of the winter), so AWD is definitely a good idea.

The only time i ever use 4WD in Utah is to get to some very remote desert towers, and sometimes in Colorado to access peak trailheads. None of the really well known desert climbing really requires a burly 4WD - more if you are looking for off the beaten path choss.

JuliaV wrote:How is the access for most of the climbing/mountaineering areas (eg within 3 hr drive)? Do I need a 4WD, high clearance, and/or is 2WD ok? How about the ski roads? Is 4WD necessary? Used car shopping blows! Also considering the inversions/snow/etc, how often (% or days/yr) is it possible to commute by bike? Cheers!

Depends if you ice climb...and insist on driving into Maple in the winter. If so, then don't get a subaru (ha ha).

The local canyons in the winter are 4wd or chains for a significant portion of the ski season. But, public transport is pretty good with UTA bus service.

You could certainly get by with a front wheel drive low clearance vehicle for the most part. A few off-the-radar places benefit from high clearance and/or 4wd but most popular climbing venues are easily accessible with a pimped out ricer.

Air quality? Depends on your tolerance. Knowable:
www3.epa.gov/airdata/ad_rep…

Kind of a summary for 2014: 80 days moderate, 15 days unhealthy for sensitive folk, 2 unhealthy days.

2105 was similar: 67, 14 and 2 for the same above categories.

More info here:

air.utah.gov/trendcharts.ph…

AWD or 4x4 is a better idea than 2 wheel drive. I drive a Subaru and have never had an issue getting to where I want to go. I've been amazed with some of the dirt roads I have been able to travel on with no issue.

As far as winter goes, here are the requirements for the cottonwood canyons.

DAILY REQUIREMENT October 1st through April 30th
The Utah Department of Transportation requires ALL vehicles travelling in Big and Little Cottonwood canyons to be equipped with approved snow tires October 1st through April 30th. APPROVED TIRES can be identified by an M+S (mud and snow) or a Snowflake symbol on the sidewall of the tire. At a minimum, snow tires must be mounted on the two primary drive wheels of the vehicle. Tires must have sufficient tread depth to be effective. No bald tires!
Absent approved snow tires (sometimes called winter tires) properly sized tire chains must be in your possession.

Copied from updsl.org/services/canyon_r…

As far as bike days in the winter, depends on the season, I see people commuting on bikes at least 70% of the time. This coming season they are predicting "Godzilla El Nino". This could be an extremely wet winter.

The air in the winter is terrible. SLC has some of the worst air in the world.

Moved down a while ago, everyone sprays about AWD/4WD cars, was worried at first, with some caution and a decent set of all weathers I do fine in a 2WD. A few days/winter I opt not to drive, YMMV. I wouldnt be any more comfortable in an AWD wagon or what have you, prohibitive roads are typically a product of clearance rather than 2 vs 4 wheels spinning. (of note: I don't ski, so getting to the tops of the canyons isn't a concern in the winter).

You can bike commute most days if you are open to tolerate the smog a bit, and transit is good depending on where you want to live.

Super Fluke wrote:The air in the winter is terrible. SLC has some of the worst air in the world.

Nah, this is pretty silly. Salt Lake occasionally has some of the worst particulate pollution in the United States during inversions. I don't mean to minimize how bad it does get at times, but SLC isn't even among the worst cities for air pollution in the US most of the time. stateoftheair.org/2013/city…

By worldwide standards, SLC wouldn't even register as a blip even under our very worst conditions. waqi.info/ is an interesting map for that.

JuliaV wrote:Hello MP! I am looking for a new car and am considering moving to SLC. How is the access for most of the climbing/mountaineering areas (eg within 3 hr drive)? Do I need a 4WD, high clearance, and/or is 2WD ok? How about the ski roads? Is 4WD necessary? Used car shopping blows! Also considering the inversions/snow/etc, how often (% or days/yr) is it possible to commute by bike? Cheers!

I've probably climbed at every area worth climbing at within 3 hours of SLC and never once have I needed 4wd. In fact, the only time I have ever been shut down by 2wd in a day trip from SLC type of distance was at the fins in ID, but that just makes the approach a bit longer. As long as you have chains in the car you are fine to go up the canyons in the winter with 2wd as well (you won't need to put the chains on the tires most of the time).

Andrew Gram wrote: By worldwide standards, SLC wouldn't even register as a blip even under our very worst conditions. waqi.info/ is an interesting map for that.

Jambi, Indonesia AQI : 811 !!! Now that's terrifying, I'm glad to breath SLC air now considering SLC's record AQI in 2014 was 160.
Interesting map for sure, your silly!

Great, thanks everyone for all the input! Hopefully I will be making my way out there soon :) And yes, a new Subaru would be primo, but at the moment, all of the old models in my price range seem to be notorious for head gasket issues. Perhaps in the future...

kennoyce wrote: As long as you have chains in the car you are fine to go up the canyons in the winter with 2wd as well (you won't need to put the chains on the tires most of the time).

While this is true, I have seen many wrecks, and many traffic jams caused by a 2wd car that thought they would be fine going up the canyon. As a skier who panics every time there is traffic up the canyon, please don't plan on driving a 2wd vehicle up any time in winter other than prefect, dry, sunny days. Even then, it can be pretty scary if it starts snowing during the day and all of the little 2wd sedans are already up there.

Like others have said, pretty much can't go wrong with a Subaru. I don't think you truly need 4x4 or AWD anywhere within 3 hrs in the summer, and only need it in the winter if you plan on driving up Big or Little when conditions are less than ideal.

If you plan on skiing when it is light out, thumbing or UTA works well and is usually less hassle then dealing with the red snake....