Posted Nov 2, 2008, 3:59 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Downtown Los Angeles
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Prestigious 'Outside Magazine'
Salt Lake City's Snowbird/Alta #1
David Whitten... @ davidwhittenphoto.com
Outside magazine heaps praise on Utah skiing
Getting a good view from Hidden Peak at Snowbird, Katie King and Trevor McVey from Moosehead Lake, Maine, enjoy the start of their two week trip, as Snowbird keeps the lifts running while the end of the ski season nears its end following a remarkable snow year. (Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune)
By Mike Gorrell
The Salt Lake Tribune
The latest national publication to heap praise on Utah skiing is Outside magazine, whose readers picked Alta-Snowbird as the continent's best ski area. Snowbasin placed fifth, Solitude 13th.
Utah's three selections in the top 15 is second to Colorado's five - Vail (third), Silverton Mountain (seventh), Aspen Highlands and Snowmass (eighth), Steamboat (10th) and Telluride (12th). California had two - Squaw Valley (ninth) and Mammoth (11th) - as did British Columbia with Whistler-Blackcomb (second) and Fernie Alpine Resort (sixth). Wyoming (Jackson Hole, 4th), New Mexico (Taos, 15th) and Alaska (Alyeska, 14th) had one apiece. Alyeska is owned by Alta resident John Byrne III.
Snow quality was the most important factor cited by 78 percent of survey respondents to Outside, published monthly with paid circulation in 2008 of 675,000. Hence, Alta-Snowbird's ascent to the top.
"Sitting on the bull's-eye of the Wasatch Range's freakishly powerful storm track . . . AltaBird is the closest you can get to a sure thing," the magazine said. "Learn the ins and outs of the many traverses and hikes [try Alta's Devils Castle and the 'Bird's Thunder Bowl] and you'll ski soft snow on new lines for weeks.
"What both places share, other than a dearth of nightlife, is a lack of pretense. Everyone is here for powder. And they get it," it added. Only 1 percent of respondents, the magazine noted, cared about nightlife.
"We're flattered," said Snowbird President Bob Bonar. Added Alta General Manager Onno Wieringa: "All of us here are proud to be Alta skiers on [the resort's] 70th anniversary. That skiing pride only grows when we combine with Snowbird."
The magazine advised national readers to try Snowbasin on a weekend when Park City is crowded, anticipating they will be impressed by its posh day lodges. Although not as snowy as Alta, "the snow quality [less skier compaction] and the terrain [everything from 2,500-foot treed runs to mellow bowls to hairball chutes] make up for it."
Solitude received recognition for the well-spaced trees of the Headwall Forest and its less-crowded ambience. "The sidecountry feel of Honeycomb Canyon encourages you to hunt your powder over the course of a chill day. Which is followed by a chill night - the two bars shut down at 9:30."
by Willie Holdman
Governor: connect the ski resorts
http://www.parkrecord.com/ci_1086820...ce=most_viewed
Huntsman talks of record-breaking tourism numbers in recent years, and he says he wants Utah to eventually draw between 24 million and 25 million visitors annually. He sees widening summertime tourism as being important to his goal...
...Meanwhile, Huntsman says an on-the-snow connection between the ski resorts could reduce traffic in addition to being a draw for skiers and snowboarders. Park City's entryways, both state highways, draw frequent complaints about traffic. If the resorts were connected on the slopes, the thinking goes, fewer people would drive between them.
by Willie Holdman
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Last edited by delts145; Nov 4, 2008 at 2:26 PM.
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