Author Archives: Jill Adler

The Snow Cometh!

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By Jill Adler

Lake effect snow in September?! After a seriously rainy month, the temps have dropped and that rain turned to snow EVERYWHERE in the west this week. The reports started rolling in yesterday from Colorado to California and it was only a matter of hours before the bullwheel started turning here in Utah.

2013 was Utah’s hottest summer on record and now predictions for winter point to – dare we say it?- above-normal snow and cold. Thursday’s swift storm blew in when a stream of moisture west of Hawaii met a low pressure over Alaska. The mountains could see more than 10 inches by Friday so if you didn’t get your predictions in for all of those “guess the first snowfall” contests you better do it now.

You have until 5 p.m tonight to enter Park City Mountain Resort’s annual snow contest. Let them know when you think the first storm of at least 6″ hits the mountain (um, today?); the closest date and time wins two free lift tickets. Park City’s Washington School House Hotel is a bit more generous with their contest timeline. You have until September 30 to guess.

PCMR plans to open November 23 but if this weather keeps up you might want to bust out the costumes and ski for Halloween at Brighton or Solitude.

Ready or not; here comes winter.

Here are some things that go through my head when the first frost hits:

NO! I need to buy wheels for my snow tires.

Should I still get that bikini wax?

Damn, I wasn’t going to start my pre-season conditioning until October.

Did I get my Alta pass?

Where are my ski socks?

I guess we should put away the window AC.

And finally…Hasta la vista, Tank tops! Hola, Life is Good PJs! The super soft, long-sleeve, cotton Snowman T and flannel bottoms are my perfect inspiration for dreams of snowflakes and faceshots. Yup. Life is good.

POC Helmets Are Cool Contest

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Photo courtesy Sherri Harkin.

I entered. Have you? Now, I normally enter everything I can get my hands on- Disney travel, gear raffles, photo contests. Anything that doesn’t involve spamming all my friends to vote for me. I hate those kind of contests. They’re idiotic. If you have a great entry it shouldn’t matter how many friends vote. Plus, I keep my FB friends to those I truly want to keep in touch with and share photos with and who get my raw personality. Having 5k “friends” means you don’t know how to be a friend.

Anyway, back to contests. Mostly, I enter for the swag. Occasionally there’s an inspiration that needs support. POC Sports teamed up with the High Fives Non-Profit Foundation’s #HelmetsAreCool photo contest and this is one I can truly get behind. No matter who tells you that helmets are awkward, restrict vision, reduce hearing, etc., it’s a known fact that being alive is cool and helmets keep you alive. Hence, helmets are cool. Just listen to Sally Francklyn speaking at the premiere of the new ski flick “Valhalla” in Denver last weekend.

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/74574939]

Happening now, photos uploaded to Instagram with the hashtag #HelmetsAreCool will be entered to win a prize pack from POC Sports on October 10. The winner will be announced the following day via the High Fives Foundation and POC Sports respective Instagram accounts.

“The High Fives Foundation’s B.A.S.I.C.S. Program Service emphasizes safety and awareness while participating in action sports,” Roy Tuscany, executive director of the High Fives Foundation, said. “We are on a mission to document and show how and why the best helmet technology is invented. We took a quick trip to Sweden to shake hands and dig into the culture at POC Sports. Now, we want contest participants to show the world why they’re an advocate of helmet usage by posting and sharing their photos with us on Instagram.”

Simply upload a cool photo of you (properly) using a helmet while enjoying your favorite action sport and you’ll be in the running for an amazing prize pack from POC Sports. Be sure to tag #HelmetsAreCool.

Follow the High Fives Foundation and POC Sports on Instagram at:

· Instagram.com/Hi5sFoundation

· Instagram.com/POCSports

High Fives Foundation is a Tahoe-based, national 501.c.3 non-profit organization dedicated to raising money and awareness for athletes who have suffered a life-altering injury while pursuing their dream in the winter action sports community. The Foundation has helped 43 athletes to date since its inception in 2009, more information visit www.highfivesfoundation.org.

Sundance Hikes Ticket Prices

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There’s no way to sugarcoat the news. Sundance Film Fest ticket prices are going up…33 percent. The $20 ticket charge for films that may go straight to Netflix has more than a few Park City locals miffed. “That’s called gouging,” Tom Richardson posted on The Park Record Newspaper’s Facebook page. “Just ridiculous. We should just wait till they come to the Park City library when they’re a lot cheaper.”

Sundance organizers added $5 to the face value of last year’s $15 ticket in order to offset their operating costs. They seem to be keeping the increase on the down-low though. You would have had to visit the website to notice. The hike comes on the heels of a summer press announcement that the 2013 Festival generated an overall economic impact of nearly $70 million for Utah.

Individual tickets won’t go on sale until January but with the busiest time at the box office starting with the locals-only purchasing period.

Linda Pfafflin, a Sundance associate director, told the Record that it’s been seven years since the last increase. “The funds generated from this adjustment will help us meet rising costs associated with putting on the festival,” Pfafflin said in a prepared response. If it’s any consolation, a waitlist ticket will still be $15.

In comparison, tickets to screenings for the Toronto Film Festival are $21 and those for the Telluride Film Festival taking place this weekend are $25. Sundance organizers say they price tickets competitively but that news won’t take the sting out of those already hard-to-get Sundance tickets. So why pay $20 instead of waiting for Netflix? You’re paying for the experience, the filmmaker question and answer sessions and the chance to spot a celebrity.

Sundance 2014 runs Jan. 16-26. www.sundance.org/festival/tickets.

Park City Residents Weigh In- Vailisker v PCMR

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Vail Resorts is telling Park City what they want to hear. In the wake of the eviction notice Talisker Land Holdings slapped on Park City Mountain Resort last week, Vail Resorts said in a prepared statement that they will not interfere with PCMR’s operations this season.

Kelly Ladyga, the vice president of corporate communications, has routinely opted out of commenting on the TLH lawsuit but finally spoke out.

“As we have previously stated, under the terms of our agreement with Talisker in connection with our lease of the Canyons, we have assumed oversight of the litigation between Talisker Land Holdings LLC and Park City Mountain Resort. We have an obligation to protect and preserve Talisker’s and our interest in this matter. We are concerned with the behavior that Park City Mountain Resort has demonstrated in this situation. Talisker issued Park City Mountain Resort the Notice to Quit as a necessary legal step to bring this issue to the Court and we anticipate that there will be a number of actions required to bring this dispute to closure. With that said, there is no intent by Talisker to take any action that would prevent PCMR’s ability to operate their resort during the upcoming 2013-2014 ski season. We are very cognizant of the importance of this situation to the entire Park City community and we look forward to bringing this situation and its uncertainty to a conclusion.”

Talisker claims Park City Mountain Resort missed the deadline to renew their $155,000 annual lease and backdated their letter of intent to renew, thus showing bad faith in this case.

Local attorneys speculate that PCMR will request a restraining order on the eviction. The Resort’s most recent blog post indicates they are “not going anywhere…We’ve been here for 50 years and look forward to operating this season, the next 50 seasons, and 50 more after that.” But just in case any passholders were concerned or thought they should avoid buying a PCMR pass, the resort is fully guaranteeing it. “In the unlikely event we have to shut down for all or part of the winter, you get the appropriate refund. No questions asked. And no restrictions,” the blog says.

The court of public opinion seems torn on the issue. As one reader commented: I don’t see PCMR charging us pass prices from 50 years ago so why do they expect to pay rent prices from 50 years ago? Michael R agreed: I’ve lived in Park City for 20 years. I had no idea they were paying $155k (Vail is paying $25 million to lease Canyons) and they are clearly not passing on the savings to season passholders.  But Aaron Blunt believes in the fight. “Just like everyone else on the PCMR team from Jenni Smith to the food staff at Legacy, there is passion and desire. That alone is enough to fuel what it will take to continue the stand and put Talisker/Vail in their place. My life, my mountain.”

Take A Flying Leap On Bridge Day

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If your best friend tells you to jump off a bridge there is definitely one time where it would be okay to do it… with a few hundred of your best friends. Ever heard of Bridge Day? No? Then you’ve never been in Fayette County, West Virginia.


The annual Bridge Day Festival started in 1980. It takes place on the third Saturday in October to commemorate the 1977 completion of the New River Gorge Bridge. This year, on October 19, BASE jumpers from around the world will wow nearly 80,000 spectators as they soar off the Bridge- all day long. Last year, they added the Human Catapult to the list of extreme activities.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-FY3aHO6Cw&w=420&h=315]

But if you’re not quite ready to go that big, that’s okay. You can still be part of one of the largest extreme sports events in the world. The town shuts out traffic one day a year to allow pedestrians to legally strut the 876-foot tall steel arch bridge- the world’s third longest and the U.S.’ third highest. There are hundreds of vendor booths and a zipline and rappel line for the general public. No experience necessary for the 700-foot ride over the gorge that stretches from the beams of the bridge. Those experienced in rappelling entered a lottery back in June to be one of the privileged teams to drop up to 850-feet into the Gorge.

There’s still time to win your own tandem BASE jump on Bridge Day. Create a three-minute video showing why you deserve the jump.  Submit your video through Facebook beginning next Friday, August 30 through September 6. Bridge Day fans will then vote. If you’re picked, a charity of your choice will also receive a $1,000 donation, courtesy of Subaru. You do need to be over 18 and weigh less than 200 pounds.


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