Author Archives: Jill Adler

Utah Ski Area Opening Dates

Leave a comment
ski area opening

It snowed last night; it’s going to snow all weekend. That’s mountain weather for you but all of a sudden my inbox is full of ski area opening dates and news. People, today was the first day of Autumn! If you’re getting excited about the recent storms, put a lid on it.

Having snow on the ground is simply a tease for the local resorts to hype up their advertising and get you to think winter skiing (and start spending money on a vacation). Nothing’s open until Thanksgiving so you can’t ski new snow anyway but who cares?! Further, there are no predictions of a successful snow year tied to snowfall in September.

Ski area Opening Dates

Photo by Lisa Densmore Ballard

I guarantee you that it will all melt next week. We’re still rock climbing and mountain biking around here. Only a few dumb-asses are hiking for one run on snow-covered grass so please stop sending me your resorts-covered-in-snow photos. I have nearly two months for pre-season training.

As of Friday 9/22/17, we still have 56 days until the lifts start spinning in Utah.

 

Utah Resort Opening Dates:

 

Alta Ski Area: November 22

Beaver Mountain: TBD

Brian Head Resort: November 17

Brighton Resort: As Early As Possible

Cherry Peak Resort: December 18

Deer Valley Resort: December 2

Eagle Point Resort: December 21

Nordic Valley Resort: December 9

Park City Mountain: November 17

Powder Mountain: TBD

Snowbasin Resort: November 22

Snowbird Resort: November 22

Solitude Mountain: December 2

Sundance Mountain Resort: December 8

No Place to Live; The Park City Rental Dilemma

Leave a comment

It’s a total Catch-22. You get a resort job and there’s no place to live. It’s getting harder and more expensive to find a seasonal Park City rental. Landlords want a year lease and solo tenants, and tenants want to live three to a room, from November-March. Impasse, much? Oh, and we’d like it to be $700/mo or less.

park city rental

Let’s Get Realistic

Even if you aren’t looking for your own place it’s going to cost you at least $700+ a month. It’s even more if you want to live alone; and with a pet.

Deer Valley and Park City offer employee housing but it’s scarce and dormlike. Plus, if you aren’t a ski instructor, liftee, etc. you’re not welcome to it. So now, you might be pulling your hair out trying to find a Park City rental; especially if you aren’t local.

Where do you start to look?

Here’s the bad news- you should have started looking for a Park City rental back in August. What the hell were you waiting for? The right moment? The perfect match of charm and price? The good news is you still have about two months before it becomes slim pickings and desperation. I like to start leases December 1 because I know how easy it is to find renters. As a landlord, I know I can get my place rented in two days at that time. But I’m not on a busline, and it’s a one-year lease. The busline/month-to-monthers are gone by November.park city rental

Tips For Finding A Park City Rental

 

Almost Forgot This Pointer

One other thing I forgot to mention was to contact the HR departments at Deer Valley and Park City. They often will keep a folder of available rentals.

If all else fails, save your money for a reliable car, rent a place in Salt Lake City and commute.

Good Luck!!

Carlo Traversi’s Triple 14 Challenge

Leave a comment
Triple 14 Challenge

Black Diamond Athlete Carlo Traversi writes, “the depth of your will can only be explored through experience.” And so he came up with the idea to do a triple 14 challenge—to climb a V14, 5.14, and a 14er in one day.

With new ascents, new feats of strengths and new discoveries constantly raising the bar, a climber’s perception of what’s possible is always shifting. But perhaps the greatest proponent behind the ever-evolving standards of what’s truly challenging lies within one simple act … that of giving it a darn good try.

——-Black Diamond

Soldier Hollow Sheepdog Classic Returns To Midway

2 comments
sheepdog classic

Wish your dog could do that? If you have canine envy, then by all means, sit out this year’s Soldier Hollow Sheepdog Classic Championships.

But if you want to see all the action of brainiac pooches performing like snake charmers for thousands of appreciative fans then get up to Midway, Utah, this Labor Day Weekend.

The annual Sheepdog Classic, lures dog handlers from Canada to Ireland and throughout the U.S., to the rolling terrain of Utah where they put their herding dogs like Border Collies and Australian Shepherds to the test.

sheepdog classic

photo by Tom Kelly

What The Heck is a Sheepdog

Classic?

 

These highly skilled dogs will be working up to 400 yards away from their handlers on the hillsides of the former 2002 Olympic Nordic events venue. Only whistles and hand commands to tell them how to sort wild range Rocky Mountain ewes and bring them down along a preset course and through free-standing gates and into a small pen all in under 13 minutes.

Basically, a handler uses whistles and voice commands to coach his dog up the hill to herd the sheep through a 600-yard course, which includes a series of free-standing gates.

sheepdog classic

photo by Tom Kelly

Each sheep must clear every gate and then the dog separates out a set number of tagged sheep — typically five sheep donning red bandanas — and corral them into the ending pen. No nipping is allowed so no one need worry about animal cruelty unless you consider the peskiness of the wild sheep to give a dog the run around.

The top herding teams win gold, silver or bronze medals.

The Classic is the world’s largest sheepdog event, drawing more than 25,000 attendees including families that come for the food and vendor booths as well.

sheepdog classic

photo by Brett Neilson

There’s More To Do At The

Sheepdog Classic

 

But it’s not all sitting around. In addition to the spectator event, there’s a festival going on outside the fence. Vita Bone Dog Activities like Camp Chef cooking demos, and wild and exotic animal shows, hula hooping, bean bag toss games, the lost sheep game, face painting, balloon artists, coloring contest (with free ice cream for every entrant) and more will keep little ones entertained too.

The event runs through Monday. See the schedule and details here.

 

 

 

Whistler Resort Releases Magnetic Ski Film

Leave a comment
magnetic ski film

Want to know why skiers and snowboarders flock to Whistler Blackcomb? The apres has its draw but, no, there’s a deeper connection. Magnetic, a 30-minute marketing endeavor by the Resort, focuses on that undeniable attraction; that hypnotic power of the area that keeps athletes coming back again and again.

Filmed entirely and solely at Whistler Blackcomb, the film will be the resort’s flagship piece of content for the 2017.18 winter season. The movie features athletes with connections to the Whistler area and filmed by local, high caliber talent. 

Origin Design & Communications, a full-service, creative and marketing agency specializing in outdoor sports and tourism, created the concept with the award-winning outdoor/adventure and commercial video producer Jeff Thomas directing the project.

The film will be released free online this fall but here’s a peek at the trailer:

 

 

1 … 29 30 31 32 33 … 147