Living, Playing & Writing in the Outdoors
The new Bratz ‘Study Abroad’ Doll collection is out now, in time for the holidays. Yasmin showed up on the doorstep and Sage couldn’t wait to review it for everybody.
Seeing as how I never really played with dolls, this one was all Sage. Here’s her honest take on one of her favorite toys:
The prices can’t be beat: just $10 or $15 per person for each lunch, and $20 or $40 per person for each dinner. “No coupons, no punch cards, no strings attached — simply walk in, ask your server for a Dine About menu, and enjoy,” PCARA executive director Ginger Ries said. “It’s such a great way for diners to check out new restaurants or revisit old favorites, and an excellent chance for restaurants to recruit a whole host of new fans.”
Nearly 30 restaurants have signed on to participate including: Billy Blanco’s, Chimayo, The Eating Establishment, The Brass Tag, Grappa, Grub Steak, Lespri Prime Steak Sushi, Powder at Waldorf Astoria, Riverhorse and Wahso. And, to entice your culinary experience even more, Dine About has partnered with Stay Park City to offer lodging choices so you can bring your bottle(s) of wine and stay the night.
To take advantage of the special offers, visit www.stayparkcity.com/lodging/dineabout. Restaurants are still signing up to take part in the Dine About so make sure you call your favorite spot to see if they’re participating this year.
Photo courtesy Vail Resorts
The irony isn’t lost on locals. Four miserable winters (comparatively) and yet Utah ski resorts spent millions on “improvements” this summer, while raising the cost of lift tickets yet again, all in the hopes of attracting more visitors.
Don’t they know by now that we skiers are all about deals? I’d rather have the option of brown-bagging it for a $50 lift ticket than spending $100 because there’s a shiny new lodge or snowmaking equipment that needs to be reimbursed. That said, Utah skiers can expect to see some major alterations to the Wasatch Front landscape this 2015/16 ski season.
Photo courtesy Vail Resorts
This was a HUGE year for construction and retooling. You would have been living in a cave in the North Pole not to have heard about the conjoining of Park City Mountain Resort and Canyons into one massive area now named “Park City Mountain” and “Canyons Village at Park City”. The area(s)’ owner, Vail Resorts, plunked down $50 million dollars to transform Park City into “the largest resort in the United States.” Not that anyone would actually want to spend more than half of their day skiing between the resorts (cabriolet, three lifts and two gondolas, with only one intermediate run to be had through it all) just to get from Canyons to PC) but, whatever, there will now be 7,300 skiable acres for one lift ticket or season pass price ($789 and $101, respectively). The folks it’ll suit best are intermediate skiers who start at Park City and want to spend the night at Canyons or ride their zipline. Or perhaps people staying in Park City who want to backcountry ski because you can only do it from Canyons. Think Whistler/Blackcomb not Alta/Bird.
In addition to the Quicksilver Gondola that links the two areas, PCM’s King Con Chair is now a six-pack, The Motherlode lift is now a detachable quad, “Miners Camp” replaces the Snow Hut Lodge- 500 indoor seats (yay!), a large deck and fresher food choices like homemade soups, made-to-order sandwiches and tossed salads- and the Summit House has been remodeled to increase seating; the Red Pine Lodge has a new, upper deck and 250 more indoor seats, and they’ve added snowmaking on two trails in the Iron Mountain area to handle increased skier traffic for Quicksilver Gondola access.
Photo courtesy Snowbird Resort
The next big spender was Snowbird Resort with $35 million dollars in capital improvements. Hidden Peak is finally crowned with the Summit Lodge. Guests can dine surrounded by a spectacular, 360-degree-view from 11,000 feet. The two-story glass-enclosed structure replaces the modified port-a-John that housed Snowbird’s elite Ski Patrol. The new 23,000 square foot building will have cafeteria seating for 192 people on the first floor, a private dining room for 180 guests, restrooms, a coffee/pastry shop, a 10,000 square foot deck and a new Ski Patrol headquarters. Patrons of the Cliff Lodge waved good bye to those quirky windowed-showers in 350 guest rooms in the east wings. The remodel includes carpeting, marble counters and tile in the bathrooms, ergonomic mattresses, contemporary furnishings and entertainment systems, energy efficient lighting and upgraded Wi-Fi. No more wire wickets. Following in Alta’s footsteps, RFID has come to the Bird. The Bird plans to extend the ski season in Peruvian Gulch, Gad Valley and Mineral Basin by adding more snowmaking guns to those areas.
Then comes Deer Valley and Solitude. DV officially took ownership of the Big Cottonwood Resort in May 2015 and immediately began ripping out the aged Summit fixed-grip double chairlift. They installed the new, four-person detachable high-speed Summit Express chairlift and added a new ski run from the top of the existing Apex Express chairlift to the bottom terminal of the new, realigned Summit, significantly lessening the current travel time to Honeycomb Canyon. So now you can access Honeycomb without freezing and falling asleep. You’ll still have to ride two lifts to get back to the base of Summit but at least they are now all high speeds. When you’re ready to eat expect that Deer Valley Difference in the remodeled Moonbeam Lodge Restaurant. In fact, DV revamped the menus at all of the resort’s restaurants.
Brighton made the best move of all. They’re celebrating their 80th anniversary by bringing back their extremely popular ‘kids 10 and under ski free’ deal. Smart families will be packing that brown bag and heading up BCC a lot this winter.
Utah’s newest resort, Cherry Peak Resort, is planning for their inaugural season this December. The Northern Utah area 15 miles from Logan features three triple chairlifts, a comprehensive snowmaking infrastructure and a 1.25 mile-long-run. They didn’t have enough snow to open last season so fingers crossed for something better soon. The resort has an impressive three-story day lodge for year-round events.
Feel like having a mountain all to yourself? Rent-a-Resort at Eagle Point, south of Salt Lake City, is available for private rental Tuesday through Thursday, January 5 – April 3.
No more of this stuffing three bodies into a two-man-backpacking tent crap. I was determined to overcome my awful sleeping arrangements from last weekend at the Craggin Classic into a luxury camping experience. I’m not talking “glamping” because that would involve an outside outfitter who cooks and cleans fireside for me but this would be as close as a lay person would get without a trailer.
I had less than a week to plan our excursion. Ryan’s more of a show up and drive (and pay) kind of guy while I’m the cruise director.
The first order of business was to choose a destination. Some place with rock climbing for Sage and me, biking for Ryan, and hiking for all of us. Some place with predictable weather for Labor Day, dog friendly, within a few-hours drive, and lots of land to camp on. Snow Canyon, St. George, Utah.
The Eureka tent didn’t get here in time but that didn’t deter. We rented a huge-ass tent from REI. It cost $40 for the entire weekend. I’m now hooked on tents you can stand in. Even when the rain began to pour and thunder and lightning rumbled all around last night, we were cozy and dry.
We brought a queen-sized air mattress, full-sized pillows, an electric cooler (so nothing would get soggy from melting ice), a Little Red Campfire to ensure nightly s’mores (and s’mOreos) in case we were restricted from having open fires, and a single burner stove for French toast and scrambled eggs with tomatoes. We were gonna roll in style. Chips and salsa, Angus burgers, fresh coffee, bacon! Aside from the perpetual (and annoying) thumping from the Navajo neighbors at the Baker Dam campground, we had the camping weekend I had envisioned. Last night’s freak monsoon at 2 a.m. couldn’t dampen it. The sweltering 90-degree Utah desert heat couldn’t fry it.
We climbed at Black Rocks because of the crazy abundance of toproping routes of all levels and we hiked in Snow Canyon because I was determined to check out the famous lava caves.
We headed home with a deep sense of satisfaction. To be honest, I didn’t put a lot of planning into this one. Sometimes things come together without a ton of effort. You just have to have the right mindset and, yes, access to the right tent. Thanks, REI!
I climbed a rock last weekend. Many rocks actually. And so did Sage. I dragged her from her cozy bed at the crisp dawn hour of 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning for the Salt Lake Craggin Classic up Little Cottonwood Canyon. I told her, “You’re climbing this weekend”. The comatose 9 year-old wasn’t happy with me.
I have been rock climbing for years but mostly indoors. Every year, however, I’m a beginner again as I completely stop for skiing in the winter. When I happened to come across the poster for the Craggin’ Classic it was my sole motivator to get back on the rock. The two-day event offered clinics for beginning sport climbers, alpine mountaineering, traditional climbing, rescue and first aid classes for all levels as well as food and community; my kind of weekend.
Craggin’ Day 1
We walked into the Peruvian Lodge at Alta to the sweet smell of grilled bacon and hashbrowns. I was sold at the make-your-own breakfast burrito station and fresh-brewed coffee. The savory curries from the Himalayan Kitchen would come later that night for dinner, after a five-hour excursion. Sage groaned a bit because the bevy of kids I promised never appeared. The kids outdoor climbing clinic was cancelled. I don’t get it. This was the perfect environment for climbing parents. Sign up everyone, drop the kids with an experienced coach to hone their skills and get them outdoors on real rock instead of colored gym holds, while you do your own thing for a few hours. Then you meet back up for dinner and camping. Super civilized. You leave your kids at an all-day rock climbing camp at Momentum, why would you NOT do this for both of you? No one could answer. Sage was one of three kids the whole weekend. I didn’t let that stop us.
After picking up shoes and harnesses from the Camp and Red Chili vendor tents, we broke into our clinic groups then loaded up my car for Big Cottonwood and the easy access Salt Lake Slips near the Dogwood campground. The Craggin Classic is part of a countrywide series of events put on by the American Alpine Club to educate and promote climbing at some of the premier destinations in the U.S. including North Conway, New Hampshire, Devil’s Rock, Wisconsin, and Salt Lake City, Utah. The AAC finds local guides and athletes to usher participants through clinics on Alpinism and Mountaineering, Trad/Multi-Pitch Climbing, and Physical Conditioning and Technique. You won’t get this kind of training in a gym.
After a short hike across the creek and playful banter, the talk turned to safety. We discussed gear, ropes, and suited up for belay lessons. Instantly I made a friend. Nancy was new to Utah and ready to discover the routes of the Wasatch Front. I had recently lost my last climbing buddy to a new boyfriend so here was yet another benie of the Classic.
While we bonded, Joey and Judy took Sage under their wing and taught her to belay. She held me on a 5.5, climbed it herself right after, then as soon as she was down, she rushed over to keeping practicing her belay…on Yasmin, her Monster High doll.
Back at Camp
Five routes and some serious hot temps later we wrapped up and headed back to basecamp (aka the Peruvian). Black Diamond sponsored our “happy hour” with vodka/punch and whiskey/lemonades that more than hit the spot. Eventually, we meandered into the basement room of the Lodge for some climbing slideshows and a raffle. We were famished by the first scoop of Basmati rice. The thumping music started shortly after dinner but we had a tent to erect and wasted limbs to revive. Ryan showed up to join us for the campout only to create one of the worst nights of sleep I can remember this year. Note to self: do not try to sleep three in a two-man tent.
Day 2
We sent Ryan packing in the morning, Sage joined the Intro to Outdoor Climbing clinic for round two (over at Dogwood this time) and I moved up the Canyon to Reservoir Ridge for Sport Leading Fundamentals. I have lead in the past but I hate it; climbing above the rope is not my cup of tea. The clinic was everything I hoped for- a refresher and confidence builder. The crew from Mountain Education and Development don’t mess around. We all lead two easy routes (5.6) but with a backup toprope system so that there would never be a time where we could fall. And the backup had a backup.
The End
I met Sage back at the Reservoir parking lot. Her ‘coach’ brought her over. She was beaming. “Mom! I did FIVE routes. Two were 5.9s!!” she exclaimed. I came home on Sunday with a renewed sense of outdoor climbing and my very own mini-climber. Getting outside on rock does that to just about anyone who doesn’t fear heights. As we headed home to Park City Sage asked if we could do the Craggin’ Classic again next year. I said sure; and maybe then there will be more kids. “I don’t care,” she said. “I just want to climb.” That’s my girl and that’s the Classic in a nutshell.
The next events in the west will be at Smith Rock in Bend, Oregon this weekend and then over Halloween in Shelf Road, Colo. There’s always room if you feel like road tripping.