Wasatch Tidbits

| December 6, 2012

1) November is the weirdest on record.
The SLC golf courses are psyched, but the skiers are not.  According to the SL Tribune, in November 2012, “Not even one day was cooler than normal, while 17 days were 10 degrees or more above average.”   Awesome. A great early season in the Wasatch starts around Halloween, an average one is going full-steam by Thanksgiving and a sucky one is still lagging by Christmas.  With rain and 40 degree temps at 7,100′ in Park City, we are teetering on the edge of… I can’t say it.  The BC skiing is tolerable, but doesn’t leave you begging for more.

2) Powder Mountain is sold.
Powder Mountain, up in the northern part of the Wasatch by Ogden/Snowbasin, was recently sold to The Summit Group.  PowMow has some of the best quality snow in the US, so hopefully the new owners will figure out a way to jack up another 10-15 degrees of slope angle so the mountain so it will actually be skiable. In the meantime, it will be rebranded as an environmentally sensitive entrepreneurial retreat, somewhat like a continuous-loop TED Talk.  Given the choice between this and rapacious developers, it’s a no-brainer and I wish them the best.


Audrey Buchanan, Director of Digital for the Summit Group on the left, versus Jake Garn, Director of paid-off, racist, ex-politicians for the Talisker Group on the right.

3) The Wasatch Citizens Series is going strong.
The first two races have already been held, including the one last Tuesday night in the rain. Spandex or not, there is something special about sharing the camaraderie of blowing chunks in the dark while skinning uphill in the rain.  And, it is free!   40ish people turned out for the last race, which is a huge tribute to the spirit of the event. Having been involved, and overwhelmed, by the logistics and formalities of organizing Ski Mountaineering races in the past, I think/hope this is the future of the sport.  The people who are fast are really fast and you probably will never catch them, so forget about winning and have a good time with like-minded people.

The races are held at the Brighton Ski Resort and the schedule is posted on the Wasatch Citizen SkiMo Series website. In general, the races are held on Tuesday nights and the best way to be reminded of them is to subscribe to their blog email.  Like many fine blogs, they don’t update all that often, so you won’t be flooded with spammy crap.

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Category: Commentary

About the Author ()

Andrew McLean lives in Park City, Utah and is a gear designer, writer, photographer, ski mountaineer, climber, Mountain Unicycle rider and father of two very loud little girls.

Comments (7)

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  1. Howie Oren says:

    Your writing is getting kind of punchy with no snow. Like the writing, not liking the lack of snow in the Wasatch.

  2. Andrew says:

    I promise to be nice if it snows. :)

  3. MC says:

    Is it just me or did you photoshop the horns off that dude’s head? I’d bet he’d sell out his own mother!

  4. Jim K says:

    Agreed. The best events are ones where the grand prize is beer, or in this case, pie. Pie AND beer, even better.

  5. Courtney dean says:

    Andrew,

    Can you Share your thoughts about the impact summit group will actually have on Eden? My wife and I fell in love with the area and have been trying to figure out to make it out permanent home. But the news of the sale is frightening. We are hearing many different sides to the story and are most fearful real estate will skyrocket.

    What are your thoughts about the environmental, social, and economic impact to the area?

  6. Andrew says:

    Hi Courtney – It’s hard to say, although I personally think any boom in Eden real estate prices has already happened with Snowbasin being developed for the 2002 Olympics and the subsequent housing boom/bust. When I last spent the night up in that area, it was in one of many, many empty houses in one of many empty developments. It seems like there is a vast over inventory of homes up there. However, there is only so much beautiful open space, which to me seems like the main reason to live up there and probably why the place was named Eden to begin with. So, I think those preexisting house prices will fall, or stay low, while the large unbroken lots will appreciate. In that case it depends what you are looking for.

    Although I do wish the Summit Group well, from their videos, it is hard to take them too seriously.

  7. Scott says:

    Interesting…I went through “Eden” this summer and thought it was a total shit hole. But to be fair, I didn’t stumble along Summit Groups “nest” made of all natural shit to loo out over the valley. I didn’t get in the lake (er…reservior) either. Hilarious video…

    I’ll stay in Montana.

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