It looks like you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

For the 2007-2008 season the Ski Utah blog will be maintained by a number of Utah based skiers as well as a few destination skiers who will be coming to Utah to ski the Greatest Snow on Earth. They’ll be bringing Utah and destination skiers the 411 on all things skiing in Utah through images, stories, updates, video and more. Meet the Ski Utah blog crew:

Lift Operations (aka - Blog Traffic Controllers)

Kendall Card - Blog Manager, Skier

Kendall learned to ski at Sundance one cold winter evening and remembers $5 mid-week lift tickets at Solitude before moving to Oregon at age 13. There he re-learned to ski in the notorious Cascade Concrete on Mt. Hood. Returning to Utah for school and telling his parents “4 years and I’m outta there”, 14 years later he can regularly be found early mornings on the hunt for untracked powder in the backcountry before the lifts are spinning. Once at the resorts he has a knack for finding pow stashes long after the main runs have been tracked up. He gave us the straight up on a few questions:

What’ was the first ski you owned?
Miller’s (the greens ones) My parents bought them for me from a garage sale for $50. Little did they know it would lead to this.

Where was your deepest powder day?
The Canyons, 2001-02 season the day Dreamscape lift opened with over 40″ new.

Do you snowboard?
Yep. I started snowboarding in the 89-90 season and although skiing is my gig I like to get out on my board at least a half a dozen times each season.

Any resorts you’ve not skied in Utah?
Beaver Mountain. Gotta get to the Beav this year.

Jake Spurlock - Video Manager, Skier

Jake grew up in the shadow of Mount Olympus and spent any and all spare time skiing Brighton and Park City. Learning to ski at an early age it quickly became a passion that he’s not been able to find an equivalent for. Although he often finds himself behind the camera he’s known to “test” the powder consistency in order to be certain that the athletes he’s filming will be satisfied. Jake’s finishing up a degree in Digital Media at Utah Valley State College although it’s likely with the amount of skiing he’ll be doing this winter that degree may have to wait another semester. We caught up with Jake to get a few things straight:

What’s your favorite ski?
Really was pumped about the Shane McConkey/Volant Spatula’s.

And favorite skier of all time?
Saucerboy. Nuff said.

Do you snowboard?
Nope, nothing against it, I have just been more interested in skiing. Maybe this year though?

Any resorts you’ve not skied in Utah?
Lots… This is the year to hit Beav, Alta, Deer Valley, Snowbasin, Powder Mountain, Brian Head, Sundance and Wolf… Lots of work ahead.

Lifties (aka - Blog Contributors)

Jason Mitchell - Skier

Jason grew up skiing Crystal Mountain in Washington and after having his fill of the Cascade Conrete he made his way to Utah for the greatest snow on earth…and an education. After a buddy convinced him to quit college for the winter and take up teaching skiing at The Canyons, he hasn’t looked back to Washington with the same zeal as before. Skiing Utah powder is now a part of his DNA, so much so that he named his daughter Alta. As a family man Jason will be introducing little Alta to skiing this season with some blog reports on where’s good to take a first timer. But don’t let that comfort you, he’ll snag your powder line when you’re not looking so be alert.

What was your first Utah resort that you skied and when?
Snowbird… 1993

Who is your favorite all time skier?
Glen Plake… That guy was absolutely nuts back in the day. I remember getting his autograph at Olympic Sports in Seattle when I was 12. He had rollerblades on and took a digger trying to “ski” down the artificial ski hill/treadmill thing.

Where was your Deepest Powder Day
I hate to admit it, but it wasn’t in Utah… it was at Grand Targhee, WY in 1997. We had waist-deep blower from top to bottom. Next best day would have to be at Alta that same year where we were hucking our meat under the Sugarloaf chair.

What Utah resorts have you not skied?
Beaver Mountain, Powder Mountain, Brian Head and Wolf Creek… #1 on my list is Powder Mountain. I’ve heard way too much good stuff about PowMow.

Josh Rhea - Skier

After growing up in Texas Josh naturally migrated to Colorado to chase powder. There he spent a few seasons before becoming an intern for POWDER magainze and spent a season on the POWDER tour, driving the RV and basically “living the dream”. Having skied most of the western half of North America Josh finally wised up and rooted himself in Utah where he continues to freelance for POWDER magazine and other ski publications. Josh has a season pass at Alta and can be found on the ridges of Utah’s backcountry still searching for the powder that alluded him in Colorado.

What mountain did you have your first season pass to?
Breckenridge/Arapahoe Basin/Keystone – the Colorado Buddy Pass

Deepest powder day - when and at what resort?
Wolf Creek Ski Area, CO, Easter Sunday 2000

I’ve had a lot of super deep days in Utah but that day at Wolf Creek, I could not breathe while skiing for all the snow.

How many skis are in your quiver?
About 9.

If you have to choose one ski from that quiver which would it be?
Scott P4 191cm

What resorts in Utah, if any, haven’t you skied?
Wolf Mountain – but I have ridden DH bikes there.

Ali Thackary - Skier

Ali grew up in Utah and after years of following her sisters around Snowbird, Alta and Brighton she soon found herself gravitating to the terrain park. A former competitor who has competed across the US and Europe she can now be found hitting the features of Brighton’s park where she has a season pass this season. But don’t let that fool you - she’s all business when it comes to skiing powder and if you’re not careful she’ll get your powder stash before you know it. That’s likely why she’s got such a contageous smile, from skiing so much of Utah’s epic powder.

Where was your first season pass?
Snowbird
Park or Pipe?
Park

Where was your deepest powder day and when?
Clayton peak (backside of Brighton), 2006. Gives me goosebumps thinking about it.

What’s your favorite ski?
Park - Roxy Broomstix (seriously, they’re the best). Powder - Roxy Black Magic

Chris Becker - Skier - Guest Contributor

With a last name like Becker and a German speaking father Chris has skiing in the blood. In fact, he learned to ski while living in Geneva Switzerland when he was six years old and ever since then skiing has been on the brain. But living in the midwest didn’t really give him much chance to experience the powder skiing that Utah is famous for. Although he didn’t heed the call to “go west” for college he decided to go to attend a small liberal arts school in Pennsylvania where he skis at Ski Rountop. Last year he enrolled in the Winter at Westminster program and has been hooked on Utah skiing since. He’s in Utah for the month of January this season and armed with a season pass to Snowbird. We’re glad to have him as a guest contributor to the blog for the month of January.

Where do you currently live and what is the local mountain that you ski at?

I live in Indianapolis, IN and go to school in Harrisburg, PA where I ride park at Ski Roundtop.

How long are you in Utah?

My school has a January term, I decided to skip it and come out to Utah to ski some pow. That means I will be here until January 31.

Why Utah? Why not Colorado or Tahoe?

It’s DEEP and STEEP. Utah gets 500+ inches of the lightest fluffiest snow on earth and with Alta and Snowbird being some of the steepest resorts in the country you can always count on getting lots of vert. Its also sweet that you can get from the city to the 7 mountains in 30 minutes.

What’s your current ski(s)?

I ride Rossignol Scratch BC’s on powder days and on the off day’s I am working on my Telemark skills with a set of Rossignol Scratch FS’s with Hammerhead bindings.

Deepest powder day - when and where?

Not really sure… but Monday, December 31, 2007 was epic! I was chest deep in powder at Solitude Mountain Resort on a blue bird day.

Eric Dance - Skier - Guest Contributor

Taking a break from the corporate world was not a hard choice for Eric. After spending four years in Utah going to school (or skipping class and skiing with the powder rule activated) and then two years working in Dallas, Eric realized there is something to be said for spending some good quality time with the Utah mountains. Besides the curse of having been born in Texas, the days of sitting in his cubicle dreaming of face shots are now a thing of the past. Eric decided to take a break before starting his next job to try and control his dreams of skiing. He’ll be blogging for a few weeks this winter while in Utah.

YOU - Skier

That’s right, you. If you’re headed to Utah and want to comment or perhaps contributing a ski related story about your trip to ski the Greatest Snow on Earth, we’d love to hear from you. We’ll publish stories here on the Ski Utah Blog and you’re welcome to comment at anytime. Be sure to drop us an e-mail or comment in a post.

Contact Kendall Card via e-mail: kendall AT ski utah D0t com