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Winter is just around the corner. Instead of looking at winter as a time to head indoors, parents shouldn’t let their fifth and sixth graders get stuck inside this winter when they could be skiing and snowboarding for FREE.

The Ski Utah Fifth Grade Passport and Sixth Grade SnowPass are the best ways for fifth and sixth graders to experience The Greatest Snow on Earth.  Fifth graders can ski three times free at each of Utah’s 13 world-class resorts utilizing the Passport. Sixth graders can continue to enjoy one day of free snowriding at each Utah ski resort with the SnowPass.

DID YOU KNOW? Nearly 1 in 10 of the world’s school children are overweight and the number of overweight adolescents in the U.S. has tripled in the past two decades. Overweight conditions in children and adolescents are generally caused by lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating patterns or a combination of the two.

Don’t let your kids look like this during the winter:

Have them looking like this:

Check out www.skiutah.com to get the downloadable applications and the 411.
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Each year 8,000 Utah students participate in the Ski Utah Passport and SnowPass programs thanks to support from KSL-TV, KSL News Radio, Zions Bank, Marriott Corp., Whole Foods, The Truth About Tobacco, Powerade, Ski’N'See, Canyon Sports, Rossignol and Burton.

Ski Utah’s 2008 Fat Flake Festival will take place Sat., Nov. 15 from 5-9 p.m. at the Gallivan Center in downtown Salt Lake City. This year’s festival will feature music by The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash, Cavedoll and Junior Giant. Local ski and snowboard athletes including Julian Carr, Jamie Pierre, Rachael Burks, Jenn Berg, Stevie Bell and Ashley Battersby will also be on hand to sign autographs in the Powder Lounge.

New to the event this year, is the first ever Ski Boot Race. Contestants wearing alpine ski boots will tackle a challenging dash around the perimeter of the Gallivan Center in the quest for a new pair of Rossignol alpine ski boots, and the title of Utah’s “Fastest Ski Boot Racer” in both a men’s and women’s division. Pre-registration for the race will open on Nov. 1. More information can be found by visiting the website.

Participants can also take part in the vintage ski outfit contest and win new clothes from Eider, skis from Rossignol or a Burton snowboard. Lift tickets and other swag from Utah ski resorts will also be given away. The event will also offer ice skating, a kids zone, food, beer and much more. The Fat Flake Festival is free and open to the public. Last year’s festival was successful in conjuring an amazing 700 inches of snow for the 2007-08 winter season. Join Ski Utah as they call out to the snow gods and welcome winter back to the Wasatch!

The Fat Flake Festival is powered by Ski Utah, Ride Utah, KSL Radio, X-96, PowerAde, Monster Beverage Co., Salt Lake CVB, Stantec, Powder Magazine, Snowboarder Magazine, Media One, City Weekly, Pictureline, and Young Chevrolet.

Here are some pics from last year’s festival.

One of the finer Utah based magazines has finally made its way to the web.  This is going to be a great resource for all things Park City if you’re looking to get the inside scoop on dining, arts, people…and of course, skiing and snowboarding Park City’s 3 great resorts.

Along with the new website for Park City Magazine, they have two blogs.  While I’ll likely skip (pun intended) by “A Walk in the Park” I’m sure I’ll be checking in at Park City at Play on a regular basis.

Stopping by the blogs and website will be much more timely than waiting for the one of two semi-annual issues. But if you’d like to land the printed version in your mailbox semi-annually, $12 is a fair asking price.

There was a great article written yesterday on thestreet.com about ways to save some money while still enjoying the legendary fresh powder which the Utah ski resorts have to offer.

Why Utah? The best reason to go is the snow. The ski resorts closest to Salt Lake City average 430 inches per year — many received 700 last year (58 feet!) — and it’s almost always light, fluffy powder. Colorado, the Sierra Nevadas and even the Pacific Northwest get plenty of powder, too, but Utah’s dry climate and the effect of Great Salt Lake means exceptionally dry snowflakes, containing as little as 4% water. The result? Ice, a staple for East Coast and Midwestern snow riders, is virtually nonexistent. And in February, the sun shines about 60% of days.

Access and variety also separate Utah from the rest of the country. Seven ski areas lie within 38 miles of Salt Lake City International Airport, a major hub with 800 nonstop arrivals every day. There’s also the Utah Transit Authority, or UTA, a public transit system that can get you from the airport, downtown or just about anywhere else in the metro area to the lodge quickly and cheaply.

Alta, Brighton, The Canyons, Deer Valley, Park City Mountain Resort, Snowbird and Solitude, each with its own character (and price range), offer a combined 14,000 skiable acres, compared to 5,800 for the combined membership of Ski Vermont.

Here are some of the articles suggestions to save some money:

Plan ahead. From lodging to lift tickets and equipment rentals, everything is cheaper if you book early in the season, often before early December. Once you’re on the ground, remember that buying lift tickets and renting equipment before you get to the mountain can also save you money.

Stay in town. Try hotels and condos in Midvale, Cottonwood Heights or Sandy for easy access to the Cottonwoods. Downtown Salt Lake also works well, offering a short trip to Park City and a slightly longer one to the canyons. Check rates at the Residence Inn Salt Lake City Cottonwood or the Best Western Cottontree Inn. If you’re focused on Park City, poke around The Canyons resort and the town’s outskirts, because the town has a fabulous, free shuttle system that runs morning, noon and night.

Take the shuttle or city buses. Loading yourself, your equipment and your ski clothes onto a bus doesn’t sound like fun, but it’s cheap ($2.25 each way). Besides, even with a rental car, you may have to take public transportation to the Cottonwood resorts. Avalanches and avalanche prevention often shut down the roads, or restrict them to buses or four-wheel drive. If it snows overnight, call the resorts’ ski conditions hotlines for road information before you decide where to ski. If you do rent a car, consider your winter driving skills or an all-wheel/four-wheel-drive rental if you’re planning to drive up the canyons.

Scout out discounts. Deals abound, online and on the ground. Wherever you stay, they’ll likely offer discounted lift tickets for nearby resorts. Many offer the Salt Lake Super Pass, with discounts on one to six days of skiing at Alta, Brighton, Snowbird and Solitude (with a free day if you buy three days or more by Dec. 1). It’s also available from Ski-SaltLake.com, CheapTickets.com and other travel Web sites. The vouchers include rides on the UTA buses to the resorts. For the Cottonwoods and the Park City resorts (The Canyons, Deer Valley, Park City Mountain Resort), you can also buy tickets at area ski shops such as Canyon Sports or Ski ‘N See in Salt Lake (but not at Park City stores). You can save up to $18 — provided you buy before you head up.

Each magazine is unique but Utah’s resorts in the top 10 is more commonplace.  You probably already know that Utah has the Greatest Snow on Earth ®, and rightly so we’re once again at the top of the pile in many resort rankings.

Below are Utah resorts ranked according to Skiing Magazine

Overall
#5- Alta/Snowbird

Backcountry Access
#3- Powder Mountain
#7- Alta/Snowbird
#8- Solitude Mountain Resort

Powder
#1- Alta/Snowbird
#3- Solitude Mountain Resort
#4- Powder Mountain
#6- Brighton Resort

Steeps
#6- Alta/Snowbird

Apres Scene
#5- Park City Mountain Resort
#10- Deer Valley Resort

Park
#3- Brighton Resort
#8- Park City Mountain Resort

Trees
#5- Powder Mountain
#6- Solitude
#7- Brighton

Week-After-Storm Skiing- Solitude

Best Feedlot- Seafood Buffet, Deer Valley Utah

Best Music Scene- Harry O’s, Park City

Best Meat Market- Harry O’s, Park City

Best On-Mountain Lodge- Watson Shelter, Alta

image credit Skiing Magazine

With south facing slopes were starting to melt out around the Salt Lake Valley and mountain slopes turning to spring corn this past week and it felt like winter had made an exit. That was until Monday when it stepped back onto center stage for an encore. Storm totals in the Cottonwoods were in the 16-20″ range with the Park City areas receiving just over 10″ and Snowbasin to the north getting in on the fun with near 18″. Cold temps and cloudy skies the past two days have kept the snow fresh. With near record snow depths at many of Utah’s resorts it’s the perfect time to get out and ride.

Tim from Ski Utah was up at Solitude on Monday to get evidence that Winter is still open for business.

You may recall earlier this month the post I did about the Ski/Snowboard Lingo contest that Ski Utah and Winter at Westminster hosted on the Addictionary site (it’s an online dictionary of made up “werds” - you know, like the words you used to make up with your bro/brahs but never wrote down).

People came out of the woodwork and from all over the country to submit their werds. Hundreds of new werds for the “one werd to rule them all” category poured in and another stack of werds for the lingo category piled up like the snow at Alta.

With the contest now over I give you the winners.

Snowriding (n) A new winter recreation industry term describing the act
of either snowboarding or snow skiing down a slope.

Snowriding, the grand prize winner and the new werd for “skiing and snowboarding,” was submitted by: Roberta Stjernholm of Lakewood, Colo. She won a week long trip to Utah. (Am I the only one that sees the irony in this?) Perhaps after checking out how easy it is to get to the resorts around here versus running the I-70 ultra-marathon she’ll move to Utah.

gnardonculous: (a) gnarulous and ridonculous. The definition of this winning werd actually consists of made-up werds. So to clarify,
gnardonculous is an appropriate synonym for such go-to adjectives as: gnarly, sick, rad and/or ridiculous.

Submitted by Andrew Howard Johnson of Stamford, Connecticut, this new snowriding lingo werd took home the prize of 2 lift tickets to The Canyons Resort and 10 shirts featuring the new werd.

I’d definitely wear a tee shirt with the word Gnardonculous on it. Andrew, if you read this and have an extra shirt to pawn off, let me know. I’ll take a Large.

One of my favorites that didn’t win is the self describing Snowcrastinator: (n) One who puts off work and chores intentionally and habitually in favor of skiing.

Check out the other new werds from the contest on the Addictionary site.

April 15 can’t come soon enough and I’m not talking about taxes. This License Plate Poker contest is too much.  I hope I’m not alone but I can’t stop looking at license plates and wondering what hand that car owner has. In fact, I think I may be tainted for life. Not since I was a kid sitting in the back of our family car on yet another road trip have I spent this much time looking at plates.

Back then it was the hope of seeing a new state license plate that I had not yet caught a glimpse of.  At least then I could savor the joy of a spotting my first New York or the coveted Rhode Island plate (I grew up in Oregon).  Now when I see a plate with a stellar hand I’m left wishing somehow I could tell the owner of that nice Chevy Tahoe just how lucky he or she is only to have them turn right on 7th east, never to be seen again.

I have to admit when I first read about the contest I snickered a bit, but the longer it has gone on the more I’ve gotten into it.

Case in point: In late January I attended the Outdoor Retailer’s show in Salt Lake City where huge exhibit halls were full of all sorts of cool outdoor and ski gear. Despite enough new gear to make this gear junkie salivate like a kid in a candy shop, the one thing that sticks out in my mind is the full house of 8’s and queens that I spotted on a rental van as I entered the building. I stopped in my tracks, looked around for someone to savor the moment with, just anyone to show it to. But I knew that any of the passing show attendees would certainly think I were crazy trying to explain the logic of a full house on a license plate.

The current winning hand is this one below, submitted by Ericka Askerlund of Herriman, UT.

4 of a Kind

So although many of you will be thinking tax deadline come April 15, I’ll be looking forward to being able to peacefully drive around town without the urge to check out every new Utah license plate, seeing if perhaps they have the best hand in license plate poker.

Check any ski or snowboard online forum and you’re bound to find a plethora of threads posted by teens looking for advice on where to go to college. Mixing the pleasure of ripping untracked powder in the morning with classes in the afternoon is a continued search. Heck, even making it to class can be an issue for most college students who love to ski or ride.

I found a website the other day that spells it out pretty clearly. It’s the Snow and School Report which was cleverly built by the University of Utah (commonly referred to as the “U”).

In fact, doing the math on this one doesn’t require a High School degree.

(click the image to see a larger version)

With another storm rolling in right now and a near guaranteed powder day tomorrow I’m sure there are piles of students at the U who will be taking advantage of that 45 min drive and the 500″ inches. Will you be one of them next year?

- via Shawn at Ski-SaltLake.com