This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
ǕŎ Ś Ū dž Fresh tracks under Strawberry gondola framed by one of Snowbasin’s many dramatic vistas.


Old School + New School T


WHETHER FOR INSANE VIEWS OR FRESH LINES, SNOWBASIN IS THE PLACE TO ESCAPE THE CROWDS.


here are days when this is arguably the best view from any ski area in Utah. From the top of the


Strawberry gondola at Snowbasin you look down on The Great Salt Lake valley and the city of Ogden. At the right time of day, the sun lights up the lake in a blaze of yellow and orange. Or you could turn 180 degrees and take in the bucolic Ogden valley with its horse pastures and frozen, snowed-over lake. But this is not one of those days. Today the mountain is smothered by a snowstorm. The only view you have is of the two tracks snaking away below us, tracks you left here on your last run. When people around here talk about the old days,


they generally come from one of two schools. There are those who were here well before this was a venue for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, who used to hike half the day for one run in Porcupine Cirque and break for a sandwich on the tailgate of the family wagon be-


AVERAGE SNOWFALL


350 inches


VERTICAL 3,000 feet


NUMBER OF RUNS


SERVED ACRES


LIFT- 3,000 106


tween cold rides on slow chairlifts. To them, Snowbasin is worlds better now that it has gondolas and snowmak- ing and chandelier-lit fancy lodges. Then there is the new guard, those who say they’d gladly pay double for their season pass if it would return to the secluded hideaway it was a decade ago. The truth of Snowbasin is somewhere in between.


Sure, there are weekends when you might stand in a lift line or have to park in the second lot and there are days to hit your favorite stash first thing because it won’t stay untracked for long. But there are also days like to- day—a Wednesday afternoon when you can spoon your own tracks run after run and ride up in a warm gondola car in between. I watch as my friend drops in, fleeting glimpses of his helmet barely visible through the wispy contrails that fly up in his wake. It’s as good a view as you’ll find at a ski area anywhere. —Derek Taylor


2016–17 | The Greatest Snow on Earth 6 3


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100