canuck
11-01-2004, 09:49 AM
is where I wanna be, booze or no booze!
Oct 29, 2004) --
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Brighton and other Cottonwood Canyons resorts, just east of Salt Lake City, had more than five feet of packed snow, with Thursday bringing another storm.
"We have plenty of snow," said Brighton general manager Randy Doyle, who was scrambling to assemble a ground crew.
Brighton just got a new lift, the New Majestic quad, licensed last week. It replaces a double chair lift that opened in 1955 at the base of the mountain. Doyle said he sent parts of the old lift to a sister resort at Big Sky, Mont., and gave away some chairs to old-timers as a keepsake.
Alta expected so much fresh snow the resort was closed to early birds hiking up the slopes for fear of avalanche danger. It plans to open Nov. 18.
Snowbird will hasten its opening by two weeks to Nov. 5 for the weekend, then close for a few days before opening again for the season Nov. 12.
That will mark Snowbird's earliest opening in 33 years of operation. It already has more than five feet of settled snow at higher elevations.
"It's every ski operator's dream to have this kind of snow in October," Snowbird spokesman Dave Fields said Thursday.
"This is way earlier than we planned on opening. It's our earliest opening ever, so we are scrambling to get our employees here early," he said.
Thursday's storm was poised to deliver even more snow to southern Utah, where Brian Head resort was capturing a bounty of snow, almost 6 feet so far this season, now packed into a 31/2-foot base. Brian Head plans to open its lifts Nov. 13.
Utah resorts traditionally open by Thanksgiving except for Park City's Deer Valley, which usually holds out until early December. In Colorado, Vail and Loveland Pass are open. So is southern California's Mammoth Mountain. But many resorts in Oregon are still waiting for enough snow to open.
The Utah resorts' biggest problem was getting crews recruited, trained and deployed for paying customers. It takes about 100 ground workers to operate Snowbird for skiing, Fields said.
Thursday's storm was expected to linger in the Wasatch mountains for a day and a half. Then, a shift in winds from the northwest was expected to add lake-effect snow from Great Salt Lake.
"We're driving every inch of the mountain we can with snowcats trying to get it packed down, so it's less likely to blow away," Fields said.
Oct 29, 2004) --
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Brighton and other Cottonwood Canyons resorts, just east of Salt Lake City, had more than five feet of packed snow, with Thursday bringing another storm.
"We have plenty of snow," said Brighton general manager Randy Doyle, who was scrambling to assemble a ground crew.
Brighton just got a new lift, the New Majestic quad, licensed last week. It replaces a double chair lift that opened in 1955 at the base of the mountain. Doyle said he sent parts of the old lift to a sister resort at Big Sky, Mont., and gave away some chairs to old-timers as a keepsake.
Alta expected so much fresh snow the resort was closed to early birds hiking up the slopes for fear of avalanche danger. It plans to open Nov. 18.
Snowbird will hasten its opening by two weeks to Nov. 5 for the weekend, then close for a few days before opening again for the season Nov. 12.
That will mark Snowbird's earliest opening in 33 years of operation. It already has more than five feet of settled snow at higher elevations.
"It's every ski operator's dream to have this kind of snow in October," Snowbird spokesman Dave Fields said Thursday.
"This is way earlier than we planned on opening. It's our earliest opening ever, so we are scrambling to get our employees here early," he said.
Thursday's storm was poised to deliver even more snow to southern Utah, where Brian Head resort was capturing a bounty of snow, almost 6 feet so far this season, now packed into a 31/2-foot base. Brian Head plans to open its lifts Nov. 13.
Utah resorts traditionally open by Thanksgiving except for Park City's Deer Valley, which usually holds out until early December. In Colorado, Vail and Loveland Pass are open. So is southern California's Mammoth Mountain. But many resorts in Oregon are still waiting for enough snow to open.
The Utah resorts' biggest problem was getting crews recruited, trained and deployed for paying customers. It takes about 100 ground workers to operate Snowbird for skiing, Fields said.
Thursday's storm was expected to linger in the Wasatch mountains for a day and a half. Then, a shift in winds from the northwest was expected to add lake-effect snow from Great Salt Lake.
"We're driving every inch of the mountain we can with snowcats trying to get it packed down, so it's less likely to blow away," Fields said.