Utah Ski Trip - January, 1997
It was a memorable 4 days of skiing in the Rocky Mountains.
We had the good fortune of being at Snowbird and Alta a week before more that 4,000 skiers were stranded there due to avalanches. (See news article below). As it was, each day was a completely different experience, beginning on Thursday with Spring conditions, Friday followed with a blizzard, before the sun came out on Saturday.
With 11 ski resorts within distance of Salt lake City, it was a difficult decision where to ski on any given day. Alta certainly lives up to its reputation as being a true skiers resort and the snow conditions were everything one could ask for.
After the avalanches the following weekend, who could mind being stranded in the bus for three hours on the way back to the hotel!
The Marriott Hotel accomodations were excellent, with thanks to Jan Stanley('74) for having made the arrangements for our group. Thanks also to Andy Brown, his friend Susan, and Nina and Kelly Hubbard for their great hospitality in showing us around the area.
Those attending included:
Andrew Brown('85) - Salt Lake City, Lee Fox('86) - Malibu, Jane Haugen Fast('63) - Springfield, Missouri, Douglas & Cheryl Hawkinson - Minneapolis Nina Jorgensen Hubbard('85) - Salt Lake City, Tchingiz (TJ) Tchalgadjieff('88) - Berkeley, Richard McMullen('75) - Danville, California, Margo Malakoff('78) - Pasadena, California, Maggie Mallon('86) - San Francisco, California, Beth Moore('86) - Washington DC, Cliff Potter - Chicago, Audrey Thompson('75) - Salt Lake City, and Stephanie Ward('86) - Washington, DC and many family and friends.
Looking forward to next year, there a number of suggestions:
Douglas Hawkinson is interested in sharing a 12 bed condo or two at Keystone, Colorado.
Banf, Alberta or Whistler, British Columbia have also been suggested by Jennifer Ruddick Clark, an alumna with the Canadian Leisure Travel Office.
While we missed all of you who were unable to make it to Utah, it certainly did not stop us from having a great time.
See you next year ...
News Bulletin
Sunday, January 12, 1997 11:42 pm EST
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- An estimated 4,000 skiers and snowboarders were stranded for much of the weekend after 2 feet of fresh snow and avalanches blocked a canyon highway. Roads were cleared Sunday night, allowing them to leave.
The highway to the Snowbird and Alta ski resorts became blocked Saturday afternoon and by late Sunday, it was open enough to let people go back home.
The more than 2,000 people snowbound at Snowbird crammed halls, restaurants and conference rooms to sleep Saturday night, because motel rooms were nearly full before the storm struck. The resort passed out all the blankets it could find.
``I've seen people using tablecloths for blankets. It's just been horrendous,'' said switchboard operator Trista Conde.
Sheriff's deputies had estimated another 2,000 people were stuck at Alta.
Snowbird's restaurants ran out of food for supper Saturday night before everyone was fed, but one restaurant was able to provide complimentary breakfasts Sunday, Conde said.
Many of the snowbound skiers waiting for the highway to open Sunday headed back to the slopes, where Snowbird had all but two of its lifts running.
Snowbird is about 10 miles east of Salt Lake City, off Little Cottonwood Canyon in the rugged Wasatch Mountains, and Alta is about three miles farther east. The mountains rise to elevations of more than 10,000 feet.
One avalanche buried 45 cars in a parking lot at Snowbird on Saturday. Another snowslide at Alta swamped a sheriff deputy's truck and some pedestrians Saturday night, but no one was injured, authorities said.
Gordon Hanks and his family were eating lunch in their car at Snowbird when it was hit by the slide off the face of Mount Superior.
``The windshield blew in on us and shattered, and the front compartment of the car filled totally with snow,'' Hanks told The Salt Lake Tribune.
It took him 10 minutes to dig his wife and five children out of the buried car.
``What was scary was once we got out and we knew we were all right, we looked around and the little car beside us looked like it had been smashed by one of those car-crushing machines,'' Hanks said.
Salt Lake County crews worked to clear snow from the highway and eliminate avalanche dangers by deliberating triggering slides with explosives.
However, wind up to 45 mph combined with the heavy overnight snow to make the avalanche danger too high to open the roads, said sheriff's Lt. Ed Colbert.
A single lane was opened at midday Sunday to allow an emergency vehicle to reach a woman who went into labor, and take her to a Salt Lake hospital, Colbert said. A helicopter couldn't reach her because the wind was too strong.
``It's just really a mess up there,'' Colbert said. ``It's still really dangerous.''