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Show SPORTS The Park Record. Editor: Griffin Adams sports@parkrecord.com 435.649.9014 ex.104 Twitter: @ParkRecSports WALK WITH EASE The PC MARC will offer a session of Walk with Ease, a program developed by the Arthritis Foundation designed to help participants walk safely, with reduced pain, and increased flexibility and strength. Certified instructors will teach on the PC MARC’s indoor track, March 20 through April 28 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10-11 a.m. The session fee is $30. Register at parkcityrecreation.org or call 615-5400. BASIN REC LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL & SOFTBALL Register now for Basin Recreation’s Little League Baseball and Softball program. Available for kids aged 4 to 14 years old. Sign-up before March 15 to receive the early-bird rate. The season begins on March 28 for the Majors Division and on April 17 for all other divisions. This program is dependent on coach volunteers, so please consider sharing your time and knowledge. Pre-season instructional clinics are also available. To register or for information, visit www.basinrecreation. org. FREE PC MARC ADMISSION FOR STUDENTS During the school year students 6-18 years of age are invited to participate in a wealth of activities at the PC MARC for free when presenting student I.D. Monday - Friday from 2-4 p.m. Activities are unsupervised and include ping pong, gaga ball, the basketball gym, teen area and more. Ages 8 and under must be accompanied by a paying adult. Those 12 and older may use the workout area. For information, visit parkcityrecreation.org or call 615-5400. Please see Sports briefs, B-2 MINERS HOPE TO KEEP IMPROVING, B-2 www.parkrecord.com PCHS TENNIS STARTS THE SEASON 2-0, B-4 B-1 SAT/SUN/MON/TUES, MARCH 18-21, 2017 Fat biking a challenging, but popular, addition The growing winter sport is rising in sales and rentals in the area GRIFFIN ADAMS The Park Record Fat-tire biking is a growing craze on the winter trails in Park City and its surrounding areas. If there’s good snow and it’s a nice day outside, chances are that someone with a fat bike, essentially a mountain bike on steroids with its fourinch wide tires, is out and about. Despite having a plethora of trails to share in Park City, fat biking has ruffled some feathers of others in the winter sport community. “It’s having an effect on the trails locally, especially winter-use trails,” Executive Director of the Mountain Trails Foundation Charlie Sturgis said. “The skier-biker interface is new and proven to be challenging.” Fat biking is still relatively new. It’s easy to see the draw for local athletes, especially mountain bikers. Essentially, the new sport allows cyclists to continue their choice of exercise throughout the winter months. The fat tires make it easier to gain traction in the snow and it’s grown in popularity in the last three years. Todd Henneman, who owns Storm Cycles in Kimball Junction, said that while this year didn’t see a huge jump in fat bike rentals or sales, the sport still kept them busy. This is the store’s third year in existence, so it’s seen the effects of the sport firsthand. “The first winter, we sold a few, but last winter — our second winter — it went up a bunch,” Henneman said. “We sold quite a few and we also supported it with rentals. This winter has kind of been in line with the previous winter. Not like a massive jump, but we sold a similar amount of bikes.” Part of this is due to the abundance of THE COLONY AT WHITE PINE C ANYON TANZI PROPST/PARK RECORD A local fat-tire bike rider makes her way on to Quinn’s Trailhead at Round Valley, where they are allowed to ride. The growing sport has presented some challenges for other winter sports, but most believe it will be more welcomed with time. snow that graced Park City this season. While decent snowfall makes for excellent fat biking conditions, it also creates opportunities for solid skiing. Since the winter sports draw similar crowds, Henneman believes that most chose to head to the slopes instead of the trails this winter. The snow, though, allowed Mountain Trails to create a fat-bike-specific trail at Round Valley so that users could head there instead of the ski trails. While some have used it, it hasn’t completely kept fat bikers and Nordic skiers apart. In fact, the Nordic skiing community, though not all of it, has had some issues with fat bikers these last few seasons. According to Chris Magerl, the trails and grooming board member at The Utah Nordic Alliance (TUNA) for the last 15 years, it all depends on the snow. “The issue is that snow is very dynamic,” Magerl said. “It’s constantly changing. There are times a fat bike can be out and do virtually no damage to the trail. And there’s other times when fat biking with a four-inch tire can leave a wide, weaving trench right down the middle of the track that makes it unsafe for any Nordic skier.” For Magerl, it’s simple: if you’re leaving a trench or rut, go somewhere else. Not only can it make it unsafe for crosscountry skiers, or even other bikers, it can have long-lasting effects on the trail itself. And the bikers agree. “There’s an optimal time to ride one and there’s times where you probably don’t want to go out because it’s going to be a struggle and it won’t be any good,” Henneman said. So do those at Mountain Trails. “Our slogan is, ‘Ruts Suck,’” Sturgis said. “If you leave a rut, it’s detrimental Please see Fat-tire biking, B-6 | PARK CIT Y U TAH 7,300 ACRES OF PERFECT TURNS TOO GOOD NOT TO SHARE. Linking turns here leads to 300+ inviting trails and 14 bowls, all smothered in famous Utah powder. This is the Colony in Park City, where your ski-in, ski-out home is a modern-day base-camp for you and your friends. Your home seamlessly blends with the picturesque landscape of aspens and meadows — all connected to the nation’s largest resort. To schedule a tour, contact our sales team at 435.649.3411 or visit thecolonywpc.com. Listed by: 80 224 AMERICA’S PREMIER SKI-IN/SKI-OUT PROPERTY, ONLY AVAILABLE IN AMERICA’S LARGEST MOUNTAIN RESORT. This is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy to residents of any state or jurisdiction in which the registration requirements for such an offering have not been fulfilled. 189 The Colony 248 Park City |