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Show C Pajw 4 - 1 HI DAILY HLRALU, Pno. Utah. Thursday, October 29. IW8 .....' SKI UTAH 'SO Paift CHy: home to treasures past, presesti Elk Meadows skiers finding empty lift lines Bv SKIUTAH At BEAVER Utah's newest family resort, Elk Meadows Resort, is pristine, uncrowded and unspoiled. A quad chair has been added to better access the Mr. Holly side of the resort, and three new snowcats have been purchased for expanded grooming. The resort has also expanded its halfpipe and snowboard park. Renovations at the base lodge and improvements at the upper lodge have also been Group at one-- , snow-shoein- holidays. the By There are plenty of good reasons to ski Utah's best snow on earth Winter trade winds push clouds full of moisture east from the Pacific Ocean across the desert. The heat bakes out the moisture and when the clouds meet Utah's Rocky Mountains, the remaining moisture rapidly cools, and the precipitation blankets the peaks in snow that is uniquely dry and pow- Bv SKIUTAH In a world filled with first-clas- s ski resorts, why would anyone travel all the way to Utah to hit the slopes? The answer can be summed up in one key phrase: More than 500 inches annually of the (Ireatest Snow on Earth. Utah, a desert state nestled in the heart of the Rocky dery. Mountains West, enjoys an ongoing weather phenomenon that dumps an abundance of deep, dry, fluffy powder in the mountains every year. Winter storms linger along the Wasatch Front. As clouds draw up moisture from the lake they "recycle" themselves for several days in the mountains. Uftt: however, 1930s, falling mineral prices ended the boom, and enterprising Parkites turned their attention from the treasure buried in the mountains to the snow blanketing the surrounding slopes. Ski jumpers from around the world started competing at Ecker Hill in 1930. Then, in 1946, Snow Park, the town's first ski area, opened its doors. As skiing became increasingly popular, three more areas opened within four miles of the Mountain town. Treasure Resort Park (now City Mountain Resort) opened in 1963 with the help of a loan the from Area Federal Redevelopment Administration. In 1994, the resort was purchased by Powdr Four chairs, one high speed quad, five triples, four doubles, with a total com-bined lift capacity of 27,200 guests per hour. Hours Of Operation: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. high-spee- d Discount lift tickets are available for groups of 20 or more when reserved at least seven days in advance through the group sales office. Lodging group prices are available for groups that use five or more condos, but no group rates are available during the Christmas con- - three-bedroo- Mormon pioneers. Instead, after prospecting soldiers struck silver in the 18(0s in the hills of what was then known as Upper Parley's, miners from across the globe flocked to the area. The tiny mining camp became an international boom town, complete with a weekly newspaper (the Park Record), schools, churches and businesses. In 1884, the town became incorporated as Park City. For the next 50 years, the mountains of Park City surrendered over $400 million in silver to local residents and made 23 millionaires, including Utah's Silver Queen Susanna Bransford and George Hearst, father of newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst. 881-SN0- conditions: reached ski resort town. n Once rich in silver. Park City is one of a handful of Utah communities not founded by Resort is locatCall (888) cross country skiing and Nestled at the base of Mt. and Welcome to Park City, Utah's best-know- (Sunday-Thursday-) -- 3.100 feet Average Annual Snowis 350 inches i Snowmaking: Covers 475 acres (top to bottom) Trails: 97 trails (16 easier.' , 45 "more difficult" and 36 , , "most difficult") 14 to 3 . 12 miles long. 3,000 acres ,. of terrain. Bowls: 750 acres of wide open bowl skiing and riding at the top of the mountain in Jupiter, Scott's. Blue Slip. " McConkey's and Puma bowls. and shops. dos. While staying at Elk Meadows, guests can enjoy the winter activities in southern Utah, such as snowmobiling, 1,350 feet. - lift ticket groups Elk Meadows ed in Beaver. Snow (435) 438-543sales can be (888) 881-766- Summit: 10.000 feet Vertical Drop: hundred restaurants, boutiques, art galleries, night clubs are $15 for all age with to beginner expert of views Tursher the panoramic Mountains located in Fishlake National Forest. These mountains serve six lifts and 37 runs. The base altitude is 9,100 feet and the summit is 10,400 feet with a vertical drop of two- Nestled in the heart of Utah's ski country is a lively community filled with over one oro Midweek prices: made. Elk Meadows boasts skiing Elk on two mountains; Meadows and Mt. Holly with a wide variety of terrain from Holly, Elk Meadows offers Bv SKIUTAH rates are: adult. $32; child. $15: students, $25: senior. $15. Full-da- y i d ; Night Operations: 4-- 9 p.m. generally open Christmas through March on PayDay and First Time runs. Lift Pass Rates: Single Day Adult. $53; 12 and under. $24; Adult spring pass, $39; 12 and under, $18. Spring Pass Rates April 6, 1999 through closing -- SKU'lAH Thin air: A balloon drifts through the crisp air above the Park City Resort. The ski area is a destination for locals as well as Phone:(800)222-7275- . visitors. Corp., a private company controlled by the Cumming family of Salt Lake City. In 1981, Deer Valley Resort opened and incorporated many of the former Snow Park runs into its slopes. The resort is owned by Royal Street Land Company. Just a year ago, American Skiing The Company purchased Wolf Canyons (formerly Mountain and Park West Ski Area) and has already invested millions into developing and expanding the mountain, Today, Park City is home to three renowned resorts, as well as the Utah Winter Sports Park, a world-clastraining and competition facility for s amateur and Olympic athletes. An winter getaway, Park City is located just 36 miles east of the Salt Lake City International Airport via easily-accessibl- e Though it measures just two miles from end to end, with a population of only Park 6,900, City is a bastion of fine local and international cuisine, hot dance clubs, eclectic boutiques, unique art galleries and numerous festivals including the internationally Film acclaimed Sundance of the Festival. Sixty-fou- r town's buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places; many of those year-roun- d buildings are located along Historic Main Street. The town's wide range of accommofrom hotel rooms dations and condominiums to bed & and dormitory breakfasts can accommodate rooms 15,000 guests. Prices range from $40. $2,400 per unitper night. Park City operates a free bus throughout the year. Within the town, altitudes begin at 6,720 feet (approx. 2,038 meters) and reach 10,000 feet (approx. 3,033 meters) in the surrounding Wasatch Mountains. For more information visit the Park City website at www.parkcityinfo.com or call city-wid- e (800) 453-136- Competition makes ski choices better than ever this winter who started in the industry as a ski instructor 25 years ago. By ROBERT WELLER The AsMK'Kitcd Press Christensen says the lift ticket deals are being offered because of competition for what has been a flat skier market for nearly a decade. Resorts hope to make up lost lift revenue with dollars spent on fancy food and sports gear. Skiers and snowboarders also can count on more snow in the West. Last year was an El Nino year and many southwestern resorts got heavy snow, but snowfall was average in the central and northern mountains. This La Nina year the pattern likely will be reversed. Larry Tunnell, chief meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Denver, says "You would expect the West to get more precipitation than last year, in the way of snow, and cooler temperatures on the whole. We expect more significant events, arctic outbreaks of cold air, and probably a lot more significant precipitation events inland than we had DENVER Skiers going to the lift ticket window this winter will have almost as many choices as a customer in a fast food drive-thru- . Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on highspeed lifts and gondolas in the West, but resorts are offering some of the best lift ticket deals since the 1970s. Competition reached such intensity that five Colorado areas offered unrestricted season passes for $200, the cost of a pass when boots hurt, skis were stiff as railroad ties, lifts were slow and clothes heavy . particularly warm. "There's never been a better time, whether you are starting put or an expert, when you combine the pass prices with highspeed quads, shaped skis and heter and lighter clothing," says Joan Christensen, spokeswoman for Winter Park, Colo. "I remember riding the ski buses when the wool sweaters got wet, and it smelled like wet puppies," says Christensen, but not last year." Even before the snowguns had begun blowing, the battle for skiers was on. made accessible via the new e 90 Peak Express, a high-speequad. The old Condor Lift is being replaced with the new Super Condor Express, a high-speequad. The resort says extensive mountain and trail work added 30 percent more intermediate Ninety-Nin- In Utah d Utah resorts, trying to cash in early on the Winter Olympics of 2002, are adding three quads, three "6 gondolas, one pack" and one tramway. Some of the runs built for the Olympics will be available for amateurs to try out. Deer Valley is adding a high-spee- d high-spee- d r, gondola and a fixed grip quad chair lift. Previously accessible only by high-spee- d guided snowcat tours, the Empire Summit area gained one quad chair lift, chair lift, eight one fixed-grinew runs and three bowls, adding around 500 acres of and beginner, intermediate advanced terrain. Park City added a Snowbasin adds four new lifts, including high-spee- d p high-spee- two gondolas, one high-speequad and a tramway. d d and terrain. beginner Construction has begun on a new hotel and conference center, as well as a condominium hotel, the first phase of a $500 million expansion over 15 years. Alta. beloved for its reliable powder and ways, is installing new chairs on its Sugarloaf Lift. less-hurrie- d In Colorado Winter Park offered a pass for $795 that allowed four people to buy passes for about $200 apiece. Copper Mountain and Vail Resorts matched the offer, the latter four-pac- k selling the passes for its Keystone and Breckenridge areas. It also could be used at Arapahoe Basin, with which it has a marketing agreement. To put that in perspective, imagine that during peak season, a lift ticket bought at Vail Mountain itself could run as high as $61 for one day. Loveland, a small resort unable to match that the offer of its bigger competitors, is sell$28 pass that can ing a half-daused for four hours of skiing at any time. They usually are available only in the afternoon. Mountain near Big Whitefish, Mont., is selling a pass good for only the lower half of the mountain for $23. The resort also offers punch cards that allow skiers to buy 10 runs for $30 or 15 runs for y $40. Mount Bachelor near Bend, Ore., and Solitude in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah, have similar passes. Skiers wanting to sample all four: resorts in Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons near Salt Lake City can buy a multipass from tour operators. in Mammoth Mountain California offers a beginner ticket for $20, allowing access to three lifts. It's ideal for beginners, or those teaching their kids or friends. Many resorts throughout the West will be offering cheaper daily tickets during the early and late seasons. Once again, a skiing version of the frequent flyer card is offered by many. A new ski area is opening in northern Montana, the first' new area to surmount the per-- ; mitting process in years in the Rockies. If the area seems ' familiar to visitors, it's because the three lifts were bought used from Steamboat Springs, Colo.,. Crystal Mountain, Wash., and ' Calgary's Olympic Park. The Canyons, formerly known as Park West and an undiscovered gem in the rough for expert skiers, is entering the big time. It is adding 800 acres of skiable terrain, trails YES and M2I Cold weather can aggravate or bring on our aches and pains. When we are chilled and shivery, the muscles throughout our body contract. If any of these contracted muscles are associated with any potential aches and pains, then the cold weather would most certainly contribute to our discomfort. But if the cold weather by itself was responsible for our aches and pains, then everyone would suffer similarly from the cold. The cold weather can really be a blessing in disguise by making us aware of musculoskeletal problems that need attention. If you know of someone suffering with cold weather aches and pains, please suggest they call us. We can help. receive your free full spinal examination. are needed, you will be advised of any costs before proceeding. Mention this ad If x-ra- ys 373-868- 6 Recognized by most insurance compx.-:-:j & BEYER CHIROPRACTIC MorvThurs. 2476 N. University 8-1- 2, Parkway, Suit 201 2-- 6 Fri. - Provo, 8-1- UT 2 (Next to Movies 8) fffifrTftlilTH 1 POOR |