OCR Text |
Show i THE FORUM - NOVEMBER 13 14, 2012 Preseason at Guardsman Pass Will Ermish J Staff Reporter With the ski season right around the corner, everyone can bet that diehard skiers and snowboarders cant wait for the lifts to start running. Many get up and go ride as soon as the snow hits the mountains to get in some preseason turns. Many Westminster students who frequently snowboard or ski have a favorite spot for preseason riding. Guardsman Pass is almost always the most frequently mentioned place when it comes to preseason skiing and riding. Guardsman Pass is the place to be for preseason riding. There are so many different hidden spots in the trees up there, its crazy, said Jesse Ramirez, a senior at Salt Lake Community College. You could head up there with no idea where youre headed and after a while of hiking around you are bound to find some pretty sweet spots. Guardsman Pass is considered one of, if not the best, place for preseason riding for multiple reasons. The slopes face northwest, which is the direction that many storms in Utah come from, so they get more snow. Another reason Guardsman is so popular is because it is thick with trees, which blocks a lot of the sunlight so that the sun doesnt melt away the snow as quickly. The preseason riding in Guardsman is the best because the trees keep the sunlight from melting the snow, so the snow always sticks around way longer up there, said Ian H alderman, a senior at Westminster College. There are so many kids up there and so many different spots that if you get bored of one spot, you can just hike to another one pretty dam quickly. Guardsman Pass has grown in popularity over the years. Rails and other features have been set up for skiers and snowboarders to hit. People have put in a lot of effort clearing out spots from rocks and shrubs to make the ideal preseason riding spot that only needs a small amount of snow for it to be rideable. On top of that, Guardsman Pass is usually open during the preseason, which means This makes the hike to whatits drive-abl- e. ever spot youre headed to much shorter. Guardsman is sick for preseason riding because you can pretty much just drive up to where youre headed and then hike like five minutes and be riding some different setups, said Phil Thompson, a senior at the University of Utah. Another fun part about Guardsman is that every year there seems to be new spots with sick new features as well as the spots that always stay the same in case youre not feeling the new stuff. Guardsman is essenrid-m- g. tially a big playground for preseason Thompson said that he is constantly covering new features. i dis- On top of that, youre always hearing about new spots that are top secret and it makes you want to get up there and go exploring to find that new setup. Guardsman Pass has gained a solid reputation as the place to be for preseason skiing and snowboarding. More snow, less sunlight, short hikes, and tons of different spots strewn throughout the area are the main reasons why it is so popular. Students are encouraged to go visit. T S |