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Show AAG TheSalt Lake Tribune UTAH Sunday, February 16, 2008 Alta Mayor Proud of Keeping Ski TownSecluded Levitt says it is about saving a special kind of refuge Editor's note: he Olympics thrust Utah snow-capped mou world stage. This 5 na show how oth seeing Utahayear later 202 he has made often over thelast So | tell people who ‘You're an Altaper n the world gets you feel like you just come # the canyon BY KATE ZERNIKE r name on a list. I point uns down the THE NEW YORK ALTA He kept out the Olympies. He has kept out the snowboarders. And now, as the world seems increasingly full of uncertainty and doom, well then, Bill Levitt will do his best to keep that out, too Levitt is the mayor of thi tiny silver mini town population 40 , skiin population 5,000 hich sit above Salt Lake City at the highest reaches tonwood Canyor of the imposiny. crag of Mount Superior Down in the Salt Lake Val ley, the streets are named for their distance and direction from the Mormon temple. Up y, it is the Brooklyn-born Levitt who sets the compar Because of its elevation, Alta gets more and fluffier snow than any »ki area in the coun nual snowfall making it a de But in 35 years in office, erved Alta from the commercialismof other ski areas, 1 are no high-rises here and no condominiums, What bars there are, in the town’sfive simple lodges, close by 11 p.m.; the only noise in the starry nights comes from the guns shooting down avalanch es, Whenthe lift lines get too long, the operators slow down the chairs to keep the 2,200 acres of ski slopesfrom beeom ingtoo crowded If all this runs counter to the economics of dustry, it has faltering ski in earned Levitt the loyalty of local residents and generations of skiers, And late: ly, Levitt has been arguingthat preserving Alta is not just about nice place to ving the kind of refuge the world could use more of ‘Lat's face it, the world is going to hell in a handbasket,” Levitt says, beginning a pitch canyon. The bad guys won't ‘ome up after you.’ ” He is teasing, of course. Hut it is a sign of the na tional mood that people who hear to. this “It’s importantfor people to have a place like this. This atmosphere gives people a chanceto breathe — in their minds, notjust in their chests.” believe him, or want "Myfirst thought was, ‘C BILL LEVITT our kids come” said ( Rothschild from Washington. D.C. With war possible, even Levitt say These days, I'm beginning to wonder if I'm the town has cut the number of buses bring. prophetic Comfortably clear of the age to qualify for a free season ski pass, which is 80, Levitt ha long defended Alta against de velopers. But he began think ing about the challengediffer ently after the attacks of Sept 11, 2001, when a regular guest fron York called to cancel her annual Thanksgiving stay at the Alta Lodge, which Levitt bought in 1959, She called Mayor of Alta the last decade, ing skiers from the valley below to fiv a day from50;it prohib ited snowboarding, making Alta one of a handful of ski resorts that does so. alt Lake City could er moneybid for last Olympics, Levitt in it they promise not to ents in this canyon hold ar or its twin, Big Cottonwood. “Altais a reallocal treasure, Al Hartmann/‘Tribune file phto Bill Levitt, mayor of Alta for 33 years, ‘ooks out over the town and its resort. With no high-rises and almostno Levitt has worked to preserve the mining-turned-eki town from development. c and there would be a huge uproar if itever moved towardthe Levitt, too, has become something of a local treasure, blessed by Mormon leaders, classic ski resort development by out-of staters,” said Mayor Rocky Anderson of Salt Lake honored by governmentassociations across the state. He insists he will not step down until City. he spots a successor as passionate as he is about preserving Alta. “Everyone a to escape from m something, s01 time,”he said. “EvenI do. But I'ma mayor.” again, two days before the hol iday, to say she had changed hermind. Arriving, she pushed through the door of the lodge and collapsed in tears. t's when I started to realize, this is a haven for peo: ple,” Levitt said. “It's impor tant for people to have a place like this. This atmosphere gives people a chance to breathe in their minds, not Presidents’ Day Sale! just in their chests, When you wake up in the morning and there's fresh snow ¢ sun's coming out ove you wantto go out andyip,” he said, ski resort in red it in 1954, in the way so manyother people have, This weekend only, get a FREEJABRA’ headset ' with the purchase of any color display phone. Free headset offer ($19.99 value) available Feb. 14-17 only. New activation with 2-year agreement required. While supplies last. Someone gestedthat if he re: toski, heski out est, andif he wantedto ski out west, thebest snow wasin Alta. “Where?” he asked, then, finding out, fell in love: Only “Aor. Early in his tenure as may or, he persuaded voters to re: ject a sewer system, which jould have opened the townto development, Most decisions have followed in that vein: In ‘After $50 mail-in rebate ($99.99 activated (price). New 2-year agreement required on select plans. 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