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Show Wasatch Canyon Reporter ~ Snowbasin= Long boards and no lines by “Long” John Bresee The speed limits are going resort in Utah. Every incredible views, and the try skiing looked very Unfortunately most of it up around the country, and while every state should be following Montana’s lead, rural highways in Utah are at _ least going to 75 MPH. Unfortunately the reverse is true at most ski areas. An afternoon of fast skiing at local - while we were there. We loaded up with a car full of still get yelled at by the folks in the red jackets. We were all fed up, and decided to go to the mountain equivalent of the this issue) of the ski world. Snowbasin is the sight of the 2002 Olympic downhill. Snowbasin is quite possibly the most beautiful ski trails were wide, hee and fast. Every run we let the skis have their head, and we rarely had trouble rage in skiing is radical sidecuts, but with traffic. The lift lines were usually nonexistent. At one point Atencio, a Snowbasin local, looked at a knot of Snowbasin, | ten skiers in line and remarked that it | “the was mountain equivalent Flats” it seemed a lot of bunk when you saw | the awesome stability that these big dogs had. Not an ounce of sidecut, flex, or any other frippery; pe lots of heavy metal! Jon Atencio, Dave Peck, awe Marler, made Jim Holland, up the group and myself of Salt the worst line he had seen Lake come the from the lift, but they were not dissuaded. Amazingly within a couple of runs we were doing the same thing. Kicking big silly air and laughing at ourselves. Jim Holland threw what looked for all the world like a spread eagle...and then claimed he was using the V-_ | technique of Nordic ski NO iMNN = Bargain! Bargain! Bargain! BUNCE CR ua Chom in years. Riding up the lift you would see gangs of skiers and boarders waiting at the takeoff of some ridiculous kicker. One by one they would launch shaky airs, and crash into the way too firm terrain. Hoots of derision would of the Bonneville Salt | - Bonneville Salt Flats: Snowbasin. An hour or so from Salt Lake, Snowbasin is one of the undiscovered gems (see Powder Mountain article, The est of these past generation racers was 222 centimeters. Currently all the and enough chastising from the ski “Experts only,” and Valley malcontents. Crusty snuck in to the operation with a measly pair of 207 cm Kastle “speed machines.” These were the runt of the litter, and Crusty was relegated to caboose for the day. yard sale downhill boards. The short- resorts will result in clipped passes, patrol to make you feel like you are being sent to the principal. You can be skiing aggressively on a trail that is labeled double black diamond, lift offers back counpromising. was closed CORAM onal tice the first year low price of °Z0. Next year it’s gonna he like fifty bucks, maybe evena acted as “way back a machine,” and we before knew we it were cool hunski. So pony up the cash. Make your Fa@eeeneae fourth grade. BH TH eV) os Never turnWasatch Canyon Reporter. ing, jumping Ae este ecm cy off every . We start publishing Bi-weekly this Hiny pie OF” month so now is the time to leap on the snow, and ANTEC UHCO) ZR skiing acne pack. in an filled ‘Tt was a bluebird day, and we lay ie Zip iti q 8 St AN AD Ge sl ti. ED AP UE GST ED OE GMT ET em oe? Ge GA GE Gt a GD GM don't take them but we'll VISA/ MC # (We be happy to use if to buy ourselves some sweet new equipment) Page 8 Fifty Bucks at a ok pany gets you 223 cm’s of | Cadillac ride bemoaned our bad luck, but they never spoke a negative word to us. We yelled “slow down!” from the chairlifts as they went by making sen2 sible cookie cutter turns down the. groomers. They, having more civility than us, never even glanced up. Snowbasin was so wide open and laid back that there was room for everyone’s agenda. Somewhere during second run, while traveling at a healthy pace, I stepped into a ski keeping hole, and a heartbeat later I was face down at fifty. The rest of the day I was timid, and said things like, “I am just trying to get the feel of the ski,” as I kept it on the comunder thirty. I won the shortest air fortable picaward, and was the laughingstock of tables the crew for beating myself senseless roasting in on a flat groomer. These are the perils hot February of a thirty something ski journalist. rays. Around | For all who are looking to change us sat a huge the pace a bit I can’t recommend group of Snowbasin enough. A large friendly National Ski mountain with interesting terrain. Patrollers on Take a look at some of the Avalanche some kind of gate accessed terrain. It is spectacular. clinic. When Call 801.399.1135 for more informawe first spottion. ted them we |