OCR Text |
Show No hibernation for Wolverines Live like celebrities at Sundance Winter adventures with Outdoor Adventure Center Park City hosts biggest U.S.filmfestival RAYCHEATHAM Life writer ter the Outdoor Adventure has started offering Adventure Date Nights. Two Adventure Date Nights will be held in the coming months. On Nov. 9 the activity will be a Dutch oven dinner, campfire and s'mores at Utah Lake. Then on Dec. 6 the activity will move to Park City for ice skating. Also new this semester are the Adventure Family Nights. These activities allow UVSC students and their families to enjoy the outdoors together. On Nov. 30 the activity will be indoor rock climbing and on Dec. 6 the activity will be canoeing. Don't forget that the Outdoor Adventure Center offers rentals of winter sports gear, including snowboards, crosscountry skis and snowshoes. Rental packages start at $8. With all the winter activities offered for UVSC students and their families, friends and neighbors, it is no wonder that Wolverines have chosen not to hibernate. Additional information about these activities is available in the Outdoor Adventure Center, located in the Student Center between the post office and Scoops. . Did you know that Wolverines do not hibernate? Really. Why? Well, a biologist might argue with this theory, but local data suggests that the Outdoor Adventure Center, formerly known as the Adventure Resource Center has an impact on the winter habits of the Wolverine. The Outdoor Adventure Center has planned two adventure trips to be held before the end of the year. On Nov. 8-10, UVSC students can go to Zion National Park in southern Utah to hike the popular canyon known as the Subway. On Dec. 14-23, students will have the once-in-alifetime opportunity to sea kayak on the Mexico coast. Closer to campus, the Outdoor Adventure Center will be sponsoring several activities in the courtyard. On Nov. 6 there will be a demonstration of outdoor stoves. On Dec. 4 there will be a demonstration of outdoor winter gear. The highlight of the courtyard activities will be a Dutch oven cook-off to be held on Nov. 15. This activity has become a UVSC tradition and Ray Cheatham is a UVSC the competition will be fierce. Looking for a unique student majoring in Outdoor date activity? This semes- Recreation Management. Resort review: JAREDMAGILL Opinions editor With the winter snowfall looming in the very near future, opening daysof Utah's ski and snowboard resorts will become a weekly occurrence very soon. Due to the presence of strong winter sports and mountain culture community existing within the ranks of our campus, The College Times thought it would be a community service to gather information, and seek the insight of one of the school's resident experts about a few of the more popular resorts within reasonable proximity to campus. The resorts chosen' for this review are Sundance, Brighton, Snowbird and The Canyons. These four make up a significant, albeit incomplete sample of the options available to skiers and snowboarders living within the Utah Valley area. For the sake of this review emphasis was given to terrain, lift services and pricing, length of season, snow totals and snow quality. Overlooked was information concerning hotel accommodations, on-mountain dining and vacation package deals, all of which can be found on the resort's respective websites. The subject interviewed was Kim Reynolds, a faculty member and event coordinator in the outdoor education department, avid snowboarder and free-heel skier, expert on Leave no Trace backcountry ethics and the faculty advisor for the UVSC Board Club. SUNDANCE-Located approximately nine miles up Provo canyon and nestled against the eastern base of the 12,000-foot Mt. Timanogos, the 450-acre Sundance resort boasts the closest proximity the Provo-Orem area. According to skiutah.com the lifts at Sundance climb 2,150 vertical feet from their base elevation of 6100 feet to their peak elevation of 8250 feet. The 42 groomed runs are accessed by one quad and two triple chair lifts. Annual average snowfall at Sundance is 300 inches. This year Sundance is scheduled to open for the 07-08 season on Dec 7. Sundance maintains no terrain parks or half-pipes Although the comparatively low elevation gives Sundance one of the shortest ski and snowboard seasons among all the Wasatch resorts it does have some advantages. "It's really close. You can get to the mountain in 20 minutes, so when there's a snowfall you can just head up and get fresh tracks," Reynolds said. "And it doesn't get tracked out nearly as fast as say Snowbird." Lift day passes range in price from $12 to $45 with children 5 and under riding free. With proof of enrollment, full-time college students who missed the Oct. 31 deadline for early-bird deals can purchase unlimited use season passes for $425. (Parking issues, discounts from outdoor ed) BRIGHTON-The oldest of the Utah ski resorts, Brighton is located approximately one hour's drive from the Orem-Provo area at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon, 15 miles from the canyons mouth. According to skiutah. com 500 inches of average annual snowfall cover Brighton's 1,050 acres of skiable terrain. Riders at Brighton drop 1,745 vertical feet from the 10,500-foot peak to the 8,755-foot base. For the 07-08 Brighton is opening a new high-speed quad, which was built to replace the 33-year-old Millicent double-chair lift, making Brighton the only resort in Utah to have 100 percent of its terrain accessed by high-speed chairlifts. Brighton maintains a series of four terrain parks and one half-pipe, which can all be linked together in a single LUKEHICKMAN Life editor Photo courtesy of Ray Cheatham Winter gear for rent or purchase at the Outdoor Adventure Center. Drop by to find out what you are missing. run. Beginning with My-OMy, which is located just below the top of the Crest Express quad, Brighton's terrain parks form a chain of jumps, rails and tabletops running right down the middle of the Majestic side of the mountain. Obstacles within the terrain parks range from beginner to expert level. "For snowboarding I think Brighton is probably the best just because their parks exceed anything else in the area," Reynolds said. Day lift passes range in price from $10 to $43. College students and their spouses can purchase unlimited use season passes for $579 with current student ID, a receipt for payment of tuition for a current semester and class schedule showing a minimum of eight credit hours. A marriage certificate is required along with the purchase of a student pass for the purchase of a spouse pass. 22 of Brighton's runs totaling 200 acres, of terrain are lighted for night skiing. Brighton has not yet announced an opening date for the 07-08 season. UTA offers ski bus service in Big Cottonwood canyon during the winter season. THE CANYONS-A 27 mile drive up Provo canyon on US-189 bearing north onto US-40 at Heber for another 15 miles will bring Utah Valley residents to Park City, Utah and The Canyons resort. With a base elevation of 6,910 feet, a peak elevation of 9,990 feet combined with the 3,700 acres of lift-accessed terrain, The Canyons lays claim to the status of Utah's largest ski and snowboard resort and the one with the greatest vertical drop. This year a newly-built quad chair lift called Dreamcatcher will open access to 200 new acres of terrain on The Canyons' south end, bringing to total number of lifts to 17 and the total number of groomed runs to 155 according to thecanyons.com. The chair lifts are comprised of one high-speed six person chair, four highspeed quad chairs, four regular quad chairs, two triple chairs, two double chairs, one eight-person enclosed gondola, two surface tows and an open-air gondola which transports customers from the lower parking area to the resort's base. The Canyons maintains three terrain parks, Painted Horse, a beginner to intermediate park that can be accessed from the Kokopelli run via the Saddleback Express lift, and Upper and Lower Respect, two intermediate to advanced parks that can be accessed via the Sun Peaks Express lift. Continuous terrain park access can be achieved by riding laps on the parks' respective chair lifts. According to Reynolds due to the sheer size of resort it can take a significant period of time to reach the deepest reaches of The Canyons' terrain. "I love The Canyons but they can have the worst accessibility issues, Reynolds said." "It takes about an hour to drive up there and on a busy day you spend an hour riding lifts before you get to the top of 9,990." This season's scheduled opening date for The Canyons is Nov. 17 with unlimited season passes for college students priced $500 after Nov. 5. Prices of single day lift passes have not yet been posted but according to thecanyons.com they are updated daily and subject to change at any time. However according to Outdoor Education Store manager Ben Lee regular prices are $73 but students can purchase discount passes for $53 from the Outdoor Ed Store in SC 103H. SNOWBIRDSnowbird's location among the jagged, granite peaks of Little Cottonwood Canyon, 30 miles southeast of the Great Salt Lake, make it ideally situated to receive the full brunt of dry, fluffy, lake effect snowfall the Wasatch range is renowned for. The base of Snowbird's steep, hardcore terrain can Each January, Utah locals make their way up to Park City to "people-watch" (look out for celebrities and watch PETA and animal rights activists bark at the fur-wearing upper class) at the Sundance Film Festival. This year Sundance is putting together something special for us, the local students, which is partially free. For the first time in Sundance history, from Nov. 14 to Dec. 21, certain, colleges in Utah will have the exclusive privilege to purchase the Utah Student Pass, UVSC being one of those. Only 200 student passes in total will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. For $100, the Utah Student Pass will give you unlimited access to public screenings, as well as admittance to the Filmmaker Lodge and the Festival and Music Cafes (must be 21). After seeing 10 movies, the pass pays for itself and every movie afterward is a free bonus. The only snag is that you must pay a $30 handling fee. If you're not looking into spending that much cash, then be sure to check out the updates that Sundance puts onto iTunes. Short movies are available for $1.99. For those looking for the free entertainment, your options are far from being limited. Leading up to the festival, there will be the free local's documentary series at the Sundance resort. If you're not into that sort of thing, during the festival, there are nightly free concerts that happen on Main Street. The performer lineup will be announced sometime in December. And, of course, it costs nothing at all to walk up and down Main Street to enjoy the festivities. Who knows, you might see someone famous. For more info on the Utah Student Pass, send an e-mail to festivaltickets@sundance.org and check out sundance.org/festival or call the ticketing hotline at (435) 776-7878, Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. be reached by a six-mile drive from the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon, just a 30 to 45 minute drive from the Orem-Provo area. Snowbird's high 11,000foot peak elevation which rises 3,240 vertical feet from its base at 7,760 feet, combined with an average annual snowfall of 500 inches and minimal sun exposure due to the mountain's north-facing orientation, give Snowbird by far the longest season of all Utah resorts. Typical seasons at the bird run from mid November thru mid May. However Snowbird has been known to remain open as late as Memorial Day weekend in heavy snow years. Snowbird's 89 runs on 2,500 acres of terrain are accessed by a chairlift system that has the capacity to transport 16,800 riders per hour according to snowbird.com. Probably the best known of these lifts is the 125-person aerial tram that ascends 2,900 vertical feet to Hidden Peak in approximately six minutes. Last year Snowbird opened a new feature that is the first of its kind in North America, a tunnel. Accessed by the new Peruvian Express high-speed quad, the 12-foot high, 10-foot wide, 600linear-foot Peruvian tunnel transports riders through the mountain underneath Gorilla Pass to Mineral Basin via a conveyor lift. The tunnel makes the intermediate level runs in the Mineral accessible without having to purchase a tram pass or when wind conditions exceed tolerable levels for tram operation. Claiming a re-emphasis on its world-class terrain, Snowbird will be eliminating the Baby Thunder terrain park for the 07-08 season. However, the Big Emma terrain park and Superpipe which can be accessed via the Mid Gad lift will remain. According to snowbird, com, Snowbird will no longer be offering large jumps. Single day lift passes range i n price from $69 to $ 19 with combination Alta/Snowbird passes available only to skiers for $79. College students can purchase unlimited use season passes for $539 for chairlifts only and $669 for Tram and chairlifts with proof of enrollment for 12 or more credit hours, a receipt for tuition payment and college ID. Snowbird is scheduled to open Nov. 17. UTA offers ski bus service in Little Cottonwood Canyon during the winter season. |