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Show -T T T t T 'JF" "" "V r x I nun J Hi K r J-u v ... Tern CD9CDflaDIk by David Fleisher Underground shelters provide refuge from winter fallout Park City, Utah May 2, 1984 It has been four months since residents ! ere moved underground to protect themselves from this winter's record-breaking snowfall. From mid-November mid-November to the present, it has snowed nearly every day in this small resort town located about twenty miles east of Salt Lake City. The unusually harsh weather conditions condi-tions have caused a variety of mental problems among permanent Park City residents as well as visiting tourists. In years past, you could hear people singing from the rooftops, "Think Snow." However, at least for now, the singing has stopped. The excess snowfall has had an adverse effect on many people, even devastating in some , cases, making it impossible to think about anything, much less snow. One noted psychiatrist wrote recently that Park City is suffering from "snow damage." Locals here call it "white out." How have people in Park City survived the difficult 1984 winter season? Many have built snow shelters. A snow shelter is similar in structure to a bomb shelter, popular in the 1950s. Although snow shelters afford protection from the relentless snowfall, confinement in them over long periods of time has created widespread stir craziness. During a recent visit to a snow shelter located at the bottom of Main Street near the Claimjumper Hotel, this reporter discovered that most of the inhabitants had gone completely bonkers. A sign outside the shelter read: "Sun City." Many of the "Sun City" residents had been living in the shelter since November. "How have you been surviving down here over the past four months?" I asked a young man dressed in a bathing suit, who was throwing popcorn in the air and catching it in his mouth. "I left my heart in San Francisco," he sang, imitating Tony Bennett. A young woman sitting in the corner, who appeared to be reasonably sane, said solemnly, "I forgot my name. I think it's Linda. Maybe it's Lauren. Could be Laura. Then again, I've always liked Lacey. I wish my parents had named me Lacey. I don't even know where my parents are right now. We don't have any telephones down here, so it's hard to keep in touch. I think my name is Lucy." In another snow shelter farther up Main Street, the inhabitants speak in tongues. Much of their communication is done in sign language, and they spend their days playing children's games with their hands. "Patty Cake" is popular. Another popular game is called "Train," in which one person forms a circle with his hands and someone else sticks his thumb through the circle and yelk, "Choo Choo!" These people are obviously suffering from an extreme form of snow damage. The "Heatwave" snow shelter is located at the Park City Racquet Club directly underneath Sneakers private club. Many residents at the "Heatwave" "Heat-wave" have been underground for over three months. Snow damage is present, but not as prevalent as at "Sun City." The heatwavers have invented an ingenious device that enables them to drink cocktails without going above ground to make them. A computer was installed in this snow shelter, and when activated, drinks of any kind are automatically sent down along an insulated conveyor belt to the "Heatwave" "Heat-wave" living quarters. Residents at the "Heatwave" snow shelter are thought to be the most happy and well-adjusted undergrounders in town. Since it is a private club, you must be a member to live there. Both singles and married couples are welcome. Some Park City residents have chosen not to live in snow shelters. These "top grounders" have had a running feud with the shelter people all winter long. The "top grounders" maintain that they will save Park City from the snow, and accuse the shelter people of desertion. However, the majority of people living above ground are in worse mental condition than those living below ground because of the long exposure to falling snow. Your typical above-ground person in Park City is unable to talk or think. Recently, a "top grounder" on Park Avenue was spotted shoveling snow with one hand, and trying to fly a kite with the other hand. The snow damage in him is probably permanent. He was also whistling and blinking his eyes towards the sky. Since spring is just around the corner, snow shelter residents are looking forward to living above ground again. But they say adjustments will have to be made. "I forgot how to shop at the Alpha Beta," said one undergrounder who hasn't seen the sun in four months. "I wonder if I still know how to jog," another one said. A Park City real estate developer, who got lost one day during a snowstorm this winter, said he's going to plan for the future. Due to bad luck, the realtor ended up in the Ontario Mine, where he has been living alone for three months. "When I get out of here," he said, "I'm going to develop plans for a large snow shelter complex near Main Street. There will be condominiums, retail space, an ice skating rink, movie theaters, and a mini ski hill. "We need to think ahead in Park City," he added. As I walk up Main Street I hear the Ten O'Clock Whistle. |