Salt Lake City, UT – Tourism is Utah’s number one industry, and skiing and snowboarding are its biggest contributors. It should therefore come as no surprise that state lawmakers have named the two winter pastimes as the state’s official sports.

HB201, sponsored by Republican State Representative Steven Eliasson of Sandy, and co-sponsored by Democratic State Representative Patrice Arent, passed by a unanimous vote on Thursday in both the state House and Senate, where it was sponsored by District 9 Senator Wayne L. Niederhauser of Sandy. It now goes to the desk of Governor Gary Herbert for his signature, where it is expected to be signed into law.

The bill designating the state’s official sports was inspired by a similar measure passed by a neighboring state that compete’s for Utah’s skier dollars, Colorado, in 2008. Skiing is already featured on Utah’s vehicle license plates accompanied by the trade group Ski Utah’s marketing slogan, “The Greatest Snow On Earth.” Utah ski resorts tallied 4.2 million skier days last year, and studies estimate that the industry results in 20,000 jobs throughout the state.