Alta, UT – With fresh snow this week both in the Wasatch Mountains and in the Salt Lake Valley, Alta Ski Area is inviting skiers to ateend “Skiing & Trees,” a TreeUtah event hosted by Alta Ski Area and the Alta Environmental Center. Taking place tomorrow, Skiing & Trees includes a day of skiing and learning about how trees help us live, work and, play.

The day kicks off at 8:00 a.m. for first tracks and skiing a full 75 minutes before the mountain opens to the public. Pedestrians participating in Skiing & Trees will be welcome to ride Alta’s Collins lift to the mid-mountain restaurant at Watson Shelter.

The group will gather again at Watson Shelter for a 9:30 breakfast before a panel discussion with forestry and tree experts gets underway at 10 a.m. Topics are scheduled to include why trees are important, the current state of Utah forests and trees, and “Lessons Learned.”

After the panel discussion concludes at 11 a.m., participants are welcome to ride Collins back to the base or spend the rest of the day skiing at their leisure.

Tax-deductible tickets cost $75, with 100% of proceeds supporting TreeUtah, a statewide 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to tree planting and education. For less than the normal price of an Alta daily lift ticket, you’ll enjoy more than an hour of first tracks, breakfast, a full day of skiing, and the good feeling that you get from supporting a worthy cause. Registration for the event is available online.

It’s a little-known fact to Alta visitors that the hillsides surrounding this iconic Utah ski town were nearly completely denuded of trees during the mining boom in the 1800’s. Recognizing the importance of trees, both for ecological benefits and for avalanche mitigation, Alta Ski Area and TreeUtah assembled an army of volunteers to plant some 1,800 trees in Upper Little Cottonwood Canyon this past September.