As regular readers know, I moved from the Northeast to Utah and January and brought the FTO Editorial offices with me. Now that the last chairlift has been loaded on the Utah ski season, it's given me cause to look back and reflect upon my decision to come here.
I wonder why I never did it before.
Here in the Salt Lake Valley, we have no fewer than 7 world-class ski areas within a 30-minute drive: Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, Solitude, The Canyons, Park City, and Deer Valley. Up that drive time to 75 minutes, and you can add Snowbasin and Powder Mountain to that list (smaller ski area Nordic Valley is also within that 75-minute radius). The backcountry opportunities are nearly endless, something that I'm hoping to tap next winter with an appropriate partner and some reinforced avi knowledge. Rather than a 3-hour drive, or a plane ride, I'm lucky enough to wake up at 7:30 in the morning and decide where to go. I'm back home and napping in less than half an hour after the ski day has ended.
The city itself is small as metropolitan areas go, but remarkably clean and safe by standards of American cities. As Mark Bennett of the Park City Resort Chamber once said to me (he's just recently moved to the Salt Lake CVB), "Salt Lake is a great big little city." It has a surprising number of cultural opportunities considering that the Wasatch Front, an island of population marooned in the Intermountain West, has a grand total of only 1.5 million people stretched all the way from Ogden down to Provo. And just about all of those people are friendly and courteous to a fault.
Anyone who enjoys the outdoors can find anything they want here, save for an ocean. It still amazes me how many different topographies and geologies can be packed into one state's borders. From the towering snow-capped Wasatch Mountains to the red rock of Moab and Zion, the landscapes change rapidly with the miles. Folks who live here savor the outdoors. Camping, hiking, mountain biking, hunting, fishing, boating, river running and rock climbing are some of the many passions, many of which can be enjoyed in the same day during the change of seasons. You've seen my posts of skiing on July 2 and skiing on July 4 -- in between, we went rock climbing yesterday in Big Cottonwood Canyon at a spot only 10 minutes from home. I've attached some photos below. Folks have been biking here for months now. Driving up Little Cottonwood Canyon for spring skiing means passing countless bicycles ascending and descending the canyon road. As I hiked down Alta this afternoon, I was passed by a mountain biker heading in the opposite direction.
Forgive my rambling. In view of Tony's recent thoughts about the relative merits of various places to live, I thought that I'd throw in my $0.02. This place is amazing, for both its diversity of recreational opportunities and also for their proximity to home.
I wonder why I never did it before.
Here in the Salt Lake Valley, we have no fewer than 7 world-class ski areas within a 30-minute drive: Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, Solitude, The Canyons, Park City, and Deer Valley. Up that drive time to 75 minutes, and you can add Snowbasin and Powder Mountain to that list (smaller ski area Nordic Valley is also within that 75-minute radius). The backcountry opportunities are nearly endless, something that I'm hoping to tap next winter with an appropriate partner and some reinforced avi knowledge. Rather than a 3-hour drive, or a plane ride, I'm lucky enough to wake up at 7:30 in the morning and decide where to go. I'm back home and napping in less than half an hour after the ski day has ended.
The city itself is small as metropolitan areas go, but remarkably clean and safe by standards of American cities. As Mark Bennett of the Park City Resort Chamber once said to me (he's just recently moved to the Salt Lake CVB), "Salt Lake is a great big little city." It has a surprising number of cultural opportunities considering that the Wasatch Front, an island of population marooned in the Intermountain West, has a grand total of only 1.5 million people stretched all the way from Ogden down to Provo. And just about all of those people are friendly and courteous to a fault.
Anyone who enjoys the outdoors can find anything they want here, save for an ocean. It still amazes me how many different topographies and geologies can be packed into one state's borders. From the towering snow-capped Wasatch Mountains to the red rock of Moab and Zion, the landscapes change rapidly with the miles. Folks who live here savor the outdoors. Camping, hiking, mountain biking, hunting, fishing, boating, river running and rock climbing are some of the many passions, many of which can be enjoyed in the same day during the change of seasons. You've seen my posts of skiing on July 2 and skiing on July 4 -- in between, we went rock climbing yesterday in Big Cottonwood Canyon at a spot only 10 minutes from home. I've attached some photos below. Folks have been biking here for months now. Driving up Little Cottonwood Canyon for spring skiing means passing countless bicycles ascending and descending the canyon road. As I hiked down Alta this afternoon, I was passed by a mountain biker heading in the opposite direction.
Forgive my rambling. In view of Tony's recent thoughts about the relative merits of various places to live, I thought that I'd throw in my $0.02. This place is amazing, for both its diversity of recreational opportunities and also for their proximity to home.
