Ride Utah Blog

Many thanks to the 30,000 fans who represented a winter Dew Tour record crowd this past weekend at Snowbasin resort. The entire weekend was spirited by good times and of course, big air. To kick off the weekend, Ski Utah and our good friends at Freeskier threw a party in Ogden, complete with the Yeti. Click here for photos of the Yeti out late.

Ski Utah and Ride Utah bellied up to the superpipe to capture each athlete’s style and amplitude with a single snap. Enjoy, these sick photos shot on Super Saturday at Snowbasin.

Local Utah riders produced for the huge crowds. Tom Wallish, of Park City, claimed the top podium spot in the men’s freeski slopestyle while Jen Hudak, of Salt Lake, and Sage Kotsenburg, of Park City, placed second in the women’s freeski superpipe and men’s snowboard slopestyle respectively. Here are all the results:

Women’s Freeski Superpipe Results
1. Sarah Burke
2. Jen Hudak
3. Ros Groenwoud

Men’s Freeski Superpipe Finals Results
1. Jossi Wells
2, Simon Dumont
3. Peter Olenick

Men’s Freeski Superpipe Finals from AlliSports on Vimeo.

Women’s Snowboard Superpipe Finals Results
1. Elena Hight
2. Kaitlyn Farrington
3. Queralt Castellet

Women’s Snowboard Superpipe Finals at Snowbasin from AlliSports on Vimeo.

Men’s Snowboard Superpipe Finals Results
1. Danny Davis
2. Steve Fisher
3. Jack Mitrani

Men’s Snowboard Superpipe Finals at Snowbasin from AlliSports on Vimeo.

Freeski Slopestyle Finals Results
1. Tom Wallisch
2. Andreas Haveit
3. Bobby Brown

Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle Finals Results
1. Spencer O’Brien
2. Jenny Jones
3. Megan Ginter

Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle Finals Results
1. Chas Guldemond
2. Tyler Flanagan
3. Sage Kotsenburg

The national spotlight stokes Ogden and Snowbasin Resort this weekend.  The Winter Dew Tour will stomp its landing tomorrow at Snowbasin!  The event is FREE and runs January 14-17.  The Winter Dew Tour will be bringing all of their Pro friends including Simon Dumont, Steve Fisher, Hannah Teter and Utah’s very own Tom Wallisch to compete in the second stop of the tour.  Watch the best in the world throw down tricks that will make your jaw drop.  If you are inspired by the world’s best, take advantage of Snowbasin’s reduced lift ticket for Friday only at $30.  You must mention “Dew Tour” when purchasing the ticket to get a discount.  Check out the complete schedule of events (http://www.allisports.com/event-info-snowbasin-2010) ‘cause you don’t want to miss the superpipe and slopestyle action.

Parking is available at Snowbasin Resort during the Winter Dew Tour.  In addition for rider and spectator convenience, FREE park and ride transportation will be offered. Buses will leave the park -n- ride lots approximately every 20-30 minutes depending on time of day. The morning hours they will leave every 25-30 minutes, in peak hours they will leave for Snowbasin every 15-20 minutes.

Park-N-Ride Lots:
- WSU Dee Event Center – South Side
- Staker Parson Lot – West of UTA South Weber Park-n-Ride Lot

Hours:
- Friday, January 15th:    10 AM  -  5 PM
- Saturday, January 16th:    9:30 AM  -  8:30 PM
- Sunday, January 17th:    9:00 AM  -  3:30 PM

See you out there this weekend and don’t forget to stop by festival village and visit the Ski Utah booth.

Enter to win a VIP Trip to Utah for the Dew Tour at Snowbasin January 15-17 from Ski Utah and Freeskier.

• 2 round-trip airline tickets to and from the Salt Lake International Airport from any major international airport within the lower 48 United States.
• 3 Nights of lodging at the Odgen Marriott. Full breakfast included
• 3 Days of lift tickets and ski or snowboard rentals for two, at the Snowbasin Resort
• Two VIP credentials for inside access at the Dew Tour
• Rental car from Hertz (up to $150)

Go here to Enter.

It’s looking like it’s going to be a good winter for national contests.  In addition to getting the Grand Prix back, Snowbasin will be hosting the Winter Dew Tour on January 15-17th.  I wonder if they’re going to have to move the Superpipe.

Salt Lake City was such a success as a host for the Summer Dew Tour, organizers decided to come back for more. This time the temperatures will be a little chillier and the background scenery will be mountains, not the downtown skyline.

As previously reported by The Salt Lake Tribune , the Dew Tour announced Monday it has selected Snowbasin as the site of a Jan. 15-17 stop on its three-stop schedule. The tour will also includes events at Breckenridge Ski Resort (Dec. 18-20) in Colorado and Mount Snow Resort (Feb. 5-7) in West Dover, Vt.

“We are thrilled to be the host community for this event,” said Ogden Mayor Matthew R. Godfrey. “Ogden’s national reputation as being the mecca of high adventure recreation is a perfect match for a premier extreme winter sporting event like the Winter Dew Tour.”

All three stops of the Winter Dew Tour will be televised on NBC. Heading into its second season, the Winter Dew Tour capitalized on the growing interest in extreme sports in 2008-09 by drawing more than 70,000 fans to its events and an average of 26 million TV viewers as popular athletes such as Shaun White, Kelly Clark and Tanner Hall showed off their skills.

http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_12827613

Think you can out post hole other snowboarders?  Always wanted to win some cool green for this unique form of suffering?  Well, now’s your chance with this unique race presented by XTERRA.  From their site:

For the more radically inclined there’s the XTERRA Snowboard Dash for Cash. At the top, officials will guide competitors to a start line. Contestants will take off their snowboards. At a signal there will be a boot pack section to the top of the hill. From that point contestants will follow race markers and flags over an up and down course requiring them to boot pack up climbs prior to descents. The finish will be at the XTERRA Winter compound.

You will also receive an all-day lift ticket with your registration. Race for cash in the morning and cruise Snowbasin for the rest of the day for $30.

Saturday, March 7 – 10:30AM Start

Entry Fee: $30 (includes all-day lift ticket)
Distance: N/A
Prize Purse: $1,000 – Male and Female Winners Each take $500 Cash.

http://www.xterraplanet.com/winter/events.html

When was the last time you practiced with your avalanche beacon?  Ever?  Knowing how to use your beacon with efficiency can mean the difference between life and death.  It never hurts to brush up on your skills when it could be your best friend’s life on the line. Wasatch Backcountry Rescue has setup beacon training facilities at Snowbird (near the heliport on the Alta Access Road), Solitude (in the lower parking lot), Snowbasin, and The Canyons (at the top of the gondola).

A group of Ski Utah staffers took some time out to do some searches at The Canyons and the results were somewhat humbling.  But, we all came out of there with a better handle on how to use our beacons.

For more information on how to actually use your avalanche beacon and conduct searches, please check out the Utah Avalanche Center: http://utahavalanchecenter.org/resources/beacontech. Next time your up on the hill, take a few minutes and stop at the beacon training course at your favorite resort. You’ll be glad you did.

Here’s a video from the center of the storm at Snowbasin yesterday. Check it.

Just got back from Snowbasin, where we spent the morning riding in a driving snow storm. The snow was falling about as heavy as I’d ever seen it snow. I think the Lake Effect snow gun was pointed directly at Snowbasin this morning. We’d take a run, circle back to the same area 20 minutes later and our tracks were totally gone. It was unreal. Afterwards I treated myself to a burger at Earl’s Lodge which has some of the best resort food anywhere. The drive back to SLC was especially gnarly, the usual 45 minute trip ended up taking two hours, it was puking snow so hard that we were driving blind through a blizzard. There was about 17 inches of snow when we got to Snowbasin in the morning and it probably snowed another 8 inches while we were there.

If you’re getting out and about, keep in mind that the avalanche danger is high right now. Anytime you get snow like this it is going to add significant weight to the snow pack and increase the avalanche danger.

According to the National Weather Service, it doesn’t look like this storm pattern we’ve been in for the last month is going to let up. I know that everyone here in our offices hope that it never does. See you on the slopes.

The snow gods aren’t smiling on us yet, but at least the temperatures are dropping enough to get some serious snowmaking done. Park City Mountain Resort opened today. Snowbasin, The Canyons, Brighton, and Wolf Mountain will all be opening on Saturday. This is great news, and from where I’m sitting in Phoenix right now, I’d rather be out riding chairlifts and ripping groomers. But, I guess I’ll have to settle for a round of golf with my father-in-law instead. Get out there and make some turns for me.