The 7 Assault
Salt Lake City, Utah--Tahoe boasts skiing across State borders, European lifts afford international travel on a pair of planks, but Utah is perhaps the only place in the world you can ski seven world-class areas--all in a single day.
In an ultimately successful stunt last week, Ski Utah members led a team of snowsports journalists on an all-out assault of the seven Salt Lake City-area resorts: Snowbird, Alta, Brighton, Solitude, The Canyons, Deer Valley, and Park City Mountain Resort. Local pro skier Brant Moles was on hand to act as guide and generally terrorize each mountain on the day's tour.
Beginning in Little Cottonwood Canyon with the pursuit of a few inches of new powder at Snowbird and Alta, the team worked its way up and down Big Cottonwood and Parley's canyons, successively. The Cottonwoods provided lingering powder fields as rope closures dropped, causing the pow-hungry group to stretch the allotted time at each resort to the limit.
Early afternoon saw the mission's goal in jeopardy after the toll of windy roads, a wildly swaying van, and aromatic pizza threatened to topple even the hardiest skier's fortitude. However, a quick lift ride at The Canyons and the end in sight set everyone back on course.