The Salt Lake County Planning Commision has given preliminary approval to a new location for the Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort mountain coaster, the resort announced Wednesday.

Snowbird initially proposed building a mountain coaster on the lower face of Mount Superior in Little Cottonwood Canyon, which at one point would have crossed the canyon road on a bridge over state Route 210. That plan was scrapped amid controversy over building in the environmentally sensitive canyon.

The new proposal calls for the mountain coaster to be located within Snowbird’s existing developed resort footprint on private property with loading and unloading at the base of the Peruvian Express chairlift.

“We are excited to provide another form of summer recreation for our guests and Utah’s growing population,” Snowbird President Bob Bonar said in a prepared statement.

Check out the public map and stats on MapMyRide.com:

The Avenues on MapMyRide.com

“Ski Day #75” by Fatbearfehr on Instagram

We took the tram to the top, hiked Baldy, hung out (read: stood near the Collins Brothers), and skied Little Chute into Alta. I’ve never skied Baldy Chutes before, and I’ve been missing out. Chute skiing is so much fun! Turns have to be precise, your heart rate is elevated, and as my good friend Lyons once said, “there’s just something about that run… I hope we brought enough supplies… that guy’s wearing a freaki stocking cap on his head… not me, I wear a helmet.”

We traversed a ways through Alta over to Devil’s Castle and Cabin Hill. Great exercise. I skied my first corn run ever. Almost as fun as powder… ok not even close, but when combined with a 65 degree bluebird day, it’s a lot of fun.

So that does it for my 2011-2012 ski season at resorts in Utah. I have a few days in Chile in August. I’m planning on busting out the skins to do a little spring touring before all the snow melts. Stay tuned!

I followed Liz after a few minutes waiting for Sam. Sam left a few minutes after me, due to a few extra minutes spent inflating his shock pump.

I still say we all road together despite the fact than we couldn’t see or hear each other for 99% of the bike ride.

Regardless, Sam and I rode to the top. Tracker ditched Liz and followed us. With only 20 minutes until our planned departure time for the wedding, we started riding down. I stopped at the “halfway” point to wait for Tracker. He never showed up.

I climbed back to the top imagining finding an 11 year old Golden in bad shape on the side of the trail somewhere. Sam climbed back to the 80% point. I rode down to Sam. Still no Tracker. Thinking he may have gotten lost, I rode the Switchback Trail for the first time in a few years. It’s just as muddy and un-fun as I remembered. I rode back to the trailhead before Sam called to say Tracker had been found and looked to be ok.

We were late for the LDS wedding. So we missed out on the non-alcoholic punch, rice krispy treat cake, and, probably, five versions of the chicken dance.

 One of the best days of the year. May 10th, 2012 in Park City and Salt Lake.

 

Yesterday was Spring appreciation day. Remember way back when I quoted myself saying “you can ski, bike, hike, swim, BBQ, and catch a baseball game all in the same day.” Well, we did it. All of it. In one day.

Spring is awesome.

Song: Ice Cube – “Today Was A Good Day”

The Adam I knew, during the time that I knew him, was a snowboarder — a real one. He chose Salt Lake City as a winter base because if he was in the country and saw a storm headed that direction, it was easy to fly to. The places he rented were bare bones, meant only for sleeping and showering and storing the busted-up Subaru he used to get to the mountain. That car was so kicked-in. He had to pop the hood, fiddle with wires and beat on the engine with a wrench to get it to start. It was awesome.

 

There was no flash to his program. All he cared about was that he was on the hill when the lifts opened on a deep snow day. This part of him might be only a grain of sand in an ocean of more interesting and wonderful things that made him who he was, but I still feel like it should be noted. Because, for a moment in time, he was one of us. It was not an act, and we loved him for it.

Fact: Spring Is Awesome. Proof: This Picture (“Yesterday With @lizzardfish” by Fatbearfehr on Instagram)