Is The Wasatch Too Crowded?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ธ.ค. 2021
- Utah has always been a place near and dear to me. It is the place where I learned how to backcountry ski. I went skiing here in the early season of November after Utah got hit with a series of big storms in October The Wasatch Mountain Range is a special place. It is the only place that I know of, located so close to a fairly big city. Salt Lake City is becoming an epicenter for backcountry skiing. Brands like DPS, Voile, 4FRNT, and Black Diamond have all made their head quarters in the Salt Lake Valley. With an average snowfall of 500 inches per year, the cottonwood canyons offer access to prime backcountry skiing. They even have a map with hundreds of names for runs that are not in resorts. There is one downside to it all, popularity of the place has caused overcrowding of the canyons, and now resorts are restricting parking and have plans to expand. Regardless, Utah is a great place for skiing, and the Wasatch Range is fantastic for backcountry skiing.
Link to Utah Backcountry Ski Map: wbskiing.com/
Beautiful video!
‘All for the taste of that sweet nectar that is powder skiing’ Amen to that!
Great summary of the beauty and uniqueness of the Wasatch. I have so many mixed feelings about the growth. People getting stoked on the sport is awesome. But resort expansion into the little wilderness that remains just sucks. Especially if they gobble up Grizzly Gulch, which is such a great starting and learning zone. Remember cutting our teeth in the backcountry on Patsey Marley West Ridge? I can't imagine Alta putting a lift up to that. It's frustrating because not only are they cutting us off from public lands, they're cutting off parking to access public lands. If they escalate to this kind of gate-keeeping, then they'll privatize and profiteer off the backs of tax-payer publicly funded lands. There's got to be a point where the NFS chooses protecting our wilderness/giving priority to human powered recreation over appeasing a private resort.
And then there's the BIGGER issue of water management. New resorts (Mayflower Mtn and Wasatch Peaks Resort)/resort expansion further taps into our dwindling water supply. Add this to the rapid growing population here...maybe private resort expansion isn't something we should strive for right now? Simply expanding won't fix the overcrowding. It will just increase capacity and private resort corporations will market heavily to fill that capacity. Making current systems/operations more efficient and expanding public transportation is the fix we need.
Leave the wild wild, let wildlife live, keep it natural. And have the recreation in those zones be as minimally impactful as possible, i.e. keep it backcountry. We'll regret it when it's gone.
I agree. It would be terrible to see a lift up grizzly. That was the place where I first went backcountry skiing and I do remember those memories with you.
Don't take away our freedom of the hills! It is a beautiful thing as stated by Drew Hardesty in this video th-cam.com/video/X1k-YktQyz0/w-d-xo.html
@@DanNoakes hell yes. I love Drew Hardesty's insights and demeanor.
Well said
There’s nothing positive about growth at this point IMO.
this is a sweet video man. your sound design is killer
Thanks Branson, I really appreciate that.
Nice. Ur making me miss my Utah. :) so many great ski memories. Loved my house there too :) Greatest snow on earth. ;)
Me too! I miss that place.
this place looks wild and fun, sympa !
Looking forward to getting there - here comes the snow!
It is coming!
It's 200% too crowded. Still lovely though
This is in wolverine right? Which chute?
I don't know what the name of this chute is. It was in wolverine yes.
@@DanNoakes I watched it again and I realized I’ve skied this one. It’s skiers left of granny.
Everywhere is crowded. I left the Wasatch for the Chugach 25 years ago.When I first moved here you could name the skier just by the way the skin track was set...now, not so much. Oh well.
It boggles my mind how it’s such a popular sport when most people are pretty lazy and just want to use the lifts. Maybe it is a fad and it will phase out in a couple of years?
@@DanNoakes Doubtful, fat skis made powder easy and people go cra cra for it:) I know I do. There's always one line left...it's good people are getting out!
@@dee2ski I like that. It is good that people can get out, there does always seem to be one line left.
Posting videos like this is the reason it's so crowded 😅😅😅
And you watched it. Congratulations
@@DanNoakes just long enough too see what hypocritical dork posts this bs 🤣
I feel torn on the population. I want more people to experience the outdoors so they will want to protect it, but I don't like the lines or damage to the environment. Like when I go to hike a popular canyon and the whole trail smells of dog poo. I don't know if giving more access to the wilderness would help fix it or just spread out the damage.
Don't tell Miles ...oops too late
the growth sucks. ruined this place, videos and influences don't help it