Earlier this week, both Alta and Snowbird promised that classes in the Deseret News Ski School would go on as scheduled on snow.
Several concerned callers, exhibiting some skepticism, called the Deseret News offices expressing doubt. The hills are, after all, a rich fall brown.Well, the second class of the 52nd running of the ski school WILL, repeat, WILL be held on the snow-covered slopes of Alta and Snowbird.
Skiers will head for Alta; snowboarders will head for Snowbird.
Promises kept.
In both cases, students will have the entire resorts to themselves. Neither Alta nor Snowbird will have lifts running for the public. Both are targeting Nov. 24. But both will open their lower teaching slopes to students.
"I can tell you this," said Alan Engen, director of the Deseret News program and director of skiing at Alta, "things looked a lot better on Thursday than they did the day before. The snow we got at Alta really helped. Also, the colder temperatures helped.
"Alta has enough cover on the lower slopes that students will be able to come and really enjoy themselves."
Steve Bills, director of the Snowbird ski school, echoed those remarks.
"We've got enough snow to take care of the students. Crews here have been putting in a lot of time grooming and preparing the resort for opening," he said.
Ski students should report to the upper parking area at Alta on Saturday by 9:30 a.m. Snowboarders should report to the teaching area north of the main tram building. It can be reached by taking Entry No. 2 at the resort.
Now that temperatures have dropped, crews at both resorts have been able to add to the natural snow that fell Wednesday with long hours of producing man-made snow. All it takes to make snow is water, air and cold temperatures, and resort officials reported they've had the luxury of all three the past few days.
The first class was held last Saturday in Sugarhouse Park. Both skiers and snowboarders, about 600 strong, learned the very basics of their sport. Things like how to walk, how to make stationary turns and the most basic step of all, how to get into and out of their equipment.
This training, agreed Engen and Bills, will make the second class much easier and the learning process quicker. Trying to perform some of these tasks on snow can sometimes be very difficult for a beginning student.
There will be no class on Nov. 27, but lessons will resume on Dec. 4 and conclude on Dec. 10.