SNOWBASIN — From the tip-top of the world, on a wind-swept ridge nearly 10,000 feet high and overlooking the resort to the east and Ogden to the west, Gray Reynolds solemnly christened the men's Olympic course.
"And the name," he said to a huddled gathering of media, officials and skiers Thursday at noon standing on the ice-packed ridge, "will be Grizzly."
Chad Fleischer, the top men's downhiller on the U.S. Ski Team, responded, "I'm just hoping, for me, that this course turns into 'Gentle Ben' and I become the 'Grizzly Adams' of the hill."
No, the name has nothing to do with Jazz, Buzz, Starzz, Blitzz or even the Grizz but a legend of a bear — Old Ephraim.
"We considered many names," said Reynolds, general manager of Snowbasin, site of the men's and women's Olympic downhill. "This one just seemed to fit. We had a bear of a time getting to where we are, and a grizzly is something rugged, tough, intimidating and feared. That's what this course is."
The story of "Old Eph," goes back to the early 1900s. Grizzly bears were common in the area during this period.
One bear in particular, which roamed the Snowbasin area between 1911 until 1923, was particularly feared. Each year it would kill hundreds of sheep.
For more than 10 years it eluded hunters. Bear traps were found sprung, broken and thrown yards from where they were set, and hunters found it impossible to track the bear, despite the fact it had a deformed foot that earned it the nickname of "Old Three Toes."
Finally, in 1923, Frank Clark encountered the bear in Logan Canyon. It carried a 23-pound trap and 14 feet of chain on its front leg.
Clark wounded the bear and then stood frozen when it charged. When the bear was only six feet away, he managed to get off a second shot. It would eventually take five of his available six shots to kill the bear.
The bear stood nine-feet-11-inches tall.
Old Ephraim was buried but later dug up, and his skull was sent to the Smithsonian Institute, where it would stay until it was sent to Utah State University in 1978. It remains there on display. A monument to the bear was also built near the old gravesite in the canyon.
It was in that tone that Tim LaMarche, race director at the resort, labeled the various sections of the men's course.
Starting with the 64 percent pitch out of the start house onto Ephraim's Face and into John Paul Traverse (John Paul is the name of the area where the course was built).
From there the course drops 2,959 feet over a distance of nearly two miles, through Bear Trap, Hibernation Hole, Three Toes, Muzzleloader Jump, Rendezvous Face "and finishing on a hill with a 71 percent grade. They'll be doing somewhere around 85 mph when they come down the face," he said.
"In my opinion, this is one of the most challenging downhill courses anywhere."
Fleischer, who hiked the course and skied it for the first time Thursday, agreed.
"This is one course people will be looking at for years. It's tough. But then just look at the view," he said, making a half turn looking over the valley.
Herwig Demschar, head of the alpine events for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, said the course would most definitely rate among the "top three in the world. It's right there at the top. It's a tremendous course.
"And, best of all it's ready. They could call me tomorrow, tell me they want to race and within 10 days we could be ready. It's that's close."
The women's course, named "Wildflower" after the abundance of vegetation that grows in the spring and summer, starts to the north but crosses over the men's course and parallels it on the south. It drops 2,319 feet over a two-mile course.
Grizzly will first be tested in the men's downhill Super Series from Feb. 9-11, then the men's World Cup, Feb. 24-25, the disabled World Cup Feb. 26 to March 4 and the women's Super Series March 16-18.
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