Since the day he found an old pair of skis in his family’s hotel attic, Henri Rivers has found a special joy in skiing. It didn’t matter to him that he was the only black skier on his high school ski team. He just loved to ski. Today, as president of the National Brotherhood of Skiers (NBS), Rivers is making a difference helping the ski industry better understand how to embrace black skiers with programs like Ski Utah’s Discover Winter.The first thing that strikes you when you meet Rivers is not that he is black, but the importance of family and his passion for skiing that comes through quickly in a conversation. Before they married, he told fiancé Karen that he would be skiing six months a year. Without hesitation, she learned to ski and is always at his side. And it became the same for their triplets, who have long been a part of their family ski trips to the mountains!Since he found that old pair of wooden skis with leather thongs when he was 10, skiing has been a part of his life. He long ago discovered NBS and passionately engaged in the organization’s mission to put a black skier onto the U.S. Ski Team. It was pretty natural for the outgoing Rivers to take on the presidency of NBS in early March, 2020. What was not natural was the pandemic that swept the world a few weeks later, or the Black Lives Matter uprising that came that May.Within NBS, he held the organization together through the pandemic. Outside of NBS, he became one of the most sought-out leaders in the sport as ski industry executives from every corner reached out to him for help navigating the diversity waters.This month he will preside over the 50th anniversary of the National Brotherhood of Skiers when it comes together for Black Summit.But what he’s most proud of is the undying support NBS has provided towards its mission of advancing Black athletes in the sport. He speaks proudly of athletes of the past, and with eagerness when he talks about today’s Team NBS. And he’s set lofty fundraising goals for the organization to support the cause.“We're always hoping that people can see the value of what we do and donate to our cause,” said Rivers. “So once we decided or once they decided to come up with that mission. That's when we got a different drive. You know, we went from just partying and having fun on the hill to gathering funds to support young athletes of color so that we could promote them and get them to training, develop them into elite racers.”This is a conversation that blends the passion for skiing we all share, along with a special message of diversity. Take a listen to this episode of Last Chair featuring Henri Rivers: Bringing Diversity to the Mountain. <<LINK TO PODCAST>>How did you discover skiing yourself?I grew up in Jamaica, Queens, in New York. Around ten years old, my parents moved us up to upstate New York – a little town called Big Indian in the Catskills, about six miles from Belleayre Mountain and 10 miles from Phoenicia Ski Center. By Thanksgiving, you had three feet of snow outside. Either you stayed inside from Thanksgiving to March or you found a way to make all that snow out there your friend. I found a pair of skis in the attic of my parents' hotel – skis, boots and poles. I tried them on and they all fit.But how did you learn?I had no clue what I was doing. I figured out how to lace up the boots and strap in. They were cable bindings. I would put them on and I would just push off and go straight down the hill until there was an obstacle. And whenever a tree popped up, I would just tip over and fall. As a skier in the Catskills back then, you probably were the only person of color on the mountain. How was that?That was part of life. That's part of the American society. In most areas, if you're outside of an urban community, you're usually one of the only persons of color. Now you ratchet that up a little bit more when you're in a mountain community. You're definitely one of the only people of color. I was fortunate there was a guy a couple of years ahead of me in high school. He was such a phenomenal skier. And I'm telling you as a kid, my eyes would be wide open. You ask how it felt. It really didn't have any different feeling because that was society at that time. That was the community you were in. So just because we're skiing now, it's still the same community. If you were the only person of color, you will look at it a little differently, of course. You develop a thick skin because just living life was hard enough. Now you're into the ski world, into their environment. And it was the same thing. So you dealt with it the same way.This year we’re celebrating 50 years of the National Brotherhood of Skiers. It’s quite an amazing history.You know, that is something that I think about often going back to 1973, 1972. These two gentlemen (Art Clay and Ben Finley) decided to get together, form a bond and bring as many Black ski clubs as they could across the United States and gather them and get them to ski together. They wanted to ski together for several reasons. Camaraderie and definitely security. Getting together with a group of people that enjoy the same thing you do, and that look the same as you do, tends to give you a little bit higher safety factor. And then you wouldn't have to worry about some of the rhetoric or some of the things that were said in your direction because they wouldn't be said when you were there in numbers. So as a result of coming together and enjoying the sport and finding that many Black skiers were proficient skiers, it wasn't like a bunch of people skiing down, bumbling and falling. And, you know, they were quite proficient. And after the ski community saw that, I think they accepted it more and more.Henri, what role did NBS play in the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020?Everything stopped. May 25th, George Floyd gets murdered in the street, and we all see this. My phone rang off the hook every single day from the ski industry. We had large resorts, large manufacturers write letters in support of Black Lives Matter. So they were looking to the National Brotherhood of Skiers for guidance on how should they move forward in supporting human equality and to try to stop the racist system that exists.Henri, one of the things I’ve learned from you is that sometimes racism isn’t very overt. Can you give an example.The first thing that comes to me is this. You have a black skier or a group of black skiers that will come to a ski area. White skiers will come to them and, you know, be a little bit too overly helpful. ‘Oh, let me show you how to put on your boots. Oh, your boot goes here into these little black things called bindings.’ And, don't get me wrong, if you've never been on skis, you do need some guidance. But just because they're just coming up onto the hill doesn't mean they've never skied before. So you get people that want to help them or direct them. And sometimes it's a little bit too much. And that can be thought of as microaggressions that are unnecessary.You’ve been a big supporter of Ski Utah’s Discover Winter program. What makes it unique?They've done their homework and the program is going well. I was fortunate that Raelene Davis reached out and invited this out to watch the program and to be involved with one of the weekends. What they're doing is hitting a different demographic. The other winter outreach programs, they're l...

With each successive two-foot snowfall, skiers and riders at resorts rejoice. But in the Utah backcountry with no avalanche mitigation, that fresh snow often sits on a sugary, crusty weak layer and can be prone to sliding. Last Chair headed into the Utah backcountry with Utah Avalanche Center pro Drew Hardesty for a conversation in a snow pit, analyzing those weak layers from storms going back to October and talking avalanche safety.A seasoned avalanche safety veteran, Hardesty was a gracious backcountry guide, offering insights into the weather and how to prepare yourself to be safe.Our outing was a simple one, heading up from the Guardsman Pass Road trailhead at the upper reaches of Big Cottonwood Canyon, climbing through magical aspen trees up a low angle ridgeline on the western flank of 10420. Finding a clearing amidst the snow-laden evergreens, Hardesty skillfully dug a nearly six-foot deep snow pit.The conversation covered a broad range of avalanche safety topics, with insightful analysis into the layering created by each successive snowfall, and the weak layers of sugary snow between each – potentially a hazard when the snow facets don’t bond and the new snow breaks.Hardesty is part of a dedicated team of professionals at the Utah Avalanche Center, providing daily insights and forecasts, as well as education, to help keep backcountry skiers and riders safe.Listen in to learn more. Here’s a sample of Last Chair’s episode 8: Conversation in a Snow Pit with Drew Hardesty of the Utah Avalanche Center.Drew, set the stage for us on the avalanche problem we’re facing.Early season we had quite a bit of snowfall in October. It continued into early November and it really started to stack up. But then the storm shut down there for a couple of weeks. And as I like to say, the weather does the devil's work. And by that I meant that snow sitting on the ground started to get weak, sugary, less cohesion at the surface. And that has become our weak layer for these subsequent storms.In your experience, what is one of the biggest red flags here in Utah?I did a study a few years ago looking at all of our avalanche accidents in the modern era going back to 1941 – almost 130 avalanche fatalities since then. And we have way more higher proportion of fatalities from people accessing the backcountry from the ski areas and the lifts than any other state. Easily 20% of our fatalities have been people going and accessing the backcountry from the ski areas.What goes into forecasting by Utah Avalanche Center?Our forecasts are predicated upon the field work of not just our avalanche forecasters, but whole platoons of what we call professional observers. And again, just that great communication that we have with all of our snow safety brothers and sisters and again with Utah Department of Transportation, the guides out there, it's really fundamental to be out in the snow like we are today, to look and see what's going on with the snowpack, what's going on with the weather. Drew, as you look at this snow pit wall, what are the important points?As we're looking here, we have about two feet of our slab here. And the slab is nothing more than what we'd call a cohesive plate of snow, something that's cohesive and strong, that's sitting on something weak – sugary snow. It's just very crystalline and weak. What’s the heritage of snow safety here in Utah?Utah is the birthplace of avalanche science and avalanche mitigation in North America, upper Little Cottonwood Canyon in the late ‘30s and ‘40s. These grandfathers, Monte Atwater and Ed LaChapelle, really built avalanche science and avalanche forecasting that has set the benchmark for anyone else in North America. So it's an honor to be part of that lineage here.Do you have a favorite backcountry place in Utah?It's the Provo Mountains. The Provo mountains are some of the most radical and extreme and beautiful part of our Wasatch – seldom traveled. And it's very dangerous terrain in there. And you have to be right. You have to pay attention. And I'd have to say that the Provo area mountains are my favorite part of the Wasatch Range.Drew in one word can you sum up what it means to be in this beautiful Utah backcountry?Boy, I just can't Tom. But It's a good life. It's a good life.

In October it started snowing in Utah. And it really hasn’t stopped, with over 225 inches in Little Cottonwood Canyon by mid-December. So, what’s going on? Last Chair invited Open Snow forecaster Evan Thayer and atmospheric scientist Jim Steenburgh for a Special Snowfall Edition podcast to dive into the continuous powder forecast and share a few stories of their own.Deep powder is nothing new in Utah. But the 2022-23 season kicked off with a bang, starting in late October and continuing incessantly up to the Christmas holiday. A mid-December storm that was forecast to drop 25-30 inches tapped out closer to 70+ inches!Was it La Niña? Was it lake effect from the Great Salt Lake? Or was it the Ninth & Ninth Whale?Listen in to learn more. Here’s a sample of Last Chair’s episode 7 with Evan Thayer and Jim Steenburgh.Jim, what do you point to as you look back on the season so far?Jim Steenburgh: There were two critical periods that gave us the incredible situation we have right now. One was in early November. We got an incredibly high density wet storm that just coated everything and gave a great base in the mid upper elevations. And then now, you know, from about December 11th to the 15th, we had this really prolonged, very low density snowfall event. Alta got over seven inches of snow with a water content of 4%, which is like all time for skiing. I just think it's been a great start to the season.Evan, as a forecaster, where do you get your intel?Evan Thayer: It is people like Jim. It's the people in academia and doing the research who are building these tools, and they allow people like me to access the tools. And then I contextualize it into a forecast that's useful for skiers and snowboarders or, you know, any type of recreation analyst.Jim, what did you most like about how the early season snow set up for the season?Jim Steenburgh: That period from December 11th to 15th was really good. Early in the season, I don't care about quality. The only thing I want is quantity. The best start to the ski season is to have early snow that starts maybe in early November. You know, this year it came a little earlier in October. But I want really high density snow to build base to start the season. And we got that in early November.Evan, how important was that?Evan Thayer: Last week was the perfect setup because it came in a little bit on the warm side, so a little bit higher density snow late Sunday night. So on Monday, you were skiing snow that was more typical of Utah. That was like 8% water content. But then for Tuesday, Wednesday and into Thursday, it was so fluffy. But you had that denser bottom there. So even if you did sink neck deep in, as Jim said, you're going to feel the body way underneath that keeps you from hitting crust or any bumps like that. So it takes already deep snow and makes it feel just like completely bottomless. So it was the ideal setup for powder skiing.

The new Salt Lake City International airport provides the closest gateway in the world to such a diversity of skiing and riding. Opened in September 2020, the new SLC is one of the world’s most innovative and eco-friendly airports, providing a welcome mat for upwards of 30,000 passengers a day. Last Chair sat down with Executive Director Bill Wyatt to learn more about why SLC is turning heads with visitors from around the world.Wyatt, who grew up in Oregon where he ran the Portland International Airport and the city’s maritime port, thought he was retiring in 2017. But a few days later, he took a recruiter’s call and landed in Salt Lake City. Taking over the construction project, he saw it to conclusion then shepherded the airport through the pandemic, ultimately saving two years and hundreds of millions of dollars in cost savings through an ingenious plan that took advantage of low passenger counts in 2020.Our Last Chair interview with Wyatt took place in the airport’s bustling Central Plaza, just inside security and in the midst of Utah restaurants such as Market Street Grill and Roosters. The affable Wyatt was quite at home, excitedly talking about the airport and the role it plays welcoming thousands of visitors each day.Here’s a sample of Last Chair’s episode 6 with airport leader Bill Wyatt. Listen in to learn more in what was a fun conversation that showcases the welcoming atmosphere at the new SLC.Bill, to start, give us a sense of perspective of the Salt Lake City Airport?We're 20th largest in the country and that is largely because we're a Delta hub – 70% of their traffic connects through Salt Lake. Without being a connecting hub, we would probably have 45 or so nonstop flights. Today, I think we have about 95. During the pandemic, obviously not something any of us ever anticipated, Salt Lake was one of the fastest to return to service. And today I think we stand as the most recovered airport in the country in terms of airplane seats in the market. And that has a lot to do with why we're here talking. During the pandemic, there was a point at which people just said, ‘you know what, I'm getting out of my basement. I'm going to go somewhere.’ They weren't going to go to New York City. They weren't going to Disneyland. But they did come to Salt Lake because they could go skiing or they could go to the national parks or up into the desert. And we're continuing to see very strong volumes for all of that.On that note, just how did the pandemic impact traffic at SLC?I always look at how many people are going to arrive at the front door, because that's where you really have to pay attention. And a big day for us is 30,000 people. And that February (2020), I think we had two or three of those days. In late March (2020), I remember standing on the sky bridge to my office, which was above Terminal A, for 10 minutes and not seeing a single passenger. And we were at that point about five months from opening (the new airport). So it was obviously concerning. Tom Kelly: [00:09:19] We're going to talk a little bit more about the plan. And I know we'll dive back into some of the benefits that pandemic actually brought to your construction. But just to talk a little bit about the airport itself and maybe if you could elaborate on what your specific role is. I know that you oversee the whole thing, but what are some of the areas that are really big focal points for you in managing the Salt Lake City International Airport?Going back in time, why did Salt Lake City decide to invest in a new airport?The old airport was designed to handle about 10 million annual passengers and in its last full year of operation did just a little over 28. The old airport really couldn't handle much more. It certainly couldn't handle any more aircraft. It was old. It was not designed as a hub. I always hold up my hand when I talk about the old airport because that's what it looked like. You know, you had these five fingers or five concourses that were connected. And if there was a single aircraft movement in between any two of those fingers, everything else came to a stop. And so this airport is designed as a 21st century hub airport where no aircraft ever has to wait for another one to get out of its way, which has, by the way, enormous positive environmental benefits, because the old airport caused a lot of jet fuel to be burned unnecessarily because of that design feature.On that point, how important was sustainability in the new airport plan?The decision was made to go for gold LEED standard. The way that this was accomplished was a tremendous focus on energy efficiency. The little bag tugs that take the bags back and forth from the planes -- they're all electric now. They're not actually allowed to have internal combustion engines in the bag halls or underneath the building at all. Natural light harvesting – a tremendous amount of environmental automation that goes with the building we use today, less electricity in this building than we did in the old airport, which I think is a sign of the effort that was undertaken. Little things like free flowing dual taxi lanes in all directions means that planes are taxiing less on the ground and getting out of here quicker, which means a huge amount of carbon savings. So the day the new airport opened, I like to say, was probably the best day for air quality in this valley in a very, very long time.What are the key milestones coming up over the next few years?So the milestones that are in front of us, we recently completed one milestone, which is to allow for aircraft to taxi over the top of what we call the central tunnel. The next big milestone will occur in May when the first four gates on A Concourse East, which is currently under construction, open. The following November, all of the A concourse opens. And then the following fall, the central tunnel will open.  And it will significantly improve the customer experience. I am confident that we will begin construction of a 16 gate expansion (on Concourse B), something that was not really anticipated for several years, which will conclude in 2027. And that means in the space of seven years, Salt Lake will have gone from an airport that had 52 jet bridges to one with 94 jet bridges. And that growth is really a mirror reflection of what's been happening in the economy of this value, this valley to the ski industry, the tourism industry, just the tremendous growth that we all can see with our own eyes.What are some unique elements for skiers?The ski industry had a lot to do with various design elements of the airport. The bag belts where the agent puts your bag is a full foot wider than a conventional bag belt, and that is to accommodate oversized bags like skis, snowboards, golf clubs. When you are an arriving passenger, you go out into the bag hall to grab your bags and your ski bag is on a vertical carousel. So it's a lot easier to pick off. And I might say for those skiers who've had their four or five days of skiing and then are going home, we've we're making some adjustments here that I think are going to be tremendously well received. One, if you take a shuttle down from Park City, for example, and arrive at level one, which is the ground floor, you can get off there and go directly in and check in and then move through the checkpoint from level one itself. You don't have to go up three stories to do that. The other thing that Delta is going to do this season – I'm very excited for this – they're working with the resorts to allow customers to check their overs...

When you fly into Salt Lake City from the north, you get a poignant view of the vanishing water in the Great Salt Lake. The problem is real. So what is Utah doing about it? Last Chair traveled to Antelope Island, in the heart of the lake, to speak with Utah state representative Tim Hawkes, a passionate advocate, on the very realistic steps the state is already taking to save the Great Salt Lake.In today’s world of polarized politics, Hawkes stands out as a leader who works across the aisles. He laughs as he describes himself as a conservative who advocates for natural resources. In fact, if there is any one issue in Utah that truly unites politicians, it’s saving the Great Salt Lake.Hawkes grew up in Brigham City, Utah, learning to love the outdoors as a young boy, hiking, fishing, hunting, cutting school to go skiing. He followed his passion into law, becoming a water rights attorney with a thriving career in Washington, D.C. Over time, he missed the Utah outdoors and moved back to his home state, working first with Trout Unlimited protecting waterways.Today, Hawkes is a leading advocate saving the Great Salt Lake, working closely with his fellow legislators to seek real solutions. In his day job, he serves as legal counsel for the Great Salt Lake Brine Shrimp Cooperative.How real is the problem? For our podcast interview, we drove across the causeway to Antelope Island. What used to be a roadway surrounded by water, now has only a few small pools. Birds that used to flock along the highway are now relegated to small patches of water. To find water along the shore of the island, in some places you would need to travel a mile.Can the lake be saved? Hawkes thinks so. He’s a positive, forward-looking leader focused on solutions.Here’s a sample of Last Chair’s episode 5 of season 4 with Utah state representative Tim Hawkes on how Utah is working together to save the Great Salt Lake.What is it about being out in nature that's so compelling to all of us?There's something deeply human that appeals to us about wild things and wild places. And I think it's important for our mental health, for our spirituality, sense of well-being and connectedness, just presence. The Great Salt Lake is an amazing place, but often taken for granted in the past.It's easy to see the lake as kind of an oddity. I grew up in Utah and you see it as out of sight, out of mind. It's been interesting as an adult to get to know it better, to understand the ecology. That's part of my job – to learn about it. But just to get out to Antelope Island and see the amazing wildlife that's out here, it feels otherworldly.The Great Salt Lake is a terminal lake – what does that mean?A terminal Lake is basically a lake that sits at the bottom of a watershed and it doesn't have an outlet. So there are rivers flowing in. There are no rivers flowing out. And so the only way that water is lost is through evaporation. That tends to concentrate salt and other minerals in that system. And that's where you get these unique systems where you need uniquely adapted critters that can survive in them because the conditions are very harsh salt, salt content very high.Why has the lake attracted so much attention recently?For those that have been engaged in protecting the lake and trying to conserve the lake, we've all been astonished by just how much interest has kicked in over the lake in recent years. And I think that has everything to do with these low lake levels. So the low lake levels have driven concerns about how that can affect the state and can affect the ecosystem that's driven media attention. And that largely then accounts for the public starting to gain more and more awareness of, ‘oh my gosh, the lake does touch us in ways, really important ways that we didn't fully realize we've got to do something to protect it.’ Is this an issue with Mother Nature, climate change, population growth?It's really human caused. And one of the interesting data points that I don't think people realize, is they assume because we're in the middle of a very significant drought, that it's just we're getting a lot less precipitation and the science actually doesn't back that up. If you take Salt Lake Valley or Cache Valley, important watersheds that feed into the Great Salt Lake, and you just measure them over time, you just look how much rain and snow is falling and you plot it out – it's largely flat. It hasn't changed. It's hard to make the argument that we're getting less precipitation. So the only thing that can account for these dramatically low levels are really two things. One is that our climate is getting warmer. And as it gets warmer, then it takes more water to keep crops up or keep your lawns green or whatever. So we use more water. But the second way that it affects us is that we are just altering this ecosystem. The best available science suggests that we have contributed about 11 feet of elevation loss. If you took that 11 feet and you put it back into Great Salt Lake today, the lake would be right close to its historic average. What are the key water usages impacting the lake?Agriculture is a big use and then everybody points the finger at agriculture. It is interesting though, because when largely the areas around Great Salt Lake were in agriculture, the lake was fairly healthy. What's changed is a lot of urban and suburban development and that changes flow patterns as well. We all have grass where before there was just sagebrush and we try to keep that grass green even in the middle of the summer, even in the heat of summer. And so we call it municipal and industrial, but basically water that's used for homes and businesses. And the last one I would say is industry. We have a very important mineral industry out on the Great Salt Lake and the way that they get the minerals out of the water is forced evaporation, so they contribute to lake declines, as well. So I sort of say it's agriculture, it's homes and businesses and then it's industry.If water usage by humans is the problem, how can the legislature act and act quickly?The pace of change has been nothing short of extraordinary. I've never seen anything like it. It's hard to change water law. But, I'd say in the last two to three years, we've probably seen six to eight major pieces of legislation that have direct effects on Great Salt Lake – really extraordinary bills that provide greater legal recognition for environmental uses of water, that provide greater flexibility in terms of how we share water, and that fundamentally call out Great Salt Lake and try to create legal tools to help fix this enormous problem.You’ve been in public office for eight years and are now retiring from that service. What motivated you to serve?Well, I'm one of those crazy idealists that really do try to ask myself, ‘what have I done to make the world a better place?’ That's really what got me interested in public policy. And I was working outside of the legislature on these policy questions. I had sort of written off the idea of running for office, but my wife was the one that actually suggested to me, ‘Hey, Tim, you get really excited when it comes to politics and policy, have you thought about running?’ And so I made kind of a wild haired decision to run. It's been immensely rewarding and gratifying. I'm so grateful for my colleagues at the legislature – many o...

With two world class resorts boasting nearly 10,000 lift-served skiable acres, all nestled around an historic old mining town, Utah’s ski town of Park City truly is unlike anything in North America. Deer Valley Resort and Park City Mountain will open this season with new captains at the helm. Deer Valley’s Todd Bennett and Park City’s Deirdra Walsh represent a new generation of resort leaders who bring fresh enthusiasm to their respective mountains, and a keen sense of the uniqueness that has made the Park City community America’s Ski Town. They sat down with Last Chair at the Nelson Cottage at High West Distillery, in the heart of Park City’s Old Town.As a community, Park City dates back to the late 19th century when silver mining made it a boom town. Throughout the early to mid 20th century, miners used skis to get around, often crossing the ridgeline into Big Cottonwood Canyon and back. The present-day Park City Mountain came alive in 1963 with the opening of a full resort, complete with a gondola. Known previously as Snow Park and Frog Hollow, Deer Valley sprang to life in 1981.Park City’s historic Main Street, nestled between the two resorts, still boasts a 19th century mining town feel with hundreds of restaurants and shops, all within minutes to the two resorts. Deer Valley’s new leader Todd Bennett grew up in Saranac Lake, N.Y. outside of Lake Placid, learning to ski at tiny Mount Pisgah. He worked a ski job in Colorado for three seasons before heading to an 18-year career with Walt Disney in southern California, looking for any opportunity he could to take ski trips with his family and friends. When the opportunity came up to move to Utah, he took advantage, settling into his new mountain home last summer.Walsh is a native of St. Louis who came to Park City 18 years ago, learned to snowboard and rose up to a senior leadership role at Park City Mountain overseeing on-mountain dining. She left to run a California resort for a few years but returned home last spring. She brings pride in her company and a great depth of experience on the mountain.Bennett and Walsh talk about the uniqueness of their resorts, and also that of the community. There are really no other similar models of two separate but adjoining resorts based around a central community core.Here’s a sample of Last Chair’s episode 4 of season 4 with Park City’s Deirdra Walsh and Deer Valley’s Todd Bennett.Todd, what was your pathway into skiing as a young boy?We had a town run hill called Mount Pisgah – one run to the left of a tee bar and one run to the right of a tee bar and 500 vertical feet. That's where I learned to ski, I think at age four. I've always loved skiing. It was just one of those things that honestly was probably a little bit cooler than I was as a kid, and I just loved being around it.Deirdra, your story is a bit different, right?Yes. I grew up in the Midwest – I'm from Saint Louis. Our family vacation time was spent camping and always outside so I grew up with this love of the outdoors. In the summers I think my mom would literally send us out the door, lock it behind us, and we couldn't come home until she rang a bell. Deirdra, what was your first introduction to skiing?My husband had grown up skiing Stevens Pass, and he said, ‘let's move to Park City together.’ So I had almost no skiing experience until I came out here. He was a snowboarder, so I thought I'd be a cool girlfriend and learn to snowboard as well. My very first lesson was actually right at Park City Mountain in my mid-20s. I fell in love with the sport itself a little bit later in life. And it's been amazing to be a part of the community here and now have my kids grow up with skiing and riding as part of their every day.Todd, what motivated you to get back into the ski industry? .It was just kind of fortuitous. I saw the opening for Deer Valley come up and I immediately reached out to a number of folks that I knew in the industry. Park City had always been on our list, and I've just always been a passionate skier. So it was something that I wanted. And when that opportunity came up, I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to come work at Deer Valley.Deirdra, how important is the community’s historic mining heritage?When I think about Park City and that history, the word that always comes to mind is just how authentic this community is around the history that we have, the storytelling, the feeling that when you're on Main Street that these buildings and these neighborhoods and you look up the hill and you see all of these homes, you can't miss the history of this community. And it's really something that I think makes Park City so unique and so special. Todd, how does Deer Valley Resort see its role in the community?Community is the right term and it's something that we've talked a lot about with my senior leadership team. We're all here. We're all local. We live in the greater Park City area. And I think not only the history of mining, but the history and the connection with the town and the community is very important to us. And I think that's the responsibility that we have. We are a big employer in Park City. We have a responsibility to be integrated with the community, to listen to the community, to understand the texture because it has changed. It started as a mining community. It has changed more towards travel and tourism. And even now it's continuing to evolve. So I think it's really important for myself and the team to be very in tune. And the best way to do that is to be local and to be engaged as members of the community ourselves.The community of Park City is unique, with both Vail Resorts and Alterra ski areas. What are the distinguishing characteristics of your respective parent companies?Deirdra: Being part of Vail Resorts for me has been an exceptional personal experience. It's a company that is really focused on employees first. You know, we talk about, you know, the employees don't work for Vail Resorts – they ARE Vail Resorts. And so I think having that point of view has really guided not just me, but I think all of the resort leaders to think about that in decision making, being able to make investments like $175 Million and the employee experience is pretty exceptional. What is really impressive when I think about our company is our point of view on accessibility. We have 41 resorts that make up all of the network. And by way of that, we are able to be in communities that are outside of urban areas like St Louis where I grew up, outside of Chicago, outside of Detroit, that really are creating lifelong skiers in some areas that perhaps they didn't have that accessibility and then now have accessibility into the greater network. Todd: I'm 90 days into working for Alterra and Deer Valley. But what I’ve noticed already is that Alterra puts a lot of emphasis on the local community and giving the site leaders, such as myself, the flexibility to change and adapt what is needed in our community. So in particular for Deer Valley, number one is very similar to Park City Mountain and Vail Resorts. It's the employee experience. We have to be great employers. We have to create a great place for people to work. Number two is the community and the engagement with the community and how we continue to be great partners and very transparent in the way that we go after that. The third p...

As skiers, we love ski lifts. They get us quickly to the top of mountains so we can slide back down. But what would you think about visiting every single ski lift in America? 2,381 of them! Well, that has been the life of Peter Landsman, a lift supervisor and founder of liftblog, a popular website and network of social channels. Today Last Chair chats with Peter about his adventure across America, the unique lifts he found and what we can expect for new lifts this winter.Growing up in the Pacific Northwest (Snoqualmie), Landsman became infatuated with lifts early. “Immediately, I loved to ski – I think I was about four years old when I first started. Very quickly with the skiing, I realized the lifts were also really interesting machines. Ever since then I've had an interest in both the skiing and the lifts and tried to get to as many ski areas and lifts as I can.”As a lift supervisor at Jackson Hole, Landsman works long shifts three to four days a week, then heads to the airport to fly around the USA, hopscotching to ski resorts in a rental car winter and summer to ride lifts, hike to lifts and photograph them from every conceivable angle.In 2015 he started a small blog (liftblog.com) documenting his travels and indexing ski lifts. It was slow at first but with some love and car on social media, it took off.There is probably no individual in America who is so knowledgeable about, literally, every ski lift in the country. He can rattle off stats and show you photos on his phone.Here’s a sample of Last Chair’s episode 3 of season 4 with Peter Landsman.How old were you when you began an infatuation with ski lifts?One of the earlier memories I have of a ski trip was to Sun Valley. I was five or six and asking my parents if I could stay late and watch them turn off the ski lift and like, somehow that would be interesting. They probably thought it was kind of a funny thing to ask, but they let me stay and watch and I ended up talking to the lift operators and I still do that kind of thing today.You’ve been to nearly 500 resorts. You must have some interesting stories?The ski industry is incredibly broad. I have been to a ski resort that's inside. There are ski resorts run by schools. There are ski resorts that are run by the US military. There are ski resorts that are run by nonprofits. So they come in all shapes and sizes. And it's really remarkable how many different types of lifts and ski resorts I've been to.How do you plan?I study the map. Usually I have an idea in my head of what the ski area is like from my prior research. But the night before, I review the map, figure out what I think is going to be the most efficient and fastest way to go up and down every lift. It really varies on the resort, how many runs you have to do for each lift to really photograph them properly and ride them and then get between the different lifts. Do you have a pipeline to the lift manufacturers to learn about new lifts?I do have a good sense of what lifts are coming online. It actually mostly comes from the U.S. Forest Service in Utah and a lot of other places. Many resorts are on public lands, so they have to go through a permit process through the Forest Service before they can even build the lift. And then a lot of times resorts will tell me that they have an announcement coming up and keep me in the loop.Have you seen some unusual lifts?Every one is different. One that comes to mind is in New Jersey, an actual lift that was built here in Salt Lake City but sent over to New Jersey. It's inside this new indoor ski resort in a shopping mall called Big Snow. They have a quad chairlift that instead of coming out of the ground it actually hangs from the ceiling. So as you ride up, the lift towers are coming down from the roof. And that's a pretty unique lift. And then another one that comes to mind is a single chair up in Alaska. Cordova, Alaska, has a single chairlift still operating. It's actually from Sun Valley that got sent up there after they were done with it in Idaho.Do you also try to track the lineage of lifts, like where they started and ended up?I do. So some of them have moved two or three or four times. As an example, Deer Valley's old Homestake Lift went to my home mountain in Washington – Crystal Mountain, where it's now operating again. So if lifts are not that old and being removed, there's a good chance that they will end up at another ski area down the line.I’ve always wondered, how do the ends of lift cables get attached to each other?It's called a splice, and it's a very technical marriage of two ends of a haul rope. There are specialized specialists whose only job is to go around the country and splice these ropes. So they basically unwind both ends of a cable and weave the strands together, make some cuts, do some pounding with hammers. And at the end, you've got a nice smooth loop of rope. And nobody, unless you're a real technical guy like me, nobody really knows where the marriage even is.Any technical innovations on the horizon?Some of it's behind the scenes technical aspects that we deal with as lift employees that the public may not see. The big one of those is called direct drive. For example, Alta's new Sunnyside lift is going to have a direct drive. It's a new kind of motor for ski lifts that directly operates on the bull wheel. So it takes out a whole lot of components of the drive system of a lift that could fail.We have a handful of six-packs in Utah, with some eights planned. What’s the limit?I think eight is probably the limit as far as how many skiers you can line up in a row, have them sit down and then be able to get off and not crash.Peter has a lot more to say about his favorite lifts and unusual ones he’s seen around America. Listen in to the full episode of Last Chair with liftblog founder Peter Landsman on his adventure to visit every lift in America.By the Numbers2,381 lifts in USA480 resorts46 states773,091 miles (thank you Delta)Liftblog’s Five Game Changing Lifts in UtahTram - Snowbird - Kicking off a second half-centuryCollins - Alta - Two lifts in oneQuicksilver - Park City Mountain - Connecting two resorts togetherJohn Paul - Snowbasin - Third most chairlift vertical in USAParadise - Powder Mountain - Classic fixed grip quad serving vast terrainNew Utah Lifts for 2022-23Alta - Detachable six replacing SunnysideDeer Valley - Detachable quad replacing BurnsSnowbird - New tram cabins and drive systemSundance - New fixed grip quad opening new terrain off Jake’sUtah Olympic Park - Detachable quad serving new West Peak

Across an industry that is rapidly changing, Utah-based Snowsports Industries America is leading the way. Nick Sargent, a former ski racer, World Cup ski tuner and marketing chief for Burton, is pioneering efforts to change SIA from a trade show company to a global leader in data-based marketing, sustainability and diversity to grow the equipment industry across America. He joins Last Chair to dive into the story and how a 2016 move of SIA to Utah was pivotal to its evolution.Sargent grew up on skis near Stowe, Vt., cross country skiing to school, ripping alpine turns on Mount Mansfield and talking his dad into buying him a Burton Backhill as a kid before snowboards were a thing. In college, he built a passion for the western mountains ski racing for Western State in Colorado.His career path took him right into the ski industry, serving as one of the original ski technicians at Park City’s Rennstall, which led him to a few years of ski tuning for Dynastar/Lange on the World Cup before landing a job with Salomon and later Burton, where his savvy approach to marketing brought brands to life.When he took on leadership of SIA in 2015, he oversaw its transformation from a trade show company to an organization developing a roadmap for the sport’s future. Topics turned to climate – how can the industry mitigate the number of winter days it was losing each season. Sustainability – what steps can be taken to recycle products. And diversity – how can skiing and snowboarding become more inclusive.The catalyst for much of that change was a board-directed move of SIA to Utah from its previous home outside Washington, D.C. Instantly, the organization became more connected to its sport.In this episode of Last Chair, shares fun and insightful stories from his days tuning skis in Park City to his yearlong persistence that led to his tenure with Dynastar and how he developed one of the most successful hospitality houses for Salomon at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Utah.What fostered your love for outdoor sport?My mom encouraged us to stay outside as much as possible. And we were just having the time of our lives playing in the snow and the woods and the farm fields. It was a real Tom Sawyer type of upbringing. That's what it was all about … just having fun. Winter is long and the more fun you could have – a winter was more enjoyable and you almost were disappointed when spring came around because you wanted to keep keep riding and skiing and sledding and having fun with your buddies in the snow.How did you initially make your way to Utah after college?I had a friend and a ski coach of mine for a little while, Will Goldsmith, and he was living in Crested Butte. He invited me to come work at a new ski shop that he and another colleague, Brian Burnett, were starting, called Rennstall in the early 90s. I came to Park City and couldn't believe the lights and the people and the buildings. I thought it was the right place for me at that time. And that was really the golden ticket –  learn how to tune skis at a world class level, get exposure to a lot of different athletes from around the world and also get a lot of exposure to the ski companies.What motivated SIA to move to Utah in 2016?(The board said} ‘we want you to move the organization to Utah. And we think Park City would be the best location. All roads come through Utah in the winter sport business. And there's a number of member companies that belong to SIA. It would be great for us to be closer to our business, closer to the sport, and put us in a place where we're going to be front and center.’What has made Utah a good home for the winter sports industry?Since around 2002, Utah had a mandate to attract winter sport brands to the state. It’s why Rossignol is here … Amer, Salomon, Atomic, Descente and Black Diamond, they've been here for a long time, Scott Bikes and so on. It's just one of the best environments for a company, specifically if you are an outdoor or a winter sport brand, it has all that you need from the snow perspective, from an outdoor perspective, from a biking, hiking, hunting perspective, you know, whatever your sport is, Utah has it. But I would say, you know, one of the appealing factors for myself and moving SIA here was the proximity to the airport, the proximity to Salt Lake City, the proximity to the Cottonwoods. Snowbasin, Powder Mountain.How does SIA approach climate?Climate change is the largest threat to the winter sport business. (The winter sport industry) drives an engine for this state and the community. We need climate. So, you know, We started an initiative called Climate United. It's a way that we can gather our members, the suppliers, manufacturers, retailers and the resorts to start to pay attention to climate. And we've lost 35 days of winter in the last 30 years. They're working with different groups around the country and addressing climate and raising awareness of the effects of climate. We're working hard with the Biden administration and the Inflation Reduction Act, which was just passed. I'm really proud of the work that the team has done here to help push that across the line.And how do you approach sustainability?A lot of people will say climate and sustainability are the same thing. But sustainability is how we work with clean manufacturing and really doing the right things for your company and your business that set yourselves apart. Whether you're reducing your carbon emissions, your greenhouse gas output, whether you are putting in solar panels, having gardens, mandating that your product is manufactured in a clean and reducing your waste – those are elements that really come into play and we have a long way to go. We have a lot of leaders out there. Burton Snowboards is doing a great job. Rossignol is doing a great job. Patagonia -- the news about giving their company to climate. I mean, that's the ultimate!How important is diversity to sport growth?It's beyond a moral imperative. It is a business imperative. The funnel of winter sport participants is getting narrow. We had a huge boom in the sixties and seventies and eighties and the baby boomers had carried this forward. But unfortunately, it's been a wealthy white man's game. It's our job to change that. It's our destiny to open open up the outdoors to a more diverse audience and get more people comfortable in snow no matter what color you are or your gender or your sexual preference or things that don't matter. All that matters is that you're getting outside and having fun.On the equipment side, how have skiing and snowboarding innovated together?The shaped ski made it easier for beginners and intermediate to pick up the sport and learn how to turn their skis so much that snowboards have adapted shape as well to make it easier for people to ride and get comfortable when they're on snow. The other one was twin tips. That inspiration came from snowboarding and giving people the ability to go backwards or forwards, not only on snowboard, but also skis. They were feeding off each other and the designs were very simple and easy to execute.You’ve been living in Utah now at times over a span of 30 years. Favorite run?I'm a little reluctant to share it with everyone. But it's no secret. When you're at Alta on the Supreme Lift and you go far, far out there to Last Chance, those woods out there, yo...

It was an early autumn day in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the new futuristic Snowbird tram, we could see all the way down to the Salt Lake Valley. To the north was Mount Superior. In the distance, Jupiter Peak on the Park City ridgeline stood against the blue morning sky.After 50 years, the old red and blue cabins are being replaced with new floor-to-ceiling windowed cabins. To celebrate its debut, Last Chair hung out in the new tram 350-feet over the valley floor above the Cirque to chat with Snowbird President and General Manager Dave Fields and Mountain Manager Jake Treadwell about the evolution of the iconic tram and what the new cabins will bring for skiers and riders..When you dream about skiing at iconic resorts around the world, odds are you dream of trams. They are the classic signatures of some of the world’s greatest ski resorts – Snowbird included.The dream of Snowbird visionary Ted Johnson, he and Dick Bass collaborated to bring a tram to the resort from day one. Swiss workers moved to Little Cottonwood Canyon, working long, hard hours in the summer of 1971 to make it a reality.Following a retirement party last spring, the resort went to work retooling the tram machinery and cabins. Both new cars will be online in early December for the start of the season.For Fields and Treadwell, along with their entire Snowbird team, it was a project close to their hearts – rekindling historic memories of the original tram’s debut in 1971, and the countless stories in the memories of skiers and riders who have whisked their way to the top of Hidden Peak in just minutes.Here’s a preview of the conversations. Listen to the full Last Chair podcast to learn more. <<LINK>>How did the concept of the original tram come to fruition?Dave Fields: The idea for the tram came from Ted Johnson, who worked at Alta in the ‘60s and started buying up mining claims at Snowbird. And when he met Dick Bass in 1969 at a party in Vail, he started sharing his dream. Dick originally signed on to help him find investors and quickly he became the investor. And one of Ted's dreams was to have a tram going from the Snowbird Center all the way to the top of Hidden Peak. Dick and Ted traveled all over to get ideas of how to build the tram and what it should look like. Dick and Ted opened the place on December 23rd, 1971, with the tram on opening day. And it was amazing from day one. And it's been really the icon of this resort. The tram IS Snowbird, and Snowbird IS the tram ever since.As mountain manager, what does the tram mean to you and Snowbird operations?Jake Treadwell: So this truly is a unique lift as far as its operation and what it does for us. The tram is the center of the universe for the resort, for our guests and for our employees. This to me it's the best commute to work in the morning that anybody gets. We get to ride this first thing in the morning. We get to see what's going on. But this really is again, it's unique. It's a jig back tram. So as one car comes up, the next car comes down and they're tied together through a haul rope that runs the entire up and down of the system.What research went into the design of the new tram system at Snowbird?Dave Fields: We rode them all over. Some of my favorites were the smaller tramway systems that are actually used for residential passage through the mountains and hauling groceries. We rode one in Davos that had that old time feel to it. I really liked the Zugspitze. Things are happening in Europe with tramways that is just incredible. It's proving to be a great way to get through the mountains. We started brainstorming about not just the tram, but how we could make it a really exciting event for people when they come up the mountain. So floor to ceiling, glass glass, three panels of floor glass in each cabin in the summertime. And then the real kicker was the balcony (summer). People thought we were crazy, but there actually are some resorts in Europe that do that. So you'll climb up a stairwell from inside the cabin and you'll ride up on the roof of the tram as it passes through the Cirque, 350 feet off the ground. So it will be very exciting to take that ride. We'll have the balconies next summer and I can't wait to take that ride. It's going to be really good.What was replaced in the system for the new Snowbird tram?Dave Fields: We opted to replace cabins, track rope, haul rope, almost everything, including the drive system, the motors, the bull wheels – everything other than the towers has been replaced on ours.Jake Treadwell: So this was basically a complete reset of the tram, the machine room that you can see when you come into Snowbird Center, when you look down, almost all those components were removed this spring, completely pulled out. And we did that in a matter of about a week. And then, slowly but surely, we started replacing the electronic drive, the electric motor, the entire braking system, the drive wheel with a hydrostatic motor down there and a drive. All of these systems meld together in a modern tramway, and it gives us a lot more flexibility and a lot more safety factor, which is always what we're looking for. If we were to lose power at this resort, we can still run a backup generator, an electric motor to get this tramway moving. If we were to lose that system, we have a hydrostatic drive that bolts into the bull wheel and we can drive the machine that way. So we have all these backup systems to make sure that this machine is always ready to move.What’s your favorite run on the mountain?Jake Treadwell: I’m a Baldy guy.  You’ve got to go out to hike Baldy and ski Fields of Glory and make it the whole way down. It's the place to be great!Dave Fields: Well, Jake stole my answer. I really enjoy Northwest Baldy. There are a few zones in there that are really special. I'd love to go out there with my wife and have the hike. You just get such an amazing view down canyon and get to see the whole resort. You get to look over at Mount Superior and then you have the best skiing non-stop fall line all the way to the bottom.

When Utah nurse Melody Forsyth learned her baby-to-be had Down syndrome, she and her family thought it would change their lives. And it did - for the better. Ruby, now six, has led the Forsyth family into a world of outdoor recreation, including skiing. Watching Ruby ride the Chickadee lift at Snowbird and ski down with her Wasatch Adaptive Sports guide is a life-changing experience seeing the joy that skiing brings to this young girl and her family.Before Ruby was born, Melody, her husband Vic, and three children weren’t exactly outdoor enthusiasts. But upon learning her soon-to-be-born Ruby would have Down syndrome, the family felt they would lose the future possibility for outdoor recreation. So with Melody pregnant, the family took off into mother nature, visiting parks, hiking and exploring Utah’s mountains and deserts.When Ruby was born a few months later, they never stopped. Today, they’re often tabbed as Utah’s ‘Adventure Family,’ on a mission to explore every national park in America and finding a passion for outdoor adventure around Ruby.Down syndrome is a chromosomal condition that impacts an estimated one in 700 newborns in America. Our genes are responsible for inherited traits, which are carried in chromosomes. Normally, each cell contains 23 pairs of chromosomes. Those with Down syndrome have a full or partial extra copy of chromosome 21. The impact of that varies from individual to individual.At first blush, you might think Down syndrome would be limiting. But when you meet Ruby you quickly learn that she is a young girl on a mission! At just six, she navigates the rental shop with ease and knows exactly where she wants to stand in the bus to get the best view. One can only imagine what she’ll experience when she works her way up to the Snowbird tram!Ruby’s genesis to snow was a product of the newfound active lifestyle of her family, led by Melody. But it also came to fruition through Wasatch Adaptive Sports at Snowbird, a program that has been introducing aspiring outdoor enthusiasts since 1977. According to program director Eileen May-West, children with Down syndrome are regular participants in the program.What’s so heartwarming about Ruby’s tale is that it isn’t just HER story. It’s the story of an entire family and about the love they have been spreading to motivate others. What Melody thought would be a story of limitations, actually turned out to be a story of possibilities and access. It’s a story about the opportunities we all have as humans to enjoy our world.When you see the smile on Ruby’s face as she comes tearing down Chickadee, you are reminded of the joy that sliding on snow brings to all of us.Here’s a preview of the conversations. Listen in to the full Last Chair podcast to learn more. Eileen May-West, Wasatch Adaptive SportsYou really cover a wide gamut here at Wasatch Adaptive Sports, don’t you?Our youngest student since I've been here was two and our oldest is 98. Yah, we serve anyone with an adaptive need. A lot of times that is physical mobility, requiring adaptive equipment. But a lot of times it's someone with Down's syndrome or autism who just needs some specialized instruction or a big bag of tricks from their instructor to have them find success in skiing. We have a lot of students with Down syndrome and people of all abilities, ages and really scenarios that we teach to ski. Ruby is one of our family here and we're happy to have her.With that wide range of individuals, what are the common motivators?I think the number one tool any instructor, especially in adaptive, can have is fun and being able to know your student. So it’s getting to know Ruby - what she likes, whether it's Frozen or whatever characters are fun things that motivate her. And at the end of the day, just making sure whatever she did, whether it was straight gliding down the magic carpet that she wants to come back and do more, and over time it might take longer, but we can really usually get anyone there.How important a role do parents play?A lot of times parents are involved, just like Melody is, especially with kids. You know, no one knows that kid better than their parents do. So we definitely lean on them to help us, give us tips that they've already figured out over six and seven years. But, at the end of the day, the biggest feedback is smiling. And if we're moving away from smiling, we go back to where we can find it.“At the end of the day, the biggest feedback is smiling.”- Eileen May-West, Wasatch Adaptive SportsWhat motivates you and your instructors?It's the joy we all feel on the mountain. Everyone on our staff and within our organization feels that joy. It's added so much to my life and everyone should have the opportunity to access that. And that's really the biggest piece of meaning for me is every single person should be able to enjoy why people live in Utah.Melody Forsyth, Ruby’s momSo, Ruby looks like she’s pretty comfortable on skis?Yeah, she's been doing awesome. This is her second season with Wasatch Adaptive and she's been doing just awesome and blossoming into a little skier.What was your perception when you heard that your unborn child had Down syndrome?I didn't know anybody with Down syndrome. Our perception was that we wouldn't be able to do anything as a family. I thought that Down syndrome would prevent us from doing anything fun or going anywhere, that we would be stuck at home with a child that had a disability. Obviously, you know, everything has changed for us. It changed our whole outlook on life. It changed our whole lifestyle. It changed the way we live, the way we plan family activities, the way we spend time as a family. It was just completely a total mind shift for us.How does Down syndrome impact Ruby?Everyone with Down syndrome is different. Somebody once said, ‘if you know somebody with Down syndrome, you know, one person with Down syndrome because there's just a wide difference in their abilities. Ruby is still non-verbal at this time, meaning she makes noises, she can make sounds. She has a couple of words. Luckily, one of her words is mom. So she will say mom, but really doesn't communicate any other way except through a communication device that she will use. She can point to pictures. As a family, we kind of just know what she wants. We know she'll go get it, but she can't actually communicate.How did she get started skiing?I just saw that there were programs like Wasatch Adaptive for people with disabilities and we'd already started doing other activities where we were surprised by what she was able to do. So it was kind of like, ‘well, why stop there?’ Let's try this out just because we'd heard really good things from other people that had been involved or had been teachers here involved with the program at one point in their life. And they're like, It's such an amazing program. And they just really get the kids. They work with them so well that it was like, well, let's give it a try. Let's see how she does.With your family’s newfound love of the outdoors, Utah is a pretty great place to be, isn’t it?We travel all over the state ...