Author: Nick Como

Deer Valley Sold, but not SolitudeWhat Happens When a Wasatch Power Couple Goes Their Separate WaysResort partnerships and ownership changes are nothing new in the ski industry. In the past few years, the Wasatch resorts have resembled a chessboard of sorts. Before the dust settled on Vail Resorts’ purchase of Park City and its union with Canyons, Deer Valley purchased Solitude in May 2015—I know I didn’t see that coming.Now two short years later, Deer Valley sold and has joined a new ownership group, with a working title of NEWCO, which is a typical title given to new corporations as…

6 Best Autumn Mountain Bike Rides in Utah The changing of the leaves: From late September to early November, late summer’s dusty bike trails transform into a kaleidoscope carpet of colors. Riding knobby tires over this multicolored landscape, kicking up dried leaves along the way, is one of the more religious experiences a mountain biker can have. Much like spring’s “brown pow” a day after a rainstorm, autumn mountain bike riding at fall’s peak colors is not to be missed. Trails spanning several hundred miles from north to south, with thousands of feet in varied elevation, makes timing peak colors…

Idaho Summer Adventures Boise, Idaho: Just a five-hour trip from Salt Lake, this city doesn’t seem to be on the radar for many Utahns—but it should be. Boise looks a lot like Salt Lake City did about 20 years ago, boasting a growing downtown, foothills with recreational opportunities, and a feeling that it’s about to come into its own. The expanding brewery scene is similar to Portland’s boom, with several local startups and a few expansions from Oregon opening here. Two of my wife’s brothers live in Boise, so we went to catch up with family and sample the local…

Avalanche Safety for Beginners “Oooh, those are facets.” “Yes, yes they are,” I reply. My wife, Laura, had just completed an Avalanche Level I class through Utah Avalanche Center (UAC), and we were on a tour up Grizzly Gulch just east of Alta to test her new skills. “I think we’re on a 30-degree slope,” she says. I pull out my inclinometer. “31 degrees. Damn close. You learned all of that in four days?” “Yeah, Jake (her instructor) taught us. Oh! Look at how flagged these pine trees are. This definitely slid before!” It took me five or more years—at…

Snowshoeing, Backcountry Skiing, and Yurting Await in Utah’s “Other” Mountain Range Wasatch too crowded? While there are actually plenty of wilderness and opportunities for solitude just beyond the popular trailheads and resort areas, locals seem to forget the options in the Uintas. Just an hour east lies a large wilderness area, high peaks, and nary a soul in sight for those seeking elbow room and a change of scenery. With multiple access points—and hundreds of thousands of acres of space—there are several ways to enjoy this hidden gem: snowshoeing, backcountry skiing, and for the multi-day adventurer, yurt trips. 1. Snowshoeing…

Boulder-White Clouds Wilderness Bike Ban Alternate Rides There’s a saying about mountain biking in Idaho: “If you’re not pushing your bike, you’re not mountain biking.” From my experience, I wholeheartedly agree. Riding the trails in and around the Sawtooths, White Clouds, and Boulder Mountains between Stanley and Ketchum, at times it feels like I’ve been off my bike more than on it. And I’ve cherished every one of those hard-earned, root-strewn, rough-tread miles. These trails, a far cry from the manicured built-for-bikes singletrack common in resort towns, that allow for Instagramming along the way, test your mettle as a mountain biker.…

Reinventing the Wheel, Two Wheels at a Time An old adage says there’s no sense in reinventing the wheel. But—for Utah County-based Fezzari Bicycles—rethinking how two-wheeled travel is built and purchased has turned their company into a powerhouse bike manufacturer. Forgoing a manufacturer’s wholesale relationship with retailers, Fezzari instead offers a direct-to-consumer model for the cycling industry. The result is a hands-on relationship with each customer, resulting in a customized ride at a lower cost. It’s a win-win. The Company Fezzari was founded in 2006 by Chris Washburn, who’d been working in corporate America, but was traveling 50 weeks a…

Where to Escape the Smog for a Day or a Weekend [dropcap style=’square’]M[/dropcap]ost “dirty words” are four letters. Except one, at least to Salt Lakers: inversion. In an inversion, a dense layer of cold air is “stuck” under a layer of warm air. This warm layer acts like a lid, trapping cold air near the valley floor. This reversal of typical winter conditions (warm air in valley and colder air at higher elevations) causes a double whammy of bad news. First, high pressure means it’s not snowing in the mountains. For powderhounds, this is a bummer, though skiing groomers under…

How Utah is Keeping Winter Cool Let’s face the facts: skiing, by its nature is tough on the environment. Unless your name is Brody Leven, and you are willing to hop a train, then ride a bike to a backcountry peak, which you’ll then climb under your own power, the rest of us mere mortals are going to have an impact on the nature we so seek. What’s a skier to do? Well, lest we stay at home, with the lights and heat off, the best we can do is make smart decisions that include Mother Nature. Change is in…

Stay on the Snow and out of Trouble [pullquote]“I think we drop in here”[/pullquote] “I think we drop in here,” said my ski buddy as we traversed several gullies away from the top of the Snowbasin Tram. “Yeah, maybe,” I hesitantly offered. The storm clouds were making visibility hard and we were in a zone only one of us has skied, with a local on a sunny day years ago. “We may have traversed too far and are in a different drainage, but I guess this is right,” I finally agreed. Our goal was to make a few turns, then…