Brighton opens for ski season

Brighton Ski Resort opened today with a base of 19 inches. Of the 15 ski resorts in Utah, Brighton is the first to open for the 2014-15 season.

Melissa DeAnda, who works for Brighton at the sports desk, said things ran smoothly for the first day. She said there was a line out the door for the majority of the day to get passes and have questions answered.

“We’ve had a few hundred people here,” DeAnda said.

Eight runs were open and groomed, along with the Terrain Park. Of Brighton’s six lifts, only two are operating – the Majestic Quad and the Explorer. DeAnda said until more lifts and runs are open, an adult day pass has been reduced to $37 compared to the normal $72.

Logan Davidson, a snowboarder of six years, said the opening day and snow was great.

“The park crew had a super fun park setup,” Davidson said.

DeAnda said opening this early in November helps boost overall season passes sold for the upcoming season.

According to Ski Utah, the marketing firm owned and operated by the ski resorts in Utah, Brighton will not be the only resort to open this week. Brian Head, Alta, Solitude and Snowbird will open on Friday and Park City Mountain Resort opens on Saturday.

Here is a video Park City Television put together for the first day if you weren't able to go.

Grand opening for virtual ski jump

The chance to try an Olympic ski jump has been made into a virtual experience.

On Wednesday afternoon the Alf Engen Ski Museum in Park City, Utah will have a grand opening of its new virtual ski jump exhibit “Alf Engen Takes Flight.”

Connie Nelson, the executive director of the museum, said the ski jump is part of the Virtual Ride Exhibit in which visitors can experience a snow sport adventure.

“On the virtual jump you get to choose your ski outfit, name and your sponsor,” Nelson said. “We have the young kids who designed the program right there to help with the experience. You can upload a picture of yourself onto Facebook right after you jump.”

The exhibit features historic jumping skis, boots and trophies that all have a story to go with them from their donors.

(Photo courtesy of JDH Group)

After the museum’s opening in 2002, Nelson said the exhibits needed to be revamped to be interactive, educational and fun.

“We needed to put the exhibit back into the 21^st century,” she said.

The JDHgroup, a company specializing in designing brand experiences, was hired to renovate the museum’s older ski jump exhibit.

“It was a technical and challenging project that the whole team was excited about pulling off,” said Coty Creighton, an employee of JDHgroup.

Nelson said the cost for exhibits in the museum range between $100,000 to $120,000, which starts with Nelson obtaining grants and then finding several donors.

The cost to enter and view the museum is free. To experience the virtual ski jump it costs $2.  

According to Nelson, the museum has a 20 percent increase in visitors each year. She believes part of that is due to opening new exhibits and staying current.

Sold out Warren Miller tickets still in demand

Kylie Christopherson, an employee at the Chase Fine Arts Center at Utah State University, has been handling numerous phone calls about tickets to the Warren Miller ski film.

This year’s film titled “No Turning Back” will be held at the Kent Concert Hall tonight at 8 p.m. According to Gary Nate, who has been helping coordinate Warren Miller films at Utah State for 35 years, tickets for the one-night event sold out Nov. 6.

“We sell as many tickets as the auditorium can hold, so that’s about 2,000,” Nate said.

Christopherson said 46 extra tickets went on sale this morning and sold out in five minutes.

“We have been getting calls all week and all day,” Christopherson said. “As far as frequency, we probably get a call every five to 10 minutes.”

In previous years, the event has had two showings at Utah State. However, Nate explained because there are numerous resorts giving away free items this year, they could only fit everything into one night.

Snowbird, Powder Mountain, Cherry Peak Resort, Nordic Valley and Beaver Mountain Ski Resort will all be giving out free mid-week lift tickets to attendees of the movie.

“People have complained about the film not being shown two nights, but there’s not much we can do about the one night,” Nate said. “It is what it is.”

Nate said he hasn’t noticed anything different about the audience at Utah State and that they have always had the same “urge for adventure and the freedom personality.” He said the film has a few changes this year but only because it’s a different period of time.

“There is no change in mindset – it’s simply the application of better equipment,” Nate said.

The ski film travels to Greece, Japan, Switzerland, France, Norway, Montana, Alaska and Colorado.

Some of the featured athletes in the film include Ted Ligety, Sierra Quitiquit and Julian Carr who are all natives of Utah. 

"The last segment showcasing the wing skiing of JT Holmes," Carr said of his favorite part of the movie. "So cool." 

Ski movie raises money for Common Ground

Level 1 Productions’ ski movie “less” was shown at Utah State University on Thursday. A total of $1,300 was raised from the entrance fee and raffle tickets sold. All proceeds from the sales were donated to Common Ground.

Aaron Bytendorp, a student at Utah State, helped put the event together for a management class project.

“We wanted to help out Common Ground because they’re a sweet organization,” Bytendorp said. “We figured a ski movie fit them well. Our goal was to raise $1,000.”

Common Ground enables people with disabilities to participate in recreation and outdoor activities. According to Common Ground, the organization is funded by private foundations, corporate donations, special events and individuals.

After calling a couple of ski movie producers to see who would give Bytendorp and his group the best deal, he said Level 1 productions was nice enough to donate the movie at a discounted rate of $300.

Bytendorp said movies like “less” are definitely a good way to get people excited about the ski season.

Common Ground’s program director, Bryce Patten, attended the movie showing to help explain to attendees what Common Ground is about and to get people to sign up as volunteers.

Patten said one of the winter activities is taking individuals skiing at Beaver Mountain Ski Resort.

“That’s where our ski program got started,” Patten said.

Brinley Caldwell, the daily activities coordinator for Common Ground, said the ski season for the organization begins in mid-January.

“We need volunteers,” Caldwell said. “It’s really fun and we have a great time. We’d love for people to come hang out and go skiing with us.”

Common Ground reports it is able to take people of all physical abilities down the mountain. It has equipment for adults and youth, along with the ability to take people who are blind or who have vision impairments.