Deer Valley envisions major expansion in Wasatch County

Deer Valley Resort and a small group of other landowners in Wasatch County with a combined hundreds of acres under their control have started discussions about a major expansion of the resort on ground overlooking the Jordanelle Reservoir.

An expansion would involve new ski terrain and a substantial amount of residential development. The land is situated in unincorporated Wasatch County, meaning that county leaders there will review any proposals from Deer Valley and the other landowners. No applications have been filed.

Bob Wheaton, the president and general manager of Deer Valley, said the resort and the other landowners have been in talks over the past year about acreage in the direction of Heber from the base of the Jordanelle Express gondola. It is on the Deer Valley side of U.S. 40. A development application or multiple ones could be filed in Wasatch County by the end of the year, he said. Park Record

Sundance’s impact on Utah slips first time in 3 years

The Sundance Film Festival’s economic impact on Utah this year fell sharply as those who attended the 11-day event apparently cut back on their spending.

The impact, a number representing how much the world-famous festival added to Utah’s gross state product, was $69.5 million, down 13 percent from $80.3 million, according to a study released Wednesday by the Sundance Institute in Park City. In 2011, the estimated impact of Sundance was $70.9 million.

The study, prepared by the University of Utah’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research, shows that 45,947 people went to the festival this year. The attendance count was 1.7 percent lower than in 2012, when 46,731 showed up. Attendance in 2013 was little changed from 2011. Salt Lake Tribune

Vail’s business is up as it joins Utah ski scene

Vail Resorts Inc. is entering the Utah ski market with enthusiasm after finishing its winter-ending fiscal quarter with a healthy bump in business.

The company, which last week signed a long-term lease to operate Canyons Resort for Talisker, said it earned $97.6 million, or $2.66 per share, in the quarter that ended April 30. That was up 22.7 percent over the same quarter a year earlier. The company also reported net revenues of $469.7 million, an 11.5 percent increase over the previous year.

Purchasers of Vail’s Epic Pass, he noted, would have access to Canyons along with Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Northstar, Heavenly and Kirkwood resorts. An Epic Pass for 2013-14 now costs $689 for adults. A 2012-13 adult season pass at Canyons cost $849. Salt Lake Tribune

Utah’s newest trail opens at Provo Canyon

Utah County officials on Saturday celebrated the opening of the 17-mile Murdock Canal Trail that starts at the mouth of Provo Canyon and ends at Thanksgiving Point.

The 15-foot-wide paved trail for pedestrians and bicycles, and an adjacent trail for horses, were made possible when the Provo River Water Users Association enclosed the Provo Reservoir Canal in a 126-inch steel pipe.

As many as 1.8 million people are expected to use the trail annually. Salt Lake Tribune

Provo River tract sold to private equity fund

Sporting Ranch Capital Management bought the 204-acre property in Summit and Wasatch counties east of Park City in December from Property Reserve Inc., which manages real estate owned by the Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Terms of the deal weren’t announced.

The Dallas-based fund said it will invest $1 million in the land to create "an unrivaled fly-fishing ranch by enriching [its] waterways and improving conservation and management of the pristine property." Salt Lake Tribune

Sundance Study Finds More Women Behind Camera of Indie Films

In a year in which, for the first time, half of the dramatic competition entries at Sundance are by women, a new study finds that the festival continue to be a proving ground and safe haven for women in movies.

Between 2002 and 2012, nearly a quarter of the directors at Sundance were women, compared with 4.4 percent for the top 100 box office films in the same period. Including cinematographers, editors, producers and writers, women accounted for 29.8 percent of the American films at Sundance, which has become synonymous with indie film. Films directed by women were also more likely to have women in other key roles behind the camera. And breaking it down further, documentaries were rife with female talent – 34.5 percent were directed by women, compared with 16.9 percent for feature films.

The study, commissioned by the Sundance Institute and Women in Film Los Angeles, an affinity group, was conducted through the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. The results are to be announced at a brunch here hosted by the Sundance Institute and Women in Film Los Angeles today.



“The data shows us that there is a higher representation of female filmmakers in independent film as compared to Hollywood,” Cathy Schulman, president of Women in Film, said in a statement announcing the study, “but it also highlights the work that is still to be done for women to achieve equal footing in the field.”

The landscape for women at the box office is improving – as Carry Rickey wrote in The New York Times, “9 percent of the top 250 movies at the domestic box office last year were made by female directors,” up from 5 percent in 2011 – but there are still barriers to their success. In the study, which included interviews with female filmmakers and industry players, the reasons women lag behind their male counterparts included “gendered financial barriers” (43. 1 percent) and “male-dominated industry networking” (39.2 percent). Stereotyping on set, exclusionary hiring and work-family balance were also listed as challenges.

The study found that by far the biggest proportion of women in film worked as producers, with a high percentage as associate producers in both narrative (40 percent) and documentary (59.5 percent) film. But, it notes, “as the prestige of the producing post increased, the percentage of female participation decreased,” both in documentary and narrative filmmaking. New York Times

Sundance Film Festival began Thursday

Park City is in its last minute sprint of transformation as it prepares for A list stars and the debuts of culture changing films.

All this buzz has been good for Park City and for Utah. The Hotel Caledonian, which features 19 swanky condominiums, usually rents a single bedroom for one night at a rate of $650. The festival drives the price for the same room up to $1,300 a night.

“It’s great for the economy. I hope that it continues for a long period of time,” said Carlos Rivera from Puerto Rico.

There are plenty of people willing to pay top dollar for good digs. According to Park City Chamber of Commerce President Bill Malone, 18,000 people will pack Park City hotels during the opening days of the festival. The average hotel occupancy rate of the festival is 14,000 a night.

Malone says the festival injects $60 million into Park City's economy and more than $80 million into Utah's economy.

Most of the Sundance Film Festival tourists come from California and New York. The festival begins Thursday and continues for ten days. ABC News

Explore Industry Opportunities to Further Company Goals

Of course, everyone has heard of the Sundance Film Festival. But do you know another side of the story? One man decided to enhance the Utah Film Commission’s efforts to lure filmmakers to Utah by showcasing local crews, production services, filming locations, and tax and cash incentives.

John Corser, an award-winning producer and director, started FilmUtah in 2009 because he wanted more directors and producers to see the value of shooting their films in Utah. Corser, whose productions have spanned 20 countries and 5 continents, moved to Park City seven years ago and decided he wanted to do more of his work close to home. After researching film crews and infrastructure, he saw that half of what he did in Los Angeles could be done here as well or with better results. But as an L.A. producer, Corser  had never been exposed to Utah nor even given it any serious thought for a film project.

That impression is the first thing Corser wanted to change. Every other state he worked in had some sort  of private production directory or trade magazine promoting the crews and equipment vendors. He didn’t  see anything like it in Utah. After talking to Marshall Moore of the Utah Film Commission, Corser promised to publish a directory-type magazine of film professionals and service providers and do it as a  non-profit.

Now in its fourth year of publication, FilmUtah Magazine even holds an event during the Sundance Film  Festival to highlight its efforts. Many people think FilmUtah Magazine is a place to advertise, but it’s not  really; it is a place to show the world’s producers that we have infrastructure and film crews in Utah that can put them on track to succeed. The mission this year is to get the key infrastructure partners involved in FilmUtah. Read more: Utah Pulse

Employers Struggle to Fill Seasonal Jobs

Snow is scarce and the number of visitors in town is down from the year before, but employers are still trying to fill seasonal positions.

According the Department of Workforce Services statistics, Summit County has an unemployment rate of 4.9 percent, the lowest in the state. The Utah unemployment rate, 5.1 percent, is better than the national average, 7.9 percent.

"Local businesses are having a hard time finding locals to fill jobs," said Darrin Nielsen, the employment office supervisor for the Park City DWS offices.

Between large employers and incoming businesses, there are roughly 4,000 seasonal jobs in Summit County. The two most difficult positions to fill are housekeepers and line cooks.

DWS has felt the burden as more employers reach out for help filling positions and a waning interest in seasonal work. Through the DWS website, the number of job postings has stayed relatively the same from last year, around 3,800 seasonal jobs. But Nielsen said the office involvement with employers has grown exponentially, that employers reaching out to DWS had grown by an estimated 400 percent.

"Job vacancies have been longer this year than in the past," Nielman said. " More employers are involving DWS this year than we have ever had in the past because they need our help to find people to staff these positions."

Despite the three resorts being open, lodging numbers continue on a downward trend as fewer guests are in town, a fact that has helped resorts manage with fewer employees on staff as the ski season begins.

"We're seeing similar trends from last year," he added. "The resorts have enough employees to open, but it's still dry they have people on the books who have committed to work, but they are not all working.
"If it was two years ago, I think they would be hurting."

There have been more job fairs and more refugees being hired. DWS held more job fairs for winter seasonal jobs than ever before. There were seven job fairs in Summit and Wasatch counties, and even job fairs tailored to specific employers such as Tanger Outlets.

Another trend DWS has seen is people accepting jobs at the last minute.

"People are holding on," Nielman said. "They are reluctant to commit to a job because they were trying to find something that was better. Now, positions are getting filled." Park Record

Ski six of the best resorts in Utah

A glorious but demanding traverse of 1.9 miles up in Utah's Wasatch Mountains forms the most testing part of the Utah Interconnect, a 27-mile ski route between the state's six best resorts.

Utah prides itself on having "the greatest snow on earth", and however hyperbolic that may be, this guided adventure is one of North America's greatest days out on skis. It's a thrilling ski journey that uses a combination of lifts and easy backcountry skiing that any decent intermediate skier could manage and visits, in around six hours, Deer Valley, Park City, Solitude, Brighton, Alta and Snowbird. You are taken back to the start point in a minibus at the end of the day.

If they were linked, these resorts would easily make up the largest ski area in North America. The Interconnect offered a chance for a little backcountry expedition and a way to avoid any crowds as we skied from one hill to the other.

Greeting our mixed group of British, Texan, Canadian and Swedish skiers at the start point in Deer Valley, our guides Bob and Calvin told the nine of us that we'd need no special ski touring gear to complete the Interconnect and we should look upon it as much as a chance to ski Utah's best resorts, as a backcountry adventure.

When I booked the Interconnect I was given a ski pass that covers all the resorts to be visited – plus avalanche transceivers and a brief lesson in how to use them. In theory there's nothing to stop you doing the Interconnect independently, but I was glad to have the knowledge of a qualified guide. (And there could be legal implications should you get into trouble beyond the resorts' boundary ropes – this is the US after all).
Alta and Snowbird are linked by ski lift so it's easy getting from one to the other. It's hard for any keen skier not to love these two quintessential Utah resorts. They offer lots of steep, very challenging off-piste terrain plastered in dry chalky snow, fast and furious groomers and a friendly, old- school feel. Alta is so old-school that snowboarding is still banned there.

As we stood on the summit of Snowbird's 3,353m Hidden Peak ready for the last run of the day, my fellow traveller Lewis said, almost as if to himself: "Imagine this in powder …"

Whether he was talking about our last run, Snowbird or the entire Interconnect I'm not sure, but having experienced all three in far from ideal conditions and still had a ball I knew that like me, he was already talking himself into returning. Alf Anderson of The Guardian

RAMP Sports Cruising to Success on ‘Green’ Label

The phrase "bullet proof" is a term companies love to hear attached to their products. And, increasingly, a "green" label associated with a business has provided a boost in sales.
RAMP Sports has found a way to combine the two and as a result is having a hard time keeping up with requests for their handmade skis.

Mike Kilchenstein started RAMP three years ago to pursue a life-long dream after more than three decades of working with mega-ski producer Rossignol.

The first two production runs of RAMP skis and snowboards took place in Taiwan, but Kilchenstein wanted something closer to home.

RAMP secured a building near the Interstate 80 and Highway 40 junction in Summit County on April 20. By May 25, after a scramble to get all the required machinery in place, RAMP produced its first made-in-the-USA skiable prototypes.

After several testing trips to Mount Hood in Oregon, Kilchenstein, RAMP production manager Evan Howard and ski engineer Christian Alary felt they had a solid model and launched production from the Park City headquarters.


The crew at RAMP has been working non-stop since to keep up with demand.

"The only thing holding us back is our ability to produce more skis," Kilchenstein said. "They go right from our finish room to get shipped."

As a new company, Kilchenstein realized he could do things with his business model that other long-established ski enterprises could not.

He decided to focus on creating solid and good-looking skis and snowboards with an environmentally friendly production and providing a strong commitment to the consumer.

In addition to using materials and production methods to reduce the impact on the environment, RAMP does little things like shipping the equipment to buyers in travel bags rather than boxes and providing a buy back on skis when the consumer is done with them to find others uses.

RAMP also purchases 300 pounds of offsetting carbon emissions with each ski or snowboard sold.
RAMP (Riders Artists Musicians Project) is supported by a community of athletes, musicians, artists and actors who support the mantra of environmentally friendly production of skis and snowboards that get people on the mountains. Salt Lake Tribune

Utah’s Ski Resorts Rate an ‘A’ for Awesomeness

 Forbes.com thinks Utah’s ski resorts are "awesome."

At least the areas rank high in "Pure Awesomeness," according to the business website, which this week published its list of "The Top 10 Ski Resorts in the United States for 2013." 

Seven of Utah’s resorts —Alta, Snowbird, Park City, Deer Valley, The Canyons, Brighton and Solitude — all landed in this year’s rankings based on Forbes’ hardly scientific and decidedly dorky "Pure Awesomeness Factor," or PAF.

"We only rank one thing: Awesomeness," the site said of its measuring algorithm. "It’s the most important thing we can measure. If you can know a place’s awesomeness, do you need to know anything else?"

The top spot went to Jackson, Wyo., for what Forbes said was the "best skiing mountain in North America. It still has the best continuous fall line, the best terrain and the best backcountry of any mountain not in the Himalayas."

Second were both Alta and Snowbird for "the terrain against which all others are measured," according to the site. "The snow is dependable and comes in a density that’s user friendly, like a stiff dollop of whipped milk on a cappuccino."

Park City, Deer Valley and The Canyons as a group were in fifth place, praised not only for the level of skiing but for the fact that they surround Park City, a place that is "picture perfect in every sense."

Brighton and Solitude landed eighth and ninth places on the list, respectively, not only for their quality of the snow but their comparative lack of crowds.

The rankings didn’t include resorts east of the Rocky Mountains because the website favored the West’s powder to the ice it claims covers ski areas in the eastern U.S.

"No resort east of the Rockies has the snow or terrain to crack our Awesomeness rankings — something that matters for both beginners and experts," the site said. Salt Lake Tribune

Utah Announces Bid for 2026 Winter Olympics

Utah officials plan to make another bid to hold the Winter Olympics.

Gov. Gary Herbert and Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker made the announcement Monday outside the University of Utah stadium, where ceremonies were held for the 2002 Winter Games.

A committee of advisers urged Herbert and Becker to make what could be a longshot bid for the 2026 Winter Games — other U.S. cities could argue it's their turn. Salt Lake faces possible challenges from Denver and the Reno-Tahoe area.

Utah says it can capitalize on the infrastructure left in place from the 2002 Olympics. The Utah games were successful, but Salt Lake was tarnished by scandal.

Utah showered $1 million in cash, gifts and other favors on International Olympic Committee delegates in a scandal that rewrote the rule book for Olympic bids. Herald Journal

Nike to Launch Outlet Store in Lehi

Nike’s newest factory retail location will open at the Outlets at Traverse Mountain at 10 a.m. on Nov. 16, with grand opening events taking place through the weekend.

The shopping center is located at 3700 N. Cabela’s Blvd. in Lehi.

The in-store experience will provide consumers with Nike’s performance footwear, apparel and equipment at value prices. Store associates will help consumers select products as part of Nike’s athletes-serving-athletes initiative.

Several sport categories such as running, training, soccer, basketball and Nike sportswear will be available for men, women and children.

Nike, Inc. based near Beaverton, Ore., is a designer, marketer and distributor of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness activities. Wholly owned Nike subsidiaries include Converse Inc., which designs, markets and distributes athletic footwear, apparel and accessories; Cole Haan, which designs, markets and distributes luxury shoes, handbags, accessories and coats; Umbro Ltd., a leading United Kingdom-based global football (soccer) brand; and Hurley International LLC, which designs, markets and distributes action sports and youth lifestyle footwear, apparel and accessories. Salt Lake Tribune

Construction on Museum of Natural Curiosity starts with a bang

Fireworks kicked off the official construction phase of the Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point. Gov. Gary Herbert, members of state government, museum donors and Alan and Karen Ashton joined nearly 150 guests to mark the milestone.

The estimated $27-million museum will be housed in a 45,000-square-foot building and will feature 150 exhibits where families can explore and discover arts, sciences, history and culture. The overall goal is to make educational topics more fun for kids.

Natural Curiosity will also boast a rainforest and five acres for the Children's Discovery Park.

Plans for the museum have been in the works for about seven years, and it's expected to open its doors to the public in the spring of 2014. An estimated $3.6 million is still needed for the museum's completion. KSL

Reclamation awards contract for work at Utah's Echo Dam hydropower plant

Image source: Deseret News

The Bureau of Reclamation has awarded a contract worth US$9.1 million to Gerber Construction Inc. for spillway improvement work at Utah's 4.5-MW Echo Dam.

Reclamation last sought bids for the work in June, which includes: installation of soldier piles on the left side of the spillway and excavation on the left and right sides of the spillway; demolition of the parapet wall atop the dam and portions of the concrete spillway; jet grouting beneath the crest structure; installation of drains and filter material; construction of new crest structure and parapet wall; installation of low-voltage electrical distribution equipment; refurbishment of four gate hoists and four 18- by 17-foot spillway radial gates.

"Improving the seismic stability of the spillway structure is an essential component of the overall modification work under way at Echo Dam," said Reclamation Commissioner Michael L. Connor. "This seismic improvement work performed under Reclamation's Safety of Dams Program is vital to ensure the public safety." HydroWorld

NBC to Broadcast Live from Aspen and Beaver Creek World Cup Events

The U.S. Ski Team and NBC Sports Network will air Audi FIS Alpine World Cup ski racing in the U.S. live as part of a pre-Sochi broadcast schedule announced by the network and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association.

The live coverage will feature Olympic champions Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso from the Nature Valley Aspen Winternational Thanksgiving weekend along with fellow Olympic gold medalists Ted Ligety and Bode Miller at the Audi Birds of Prey World Cup in Beaver Creek, CO a week later. It’s part of an extensive coverage package between NBC and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association including 11 hours on NBC and 22 on NBC Sports Network.

U.S. Ski Team and NBC Sports Network partnering on first-ever U.S. live TV broadcasts of alpine ski racing with Audi FIS Alpine World Cup events in Aspen and Beaver Crreek, CO.

The broadcast initiative is part of a concerted effort by the USSA under new Chief Marketing Officer Mike Jaquet to grow the public awareness of its sports through television and digital distribution.

The broadcast schedule features the most same-day and same-weekend coverage ever, including two live programs from the Audi FIS World Cup. Utah Skier

Pedal power, punctuated

The Tour of Utah bicycling race ended on Main Street on Sunday, drawing a huge crowd for the festivities on the street as the riders competed on a course noted for its difficult climbs and a steep descent into Park City.

It's not yet clear whether the fanfare will be repeated in 2013.

The Tour of Utah has not finalized its plans for next year's edition, but it seems that there could be a push locally to convince organizers to return the final stage of the race to Park City in 2013.

Main Street was jammed on Sunday as people watched the racers start the last stage of the race, stayed on the street for the afternoon and then elbowed for room as the bicyclists crossed the finish line and the winners were crowned in formal ceremonies.

Tourism officials in Park City are gathering opinions from the business community and others involved in the Tour of Utah in an effort to learn what sort of affect the event had. Bob Kollar, who is the director of special events for a joint venture involving City Hall and the Park City Chamber/Bureau, said he wants to learn about the economic impact as well as any problems.

Alison Butz, the executive director of the Historic Park City Alliance, a business group, said her organization is conducting a survey of businesses on or close to Main Street asking questions about sales on Sunday and whether the Tour of Utah promoted the street in a positive manner. Park Record

Summer serving high visitor numbers in Park City

Park City's resorts are taking in a strong summer season this year. While winter may have left something to be desired in the way of snowfall, summer visitor numbers are up at all three resorts. 

Summer months have always been important, said Coleen Reardon, the Deer Valley Director of Marketing, but that importance is rapidly growing. 

Summer months at the resorts have been on a steady path of growth since the economic downturn in 2008, but with the warm weather and dry conditions, visitors from the Wasatch Front and surrounding states have flocked into town. 

Mountain biking has been a longstanding part of the resorts' summer business, with Deer Valley adding mountain biking 20 years ago, but adding Ziplines, concert series and movie nights has increased interest in the summer months. Park Record

Summer tourism big money to east side of Summit County

When it comes to tourism, it's the bread to Park City's butter. But what about the rest of the county? City officials and business leaders from Kamas to
Coalville agree: it's downright important to their local economies.

"There are all sorts of tourism," said Coalville Mayor Duane Schmidt, "whether that it is fishing, boating, water skiing, snowmobiling or horseback riding. There is definitely tourism here, and it's a benefit to our community."

While Park City reaps the benefits of the winter months with its three resorts and special events such as Sundance, the small towns dotting reservoirs and state parks also rely on incoming visitors, especially during the summer. Whether it's a pit stop at a nearby grocery store or a scenic drive to an out-of-the-way restaurant, visitors are patronizing East Side businesses. Park Record