This month Canyon Blog stopped by the Utah Department of Transportation garage in Alta to catch up with Little Cottonwood’s avalanche supervisor Laurie D. Officially she has another title but that’s not how residents of the canyon think of her and avalanche supervisor is way cooler. If you transit from the mouth of the canyon to any point upslope, you owe your safety to her and her team of five professionals. A transplant from Colorado, she was introduced to the canyon while river guiding one summer. After a year as a Snowbird lifty she transitioned to ski patrol in 2007. Over the next half dozen seasons she found herself drawn more and more to the “snow” side of patrol. Canyon Blog: “That’s not exactly a straight line to highway safety.” Laurie: “Well, my predecessor Liam was beefing up staff and modifying protocols and I sort of slid in during the 13/14 season.” That turned into a rotational position in Big Cottonwood, Provo Canyon, and Sundance as a first step. Which, in turn, provided a landing pad when he left soon after. CB: “So you inherited LCC…” LD: “Kinda. This is my canyon. I couldn’t live in the valley and wouldn’t want to be in the others.” Your correspondent relates to that statement, as do you kind reader. Or so one imagines. What’s the best part of the job? LD: “The UDOT scope is broad and it allows you to do things you love like ski.” Ah yes, but then there must be a counterbalance. LD: “What’s unique is it can be very low activity when things are slow, but then it spikes to an incredible level and that can be very high stress.” No doubt, given that everyone down canyon wants up. Until they want down. Then they want down right now. Which leads to a final question: What happens during a crisis situation? LD: “We’re a hub for things. Organizing, info sharing, during a crisis we are a source for a lot of information. And it’s not just the highway, but the structures and town as well. It’s an unspoken responsibility.” And one we’re grateful for. Thank you, Laurie, and your team for keeping us safe. Canyon Blog won’t be taking you for granted. And neither should you dear reader.

November 22 nd has landed and departed and it’s great to see the season is underway with Alta’s Collins and Wildcat lifts running before Thanksgiving. Even Alf’s is open for that much needed early season ski leg break for a beer or burger, though you’ll need to rope tow back to the lifts. A first this year was the pre-season upslope availability at Snowbird. Peruvian Gulch was open for skinning and touring followed by that always well-deserved run down. Due to slope prep Gad Valley stayed off limits. Were there shark fins lurking here and there at both resorts? Of course. But that’s what early season is all about… not using your new skis. No worries there though as the coverage is only going to improve with the storm cycle that’s swooping in as your correspondent types this. How much is due in the next 48 hours? Doesn’t matter because more are lined up would claim your blogger. So, where’s all this early opening drivel headed you might ask? Snowbird is opening on Thanksgiving Day, arguably the best holiday proximal to the ski season, and Alta is already underway. Period. That means if you’re not here in one of our properties, on the slopes and enjoying the cold, you might as well add extra scoops of turkey gravy with tryptophan to your holiday meal, pass out on the couch, and slouch into oblivion in front of a football game. So don't comply with the sign below. But you don’t really want to do that anyway, do you?

Your correspondent pens this piece in the aftermath of a top ten ski day here in Little Cottonwood. After a foot of fresh on top of seven more feet of fresh on top of a mountain with no people, January 17 th proved to be one of those days where despite how hungry you are you don’t dare stop to eat. Late morning when our valiant ski patrol dropped the rope for Catherine’s it was time to start making laps. Ten laps as it turns out. This is where Canyon Blog would normally insert a few great photos to induce jealousy on the part of the loyal readers of this space. Sadly, they were not to be. Why you ask? Because this writer wasn’t stopping to snap shots because it was just too damn good. And besides, as you’re well aware, photos don’t do justice to epic conditions. The best your correspondent can muster is a few shots on the final run to the house off Powder Ridge via Wildcat lift. Those and one shot of a significant ice beard buildup. Well, here’s one additional shot from Snowbird yesterday when they’d just opened Peruvian lift at around 2pm. Several days of closures had the Peruvian snow primed for tracking even if the wind scour faces were a little crusty. What’s the point of these bragging lines you may wonder. Simply this: The storm cycles are still aligned and the snow gods favoring our little canyon. So you better hop on that plane, get up canyon, and drop your bags in one of our deluxe properties because staying down canyon isn’t going to do you any good when the canyon closes for the next storm. Note on our previous photo challenge: The image on the concrete buttress is actually the last chairlift pole as you ascend the Collins lift.

Alta Snowbird Ski Archives - Canyon Services

Wasatch Adaptive Sports’ Executive Director Elizabeth Kimball
Wasatch Adaptive Sports’ Executive Director Elizabeth Kimball

Wasatch Adaptive Sports’ Executive Director Elizabeth Kimball

Once again drawing from the extensive list of leadership that inhabit our canyon, your correspondent chose Elizabeth Kimball as the next profile. Elizabeth has occupied one of the favorite person spots for this writer for many years. Wasatch Adaptive Sports (WAS) is Little Cottonwood’s own program to help individuals with adaptive needs increase their freedom through skiing and boarding at Snowbird and Alta. As their fearless leader, the Chicago native's identity growing up was, “to move my body, mostly through sports.” At UC Berkely she played lacrosse and was introduced to her first nonprofit organization and the power of seeing [...]

CanyonBlog2026-06-01T01:45:04+00:00Interviews, Questions Answered|

Blister Review Summit at Snowbird
Blister Review Summit at Snowbird

Blister Review Summit at Snowbird

Canyon Blog joined the Blister Review team on the Snowbird plaza for what proved to be the best gear demo your correspondent ever experienced. To get the inside scoop (and also try some new Faction and Solomon skis) he cornered Blister’s founder Jonathan Ellsworth. Canyon Blog: What is Blister exactly? Jonathan Ellsworth: Our goal is to provide the world’s best consumer products information for all this expensive outdoor equipment. CB: So, how does that work exactly? JE: We do extreme testing year-round, spending up to 30 days with products and then produce a 7-10,000 word summary. I should mention that [...]

CanyonBlog2026-04-17T03:07:55+00:00Interviews, Local Events, Snowbird Utah|

Keeping 210 Flowing
Keeping 210 Flowing

Keeping 210 Flowing

This month Canyon Blog stopped by the Utah Department of Transportation garage in Alta to catch up with Little Cottonwood’s avalanche supervisor Laurie D. Officially she has another title but that’s not how residents of the canyon think of her and avalanche supervisor is way cooler. If you transit from the mouth of the canyon to any point upslope, you owe your safety to her and her team of five professionals. A transplant from Colorado, she was introduced to the canyon while river guiding one summer. After a year as a Snowbird lifty she transitioned to ski patrol in 2007. [...]

CanyonBlog2026-03-22T16:13:04+00:00Interviews, Questions Answered|

Little Cottonwood’s Newest Master Gunner
Little Cottonwood’s Newest Master Gunner

Little Cottonwood’s Newest Master Gunner

Canyon Blog sat down (well stood around some field artillery actually) with the canyon’s newest master gunner, Margie V. Master gunners are responsible for overseeing the 105mm howitzers in the canyon that mitigate avalanche risk, and you owe them more than you might realize because that’s what allows Highway 210 to open when you want it to most. As part of your correspondent’s continued feature of canyon leaders who happen to be female, there are few that are more respected. So, how’s one become a master gunner then? Read on. Canyon Blog: Is this something you planned on doing when [...]

CanyonBlog2026-03-01T02:03:29+00:00Interviews, Snowbird Utah, Winter|

Thank You for Ten Years
Thank You for Ten Years

Thank You for Ten Years

As 2025 comes to a close I am celebrating ten years of posting thoughts, events, and observations about one of the most wonderful and wondrous places I’ve ever known, Little Cottonwood Canyon. Breaking my tradition of always writing in the second person, I thought it appropriate on this occasion to speak in my own first-person voice. On one hand it is hard to believe so much time has passed. At least 1,000 days on skis for me. When considered from another perspective, it’s an eye blink. Where has the time gone? I never seem to know the answer to that [...]

CanyonBlog2025-12-27T02:24:05+00:00Uncategorized|

Mid Gad Dining has Arrived!
Mid Gad Dining has Arrived!

Mid Gad Dining has Arrived!

Canyon Blog took the opportunity to coerce three of Snowbird’s finest to provide a tour of the new Mid Gad restaurant as the finishing touches fall into place. It’s amazing what a little backsheesh can do. Jake Treadwell, mountain ops director, and two of your correspondent’s favorite mountain ops leaders, Johanna and Mel, took time out of their day for your benefit. Alright, perhaps for the Canyon Blog’s benefit. The first thing you’ll notice this winter when you come sliding up is the wide open and radiant heated deck. That’s right folks, enjoy that frosty beer (more on that in [...]

CanyonBlog2025-09-28T23:19:06+00:00Announcements, Local Flavor, News, Snowbird Utah, Winter|

Spring with Snowbird’s Snow Safety Director
Spring with Snowbird’s Snow Safety Director

Spring with Snowbird’s Snow Safety Director

Your correspondent spent a brilliant powder day this week with Snowbird’s snow safety director Kami to get the latest on spring safety on another 500+ inch year. As spring takes over the slopes of Little Cottonwood, just where do the avalanche dangers lie? Well, outside the bomb throwing and route running they do in the mornings in addition to the RACs (remote avalanche control towers) there are a number of factors to pay attention to. “Mostly we’re looking at pinwheel rollers that you find on sun facing slopes,” said Kami with years of avalanche study and mitigation behind him. “Cliff [...]

CanyonBlog2025-04-06T20:38:02+00:00Outdoors, Uncategorized, Winter|

May the light shine through (with a sprinkling of flakes)
May the light shine through (with a sprinkling of flakes)

May the light shine through (with a sprinkling of flakes)

Well, your correspondent’s investigative journalistic responsibilities include unpolished headlines. So, here’s this month’s: The snow is thin. There’s no denying it. All is not lost, however. Where one opportunity evaporates, another appears. This holiday season’s snowpack means the mountains are empty. Both Alta and Snowbird are spinning most of their lifts so the terrain is there. Alta finally opened Supreme, leaving Mineral Basin as the only closed chair fed slopes in the canyon. What that means is no waiting. Parking reservations are in effect at Alta daily (till 1pm) but Snowbird has spaces every day. Fear not, the Shuttle system [...]

CanyonBlog2024-12-22T00:39:31+00:00Outdoors, Winter|

Aaaahh
Aaaahh

Aaaahh

November 22nd has landed and departed and it’s great to see the season is underway with Alta’s Collins and Wildcat lifts running before Thanksgiving. Even Alf’s is open for that much needed early season ski leg break for a beer or burger, though you’ll need to rope tow back to the lifts. A first this year was the pre-season upslope availability at Snowbird. Peruvian Gulch was open for skinning and touring followed by that always well-deserved run down. Due to slope prep Gad Valley stayed off limits. Were there shark fins lurking here and there at both resorts? Of course. [...]

CanyonBlog2024-11-24T00:16:31+00:00Outdoors, Winter|

OMSG
OMSG

OMSG

Your correspondent pens this piece in the aftermath of a top ten ski day here in Little Cottonwood. After a foot of fresh on top of seven more feet of fresh on top of a mountain with no people, January 17th proved to be one of those days where despite how hungry you are you don’t dare stop to eat. Late morning when our valiant ski patrol dropped the rope for Catherine’s it was time to start making laps. Ten laps as it turns out. This is where Canyon Blog would normally insert a few great photos to induce jealousy [...]

CanyonBlog2024-01-19T20:30:30+00:00Outdoors, Winter|