Elk Meadows, But Actually A Mountain
Huge Mountains, Even By Utah Standards
It's a frosty February morning, and Elk Meadows' five chairlifts hum; Elk Meadows' snow base, a good five feet worth, lies furrowed under tall fir trees. Casting long shadows across the desert far below and to the west, the sun breaks over the Tushar Mountains, a line of failed volcanoes which now ranks as the second tallest mountain range in Utah.
I've been up for a while, unable to sleep at this high altitude, doing some reading and writing and drinking coffee. I've got CNN on softly; an Afghanistani plane has been hijacked and is on a wild trip across Asia and Europe. Outside, three birds in a huge Douglas-fir are atwitter over something; higher up on the resort, someone fires up a snowmobile.
There are places you always seem to have fun at, not necessarily because they are the best places or the biggest places or the flashiest places, but simply because when you are there things always seem to go right: you always make a new friend, the sun always is shining, you always learn something about yourself or the world at large. Elk Meadows has always been one of those places for me.
Elk Meadows would be a regular old ski mountain if it were not in a towering mountain range in southern Utah surrounded by deserts and national parks. I heard once that the Tushar Mountains (Tush-er) formed when magma pooled underneath the Earth's crust and caused the mountains to swell above it. Another time I was told the Tushars were just plain old volcanoes. Either way they are huge, even by Utah standards. Mt. Holly, which towers just north of the resort, is just a few yards under 12,000 feet, and Delano, which is a mile or so further north, is well over 12,000 feet.
The Tushars and their beautiful forests and lakes have long been a draw for recreationalists in southern Utah, but in the 1970s some skiers finally installed a ski lift on the mountain. In 1985 a guy named Barry Church bought the place, installed a second lift and doubled the size of the resort only to have it close for three years in 1988. Two years ago two guys from Oregon bought the resort and have been steadily making improvements ever since.
Wondering Where Everyone Is
I spent the morning skiing with a Bill Murphy. Bill Murphy is one guy who should know about skiing in southern Utah. He has lived down here since the late 70s and before backcountry gear made summitting isolated peaks a relatively easy task he was climbing and skiing huge, out-of-the way mountains. Heard of the Henry Mountains, the last mountain range to be discovered in the lower 48? Bill has skied them. Navajo Mountain? He skied it - starting from Lake Powell. The Pine Valley Mountains? Kolob Canyon? Checkerboard Mesa? Been there been there been there.
Bill ran his own bike shop over in Torrey for a season and owned a cross country and adventure sports business down in Brian Head for years before coming up to Elk Meadows last year. Bill gave himself his own title - I think it was mountain recreation director - and heads the rental shop but seems to take real pleasure from setting up Elk Meadows' backcountry program. He is working to build cross country ski tracks which will run from the top of the resort towards Lake Peak (11,317) and back around to Puffer Lake and the resort. Another track will run north into the Tushars towards Delano Peak. Bill also said he was going to organize a telemark race and festival for March, and plans to have telemark equipment for rent by next year.
We skied over to the Mt. Holly side of the resort. Now, this is going to get a bit confusing, but let me explain. The real Mt. Holly towers over the resort to the north, massive and wind-swept. The original lifts here were called the Mt. Holly lifts, and they were on the steep north-facing mountain which faces Mt. Holly. Then lifts were put in on the other side of the resort and called Elk Meadows. These runs cater to beginners. Later, the two areas joined together.
The feeling on each mountain is different. Over on the Mt. Holly side where it is duskier and cooler, more serious skiers stalk the hill. Back on Elk Meadows, kids and snowboarders take their time learning the sport, or keeping together on the slope as friends. These days, a run connects the two if you go from Elk Meadows down to Mt. Holly. To get back, you take a short lift part of the way (the Village double chair) then a shuttle bus the rest of the way. It's annoying to wait for the bus, but at the same time it's nice to rest for a few minutes.
Bill and I stood talking in the middle of Abbey Road, an intermediate run, for about five minutes and in that whole period one person passed us. I don't remember what we were talking about but I do remember wondering where all the people were. I mean, it's a partly sunny Saturday in February. The roads are clear, the whole mountain is open. How can a place like this stay in business with only 50 cars in the upper lot?
Day's End Pavlovian Response
These days, it seems resorts need to grow or they wind up dead. Same for Elk Meadows. After years as a sleeper, the area now has an ambitious and workable master plan, and three lifts are slated for next year. Bill skied me on down Abbey Road and showed me where about a half-dozen new trails have already been cut. They were closed now, with huge stacks of fallen timber in the middle, though one industrious skier had cut under the rope and carved the powder. 'I worked on this a bit this summer,' Bill said, gazing at the scene of downed trees. 'I was out here with a chain saw and a torch, though I really didn't like cutting the trees.' This summer, Elk Meadows plans to install a 1,100-foot vertical chair to service these runs, which will increase the resort's vertical by several hundred feet and add another dimension and face to the skiing there. The new lift will end approximately at the summit of the Holly double chair. A second lift should finally connect the West Village base and the Upper Meadows base area, eliminating the restful bus ride. A third chair will poke its way up Lake Peak and access lovely open west-facing bowls and a desirous north-facing bowl which almost always has good snow. Beyond that, the resort is thinking about lifts up Mt. Holly (Elk Meadows' trail maps insist that Mt. Holly is 12,001 feet high though the U.S. Geologic Survey counter that the elevation is more like 11,985 feet). Lifts up Mt. Holly would open marvelous bowls, above-timberline snowfields, committing chutes and dramatic views. One of the worst falls I've ever taken on skis was on Mt. Holly one May about 7 years ago on a run locals called Five Fingers Glacier - more on that next week.
Bill, and many others I'm sure, worries about building a huge resort up here in the Tushars. Much of Elk Meadow's charm is its size. 'Ski areas are always wanting to be places they aren't,' he said while we rode up the Big Elk chair. 'They are always trying to be places they can't be.' But he isn't too worried, though. He would rather see trails cut for skiing than the mountain logged for timber or stripped for mines. And ski mountains create memories and good times, too, things that shape who we are and add color to our lives.
Meanwhile, Elk Meadows is doing as much as it can to attract as many different vacationers as possible. There are the proposed lifts, then there is tubing - tubers have their own run, a long one, and get rides on the chairlift - and snowmobiling and snowshoeing and ice skating in the West Village. Come summer, Elk Meadows is carpeted with wildflowers glistening with dew on chilly mornings, and days' worth of mountain biking and all-terrain vehicle trails, plus nearby Puffer Lake. Down canyon is climbing on three different kinds of rock, and Bill said the region is pocked with bolted routes few know of. Elk Meadows is close enough to Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks and Cedar Breaks National Monument to make long day trips.
I quit skiing a half-hour early and went back to my condo, which was a spectacular big-log affair overlooking the Mt. Holly lifts. It had three balconies, and I stood out on the top one regarding the warm light on the mountain and the steadily-growing sunset over the cliffs and mounts down canyon and out across the desert. Drink in hand, I went back inside.
Elk Meadows essentials
Annual snowfall: 400 inches
Base elevation: 9,100 feet
Vertical drop: 1,400 feet
Lifts: 1 quad chair, 1 triple chair, 3 double chairs, 1 poma
Skiable acres: 420
Trails: 36
Beginner: 20 percent
Intermediate: 50 percent
Expert: 30 percent
All day adult lift pass: $33
Child all day pass: $18
Miles from Las Vegas: 227
A special thanks to Elk Meadows Resort.
