|
Home
Word
of the Day
Archives
Clever
Clue of the Month
The
Cruciverbalist
Links
Daily
Email
|
|
ALTA (AHL-tuh)
A
ski resort of central Utah Common
clues:
Utah
ski resort; Resort near Snowbird; Wasatch Mountains ski
resort Crossword
puzzle frequency:
2 times a year Frequency
in English language:
53374 / 86800 Video: Alta
Powder
Skiing
Alta
is a ski resort located in the Wasatch Mountains just east of
Salt Lake City, Utah. With a slogan of "The greatest snow on
Earth," the skiable area consists of 2200 acres (8.9 km²),
beginning at a base elevation of 8,530 ft (2,600 m) and rising to
10,550 ft (3,216 m) for a vertical gain of 2020 ft (616 m).
It
has an average annual snowfall of over 500 inches (12.7 m). Alta
is one of the oldest ski resorts in the country, and it has
become a haven for purists, since no snowboarders are allowed.
Alta
is one of the oldest ski areas in the U.S. The community of Alta
was established in 1871 as an offshoot of the silver mining
operations in Little Cottonwood Canyon. A fire that destroyed
most of the town in 1878 and a cataclysmic avalanche in 1885,
combined with the decline of mining in the area in the last
decade of the 19th century, heralded a period of dormancy for the
town. The area did experience a modest resurgence in mining in
the 1900s, but the town declined again shortly thereafter, and
was deserted with the exception of a few hardy miners who
continued to intermittently prospect the area.
In
1935 the U.S. Forest Service retained the noted skier Alf Engen
to hike into the area and determine its potential as a future ski
area. Engen's reports expressed great promise for the area, and
recommended the purchase of additional surrounding lands to form
the ski area. In 1937 a prominent Salt Lake City lawyer, Joe
Quinney, along with other local businessmen, formed the Utah
Winter Sports Association to oversee the development of skiing at
Alta. In the following year construction began on the original
Collins chairlift, then just the second such lift in the United
States, after Sun Valley.[citation needed] Alta opened to skiers
for the first time on January 15, 1939, offering a single ride on
the chair for 25 cents, or a full day pass for $1.50.
This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Alta Ski Area".
|
|
|