ADVENTURE SPORTS BY WINA STURGEON 6/11
AMERICAN SKIING WITH JUST ONE RESORT?
American Skiing Company has just sold its remaining East Coast resorts, Sugarloaf and Sunday River in Maine. Now the formerly dominant conglomerate is down to one ski area: The Canyons.
The company has been losing money for years, and hoped to leverage itself out of debt by selling off its resorts one by one. Perhaps this 77 million dollar sale will do it. But American Skiing is not out of the woods yet. There's still a pending court case over the prime slope land that was leased to the resort when it was Wolf Mountain, and a lot of wrangling about who that land actually belongs to.
Stay tuned; the fate of The Canyons is still in the balance!
ACCESS TO ADVENTURE, THANKS TO CITY WEEKLY
Alternative magazine icon City Weekly might be the last place you would look for Adventure Sports goodies, but the magazine is showing it provides more than news about local culture and better writing than both daily newspapers (disclaimer: I occasionally write for City Weekly).
CW is now providing access to adventure via a contest called "Soak Up The Sun," no relation to the song.
It's a drawing contest, with ten winners chosen each Monday for the month of June. Winners get to choose prizes from such goodies as free tickets to rides at Utah Olympic Park, or soccer games at Real Salt Lake, lift tickets to Snowbasin, or games at Paintball Addicts, among other prizes.
Each weekly winner will also be entered for the grand prize drawing, which is a five-night stay at Jackson Hole Resort for four, with river rafting and other goodies; a package worth nearly $2,000.
To enter, go to CW's web site at SLWEEKLY.COM. Info and entry forms are at the top of the page, just across from the CW logo.
DV's NORBA RACE RETURNS
If you've missed the annual NORBA mountain bike race at Deer Valley, no worries; it's back!
The three-day event takes place June 15-17, with some 2,000 racers expected. It's also a qualifier for the U. S. national championships that take place at Snowmass in Aspen, Co., in August.
The NORBA event will include the usual cross country, dual slalom and excitingly bloody downhill races. The best riders in the world show up, Olympic champions and national team riders as well as factory riders. Admission for spectators is free.
So why should you show up to watch, rather than be out riding your own bike?
It's the parking lot.
Two, and sometimes three, levels of the parking lot are always filled with the tents and trailers of sponsors and merchandise sellers. You can get amazing bargains: I once got three pairs of good bike shorts for $15. You can also meet the riders, who hang out at their sponsor's tent to meet and greet, and are happy to give technical tips on riding.
Hint: the techs are there at almost all times; happy to give advice and even take a look at your bike, should you bring it. I've found that the best way to attend the event is with your bike. Bring it, ride around to all the exhibits, find a tech who will check out your gears and shifters for free, then ride up on the lawn and watch the races.