Solitude Mountain Resort Podcasts

When Utah nurse Melody Forsyth learned her baby-to-be had Down syndrome, she and her family thought it would change their lives. And it did - for the better. Ruby, now six, has led the Forsyth family into a world of outdoor recreation, including skiing. Watching Ruby ride the Chickadee lift at Snowbird and ski down with her Wasatch Adaptive Sports …

Visit any western resort town and you’ll find a robust LatinX community, sometimes making up 30% of the population. It’s a robust part of community culture. But oftentimes, it’s a segment that doesn’t ski. SOS Outreach, a nonprofit serving 15 resort and urban communities nationwide including Utah, is seeking to change that. Today, Last Chair will v…

Visitors to Sundance Mountain Resort this winter have found a wonderful new experience at one of Utah’s great hidden gems. Working with the experienced Sundance team, legendary ski industry leader Bill Jensen has helped them transform the resort with new lifts, terrain, snowmaking and much more. Jensen, a longtime visionary who has led some of Nort…

Utah’s 15 resorts paint a majestic portrait amidst the winter landscape. So what if someone painted them all, with watercolors based in snow melt from each resort. That’s what passionate Utah skier Lexi Dowdall has set out to do with her Paint by Powder Project! Dowdall is a snow-loving outdoor enthusiast who actively seeks out the Greatest Snow on…

Cohen grew up in the east, hopping around small New York ski hills like Stony Point and Silver Mine. His father took him on trips to Vermont, skiing Stratton, Stowe, Killington, Mt. Snow and more. Mondays were a day off for his father, who owned a bakery, so it wasn’t unusual for young Lee to play hooky and head off to Hunter Mountain or other day …

“I'm so thankful for the people in town who founded the Youth Sports Alliance after the 2002 games,” said Fisher. “It was a community effort to get all of the youth from Summit and Wasatch counties out using these amazing Olympic venues and getting as many kids out and active in our community playground. The legacy absolutely still lives on.” And i…

The 2002 Olympics transformed Salt Lake City and its neighboring venue communities into a stage that welcomed the world. For 17 days, the Games captivated spectators and television viewers as athletes dazzled fans and shed tears of joy. The Games also brought a richness to Utah communities that is very much still alive today. When now Utah Senator …

The legend of Alf Engen goes back to the 1920s when Alf brought his brothers to America from Norway. In the midwest and later out in the mountains, they found a home in America as skiers. Alf became a great ski jumping champion and world record holder at Ecker Hill, near Park City. He spent time at Sun Valley but ultimately settled in Utah. In the …

What do ski lifts mean to skiers? Ask Doppelmayr USA President Katharina Schmitz and she’ll tell you ‘freedom.’ In this episode, Last Chair host Tom Kelly chats with the leader of Utah-based Doppelmayr USA to explore the evolution of ski lifts and future trends, not only at resorts but as a vital form of mountain and urban transportation. Doppelmay…

A New Hampshire native, Ulmer discovered skiing as a young girl, skipping school to hit the slopes at lunch time. Friends told her about skiing in Utah. Her mom found a $40 one-way airline ticket. And she headed west, making Salt Lake City her home. She spent every waking moment skiing the bumps at Snowbird. Her breakthrough came after an all-day d…

Cruising through knee deep powder in the peace and solitude of the Utah backcountry is pure joy. It’s alluring. It can also be dangerous if you are not well prepared. Journalist Tony Gill grew up skiing on 300-foot ski hills in the midwest. Today, you’ll find him on his telemark skis in the Utah backcountry. He’ll talk us through the joy of having …

We’ve all fantasized about our trips to the mountain by poring over detailed trail maps, plotting out each run of our ski vacation. The man behind those maps, James Niehues, has become somewhat of a cult hero in the sport after three decades documenting hundreds of resorts worldwide, painting each and every tree and showcasing perspective to make m…

From wild game chili to Stein Burgers and Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes, Chef Zane Holmquist has served it all. The Stein Eriksen Lodge VP of food and beverage, who grew up in Utah, oversees one of the most highly acclaimed dining rooms in skiing, but is just as much at home on his mountain bike, skis or in triathlons around the world.…

Growing up on Cape Cod, it may seem unusual that young Jeremy Jones gravitated towards sliding on snow. But family ski outings led to his passion for snowboarding. Today, Jones is one of the world’s most well known names in big mountain snowboarding. But as he saw his season shortened and glaciers receding, he decided to fight back. He started Prot…

Over the past two decades, Utah native Ted Ligety has hopscotched across five continents every year, collecting World Cup crystal globes and Olympic gold medals. This winter, he's back home in Utah! Last Chair kicks off season three with an in-depth interview with Utah's own Olympic champion. Check out these stats: 25 World Cup wins, five crystal g…

As skiers, we all have a responsibility to be good stewards of the mountains we ride. Sustainability is vital for our future. David Perry, one the ski industry's most knowledgeable advocates for preservation of our mountain resources, sees a true sustainable future - if we can all work together! Ski Utah's Last Chair takes a look into our future an…

A group of skiers sat at the bar in the Rooster's B Street Brewery and Taproom, exchanging war stories about their big pow day up at Powder Mountain. On the brightly colored chalk board were the beers of the day, most brewed up in the huge tanks behind the taproom. It was a boisterous atmosphere with a nice blend of skiers, snowboarders and just pl…

A century and a half ago, Utah's mountains were the home of boomtowns as silver mining flourished across the Wasatch from Little Cottonwood to Big Cottonwood and over Guardsman Pass to Park City. Today, the same slopes that harbored valuable ore are the home of some of the worlds greatest ski resorts. In this episode of Last Chair, skier and mining…

The outdoor adventure clothing brand Stio has been showing up more and more at Utah ski resorts. Founder Steve ‘Sulli' Sullivan grew up in neighboring Colorado but spent a lot of time in Utah's red rock desert and snow-covered mountains. Today, he puts his passion for the mountain west into the fast-rising Stio brand. He spoke to Last Chair about h…

Growing up in the Salt Lake Valley in the '80s, Jeremy Jones developed a knack for searching out urban skate and snowboard venues to feed his passion. Today, the sport legend has found it all under one roof as snow manager at Woodward Park City. Founded as a gymnastics camp in the hills of Pennsylvania a half century ago, today the Woodward brand i…

Chris McCandless grew up in Little Cottonwood Canyon, dropping powder lines as a kid and hiking Superior in the summertime. It's a place near and dear to his heart. Three or four days a week you might find him driving up the canyon where the decision of the morning is Alta, Snowbird or backcountry - all the way up just soaking in the scenery. Chris…

Mountain manager Travis Seeholzer and I slid off the Harry's Dream Lift at Beaver Mountain, looking out on the vast expanse of state and national forest between Logan and Bear Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau. It's a magical view, with hoar frost on the trees and three to four inches of fluffy powder blanketing the mountainside. You instantly kn…

If you're a skier or snowboarder, there's a pretty good chance you've been in a brew pub be it for a draft beer, hamburger or a pizza. Today we take ski town brew pubs for granted. Where did it all begin? Well, right here in Utah! Craft brewery visionary Greg Schirf started it all in 1985 with Wasatch Brew Pub in Park City. In this episode of Last …

Over the past year, our nation has been gripped in a discussion on racism. As skiers and snowboarders, how does that impact us in a sport that's not exactly known for its diversity? How inviting are we to minorities? How can we all help to change? What does it feel like as a Black skier or rider? And what contributions do Blacks make to the lifesty…

Don't you just love it when you have to pick up your phone to call your boss back home. 'Hey, really sorry, but we just got snowed in with 60 inches of new snow. We can't get back to the airport. We're stuck up this mountain canyon.' Now that's a great ski trip! For over a half century, Utah has been known to skiers and riders as the home of the Gr…

Have you been skiing or riding this year? If so, you've experienced a new sensation - standing atop a snow-covered ridgeline, soaking in the alpine peaks and feeling a freedom from the COVID-19 restrictions that have ruled your life for eight months. Utah's resorts have been busy since last March, innovating ways to get open, stay open and provide …

Imagine feeding thousands of skiers at a dozen locations across five mountains every day? That's the life of Jodie Rogers. An Australian skier who found Utah over 20 years ago, Rogers brings a jovial spirit to her role as director of food and beverage for Deer Valley Resort - staying on top of food trends, and making sure there's enough turkey chil…

Like many of us, Chris Waddell loves the feeling of being atop Bald Mountain at Deer Valley Resort. The distant peaks of the snow capped High Uintas are off to the right. To the left is the panoramic ridgeline of Park City. Below him is a pristine piste that is ready to be carved. But instead of standing on two skis to admire the view, he sits in a…

Imagine boots on snow for 12 months a year? From the towering peaks of Denali and Rainier, to the powder-filled backcountry of Utah's Wasatch Range, that's the life of Nikki Champion. It's a long way from the young girl who was chasing gates as a ski racer in Michigan. Today, she's a vital link in helping keep Utah's backcountry safe as a forecaste…

Few would argue that one of the most challenging aspects of a ski vacation can be renting the gear. Bryn Carey, a Sugarloaf, Maine transplant to Utah, has been changing that through his innovative approach to rental equipment delivery at Ski Butlers, a Park City-based company he founded in 2004. Today, Ski Butlers is in two-dozen locations in six s…

Ever wonder what happened to the 'E' in POWDR, the owner of Woodward Park City and nearly a dozen resorts nationwide? You'll learn about that in the season two debut of Last Chair: The Ski Utah Podcast. POWDRresort company owner John Cumming still has fond memories as a young boy of his father, Ian, scooping him up out of his bed late at night to h…

Without doubt, the 2019-20 ski and snowboard season was one for the record books - great snow, guests from around the world enjoying the Greatest Snow on Earth, restaurants and bars serving up the Ski Utah lifestyle. Then, it all came to a sudden pause on March 14. The pandemic pause caused an unprecedented halt to a great season. How did it all co…

The affable Mike Caldwell bursts into his office, a welcoming smile on his face. Wearing a Salomon vest, he looks a lot different than the portraits of a century of mayors on the wall of his Ogden City office, embodying the active, outdoor lifestyle that has become the trademark of Utah’s second largest city. Eight years in, the third-term mayor ha…

Randy Doyle is that guy who always has a happy smile on his face - a fixture on the Ski Utah scene for decades. He literally grew up on the slopes of Brighton and has carried on the tradition of one of Utah’s most family-friendly resorts. Across the Wasatch, there are few views that can match the alpine peaks of the Cottonwoods from the top of the …

The bright red PistenBully wound its way up the switchbacks to the top of San Mateo Ridge. Inside, guide Ron Baldis joined the joyous revelry of his guests as they regaled each other with stories of their last run through the trees. Baldis grew up skiing in California, making first runs at Big Bear and joining his family for long trips up to Mammot…

Imagine climbing Mount Everest. Then think about swimming the English Channel. If that's not enough, how about riding your bike across America. That was last summer for Park City triathlete Rob Lea. Oh, and let's not forget the August wedding! Rob Lea and Caroline Gleich are Utah's true adventure couple. Gleich, a noted ski mountaineer, joined fian…

This was one of those ‘man dreams’ - to be riding in a big piece of machinery, conquering the steeps and sculpting the snow, riding in Prinoth Bison, nearly 10 tons of machinery with over 400 horsepower of Caterpillar energy pushing the treads. Deer Valley Resort groomer Laura Sexton was in command, her left hand deftly managing the track control l…

When you look at Sundance Mountain Resort, you need to view it as much more than a ski area. When Robert Redford moved to this peaceful valley in the early 1960s, his dream was to preserve this very special place. Today, Sundance is a wonderful blend of art, nature and skiing. Sundance may be a small ski area, but it skis big. Originally known as T…

Sometimes you just have to follow your heart. In the early 1980s, Kim Mayhew did just that. Mayhew and her husband reevaluated their lives, deciding to head west, hopscotching between resorts like ski bums until landing in Utah. Today, Mayhew is one of the most highly regarded resort leaders in America, serving as president and chief operating offi…

Utah may seem like an unlikely spot to pioneer a distillery. But biochemist and lifelong skier David Perkins saw an opportunity. Perkins opened High West Distillery inside an old Park City garage in 2006, ushering in a unique new element to the lifestyle of skiing. In this episode of Last Chair, the Ski Utah Podcast, Perkins shares the story of how…

There’s never a dull moment in the life of Shannon Bahrke Happe: athlete (two-time Olympic medalist), entrepreneur (her Team Empower Hour brings Olympians together to motivate) business leaders and mom (young Zoe and Tucker, both literally born on skis, and husband Matt). Life is a blend for Bahrke, a Lake Tahoe native who made Utah her home in 199…

Talk about finding your passion - snow forecaster Evan Thayer is living his dream! As a kid growing up in the mountains around Lake Tahoe, young Evan just loved to ski. But he was also fascinated with weather. Today, Thayer is truly living out his fantasy job spending his days hopscotching across Utah resorts and his early morning hours bringing yo…

Dave Richards is a part of the culture and fabric of Alta, one of Utah’s most beloved ski areas. As snow safety director, he’s your most important friend on the mountain - helping to keep you safe. December is that time of year when everyone’s asking, ‘why can’t I ski there?’ Getting a bit alpine mountain ready for the ski season is a challenge, wi…

Growing up in Salt Lake City, Dave Fields loved to make turns in Utah's fluffy powder. After an early career as a journalist, he saw how excited his wife was to work at a ski area. He quickly realized, 'hey, that's what I want to do!' He signed on as an assistant in the Snowbird PR department and his pathway began. Now, nearly two decades later, he…