Last Chair: The Ski Utah Podcast

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 visit an SOS Outreach ski day at Park City Mountain...

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 North America’s most notable resorts, talked to Ski Ut...

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 Earth in every corner of the state. But her skiin...

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 destinations. Along the way, he started thinking a...

“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 it has worked. Some, like nordic combined skier Jar...

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 Mitt Romney, who headed the 2002 organizing commit...

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 1930s, he was hired by the U.S. Forest Service to...

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. Doppelmayr, which is located not far from the Salt Lake Cit...

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 drive out I-80 to California, sleeping overnight fr...

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 a powder slope to yourself, as well as how to bes...

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 mountains bigger than life. Last Chair caught up wi...

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 Protect Our Winters in 2007, uniting skiers and snowb...

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 globes, five World Championship titles and two Olym...

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 and the vital steps we must take now. Perry has spen...

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 plain locals all enjoying the lifestyle of the spo...

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 historian Sandy Melville takes us on a virtual to...

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 his love for the outdoors and how it's embodied i...

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 is bringing progression in sport for kids of all...

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 is like many of us and certainly not immune to h...

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 know you're at a unique place when random skiing g...

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 Chair , Schirf walks through the evolution of ski...

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 lifestyle of our sport? This episode of Last Chair takes...

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 Greatest Snow on Earth. But what's the science behin...

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 a safe and meaningful experience for guests. In th...