Utah Adventure Journal

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If you have been skiing the Wasatch much over the last few years you’ve probably seen them:  a couple of tall, lean lads of Asian descent on fairly light gear chattering away as they politely go past you up the skin track…..really, really fast.   Andy and Jason Dorais (pronounced “Doe-ray”) have been skiing for less than a […]

What’s Happening with the CWC? By Tom Diegel If you play in the Wasatch Mountains at all, you know that you are most definitely not alone in your enthusiasm. From resort skiing to backcountry skiing, hiking to mountain biking to climbing, scenic drives to scenic strolls, you know that all of these activities are wildly popular […]

Typically the pages of the Utah Adventure Journal are filled with inspiring stories of adventures around our fair state and beyond, as it should be. This story is not one of those. Instead, this tale is about one of the driest topics known to man:  import tariffs.  But bear with me a bit here; whether we like it or […]

Utah backcountry skiing has it all:  lots of big varied terrain, good access, copious powder snow, no people…..wait a minute. No people?  It’s the Wasangeles, brah!  There are always people crawling over every square inch of the Wasatch, from pre-dawn to post-dark. Ah, but there’s another Wasatch, brah.  The mighty Wasatch Plateau, aka the Skyline. […]

On September 13 the tent will once again be raised in the Black Diamond Equipment parking lot to celebrate the 25thedition of the Best Party in Utah:  the Utah Avalanche Center’s annual Fall Fundraiser.  From its humble beginnings in a house due to a tragic event to a serious hoedown with over a thousand people, the […]

Since my first introduction to canyoneering I had been telling various friends around the country how great it was and how they should come to Utah to give it a go.  Several folks gave me a reply along the lines of “indeed, canyon hiking is great. I’ve done the Bell Canyon/Little Wild Horse canyon loop, […]

A few years ago I went to the Air and Space Museum in DC and was excited to see that they had an original Wright Brothers’ bike there; it was a great reminder that not only did these bike builders use their experience to create manned flight, but also that despite the fact that bikes […]

REI Boycott of Vista Outdoors Products- A Recipe For Change?   In the wake of the Parkland, Florida school shooting there was the expected prayers and platitudes by conservative politicians and strong calls for more stringent gun control laws by liberal lawmakers, but this episode seemed different:  kids got fired up, and their speeches and […]

  Photos by Benj Wadsworth Boating—a word that most runners loathe—it can mean everything from floating on a placid lake to an ocean-sailing crossing to a Caribbean cruise ship.  But to a runner it pretty much means one thing:  a complete lack of exercise.  As a result, runners tend to avoid watercraft at all costs […]

Ok, this is getting real. It’s the first week of January, and we’ve got a 2-foot “base” of unsupportable facets in the backcountry and bulletproof manmade punctuated by rocks and stumps at the resorts. These are the times that test skiers’ patience; will I crack? Most of us choose to live in the shadow of […]

As temperatures cool with the much-anticipated advent of fall in Utah, most local recreators start thinking again about the desert adventures that seem a bit daunting in the heat and big monsoons of summer. Most of those thoughts focus on the famous spots in southern Utah like Canyonlands, Robber’s Roost, Cedar Mesa, and the myriad […]

Bonanza Flats Conservation Deadline Extended By Tom Diegel   The Central Wasatch mountains have always been an complex patchwork of ownership, use, claims, and jurisdiction: three counties, a dozen cities, two state highways, three watersheds, seven ski resorts, thousands of residents, and thousands of acres of wilderness are all packed into a very small area.   […]

  Photos by Matt Clevenger Cataract Canyon has the capability to be so many different beasts: at medium water levels it’s a rollicking romp through big water that’s welcome relief after days of flat stroking to get to the rapids, at high water it generates some of the most fearsome hydraulic features in the West, […]

Well, it happened: President Obama created the Bear’s Ears National Monument! Most of us bleeding heart lib’ral extremist tree huggin’, granola-eatin’ wackos likely raised our too- the threats and cajoling from the likes of Utah Governor Gary Herbert, senators expensive locally-brewed craft ales in a toast to this needed move. Despite Hatch and Lee, and […]

By Tom Diegel  Utah Adventure Journal readers are likely aware of Mountain Accord, the coalition of dozens of formal stakeholders across the Wasatch Front and Back that came together three years ago to attempt to hammer out a resolution that would address the many interests and pressures on the Central Wasatch (see the Winter 14-15 UAJ).  In […]