Utah Adventure Journal

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 […]

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 […]

  In my second winter season at Snowbird I became a tram operator working under the legendary tram and cable guru Bob Ficker. A year later having moved into lift maintenance, I recall a conversation about an upcoming cable replacement job on one of the lifts, and I asked Bob about the Tram track cables […]

“This is the nicest yurt I have ever seen.” It’s Saturday afternoon in the La Sal Mountains and I am taking off my ski boots at the door of the Geyser Pass Yurt to avoid tracking mud onto the gorgeous wood floor. My friends enter behind me with similar exclamations about our lodgings. The bunks […]

10 Tips to Creating a Location-Independent, Fully Funded Winter After a while, most skiers and snowboarders get tired of service industry jobs and other location-bound positions. You want the freedom to work and the freedom to chase a storm without the consequences of unemployment, bankruptcy, and homelessness. Unless you went to finishing school, you benefit […]

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 […]

Is Outdoor Retailer Bad for Utah Public Lands? By Amanda Ashley Twice a year the Outdoor Retailer show descends on Salt Lake City and is the largest gathering of the Outdoor Industry in the United States. The opportunity to meet with suppliers, retailers, manufacturers, athletes, demo products and learn about new materials makes OR a truly unique […]

I was lost, adrift in a sea of blank white granite. I spotted the next bolt, unfortunately 20 feet directly to my right. In my haste I had gotten myself irreversibly off route. I couldn’t up-climb, down-climb, left-climb, or right-climb. My last bolt was at least 20 feet behind me. As the reality of the […]

I don’t know exactly how I got into the “idea” of fly fishing. It might have been after watching Brad Pitt in A River Runs Through It. It could have been partially due to a guy I was dating who dabbles in fishing, a girlfriend who is an obsessed angler, or perhaps that ragged, army […]

Everybody in the snowsports world knows that Utah is famous for the copious amounts of powder, and the terrain of the Wasatch is equal in its recognition. Throw in the ingredients of a nearby metropolis with an international airport, a knowledgeable and savvy outdoor scene, world class terrain that entertains a large number of outdoor […]

Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth Weather, Climate Change, and Finding Deep Powder in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains and Around the World   By Jim Steenburgh   2014 Utah State University Press 186 Pages   Those who partake in winter snow sliding activities, and even those who don’t, are familiar with the phrase “The Greatest […]

  You’ll never hear a real boater complain about low river flow, a boater will always tell you that any day on the river is better than a day at work. After spending a handful of summers in Moab, this is a common topic that pops up this time of year. High water has dropped […]

There is a climb in Ferguson Canyon named Devil Tree. It clocks in at 5.10a although Kurt Ottmann, one of the first ascent team, told me that while not sandbagged at that rating, some might find it particularly challenging for that rating. Stuart and Bret Ruckman describe it in their guidebook Rock Climbing the Wasatch […]

I have a hard time taking myself seriously these days. I recently left the comfort of my cozy condo on Powder Mountain Road in Eden, Utah in favor of living in an old, musty tent. I ditched luxuries like electricity, running water and wi-fi, to instead live amongst the critters of the Manti LaSal National […]

  If Utah liquor laws are made up of one part religion, and one part regulation with a dash of public education, then Utah brewers are making beer made up of one part oppression, and one part rebellion with a dash of irony. The beer produced by Utah breweries ferments out of the constant flux […]