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Greatest Snow On Earth... But For How Long? BY GREG WILCOX | COMMENTS@ CITYWEEKLY.NET |
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aroline Gleich is a professional ski mountaineer and environmental activist based in Park City. If you’re into outdoor adventure, chances are you’ve heard her name before. “It’s hard to beat the snow quality here,” Gleich admits. “It’s some of the best in the world.” Ski mountaineers like Gleich ascend often-treacherous mountain terrain, then descend through gnarly runs that would appear to mean certain death for the rest of us. But she insists her career is more than simply being an adrenaline junkie. “I’m actually kind of a nerd. I love snow science and learning about mountain ranges,” Gleich says. “So it’s not like I just do it for the thrill. I like the intellectual challenge as well.”
Signs of the Times
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In 1985, Utah began imprinting the wellknown “Greatest Snow on Earth” slogan on license plates. According to Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth, a book by Jim Steenburgh, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Utah, origins of this bold proclamation go back to 1960 when an edition of The Salt Lake Tribune’s Home Magazine used the headline over an article singing the praises of Utah’s snow, declaring how superior and dry it is compared to other regions. The editor coined the phrase, with a little help from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (billed as “The Greatest Show on Earth”), which had just come through town. In fact, Utah’s trademark survived a court challenge from the famous traveling circus in the 1990s. By now, the slogan’s so ubiquitous, that a variation played a role in the recent “condomgate” controversy. A number of prophylactic packages from the state Department of
Health featured a skier graphic boasting the “Greatest Sex on Earth.” It’s common that Utah asserts its snow is “the greatest” because it’s so light and dry. However, this isn’t quite accurate. Famed avalanche expert and skier Ed LaChappelle explains that it is not about how dry snow is, but rather having “snow with enough ‘body’ to provide good flotation for the running ski.” Fortunately, a number of factors (including lake effect snow) ensure that Utah snow is neither too wet nor too dry—the happy medium that’s ideal for skiing. In addition, numerous world-class resorts are within an hour from Salt Lake City International Airport, making it easy for the state to tout its snowy superiority—albeit challenged from time to time by Colorado. Whether you agree with the slogan or not, it doesn’t mean much if the resorts don’t get enough snow needed to open. Unfortunately, it’s been problematic in recent years. In 2018, Mike Maughan, general manager of Alta Ski Area, lamented that the resort—known for receiving more snow than some of its counterparts—missed its target opening date for the 2017-18 season by two weeks.
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Special Committee on Climate Change late last year. “Increasing temperatures are melting away both my sport and my livelihood,” she declared, and encouraged lawmakers to take dramatic steps to combat climate change. Gleich’s claim deserves a closer look. After all, we’re currently in the midst of Utah’s ski season—and a stellar one at that. Resorts opened on time and snowfall has been phenomenal. Snowbird, for instance, was reportedly at 60% of its average snowfall for the year within 45 days of opening. Last year was no exception. In fact, it was one of the snowiest on record, with a high of more than 5.1 million skier days (a measurement of the number of visits to the slopes by skiers). General skiers’ biggest concerns aren’t about snowfall— but rather about overcrowded resorts,
parking and canyon traffic. Given these current conditions, should we be worried about the ski industry?
With a large Instagram following and as an ambassador for a number of outdoor companies—including Patagonia and Clif Bar—Gleich has inspired many with her daring and adventurous ski runs. She was the first woman to successfully complete all of the lines in the “chuting gallery”—a series of vertiginous descents along the Wasatch Range. This feat takes many skiers a lifetime to complete; Gleich is in her 30s. Aside from her daring exploits in alpine terrain, Gleich is outspoken in sounding the climate change alarm. In particular, how climate change is affecting winter sports like skiing. She works with Protect Our Winters (POW), a nonprofit advocacy group of athletes, scientists and business leaders that give voice to these concerns. Along with other well-known athletes, she also testified before the Senate Democrats’
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How climate change is affecting our state motto—and a billion dollar winter recreation industry.
