Greatest Snow on Earth

Gardners have been in Utah since 1847 when Archibald Gardner pulled up with his covered wagon. One of the unforeseen benefits of him traveling from Scotland and ending up eventually in the West (after a stop or two in Canada and Iowa and piling on a few wives--I come from number four out of 11) was that his progeny would have the Wasatch Mountain range within which to play. The snow there is dry and light, lacking the water content you would normally find on either coast or anywhere else for that matter. The canyons surrounding the greater Salt Lake area rise sharply above what is basically a desert basin that includes an ancient dried sea bed formerly known as Lake Bonneville. What's left is a mostly dry desert and its small remnant, The Great Salt Lake. Between the salt and the desert, the moist storms that arrive from the Pacific get sucked dry. The clouds then slam into the Wasatch range that unusually run North/South and begin to dump the perfect recipe for Utah Powder--The Greatest Snow on Earth. No where else has this recipe. If you've skied here you know that. By the way, if you need a local ski shop to get outfitted while you are in town, stop by the Sports Den in Salt Lake City. They are the last of the locally owned speciality ski stores. Support local please. They can be found at 1350 Foothill Drive, SLC, UT 84109. By far the best shop in town. Ask for Mark. Check out the latest snow report here: www.skiutah.com/snow_report/