On a sunny afternoon in early March, a handful of skiers skated along ribbons of snow that crisscrossed an otherwise grassy hillside. The temperature was approaching 50 degrees at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center, near Midway, and Bill Pierce was fighting to keep the terrain open.
“It’s been the most trying winter I’ve ever seen,” he said. “It is by far the warmest I’ve ever experienced. I do believe this is our future.”
Pierce is the venue operations director at Soldier Hollow, which he says is the only cross-country skiing venue in the Western U.S. with significant snowmaking capacity.
The site has been blowing snow since the 2002 Winter Games, and this season, that technology was just about the only reason cross-country skiing could happen in the Heber Valley.
“We had one snowfall this year here,” Pierce said. “We literally manufactured winter.”
Even with the help from snow guns, Pierce said Soldier Hollow only opened about 20% of its terrain. Many days, record-warm temperatures also prevented the venue from making snow.
Skiers said they’ll take what they can get.
Inge Travis is one of the founders of the Nordic Betties, a cross-country ski club based in Park City. This winter, she’s mostly been coaching groups at Soldier Hollow because of low snowfall.
“I’ve changed my whole mindset this year,” she said. “Instead of being negative and bummed out, I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, we have this Olympic venue.’ It’s a little over 30 minutes away; it’s so above and beyond. So actually, this has made me feel really fortunate that we have something so close.”
Salt Lake City resident Marshall Opel has been cross-country skiing for 33 of his 34 years. He made the trip to Wasatch County several times per week this winter to help coach the Betties.
“My whole upbringing, I grew up with people hanging out pre- and post-ski: talking, socializing, being,” he said. “I knew everyone in the Missoula [Montana] Nordic scene.”
Opel said he’s trying to promote a similarly community-focused Nordic culture in the Wasatch Back.
Richard Hodges, who runs the Nordic center at White Pine Touring in Park City, agreed relationships forged on the trails help shape a ski town’s culture.
“This place is Park City’s community center,” he said. “You know, if you need to run into your neighbor someplace, you’re going to find them out on the ski trail at White Pine. It’s definitely part of what makes Park City, Park City.”
This year has been “unprecedented” for White Pine. Hodges said the season had just 38 days of skiing, compared to 130 in a normal winter. White Pine’s Farm Loop, near McPolin Barn along state Route 224, never opened at all.
Hodges said he worries about what climate change will mean for the sport’s future. Still, he said Park City’s altitude is a benefit, and venturing higher into the mountains helps even more.
“Bonanza Flat has been a huge boon this winter for the community,” he said.
He said White Pine is considering what it would take to introduce snowmaking, at least on some of its trails.
“Certainly, having kind of a limited snowmaking loop on the golf course would be a huge public amenity here,” he said. “You know, how long will there be snow in Park City proper in the future? There are enough cold days in Park City that you could make a fair amount of snow. But it’s a partnership and cooperation kind of project that would have to come together.”
Down the mountain in Wasatch County, Pierce said Soldier Hollow is looking for new ways to innovate, too.
For the first time this year, it is trying to store manufactured snow to get a head start on next winter’s season. A pile of snow over 40 feet tall sits on the hillside above the lodge, where it will be stored under insulated white tarps until November.
“Right away, we have an instant base,” Pierce said. “When we turn guns on, we’re making snow on snow right away, and that’s what’s happening in order to prolong winter and open earlier.”
Pierce says he’s not aware of any other Nordic resorts in the country that are trying this technology.
While the Wasatch Back’s Nordic centers look for ways to create or prolong winter, Opel, the lifelong skier, said this lackluster snow season has simply made him grateful.
“We’re seeing this winter what a gift it is,” he said. “I think this winter, maybe, if it could show us some reverence for having skiing at all – that just to be able to go out and slide around on frozen water is magical. Anytime you’re out on skis, you’re just a very lucky human.”
Soldier Hollow is hosting the NCAA championships March 11-14. White Pine Touring is closed for the season.
