The transformation of Fairview’s Snowland Ski & Tube Resort back into a viable public ski hill has been a labor of love. Emphasis on labor.
Last weekend, about 20 volunteers from the Wasatch Academy and several board members of the Snowland Foundation, Inc. nonprofit cleared the tiny ski area’s two runs by hand. Brent Lange, chair of the nonprofit, said he burned through eight screws with the torque he put on his chainsaw. Others clipped saplings and pounded in stakes so the snowplow would know where to go.
The work won’t stop once the two-run community hill officially reopens — which Lange said will probably be later than the Dec. 6 date he originally laid out. Notably, water will have to be hauled in, and the ropes from the two tow ropes will have to be taken down and stored nightly.
With more experience and money, however, Lange said he hopes running Snowland will get easier. And this week, his group accumulated a fair amount of both. In addition to eight cords of wood, the Snowland nonprofit hauled in a $1.46 million grant from the Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation.
In total, the Utah Outdoor Adventure Commission allocated $21 million to 38 recreation projects across the state during its meeting Monday. The money for the grants is distributed out of the Outdoor Adventure Infrastructure Fund. According to a statement from the Utah Division of Natural Resources, it is intended to “fill the gaps in the Division of Outdoor Recreation’s grant offerings.” Other projects supported by the grants included, among others, feasibility studies for the expansion of the Bonneville Shoreline Train in numerous parts of the state and the purchase of land to expand the parking lot for Kanarra Falls in Iron County.
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This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.