If you have traveled in southeastern Utah you have heard the story of Everett Ruess. Many have speculated what happened to Ruess. Now, it looks like there may be an answer. Read Ben Fulton's story about a soon to-be-released article about how the mystery may have been solved.
-- Brett

In the honor of spring and the inevitable urge to get on your bike and ride I'm including a cool vid of Danny MacAskill playing around. In light of the recent rash of auto-cycling incidents in Utah I implore riders to keep an eye on each other and for drivers to be rider aware. Safe riding to all.
— Brett

Good Earth Day news came out of Washington, D.C.
As part of a large investment in national parks, the Dinosaur National Park Quarry Visitor Center near Jensen that has been closed since July of 2006 due to safety and structural concerns will be rebuilt for $13 million.
Thank goodness.
Though Dinosaur has much to offer in the way of scenery, river rafting and history, the exposed bones in the quarry were always its big draw and one of the most unique exhibits of its kind anywhere in the world. It's been missed by the thousands of families who enjoy visiting Utah's many dinosaur museums and outdoor attractions.
Soon it will be possible to enjoy the quarry again, coupling it with a visit to the excellent Utah Fieldhouse of Natural History in Vernal and then making the Drive Through the Ages from Vernal to Flaming Gorge.
– Tom Wharton

I sure hope the residents and recreationists who use Salt Lake City's City Creek Canyon knew what they were doing when their protests caused the cancellation of a program to create a 100-foot firebreak.
Nobody wants to see one of the Salt Lake Valleys prettiest and most pristine hiking, biking, fishing and picnic areas ruined. But considering the fact that a blaze last summer near the canyon threatened homes, perhaps the firebreak was a good idea.
If, God forbid, a fire would to roar down City Creek Canyon in the next few years and threaten homes in the area, we wonder if residents whose homes could be in the path of the flames might wonder if their opposition to the firebreak was such a good idea.
And, while fire is a natural part of the ecosystem, such a fire would also blacken much of the scenery recreators who were against the firebreak enjoy. And what about protecting an important part of Salt Lake City's water supply from potential damage of slides should fire destroy vegetation on the sides of the narrow canyons?
I guess I have enough faith in those who manage the canyon to think that a viable firebreak could have been constructed that would have preserved the beauty of the place while still protecting homes, property, water supplies and perhaps even lives.
You have to hope that a fire won't roar through the canyon but, if it does and damages homes in the area, we would do well to remember that many in the area opposed the firebreak.
– Tom Wharton

One of the first feature stories I did with the Salt Lake Tribune was on what was then known as the Park City Handicapped Sports Association. The name of the organization eventually changed to the National Abilities Center. I've done several other stories on NAC through the years and it has been incredible to watch as the program has grown from providing only skiing to equestrian events and now the new compound in Park City. The amazing number of people with disabilities, and just importantly their families, served by NAC is a tribute to founder Meeche White. Check out this video and you will get a feeling for what the National Abilities Center is all about.

-- Brett

All those people with silly shots of themselves playing Twister to get a body part in four states at once are about to be very disappointed. According to the National Geodetic Survey, the Four Corners marker showing the intersection of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah is about 2.5 miles west of where it should be.
— Brett

You have to wonder what Utah senators Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch thought would happen when a majority of Americans elected Barack Obama president and, in the process, repudiated many of the more obnoxious policies fostered by George Bush's Department of Interior as well as the Republican ticket's repeated campaign mantra of “Drill Baby, Drill!”
So now the two are doing everything possible to stall Obama appointments in the Department of Interior. This should be of major concern to outdoor enthusiasts, hunters, anglers and public land users looking forward to a change of management in the agency that manages millions of acres of public lands they use for recreation.
It seems the senators remain upset that new Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar cancelled 77 highly questionable oil and gas leases on Utah's public lands offered in the Bush Administration's dying days, some of them near some of the state's most beautiful outdoor treasures.
So, in a snit, Bennett has placed a hold on the nomination of David Hayes as deputy secretary, a move that is supported by Hatch. In fact, according to a story by The Tribune's Thomas Burr, 10 key Interior officials have yet to be confirmed and no one has even been dominated to head the Bureau of Land Management.
What is the purpose of such a hold? Do Bennett or Hatch honestly think that President Obama and Salazar are actually going to change their positions on public land management because of their obstructionist position? And can you imagine what Utah's two long-serving senators would have had to say if the Democrats had held up appointments should have John McCain been elected president instead?
This obstructionism is Washington politics at its worst and Bennett and Hatch ought to be ashamed of themselves. Republicans had eight years to manage the Department of Interior and, with the possible exception of James Watt during the Reagan years, I can't think of a time over the last 30 years when the department was so poorly managed or politicized.
Let's give the new guys a chance and quit with the useless political games playing.
– Tom Wharton

Results from more than 93,600 checklists are being tallied by the organizers of the 12th annual great Backyard Bird Count and some interesting results are being released.
First, bird watchers shattered last year's record for participating in the four-day event that began Feb. 16. Participants in the program sponsored by the National Audubon Society and Cornell Lab of Ornithology identified 619 bird species. Utah counters identified 160 species
Here is a list of the 10 most-frequently reported birds:
1.Northern Cardinal
2.Mourning Dove
3.Dark-eyed Junco
4.American Goldfinch
5.Downy Woodpecker
6.Blue Jay
7.House Finch
8.Tufted Titmouse
9.American Crow
10.black-capped Chickadee
– Tom Wharton

Utah's ski resorts have been getting some of the biggest dumps of the season in the past few weeks. Resorts in Little Cottonwood are claiming 115 inches of new snow in the last two weeks and 626 inches this winter!
But because you can't always count on the spring snow and because tourists rightly don't plan their big ski trips in April, some of the resorts have already closed and others will turn off the lifts soon. No worries, Snowbird officials expect to be running well through Memorial Day and Park City just extended its season by another week. The best part is that most of the resorts are offering discounted spring prices.
Here's a list of closing dates from Ski Utah!
Alta Ski Area- April 19
Beaver Mountain- closed
Brian Head- April 12
Brighton Resort- April 19
The Canyons Resort- April 12
Deer Valley Resort-April 12
Park City Mountain Resort- April 19
Powder Mountain- April 19/ cat skiing until mid-May
Snowbasin- April 19
Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort- Memorial Day or later
Solitude Mountain Resort- April 12
Sundance Resort- closed
Wolf Creek- closing April 12
-- Brett

Yes I'm about to tease another Tribune blog in this blog.
Given the success of the Trib's SuperSherpas base camp blog from Mount Everest in 2007, I'm assuming some of you may want to hear that we are doing it again. Apa Sherpa, the Himalayan highlands transplant now living in Draper - who also happens to be the world record holder of summit on Everest with 18 - is back in Nepal working on breaking his own record.
Here's the story we ran Monday.
Here's the link to On Top of the World.
Here's the twitter link for updates.
The video is footage from Apa's 18th summit last year.
-- Brett

The video is a week old now, but worth watching. PCTV shot this during the Spring Gruv at The Canyons. Enjoy
-- Brett

It is a shame that an agency that is responsible for preventing so much loss of life and injury should have to scramble to make ends meet each year, but such is the case for the Utah Avalanche Center. While the federal government provides the bulk of funds for UAC there is always a shortfall.
Luckily, there are groups, namely Friends of Utah Avalanche Center, which make up the difference. This past ski season Backcountry.com and eleven resorts offered the locals-only lift ticket program to provide money for UAC.
The resorts donated discounted lift tickets and Backcountry.com provided personnel to handle the logistics of the program. With the end of the season approaching, at least on paper, organizers say approximately $38,000 was generated. Kudos to the resorts and backcountry.com for stepping up and helping save lives.
-- Brett

The Utah Office of Tourism has launched its new "Life Elevated" advertising campaign for a mere $3.2 million.
The video ads will run on national cable television and on local stations in Los Angeles, Denver and Phoenix. Print ads will show up in five magazines and interactive ads will be displayed on various travel and outdoor-related Web sites.
Here's a taste of the advertising.
-- Brett

Patty Henetz had a wonderful story in today's Salt Lake Tribune about Las Vegas water officials who want water from Utah's West Desert to help continue Sin City's growth. The Southern Nevada Water Authority said it could not meet a June 19 deadline to provide required documentation “due to significant and recurring delays in the BLM review process.”
With any kind of luck, this horrible project that would pump 176,000 acre-feet of water per year to Las Vegas from the Great Basin will be delayed forever.
You have to love SNWA spokesman J.C. Davis complaining because the BLM is seeking information in its Environmental Impact Statement covering an area beyond the five Great Basin valleys whose groundwater would be tapped for the pipeline.
Since the potential dust bowl this would create could adversely affect already horrible air quality problems along the Wasatch Front and draining water has the potential to negatively affect the Great Salt Lake and it's important bird and wildlife habitats, federal officials supervising the environmental impact statement better darn well look past just the places where the water is being pumped.
Think this isn't an outdoor recreation problem as well? Think again. This terrible scheme which we can only hope is eventually killed could effect the health of Great Basin National Park and Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge in the affected area with virtually unknown effects on special places such as the Great Salt Lake, the Bonneville Salt Flats and the wonderful basin and range environment in the West Desert.
Given the power of U.S. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, we would all do well to watch for all sorts of shenanigans with regards to this project.
-- Tom Wharton