Jeremy Pugh is Salt Lake magazine's Editor. He covers culture, history, the outdoors and whatever needs a look. Jeremy is also the author of the book "100 Things to Do in Salt Lake City Before You Die" and the co-author of the history, culture and urban legend guidebook "Secret Salt Lake."
The victim is the youngwife of a prominent and wealthy physician. There are suitors, insinuated affairs, missing jewels and even a Persian prince. It sounds like an Agatha Christie novel, but it all happened in Salt Lake City. Just after midnight on February 22, 1930, the brutally disfigured body of Dorothy Dexter Moormeister, 32, was found on the western edge of Salt Lake City. She had been repeatedly run over with her own car. Dorothy’s husband was Dr. Frank Moormeister, a wealthy physician and abortionist for the local brothels. Dr. Moormeister was much older than his wife, who had a wild social life and actively solicited the attention of other men.
One of these men, Charles Peter, was a prime suspect in her death. He had allegedly urged Dorothy to divorce her husband and fleece him in the settlement. Additionally, the doctor had once loaned Peter a large sum of money and, as partial payment, taken from Peter a valuable pendant.
The Moormeister’s 1929 Cadillac, found at the crime scene. Hotel Utah 1910. Photo courtesy Marriot Library
The pendant was among the jewelry missing from Dorothy’s body. Another suitor, Prince Farid XI, who had met the Moormeisters during an excursion to Paris, was rumored to have been in Salt Lake City at the time. There were letters discovered afterwards intimating that Dorothy had designs to run away with him.
A map of the murder scene, published by The Salt Lake Tribune, Feb. 23, 1930.
On the night of her murder, Dorothy was seen entering the Hotel Utah at around 6 p.m. She left a short time later with two men and another woman. Dr. Moormeister claimed to have gone out to see a movie alone during this time period. The autopsy revealed traces of absinthe in Dorothy’s stomach. A search of her letters also revealed that she had been hiding money in various safety deposit boxes around town and had drafted some recent changes in her will but had not signed them officially.
However, despite all the intrigue and a massive effort by county investigators who even brought in a private detective who was popularly considered the “Sherlock Holmes” of his time, the killer was never revealed and brought to justice.
EXTRA!
Author Andrew Hunt, a historian and novelist, made the Moormeister Murder the backdrop for the first book in his noir series about rookie Sheriff’s Deputy, Art Overman, a squeaky clean family man and devout Mormon. Hunt’s book, City of Saints, is the first in a series of mystery novels set in the 1930s and won the 2011 Hillerman Prize.
WHAT: The last known whereabouts of Dorothy Moormeister
WHERE: The Hotel Utah (Now the Joseph Smith Memorial Building), 15 E. S. Temple, SLC
Interested in learning more about Salt Lake’s past? See what our city used to look and feel like here!
Long ago, shortly afterthe 1932 Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York, meteorologist and avid skier S. D. Green told a Salt Lake Tribune reporter that Utah’s snow and skiing were superior to Lake Placid. He attributed his claim to the “natural advantages” found here and planted, possibly, seeds for the Utah Olympic movement.
On Dec. 4, 1960, a young Salt Lake Tribune editor named Tom Korologos coined the phrase “The Greatest Snow on Earth,” riffing on the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus tagline. We all know that P.T. Barnum was the king of Blarney, but this boast would prove to be true. (Could we trademark it if it weren’t?)
As weather forecasting technology advanced, scientists were able to actually prove that, yes, Utah truly has the Greatest Snow on Earth. And, if you ski, you know the thrill of a Utah powder day—you have even more reverence if you’ve experienced East Coast ice sheets or West Coast “Sierra Cement.” Our great snow is not a myth—it’s a reality we experience every winter.
Snow is made up of millions of tiny flakes. To understand snow, you must understand the flake, and we don’t mean ski bums in the bars. Jim Steenburgh, professor of atmospheric science at the University of Utah, has devoted an entire book to the flake, Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth.
Utah snow is great, Steenburgh says, because of its lower water content and the pattern of its fall. Wetter snow is heavier and falls faster; dry snow falls slowly and has time to become more complex. Snow that’s less than 7% water is considered light, and heavy is over 11%, and creates the Sierra Cement that falls on California and Nevada’s Sierra Range. Man-made snow is really, really dense, with an average of 24-28%. Utah snow, however, has an average density of 8.4 percent. Take that California. (Wait, is that why they all want to move here?)
But the key to our amazing snow is a quick-change temperature fluctuation common to Utah snowstorms. Often a storm starts when it’s warmer, which creates a water-dense base layer, and as the temperatures drop, lighter snow follows.
This is called “right-side up” snowfall (vs. “upside-down” snowfall). The fluffy stuff stays on top and skiers and boarders can float down the slopes (ideally right side up).
All, however, is not great. Utah temperatures are warmer now than recorded just a few years ago. Warmer winters mean more dust in the air and create “snirt,” brown and dirty snow. It’s a word that sounds as gross as the thing it represents. “The role of dust is one that most don’t think about when it comes to the snowpack,” explains Steenburgh.
Dense dust in the atmosphere creates darker snow. Like wearing a dark-colored knitted sweater, the darker snow absorbs the sun’s light rather than bouncing off a clean, white snowpack. One study found that snirty snow accelerates melting by 25%.
And, as the temperatures rise, it doesn’t take a scientist to figure that more weather events will start as rain instead of snow, so we’ll have denser water-packed snow and suddenly our sneering jokes about Sierra Cement suddenly won’t be as funny anymore.
And it’s also gloomy for those who don’t use the snow as a playground, but simply marvel at its quiet loveliness.
As Steenburgh says, “The beauty of the snow is in the eye of the beholder and no science can prove that.”
The global popularity of Utah’s National Parks has created a dependable summertime mob. At least once a summer, Arches National Park makes the news as crowds clamoring to get a glimpse of Delicate Arch shut down Utah Highway 191, just outside park gates near Moab. Even on the least busy warm-season days, the lines of cars cruising popular sections of each park fulfill Edward Abbey’s 1960s prescient lines from Desert Solitaire predicting the “serpentine streams of baroque automobiles pouring in and out, all through spring and summer, in numbers that would have seemed fantastic when I worked there…the ‘visitation,’ as they call it, mounts ever upward.”
Is this the great outdoors? Or a parking lot? Plus, it’s hot in all but the highest elevations, with temperatures hovering around 100 degrees for most of the summer season. But in the off-season? The parks are yours. Open roads and open trails, comfortably cool daytime temperatures and blessed quiet offer a rare solitary view of the overly viewed vistas. Of course, there are some hurdles to wintertime adventures, like weather. The second obstacle to traveling in Southern Utah is a dearth of lodging and restaurants, a downside to solitude. But amid seasonal closures, we found a pleasant selection of year-round places to stay in each of the communities near the park areas and some surprisingly good eats along the way.
Capitol Reef — National Park
One of the most under-appreciated national parks, Capitol Reef should not be. So appreciate it already. Its winding canyons and Parisian boulevard-like washes offer stunning displays of the power of wind and water to shape the land. The park was essentially empty last February and perhaps the best and loneliest of the parks in winter.
Photo Credit Adobe Stock
The Big Hike
The Frying Pan Trail — Distance: 7 miles
This hike will take you into the heart of the Reef, and along the way, you’ll get stunning views from both below and above the underrated Cassidy Arch (named after Butch Cassidy of “and the Sundance Kid” fame, who hid out in the area). The trail starts at the Grand Wash, a ramble up a wide avenue of the former riverbed. The Cassidy Arch trail starts at 3/4 of a mile in on the right and is a strenuous climb up to the top of the Waterpocket Fold. Once you’re up there, however, the going is pretty easy. Cassidy Arch is a spur off the main trail and worth the detour, but in snowy or wet weather, stay well away from the edge. You’ll follow the Frying Pan Trail out, through the goblin-filled Cohab Canyon. Unless you have two cars, you’ll need to ply your hitchhiking skills on Utah Highway 24 back to the Grand Wash trailhead, which in an empty park can take a while.
Off-season Eats
Red Cliffs Restaurant
Pickings were slim last February as far as restaurants in Torrey go, but Red Cliffs Restaurant served up a decent take-out pizza during a winter storm that had pretty well shut the rest of town down. 56 E. Main St., Torrey, 435-425-3797
Off-season Stay
Broken Spur Inn
The Broken Spur is the only lodging open off-season in Torrey, just outside Capitol Reef. The homey, family-run establishment is the type of place that has Zane Grey books in the lobby and a hearty western breakfast included in the cowboy-comfortable dining room. 955 E. Utah Highway 24, Torrey, brokenspurinn.com, 435-425-3775
Canyonlands — National Park
Perhaps one of the park system’s most disjointed areas of majesty, Canyonlands is truly a puzzle. Divided by the rugged topography of the landscape into three districts—Needles, Island in the Sky and the honestly named Maze—the park befuddles. The Islands in the Sky area is the most easily accessible, while Needles and the rugged Maze offer more backcountry than many national parkgoers expect. Regardless of the district, every trek into Canyonlands is marked by a steep descent into and a rugged climb out of the deep canyons carved by the Colorado River and its tributaries.
Photo Credit Adobe Stock
The Big Hike
Murphy Loop (Island in the Sky District)—Distance: 10 miles
From the rim, the trail seems to disappear right into the cliffside. The steep 1,400-foot descent is a real thrill—remember that secret trail Frodo and Sam climbed in Lord of the Rings’ Mordor? The precarious perch on the cliffside offers stunning vistas at every turn. At the bottom, you’ll hike through a sandy wash in a loop that returns you to the cliff base for a tough climb out.
Off-season Stay
Dead Horse Point
The road into Canyonlands’ Island in the Sky District passes by Dead Horse Point State Park, a worthy side trip in and of itself. Last year the state park installed three yurts on the edge of its famous overlook. The yurts are open year-round, with a toasty heater. The yurt deck is a prime seat for stunning sunsets and sunrises, and on a moonless night, you’ll lose count of stars and feel super insignificant under the twinkling blanket above. Reservations in the off-season are easy and can be made up to four months in advance at stateparks.utah.gov.
By the Way — Kanab
Kanab is a popular destination with a bus-touring set. Located in the center of the Grand Circle, a set of byways that includes stops at Bryce, Zion, Lake Powell and Arches and the Northern Rim of the Grand Canyon, Kanab is an excellent way station open in wintertime. Many Hollywood westerns were filmed in the area, including John Ford’s classic starring John Wayne, The Searchers. The town pays homage to that legacy with kitschy western gear shops and tourist traps complete with old movie sets.
Off-season eats
The Rocking V Cafe
Kanab’s Center Street mainstay, the Rocking V. is a solid bet for a good meal and offers the gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options often missing on southern Utah menus. 97 W. Center St., Kanab, rockingvcafe.com, 435-644-8001
Off-season stay
Quail Park Lodge
This classic mid-century motor lodge has been upgraded into a campy mid-century modern boutique hotel. The rooms are retro chic, with big comfy beds and well-appointed bathrooms. Free breakfast is across the street at The Victorian Inn, which features an equally hip lobby filled with the owner’s collection of Dale Chihuly’s sculptural glass works. 125 N. 300 West, Kanab, quailparklodge.com, 435-215-1447
Arches – National Park
The most popular park in Utah lives up to its name, with a vast array of mind-boggling sandstone arches around every corner. The park is packed in summertime, mainly because of the easy hike to its show pony: Delicate Arch. But like every park in winter, it’s blissfully deserted come February. The park is near Moab, which provides an excellent base of operations for exploring Southeastern Utah.
photo credit venti views
The Big Hike
Double O Arch (via the Devil’s Garden Primitive Loop) — Distance: 7.2 miles
If you’ve bagged Delicate Arch, head to the back of the park and take the trip to Double O Arch. Along the way, you’ll see other marquee arches like Landscape, as well as the ominous Dark Angel tower. The hike will have you scrambling over slick rock fins back to the trail’s namesake arch. Instead of heading back the way you came, take the primitive loop back to the parking area. The trail marches you through Devil’s Garden, over even more slick rock obstacles and again with the stunning scenery.
Off-season Eats
Moab’s Winter Offerings
More than most park-adjacent towns in Southern Utah, Moab has more year-round offerings for the winter traveler. Find unexpected Southeast Asian fare at Arches Thai (archesthai.com) or Bangkok House Too (bangkokhousetoo.com). For meat and potatoes (with a view) try Sunset Grill (moabsunsetgrill.com). Finally, one of Moab’s best restaurants isn’t anything fancy but the family-owned El Tapatio (tapatiorestaurants.com) offers warm, comforting Mexican fare, perfect for warming up after a day of winter hiking.
Off-season Stay
Fairfield Inn
The Fairfield Inn on the edge of Moab is a clean, breakfast-included base with comfortable, business-class rooms. Predictable and easy, it was ideal after seven days on the road. 1863 N. Highway 191 Moab, marriott.com, 435-259-5350
It’s 50 degreesat the end of February and a light dust of snow drifts down from the churning grey-and-white sky. I begin the ascent to Cassidy Arch, clambering up the switch-backed trail out of Capitol Reef’s Grand Wash. I’m rewarded with the grand view of sandstone and snow all to myself.
Snow-filled tracks on the trail are evidence that other hardy souls are somewhere ahead, but for now, it’s just me on a trail of quiet and solitude. The slick rock is appropriately slick under the new snow, making my hike across the red-rock plateau above Cassidy Arch less hike, more scramble, but the slipping and sliding lend a comical exuberance to my exertions, which are blessedly unobserved—like a clown falling in the woods with no one else to see.
This is day four of a seven-day wintertime road trip through Utah’s five national parks and on every excursion, in every park, I am essentially by myself, only occasionally passing others on the trail, mostly foreign travelers who were somehow whispered the secret: Southern Utah’s mild winters make it the perfect time to tour the Mighty Five—Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks.
The global popularity of these parks has created a dependable summertime mob. At least once a summer, Arches National Park makes the news as crowds clamoring to get a glimpse of Delicate Arch shut down Utah Highway 191, just outside park gates near Moab. Even on the least busy warm-season days, the lines of cars cruising popular sections of each park fulfill Edward Abbey’s 1960s prescient lines from Desert Solitaire predicting the “serpentine streams of baroque automobiles pouring in and out, all through spring and summer, in numbers that would have seemed fantastic when I worked there…the ‘visitation,’ as they call it, mounts ever upward.”
Is this the great outdoors? Or a parking lot? Plus, it’s hot in all but the highest elevations, with temperatures hovering around 100 degrees for most of the summer season. But in February? The parks are yours. Open roads and open trails, comfortably cool daytime temperatures and blessed quiet offer a rare solitary view of the overly viewed vistas. Of course, there are some hurdles to wintertime adventures, like weather. Yes. I encountered rain and snow in all the parks, but apart from one blizzard in Bryce Canyon (the highest-elevation park at 8,000 to 9,000 feet on the rim), it was manageable with sensible clothing layers and an adventurous heart. Meanwhile, the moody weather’s layers of cloud, snow and sky invited rare reflection. The second obstacle to traveling in Southern Utah is a dearth of lodging and restaurants, a downside to solitude. But amid seasonal closures, I found a pleasant selection of year-round places to stay in each of the communities near the park areas and some surprisingly good eats along the way.
Photo Credit Hans Issacson
Bryce Canyon National Park
Home to some of the most stunning vistas in the national park system, Bryce is known for its abundant hoodoos. Rising out of the canyon floor like stalagmites, some are diminutive while others reach as high as 10-story buildings. The optimistically named Bryce Canyon City borders the park boundary. It is home to Ruby’s Inn, founded by Reuben C. Syrett, an intrepid pioneer who settled in the area in 1916 to ranch. When the park (first a national monument) was founded in the ’20s, Reuben, or Ruby, was poised to capitalize on the influx of visitors that continues to grow each year.
The Big Hike
Fairyland Loop Distance: 8 miles
This hike down into Bryce Canyon offers the park’s most spectacular display of its hoodoos. It’s also a good workout. You’ll hike down and back out of the canyon through the magical Fairyland, a maze-like trail at the base of the towering hoodoos. Tip: Do this loop clockwise, and get the least-charming canyon rim section out of the way first instead of at the end of the long hike.
Off-season Eats
Foster’s Family Steak House
This wooden-walled diner is one of the few year-round dining spots outside of the Ruby’s Inn enclave and it’s worth the short drive. Outside the kale-and-quinoa zone, expect the wilted salad bar (with “both” kinds of dressing, ranch and Thousand Island). But it’s hearty meat-and-potatoes fare, with simply prepared steaks and meatloaf and pies baked each day. 1150 Highway 12, Bryce City, fostersmotel.com, 435-834-5227
Off-season Stay
Ruby’s Inn
Ruby’s Inn is pretty much all you’ve got for lodging—even the park’s rustic lodge is closed. The hotelier has two lodges on either side of the main drag and is home to one of the only liquor stores in the area. The rooms are clean and situated nicely at the edge of the park boundary. It owns much of the land adjacent to the park and offers a slew of wintertime activities on its property. 26 S. Main Street, Bryce Canyon, rubysinn.com, 435-834-5341
Zion National Park
Overcrowding in peak season made Zion National Park the first in-Utah park to move to a mandatory shuttle system. But in February the roads are empty and its two most popular hikes, The Narrows and Angel’s Landing, are blissfully free of the human traffic jams and bottlenecks endemic to the summer season. Zion is Utah’s lowest park in both elevation and latitude, so its weather tends to be fair year-round. You can expect rain but rarely snow. You’ll encounter cool temperatures, especially in sunless canyon bottoms like The Narrows. Springdale, located just below the park entrance, is for the most part open for business in the winter season, but restaurants and stores often limit their hours. The Cable Mountain Lodge has a helpful “what’s open” guide.
Photo Credit Adobe Stock
The Big Hikes
Angel’s Landing — Distance: 5.4 miles
This is a pre-lawyer hiking trail. It’s a butt-kicking climb to the very top of Zion Canyon, famously completed by a “chain route”—where the vertiginously narrow trail offers chain handholds as you crawl up tummy-turning sections with sheer drop-offs. Yes, people have fallen. No, they did not survive. Yet the trail remains open, perhaps because the payoff is so spectacular—a perch on Angel’s Landing with stunning views in every direction and a sense of fear-facing accomplishment. Do not do this hike in less-than clement weather.
The Narrows—Distance: 9.4 miles
The Narrows is a scramble up the Virgin River. You splash over and around river-rock bowling balls as towering rock walls close together as you ascend the canyon. In the summertime, people tackle The Narrows in sandals and shorts, but in February you’ll need some gear. Rent a dry suit from Zion Outfitters (zionoutfitter.com). The thick, rubbery suits keep the water out and you warm and dry inside. And although you’ll look like you belong on a Star Trek landing party, you’ll feel invincible wading through the chest-deep water near the top. The kit also comes with extra-grip water shoes and a giant wooden pole that makes your scrambling easier. The hike terminates at the backcountry boundary (permit required). And although you’re not hiking uphill, all the wading and clambering is tiring, so remember you’ll have to return the way you came. Consider turning back before you’re all gassed out.
Off-season Eats
Whiptail Grill
Whiptail Grill is a cute cantina in a converted gas station, serving creative takes on Mexican cuisine. 445 Zion Park Blvd., Springdale, whiptailgrillzion.com, 435-772-0283
Off-season Stay
Cable Mountain Lodge
Located right at the mouth of Zion Canyon, Cable Mountain Lodge is practically in the park. The lodge has standard hotel rooms as well as family-sized suites with kitchens and plenty of space. Bonus: The hot tub is open year-round. 147 Zion Park Blvd., Springdale, cablemountainlodge.com, 435-772-3366
Get the Gear
While wintertime in Southern Utah is much, much tamer than you imagine weatherwise (you’re not summiting Everest, you’re going on well-traveled hikes in national parks) you’ll still need to deal with cooler and widely fluctuating temperatures as well as intermittent rain and snow. The Boy Scouts have it right: Be prepared.
Hiking boots.
Your light trail hikers won’t cut it. You’ll want a breathable, waterproof boot with a sturdy, super-grippy Vibram sole.
Clawing your way up snowy and, at times, icy trails and across wet slick rock (which unlike dry slick rock is genuinely slick) can be tricky. Some nice sturdy, collapsible poles with a rubber tip will give you an extra place to put weight down while on slippery descents.
Wicking fabrics are a must; they’ll keep the moisture away from your skin as you sweat. After you stop moving you’ll cool down quickly and want to keep yourself as dry as possible.
You’ll need a waterproof (or at least resistant) pack with enough room to stash all your layers as conditions change. Size matters: Make sure you’ve got room for snacks, water, a beanie, gloves, an extra-mid layer and room to stash your outer layer if things heat up. Hiking in cold weather is about staying dry, so don’t be a hero. If you’re sweating a bunch, stop and peel a layer or two.
REI Co-op Trail 25 Pack – Women’s, $79.95, rei.com
Final Note—NO SNOWSHOES.
Too often touristas clomp around on packed-snow trails in snowshoes which are more of a hazard than a benefit. You will only need them if you are venturing well into the backcountry and off, off-trail in very snowy conditions. Basically, if you don’t know how to use snowshoes you probably aren’t going to be in a situation where you’d have to know—make sense?
Every resort in Utah has that one Run. It’s the name on the trail map that makes you wonder, “Can I?” Everyone knows someone who has tackled these runs and told the tale. But the truth is, skiing and snowboarding, for all the camaraderie on the lift, are individual sports. Once you drop in, you are on your own and no matter your level of competence, there is a personal relationship with each run you attempt, because, well no one else can ski for you. It’s up to you to know your limits and push them. These five iconic runs symbolize the aspiration behind the sport. They are the high bars that draw us to the mountain to ask, “Can I?” They respond with, “Well, can you?” This season only you can answer the question.
1. Ted’s Rock—Beaver Mountain Ski Resort
For longtime Beaver Mountain devotees, the area accessed by Marge’s Triple Lift is still “that new part” despite the fact that the “new” lift has been spinning since 2003. That’s the way it is up on Beaver Mountain; things don’t change (even when they do). And that’s what’s truly great about Beaver, it’s its own world where powder, untrammeled by crowds, lasts for days. There’s no better example of this than Ted’s Rock, a fast shot off of Marge’s Triple that is plenty of fun on a groomer day and otherworldly on a powder day. This mildly pitched intermediate run is the perfect trail for newcomers to powder skiing learning to get in the back seat and float.
The Cirque at Snowbird is one of the most sought-after and well-known sections of powder at Snowbird. Photo by Chris Pearson, Ski Utah.
2. The Cirque—Snowbird
On the first tram of the day at Snowbird, the conversation is all about The Cirque—five black- to double-black-diamond runs accessed from the Cirque Traverse below the tram station on Hidden Peak. Why all the fuss? Well, for starters, you can see the Cirque from the Tram and appraise its potential. Tram riders, especially those lucky enough to be aboard the first tram of the day, crowd the window as they cross into Peruvian Gulch, like kids looking at puppies in a pet store. It’s a wide bowl that drops into Peruvian, with multiple entry points that often offer the best powder shots of the day, if you can get there first, that is. Because of its visibility, it is also among the first tracked-out sections at the ’Bird, where the early bird gets the powder.
The Ski Utah Dawn Patrol rides the powder on Baldy Shoulder. Photo by Chris Pearson, Ski Utah.
3. Baldy Shoulder—Alta Ski Area
Alta skiers know that at this resort you have to earn your turns. The best runs are accessed by traverses into the wide open bowls, that are deliberately left untrammeled by the grooming crew. Baldy Shoulder, accessed by the Shoulder Traverse from the top of Collins Lift, below Alta’s highest peak, Mt. Baldy. The traverse cruises above the intermediate run, Ballroom, in case you chicken out and concludes with a boot pack up to the ridgeline where you’ll steel yourself for the drop into Baldy Shoulder, less of a run and more of an exercise improvisation.
Search for leftover powder stashes at Brighton Resort with the Ski Utah athlete team. Photo by Chris Pearson, Ski Utah.
4. Milly’s Bowl—Brighton Resort
This famous bowl is part of Brighton’s famous “sidecountry,” meaning out-of-bounds backcountry areas that can be accessed by lift, in this case, Milly’s Lift. To drop in, hike up the shoulder and don’t be lulled into complacency by the lift access. Once you exit the resort through the Brighton Gate, you are on your own. Brighton patrol will close the shoulder hike and the gate during high-risk avalanche conditions but otherwise know that you are not in Kansas anymore.
5. Stein’s Way—Deer Valley Ski Resort
Named after the man who brought skiing into the imagination of America, Stein Ericksen, there is no more quintessential Deer Valley run than Stein’s Way. A steeply pitched groomer from the top of Bald Mountain, this run is a leg burner that will test your ability to “ski like Stein.” But the big appeal of this iconic run is the view from atop Bald Mountain, which stretches out across the Heber Valley and remains in your sight with every turn on the ridge before you pass into the trees. Do it again via the Sultan Express lift.
On a sunny day at Deer Valley, the iconic run, Stein’s Way, is one you’ll want to lap over and over with for its speed and spectacular views. Photo by Chris Pearson, Ski Utah.
If You Dare… Baldy Chutes
While you’re collecting yourself to drop in, to Baldy Shoulder, it may occur to you that it is also possible to scale the heights of Mt. Baldy above. It’s occurred to many but is dared by the few. This is one of the toughest runs at Alta and thus one of the toughest runs in North America. Moreover, to access Baldy Chutes you’ll take the longest boot pack at Alta (from the top of Sugar Loaf Lift) via the EBT cat track, past the Snowbird gate, and, well, straight up the mountain to the peak. Baldy Chutes, you might want to know, is a wild series of five black diamond chutes at a white-knuckle 40-degree pitch that drops you into Ballroom. Buckle up!
The landscape of Utah’s canyons might be changing with transportation developments, learn what to expect here.
You can spend decadesdelving into the place you live and keep finding more. Utah’s national parks are well-trod turf for me. But I took a seven-day road trip to rediscover them—in winter. The otherworldly landscape of Southern Utah is transformed. Yes. It’s cold. Yes. It snows. Who thinks of hiking up the Virgin River in Zion National Park when it’s 50 degrees and the water’s edge is rimmed with ice? Well now, hopefully you will. Follow my trail with our detailed guide to winter in the national parks (“Explore the Mighty 5 in Winter”) With planning, decent gear, plenty of weather-dictated improvisation and a healthy dose of internal fortitude, you too can witness these wonders without the main drawback in warmer times of year, the crowds.
Oh, Right. Crowds. During peak seasons, the line to get into Arches spills out into the highway, and, up north, the highways become a parking lot nicknamed the “Red Snake.” It has become a universal lament. I don’t blame the many, many visitors drawn here from around the globe to experience our mountains and red cliffs—heck, I’m one of the folks spilling the tea. But it does become wearisome and it’s an easy kvetch.
It was with this in mind that we asked writer Tony Gill to tackle the thorny issue of transportation in the Wasatch (“Big Trouble in Little Cottonwood”). The gondola in Little Cottonwood Canyon appears to be moving forward, but the plan has plenty of detractors and has generated more than a lot of confusion. We all agree that winter traffic on Utah Highway 210 is untenable but is a Gondola the answer? We don’t know. But hopefully, our look at the history, the players and the uncertain future will give you some ammo for your next dinner-party debate.
It’s summer and it’s snowing outside of the Tower Movie Theater. There are bundled up couples wearing earmuffs and sipping hot chocolate at tables arranged in front of the theater. Two giant nutcrackers guard the Tower’s entrance and the marquee above reads “The Nutcracker, Dec. 1 to 24.” But don’t panic, not climate change at work. It’s just another Hallmark Channel Christmas movie being filmed in Utah.
Dozens of Christmas (or holiday adjacent) movies and counting have been filmed in Utah, many are low-budget affairs for the assembly line of films that air each season on Hallmark’s “The Countdown to Christmas.” But why Utah? State incentives for film and television production, homegrown crews, great locations and an easy jaunt from L.A. are a recipe for holiday cheer.
Filmed in Salt Lake City, this NBC Christmas special, starring James Stewart, became a household classic in Utah following its premiere on Dec. 21, 1980. Featuring the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the short tells the tale of an elderly widower who relies on his daydreams and faith to get through a lonely Christmas.
Better Off Dead (1985)
Starring John Cusack, this teen romantic comedy tells the story of high school student and avid-skier, Lane Myer, who is suicidal after his girlfriend breaks up with him just before Christmas. The ski scenes including the finale “K2 Race” against the film’s bad guy were filmed at Snowbird, Alta and Brighton Resorts.
The Housewives of the North Pole. Photo Courtesy of Peacock.
The Housewives of the North Pole (2021)
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum, Kyle Richards, and Breaking Bad actress, Betsy Brandt, star as a type-A duo who battle for the neighborhood title for Best Holiday House Decorations. The Housewives of the North Pole was filmed in locations around Salt Lake City and Ogden.
Good Luck Charlie, it’s Christmas! (2011)
Based on the popular Disney Channel original series, Good Luck Charlie, this festive film follows the Duncan family’s road trip. Idiocy strikes when a woman and her daughter get separated from their family during the holidays. The production filmed in Salt Lake City’s Gateway Mall, the Salt Palace Convention Center and in St. George.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
Who knew that one of the filming locations for the Grinch’s mountain top redoubt is right here in Utah? The film adaptation of the Dr. Seuss classic, directed by Ron Howard and starring Jim Carrey and Taylor Momsen, was filmed at Solitude Mountain Resort, where the powdery peaks provided the backdrop while mean old Mr. Grinch plots to ruin Christmas for all the Whos in Whoville.
Switched for Christmas, Photo Courtesy Hallmark.
Switched for Christmas (2017)
A Hallmark Channel regular until she left the network in 2021, Candace Cameron Bure filmed many films for Hallmark in Utah. Notably, Switched for Christmas, the story of twin sisters who swap lives until Christmas Day. In doing so, each woman gains a deeper perspective and appreciation of what she has. Filmed in downtown Salt Lake, Federal Heights and the Utah State Fair Park
Amtrak’s California Zephyr runs from Chicago to San Francisco with a stop in Salt Lake City, the eastbound train boards at “Oh-Dark-Thirty” (3:30 a.m.) which makes for a bleary, early morning at Salt Lake’s Central Station. Once on board, though, you can grab a nap as the train moves through Provo, Green River and Grand Junction, waking up in time to view the scenic stretch through Glenwood Canyon along the Colorado River before arriving at your destination: Glenwood Springs, Colo. Glenwood Springs is famous for its hot springs. Once a railroad and mining town, it became a destination for travelers to “take the waters.” Fittingly, the town’s center is the world’s largest hot springs pool, making Glenwood an ideal destination for a wintertime getaway. Enjoy this historic, walkable western town all decked out for the holiday season, with your choice of basecamp.
The Amtrak train station across the street from the Hotel Denver. Photo courtesy of Visit Glenwood.
1. The Hotel Denver
During the early 1900s, the train was the heartbeat of Glenwood Springs. The train brought supplies, workers and tourists into town, who needed a place to stay. The Hotel Denver has been hosting visitors since 1915 and the classic three-story retains its classic charm but has evolved into a chic, modern boutique hotel. Its location, steps away from the train station, makes it an ideal base for exploring the town.
2. The Hotel Colorado
The Hotel was built in 1893 by Walter Devereux, a silver baron and one of the early settlers who saw the potential of the town’s main attraction, the hot springs. Devereux sought to attract the wealthy and elite to this grande dame of a hotel, which is a real name-dropper of a hotel. Its registries have logged many famous guests, notably President Theodore Roosevelt who visited the area on his many hunting excursions and would decamp to the Hotel, which would become a temporary White House during his stays. During the holidays, the Colorado is all decked out, with twinkling lights and a lobby stuffed with a menagerie of Christmas displays. Also, there are ghosts.
Exterior of the Hotel Colorado’s Holiday decor. Photo courtesy of Visit GlenwoodSpa of the Rockies at Glenwood Hot Springs Pool, Glenwood Springs, Colo.
3. Glenwood Hot Springs Pool
Glenwood’s therapeutic spring waters—called Yampah, or literally “Big Medicine,” by Ute Native Americans—have been bubbling up from the earth’s core for millions of years. The Utes were the first known visitors to the mineral-rich hot springs that flowed along the banks of the Colorado River in Glenwood Canyon. Devereux bought the land around the natural springs and harnessed the 3.5 million gallons of naturally hot mineral water that rises from the source of the spring each day. The pool dominates the town’s center and is filled with soakers, basking in the warm water. You should be one.
4. Iron Mountain Hot Springs
The newest iteration of a hot springs destination that dates back to 1896, Iron Mountain is located on the banks of the Colorado River. Designed in the Scandinavian way, Iron Mountain has 16 pools dotting the site which range in temperatures from 98 to 108 degrees. Guests brave the winter chill between pools and hop around to find the perfect temperature. Iron Mountain also has an adults-only area and serves beer, wine and (in the winter) mulled wine.
Father and daughter tour Glenwood Caverns
5. Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park
Although coasters and more adventurous attractions at the park are closed in winter, the park’s main attraction, the Glenwood Caverns, remains open for tours. Descend into a subterranean world guided by a young enthusiastic collection of tour guides who point out geology, unique formations and share the cave’s history.
Getting There
Glenwood Springs is about eight hours from Salt Lake City’s Central Station by train. And while it would certainly be faster to drive, what’s your hurry? The train ride is half the fun of a trip to Glenwood Springs, you can play games in the club car, relax in the observation deck and just enjoy the ride. amtrak.com
One Cool Thing: Doc Holliday’s Last Stand
John Henry Holliday (1851-1887), better known as Doc Holliday, was an American gambler, gunfighter and, oddly, a dentist. A close friend and associate of lawman Wyatt Earp, Holliday is best known for his role in the events leading up to and following the gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Ariz. Holliday was afflicted with tuberculosis and spent the few remaining years of his life in Glenwood Springs, where he hoped the healing waters would cure his ailment. He died of tuberculosis in his bed at the Hotel Glenwood, now the Hotel Denver, at age 36. One of the Hotel Denver’s eventual owners, Art Kendrick, got his start as a bellhop, where he recalls Doc Holliday as a “pretty good” tipper. His name is all over the town, including the Doc Holliday Saloon, filled with memorabilia dedicated to the famous gunslinger (and serving Rocky Mountain Oysters for the brave). You can also explore the Doc Holliday Collection, a small museum in the lower level of Bullock’s Western Store.
Teddy Roosevelt’s Failed Bear Hunt
Long before Barbie, there was the beloved childhood toy, the Teddy Bear, named after President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt. The Hotel Colorado claims to be the “real” origin of the iconic stuffed bear. Although other accounts attribute its creation to a penny candy store owner in New York, there’s a large display in the hotel lobby dedicated to an apocryphal story. The president, despondent after an unsuccessful bear hunt, was cheered when the hotel staff presented him with a stuffed bear. True or not, it’s one of the many historical artifacts and displays located throughout the hotel, including limited bookings for the Roosevelt Suite, where the president would conduct business during his stays.
While you were sleeping, Christmas came early and S&S Presents has revealed its once-again jaw-dropping 2024 Kilby Block Party Lineup. What started as a literal block party outside of Kilby Court has grown into a three-day, dare we say, palooza, with national appeal. The 2024 Kilby Block Party lineup’s main dopamine hits include LCD Soundsystem (the on-again-off-again dance music juggernaut), Postal Service, Vampire Weekend and Wu-Tang Clan. At this point, other power bands on the lineup like Death Cab for Cutie, Dinosaur Jr. and Courtney Barnett seem meh, no big deal—which makes the whole thing a really big deal. The full scope of the 2024 lineup is below.
Last year, the increasingly inaccurately misnamed Kilby Block Party was the first at the expanded space of the Utah State Fairgrounds. Although we Salt Lakers can’t abide change, the fairground location turned out to be a fantastic idea with plenty of room to roam, massive stages and lots of shady spaces to take a break from the constant onslaught of music. (Although we will not say the increase in beverage prices was a welcome addition.) The 2023 Kilby Block Party’s closing night has gone down in Salt Lake Concert Lore after the mid-set Pixies and their adoring crowd were chased away by a massive show of lightning and thunder. The die-hards, however, waited it out in various fairground barns and were rewarded with a (pardon the pun) thundering set by Pavement. Check our gallery of images from Day Three.
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2024 Headliners (as above)
LCD Soundystem
The Postal Service
Vampire Weekend
2024 Kilby Block Party (equally impressive cast of “supporting” acts)
Wu-Tang Clan
Death Cab for Cutie (performing Transatlanticism)
Interpol
Jai Paul
Joanna Newsom
Belle and Sebastian
100 gecs
Dayglow
Courtney Barnett
TV Girl
Alvvays
Dinosaur Jr.
2024 Kilby Block Party (The Rest)
And, on the interstitial and side stages, comes a word salad of bands that surely someone has heard of: Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Guided By Voices, Current Joys, Peach Pit, The Garden, Yves Tumor, Panchiko, Beach Fossils, Cautious Clay, Bombay Bicycle Club, Ty Segall, Pond, Yoke Lore, Yellow Days, Ginger Root, Andy Shauf, Slow Pulp, Petey, CSS, Ekkstacy, Yot Club, Krooked Kings, Choir Boy, Luna Li, Hemlocke Springs, Lomelda, Blondshell, Odie Leigh, Royel Otis, Abby Sage, Horse Jumper Of Love, Malcolm Todd, Fazerdaze, Model/Actriz, Arcy Drive, Annie DiRusso, TAGABOW, Water From Your Eyes, Joanna Sternberg, Kara Jackson, Gustaf, Hana Vu, 26fix, Little Moon, Blue Rain Boots, Sculpture Club, Nicole Canaan, Daytime Lover, Drusky, Body Of Leaves, Boyfriend Sushi Town, Persona 749 and….. (WHEW!) Bobo.
2023 Kilby Block Party Coverage from Salt Lake Magazine
The LDS Conference Center was built in 2000, primarily to host the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ semiannual congregations of the faithful (called simply General Conferences). But it also sets the stage for many other musical and performance events—namely the Tabernacle Choir’s Christmas Concert. An engineering marvel with insanely fastidious acoustics, the 1.4-million-square-foot center seats 21,000 people and is large enough that it could fit a Boeing 747 in the main auditorium. Moreover, it was designed so that the view from every one of the 21,000 seats in the house is unobstructed by support pillars. And engineering milagro!
The LDS Conference Center is also home to the famous Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, formerly known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, which was mind-bogglingly renamed in 2018. (Why would The Church give up such a household name? It’s Elvis Presley changing his name to “The Singer at the Las Vegas Hilton.” But whatever.) The Choir’s former internationally recognized name came from the Church’s original Temple Square gathering space, the Tabernacle, which the much larger Conference Center was built to replace. (Locals cheekily call the Conference Center “the SUPER-nacle.”)
Bell ringers accompany the Choir during the annual Christmas Concert. Photo courtesy of the LDS church.
The original Tabernacle still is a functioning concert hall and an interesting piece of frontier architecture. Its builders designed an amazingly acoustically sound hall. If you take the tour, the tour guides will demonstrate the acoustics by dropping a pin from the dais that you can hear at the back of the hall. Another interesting note: the pillars that support the upper mezzanine in the Tabernacle are made of wood, but the designers, seeking old-world grandeur—which, in the new world that Utah was in, was anything “from back east”—meticulously painted the wooden columns to look like striated marble. Sections of the Choir and other smaller choruses still practice and perform in the Old Tabernacle.
How Super? The numbers.
1,200 lights illuminate the stage.
38 horsepower of wind drives the Conference Center’s organ.
50,000 miles of electrical wire power the building, enough to circle the Earth twice.
8.4 on the Richter scale would not be enough of an Earthquake to topple the building.
620 tons of fabricated steel hold up the roof without the aid of support columns.
