Photo by Bruce Tremper - Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center

One snowboarder was trapped under the cascade of snow for an hour before he was rescued and flown to the University of Utah Medical Center. Summit County Sheriff’s office confirmed that 24-year old Timothy Robert Baker passed away not long after arriving at the hospital in extremely critical condition. There is no word if anyone else was involved.

Experts say this avalanche occurrence was unsurprising since the avalanche danger was ranked at a 4–or High Danger–making the backcountry a dangerous place to be.

Avalanche high danger warnings are still in place for the Wasatch Front and the Uintah Basin, so it may be wise to avoid the backcountry or going out of bounds at ski resorts for the time being. Make sure to check the Utah Avalanche Center website for avalanche advisories.

Take heed of any warnings before venturing out into the backcountry–that’s where avalanches are more likely to occur.

While Utah is touted for having some of the best snow, some ski resorts in the state have something else to be proud of–their restaurants!

Skiing Magazine went out to all the different ski resort restaurants in the U.S. and came up with a list of the top 10 best “ski-resort cafeterias”. Three of Utah’s resorts made the cut, with one of them evening earning the top spot! Can you guess which one won?

Image property of Canyons Resort

Coming in at number seven was The Canyons Pine Red Lodge in Park City, noted for its gourmet pizzas, made-to-order burgers and a hefty selection at a meat carving station.

The Earl Lodge at Snowbasin ranked even higher, snagging third place. Skiing Magazine applauded its wood-fired pizza oven, baked potato and Asian noodle stations.

The number one ski resort cafeteria? Deer Valley’s Snow Park Restaurant in Park City!

Though a little bit more pricey than average, everything about Deer Valley is luxury, including what is on their menu. Snow Park Restaurant serves up scrumptious breakfasts, lunches, afternoon snacks and dinners to-go (which must be picked up by 4:30). Snow Park Restaurant is said to have some of the best made-to-order breakfasts. Those on a budget should opt for the signature chili that comes with all you can eat bread.

Other ski resort restaurants that made the list include Whitewater Fresh Tracks Cafe in British Columbia, Winter Parks Moffat Market in Colorado, Stowe’s Great Room Grill in Vermont, Vail’s Two Elk Lodge in Colorado, Jackson Hole’s Casper Restaurant in Wyoming, Northstar’s Summit Deck and Grill in California, and of course, Sun Valley’s Seattle Ridge Day Lodge in Idaho.

So what do you think of the top 10 ski resort restaurants? Have you tried any them? If so, which one(s) and what’s your favorite thing to order?

It’s important to note that everything happens slower on snowy or icy roads. Stopping, speeding up, turning, you name it–they will all take a little longer to maneuver with your vehicle. Be sure to give yourself that extra time so you can drive safely.

Let’s start with things to do before hitting the road.

1. Don’t warm up your vehicle in an enclosed space, like your garage. That will concentrate harsh fumes that are harmful to your health.

2. Check that your tires are properly inflated. Cold weather can release some of the pressure in tires.

3. Keep your gas tank no less than half full to prevent gas line freezing.

4. Are you fatigued or sleepy? Have you been drinking or doing drugs? Step away from the wheel and let someone else drive. Being able to make smart and quick judgements and decisions is important.

5. Don’t forget to buckle that seat belt. Safety should always come first.

Now that you’ve checked off those points, we can move onto how to drive in the snow.

6. Accelerate and decelerate slowly. Both applying gas and the breaks should be gradual, not abrupt to prevent slipping or losing control.

7. If you can help it, try to not stop. Slow down to a roll before a light changes to green. It will be easier to keep control rather than having to completely stop then have to get moving again.

8. The safe following distance to the car in front of you should be eight to 10 seconds rather than the usual three to four on dry ground. This will provide the proper distance/time for you to stop when roads are slick.

9. Don’t power it up a hill–instead, get some inertia going before taking on that climb. Once on the rise, don’t stop if you can help it.

10. Avoid using cruise control on potentially slick surfaces.

But the easiest way to stay safe when winter weather makes the roads tough to drive? Stay home if possible.

Be safe out there!

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Information from AAA Exchange.

Movies in the Banff Mountain Film Festival involve skiing, snowboarding, kayaking, hiking, mountain biking and outdoor adventures–all of which can be done in Utah. It’s only natural that this tour would come here!

The best of the Banff films will be shown at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus. Showtime starts at 7 p.m. from Feb. 21 – 23.

Kingsbury Hall will be featuring a couple to a few films per night, including All.I.Can: The Short Cut, C.A.R.C.A, Chasing Water, Cold, The Freedom Chair, Hanuman Airlines, The Man and the Mammoth, the Reel Rock series, the Seasons series and a couple others.

From the film All.I.Can: The Short Cut

For details on when each film will be shown, you can call Kingsbury Hall at 801-581-7100. Tickets are available by calling that same number or you can also purchase them on their website. Tickets are $9 but there is a discount for students. Free parking will be available at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

The next stop on the Banff Mountain Film Festival world tour will be in Moab on March 12.

Visit the Banff World Tour website for more details on the tour and the films.

Did you know that Presidents’ Day was originally celebrated as George Washington’s birthday?

Not only that, but it wasn’t even considered a holiday in the 17th century. During Washington’s lifetime, it was celebrated as his birthday which was actually on February 22. It wasn’t until 1885–long after his run as president–when it became an official holiday. Now it’s celebrated on the third Monday of every February.

Washington is the only president whose birthday is a federal holiday. However, Abraham Lincoln’s birthday (Feb. 12) is usually celebrated in conjunction with Presidents’ Day even though it was never a designated federal holiday.

With some people even today, it is tradition to celebrate Presidents’ Day with some kind of dessert containing cherries or just cherries alone. Remember that Washington wouldn’t tell a lie to his father if he cut down a cherry tree or not? That’s what that little tradition stemmed from.

Presidents’ Day is used a government holiday, giving most government workers, banks and mail carriers a break for a day. Not all businesses offer it as a day off. Maybe one day that will change, but who knows?

The World’s Premier Figure Skating Tour, Stars on Ice, makes a stop in Salt Lake City on Saturday at the EnergySolutions Arena. The show will begin at 7 p.m.

2002 Winter Olympic gold medalist partners Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, American gold medalist Sarah Hughes and Todd Eldredge are just a fraction of award-winning ice skaters in the lineup.

The program will include highlights from the 2002 Winter Olympics as a tribute. Plenty of new routines will also be featured.

You can get tickets for $20-$125. They are available at the box office, all Smith’s Tix locations, by phone 801-355-7328 or at smithstix.com.

A taste of City Creek that was unveiled on Wednesday–the opening of Harmons. “If you could have a palatial grocery store, this would be it,” said Marty Carpenter, the Director of Communications for the Salt Lake Chamber who stopped in for the Mountain Morning Show Thursday morning. The two-story Harmons is paving the way for grocery stores to become a one-stop shop as it has a 1,000 foot dining area and even a section for cooking classes.

Not only will City Creek be hosting over 80 retailers including Nordstrom and Macy’s but there will be plenty of dining options, office spaces and residential living in its 23 acres. Let’s just say that City Creek will bring a large curious crowd and is expected give a good boost to the city’s economy.

There is concern by some that the closure and re-opening of Gateway stores into City Creek will create hardship for the outdoor mall that was created in time for the 2002 Winter Olympics. That remains to be seen, but Gateway spokespeople still say that any business downtown is good–that the more people there are, the better business will be overall, no matter if they are shopping at City Creek or Gateway.

Here is some footage PCTV shot of City Creek last fall.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a3_xHcvp-M]

What are you most looking forward to with the addition of City Creek to Downtown SLC?

The Kimball Arts Center is a 35-year old nonprofit community art center that is free to the public to enjoy. Art classes are offered for both children and adults and educational outreach programs are continually expanding. The Transformation Project for the Kimball Arts Center was created in mind to help extend the educational outreach and also enhance the quality and scale of exhibitions.

The Transformation Project for the Kimball Arts Center came to a conclusion last week, selecting the proposal of the BIG / Bjarke Ingels Group out of five. The Danish architect is well-known for his eco-friendly designs that incorporate a touch of playfulness.

Taking inspiration from the Silver King Coalition Mine Building, the tallest wooden structure in Park City built in 1901, Ingels designed the New Kimball Arts Center as an 80-foot tower stacked with former wooden railroad planks with a slight spiral to give a bit of an optical illusion. Ingels won the jury over with his design because the 1901 building burned down a couple decades ago; it’s presence has been missed in the Park City skyline. He captured just enough of the old Park City spirit to seal the deal.

The $10 million expansion plan includes a renovation of the existing building with an adjacent structure that will feature a restaurant on the lobby floor, larger white-cube exhibits, a sunken theatre for dance and other art performances, a grassy roof terrace hosting a sculpture garden, and a winding wooden staircase that leads to the different levels.

Here is what the restaurant floor would look like–you can click on the picture to see a larger version.

Construction of the new Kimball Arts Center is expected to begin the spring of 2013 and finish in 2015. It will be built on the corner of Park Avenue and Heber Avenue.

To see the complete proposal, visit the KimballArtCenter.org website.

There will be an open house about the proposal at the Kimball Arts Center on Thursday, Feb. 16, from 3 p.m. and 6 p.m

What do you think of the new design? Do you think it will help the Kimball Arts Center become a cultural icon in the Western U.S.?

Souffles are often seen as being tough to make. However, you can have a little piece of chocolatey goodness in less than an hour! Plus, your special someone may not even tell that it was “so easy” to make.

Here’s what you need to make 2 servings of So-Easy Chocolate Souffles (recipe from EatingWell.com).

Ingredients
3 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
2 1/2 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 large egg, separated, plus 2 large egg whites
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)
Equipment: Two 10-ounce ramekins

Now to achieve the good stuff, there are some necessary steps in putting all of these together. Let’s get started!

1. Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 375°F. Lightly coat two 10-ounce ramekins with cooking spray; coat the insides of each with 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar.

2. Place chocolate in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on Medium, stirring every 20 seconds, until melted, 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Whisk egg yolk and cream in a medium bowl until combined. Whisk in the chocolate until smooth, then whisk in flour and cinnamon until incorporated.

4. Beat egg whites and salt in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Beat in the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in four additions, until stiff, glossy peaks form.

5. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold half the beaten whites into the chocolate mixture until fairly smooth; then gently fold this combined mixture back into the remaining egg whites until no white streaks remain. Divide between the prepared ramekins and place on a baking sheet. Bake until puffed and firm to the touch, 18 to 22 minutes. Dust with confectioners’ sugar, if desired. Serve immediately.

Now you have the goods to make your special someone something delicious!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Here are the Toyota Championship top five results from the Winter Dew Tour. To see the complete results, visit the Winter Dew tour website.

Men Snowboard Superpipe
1 – Louie Vito 98.00
2 – Iouri Podladtchikov 97.00
3 – Spencer Shaw 90.00
4 – Trevor Jacob 88.00
5 – Zachary Black 86.00

Women Snowboard Superpipe
1 – Kelly Clark 95.00
2 – Gretchen Bleiler 94.25
3 – Xuetong Cai 89.75
4 – Sophie Rodriguez 77.00
5 – Sarah Conrad 68.50

Men Snowboard Slopestyle
1 – Sebastien Toutant 94.50
2 – Dash Kamp 83.50
3 – Spencer Link 77.75
4 – Jake Aaronson 70.50
5 – Gjermund Braaten 69.75

Women Snowboard Slopestyle
1 – Spencer O’Brien 94.50
2 – Enni Rukajärvi 86.50
3 – Joanna Dzierzawski 80.25
4 – Julianne Brackett 73.75
5 – Nicki Slechta 67.50

Men Ski Superpipe
1 – David Wise 94.50
2 – Kevin Rolland 93.00
3 – Torin Yater-Wallace 92.75
4 – Simon Dumont 91.75
5 – Thomas Krief 90.75

Women Ski Superpipe
1 – Devin Logan 90.00
2 – Rosalind Groenewoud 82.50
3 – Maddie Bowman 80.00
4 – Anais Caradeux 70.00
5 – Ayana Onozuka 67.25

Men Ski Slopestyle
1 – Nick Goepper 95.00
2 – Tom Wallisch 92.25
3 – Bobby Brown 91.00
4 – Chris Laker 90.25
5 – Russ Henshaw 89.50

Women Ski Slopestyle
1 – Kaya Turski 93.75
2 – Anna Segal 90.75
3 – Devin Logan 89.00
4 – Emilia Wint 82.00
5 – Keri Herman 77.00

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As for the Sprint U.S. Snowboarding & Freeskiing Grand Prix results, the top four in each event are as follows.

Women Skicross
1 – Marielle Thompson 360.00
2 – Langely McNeal 288.00
3 – Katrin Mueller 216.00
4 – Whitney Gardner 180.00

Men Skicross
1 – Christopher Delbosco 650.00
2 – Brady Leman 520.00
3 – Armin Neiderer 390.00
4 – Stanislas Rey 325.00

Women Snowboardcross
1 – Dominique Maltais 500.00
2 – Faye Gulini 400.00
3 – Maria Ramberger 300.00
4 – Alexandra Jekova 250.00

Men Snowboardcross
1 – Markus Schairer 500.00
2 – Alessandro Haemmerle 400.00
3 – Jarryd Hughes 300.00
4 – Nate Holland 250.00

To see the complete SBX/SX results, visit the U.S. Snowboarding website.