What's One Word for "Skiing and Snowboarding"?

Come up with one and win great prizes and some notoriety.

Is there one word out there that describes both skiing and snowboarding? The industry is lazy looking for an alternative to the three-word, 21-letter standard. In an effort to coin this new term, Ski Utah and Winter at Westminster, a ski season exchange program at Salt Lake City's Westminster College, have teamed with The Addictionary, an online dictionary of made up "werds", for the 2008 Ski/Snowboard Lingo Contest.

There are two goals and two chances to win: to add to the general glossary of skier and snowboarder lingo and name the best new werd for 2008, and to come up with that one werd - the mighty catch-all, the great equalizer, the big peacemaker - that describes both skiing and snowboarding in one fell swoop. There will be one winner in each category.

The Ski/Snowboard Lingo contest runs from February 4 to March 4, 2008. The winners will be chosen by a panel of celebrity judges, including: Annie Fast, Executive Editor of Transworld Snowboarding magazine; Derek Taylor, Editor of Powder magazine; Nathan Rafferty, Ski Utah President; Kendall Card, "powstash"; Kristen Ulmer, professional skier; and Julian Carr, professional skier.

The prize for the best new werd for "skiing and snowboarding" is a Spring Ski Trip to Utah for two in April '08, sponsored by Ski Utah and participating Utah resorts. The prize for the best new general ski/snowboard werd will be two day passes at The Canyons Resort in Park City, and 10 T-shirts featuring their winning word.

"For years people have had to classify 'skiing and snowboarding' as two separate words," said Rafferty. "We hope this contest might help us find one single word which describes both of these great downhill snow sliding sports."

For more information or to enter the contest, visit www.addictionary.org/Browse/ContestWords/19

Fifth Annual Backcountry Awareness Week is Feb. 4-10, 2008

Snowbird, Utah – Utah’s unparalleled avalanche education and awareness program continues this winter with the Fifth Annual Backcountry Awareness Week Feb. 4-10, 2008. The event features snow safety clinics, on-snow demonstrations, avalanche transceiver drills and an evening fund-raiser featuring New York Times bestselling author David Oliver Relin.

Three Backcountry Awareness Week clinics will be held at Snowbird Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 9-10. A snow safety clinic with Exum Utah’s Tyson Bradley will be offered from 9-11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, and will include an all-day Tram ticket and lunch for $59. From 1-3 p.m. Saturday Eric Murakami of Backcountry Access will lead a free advanced beacon course. Wasatch Backcountry Rescue President Dean Cardinale will conduct a hasty search clinic from 9-11 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 10, that will include an all-day Tram ticket and lunch for $59.

David Oliver Relin, author of the runaway New York Times bestseller “Three Cups of Tea,” is the keynote speaker at the fund-raising evening Friday, Feb. 8. Relin will present his experiences writing and reporting the book, show slides from his travels to the Karakoram Himalaya and discuss the work of Greg Mortenson with the Central Asia Institute and the current crisis in Pakistan.

In addition to Relin’s presentation, the fund-raising evening includes dinner, drinks, a book signing and a silent auction. The benefit dinner will take place in the Cliff Lodge Ballroom from 5:30-9 p.m. A ticket to the event is $75 and tables of eight are available for $700. Exclusive front-row seating is available for $250 per ticket and $1,600 per table. For reservations call (801) 933-2147.

For further information, visit www.snowbirdrc.org. To register for Backcountry Awareness Week clinics or the evening fund-raiser, contact Snowbird’s Activity Center at (801) 933-2147.

New digital map shows landslide hazards in Utah

An article in the Tribune alerted me to this new map from the Utah Geological Survey that shows areas where landslide hazards may exist throughout Utah.

UGS is charging $19.95 for the map, which is available at the Natural Resources Map & Bookstore, 1594 West North Temple, Salt Lake City (801-537-3320 or 1-888-UTAHMAP; geostore@utah.gov). The map can also be viewed on the UGS Web site at http://geology.utah.gov/online/m/m-228.pdf.

National Geographic Channel Comes to Utah

Beginning Friday at 7, the cable channel will air a three-part series, called "Dogtown", profiling the efforts of southern Utah's Best Friends Animal Society to rescue seemingly hopeless dogs, giving them the medical attention they require and putting them up for adoption as pets. SLTrib.com has the story.

Help Us Make Utah Number 44

Currently, 43 states have felony provisions in place for those who intentionally abuse animals. Our goal is to make Utah the 44th state.

The current law in Utah carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $2500.00 fine for torturing an animal. Help us substantially increase these penalties.

This is an outrage--cruelty is cruelty, whether it is directed to an animal or a human! Animals are family members, no different (in a lot of people's eyes) than a human family member. A simple slap on the wrist (or turning your head all together) when someone is cruel to an animal is the same as saying this cruelty is OK. It is NOT.

Sign the petition at HelpUsHelpThem.org

New Victories for Utah Backcountry

Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) has scored another victory in getting the Book Cliffs / Desolation Canyon area designated as untouchable by the greedy hand of developers and oil companies.

The article says "Over the past six years, the Bush administration has shown little regard for protecting Utah’s most spectacular public lands from the heavy hand of oil and gas development, and we’re expecting things to only get worse as time runs out on this terrible legacy of public lands mismanagement. "

But because of the efforts of SUWA and the support of people like you, we have received three favorable decisions on the oil & gas front, and have been able to push back on the administration’s drive to “drill it all.”

Read the rest of the story and voice your opinion.

Skiing should not be dangerous, says a Utah court

According to an Associated Press story, "Skiers assume the potential for injury when they try to navigate a steep mountainside, but not all risks are inherent, the Utah Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, clearing the way for a lawsuit against [Snowbird Ski] resort...William Rothstein suffered severe internal injuries when he skied into a wall at Snowbird in February 2003. He sued and claimed the resort was negligent."

Let's all just forget about taking responsibility for anything we do, and when things go wrong, find someone to sue. Hey, it's the thing to do these days, and it is easy, and there will always be a lawyer out there that can help you get a lot of money for an injury that results from your own carelessness, or lack of skill, or not being properly prepared, or whatever...

This reminds me of the lawsuit brought against Zion National Park when a Boy Scout outing went bad and several of the participants ended up dying. (I can't find that one online--I think it was sometimes in the mid-90s-- but what a surprise, here is another one.)

Wake up people! Skiing has risks, and so does hiking, climbing, biking, whatever you do for fun in the outdoors. If you are not prepared to take responsibility for taking those risks, STAY HOME. Don't engage in lawsuits like these that could ruin the sports for the rest of us.