Locals-Only Lift Ticket Benefits Utah Avalanche Center

(Salt Lake City, UT) – The Utah Avalanche Center (UAC), providing critical avalanche and mountain weather information since 1980, announces that its 2008-9 “locals-only” lift ticket program raised funds to help meet 2009 budget shortfalls. Thanks to partners Ski Utah, Backcountry.com and eleven Utah ski resorts, the “locals only” lift ticket program offered discounted rates and sold out for the season.

Responding to a “call-to-action” from the Friends of Utah Avalanche Center (FUAC) earlier this season, Backcountry.com created an online “storefront” for direct ticket purchase only accessible through UAC’s homepage. In addition, Backcountry.com provided funds, facilities and staff necessary to process and mail out all lift ticket orders.

The discounted ski pass program provides locals with a single day adult lift ticket to specified Utah resorts ranging in price from $20 to $73, depending on the venue. The participating resorts from Ski Utah donated these lift tickets in their entirety – 100% of the proceeds went to the UAC. This program wouldn’t have been nearly as successful without the generosity of the following resorts: Alta Ski Area, Beaver Mountain, Brighton Resort, The Canyons, Deer Valley Resort, Park City Mountain Resort, Powder Mountain, Snowbasin, Solitude Mountain Resort, Sundance Resort and Wolf Mountain.

“The skiers and riders of the Wasatch Range truly take ownership in the Utah Avalanche Center when they support this initiative,” says Craig Gordon, the UAC’s sole avalanche forecaster for the western Uinta Mountains. “It is their generosity and community-mindedness which allow us to enjoy and explore the Wasatch Range in a much more informed way.”

With the end of ski season approaching, the lift ticket initiative has exceeded all of the organizers expectations generating approximately $38,000 in revenues. These funds will enable the UAC to continue its avalanche forecasting through the end of April, educational programs, local outreach and the Salt Lake based “Are You Beeping” interpretive sign program. For more information on the Utah Avalanche Center, visit: www.utahavalanchecenter.org.