Every ski resort has its unique personality and charm, something we’ve come to appreciate through our experiences at different locations. From the laid-back, family-friendly vibes of Steamboat, known as “America’s Ski Town,” to the simple luxury and high-end skiing at Beaver Creek, complete with heated walkways and fresh cookies served every day at 3 PM, we thought we had seen it all. However, nothing quite prepared us for the rugged, unspoiled beauty of a hardcore ski mountain like Snowbird, Utah.
At Snowbird, no one exemplifies the place more than Junior Bounous. Junior is one of the most adventurous, spirited, and dedicated figures in the skiing world. He planned the original slopes on the mountain and was its first director of skiing. He’s now 98 and we saw him skiing every day. He was the first person to ski the pipeline, one of the hardest runs on the mountain, and did it again when he was 80. Junior’s legacy is a constant reminder that Snowbird is more than just a ski resort; it’s a place where the limits of skiing are tested and expanded at any age.
Snowbird, nestled in Utah’s Little Cottonwood Canyon, boasts a rich history that predates its establishment as a ski resort. Originally, the area served as a mining zone during the 19th century, with miners in pursuit of precious metals like silver. In 1971, Ted Johnson, who worked at the neighboring ski area Alta, bought all of the mining rights to the neighboring property. He partnered with Dick Bass, a Texas oilman and mountaineering enthusiast to make his dream a reality.
The trails at Snowbird are as much a part of its history as the resort itself. Many of the trail names pay homage to the area’s mining past, offering a nod to the adventurous spirits who once roamed these mountains. There’s Black Jack and Regulator Johnson which were local minds. There’s also Big Emma which is named either after a large silver mine or a madame at a local brothel. Others were named after the founders like Bass Highway and Bassackwards. The founders also held a naming party before the mountain was opened which added some other trail names like Bananas, Tiger Tale, and Harper’s Ferry.
My favorite trail named is Fluffy Bunny, a black diamond catwalk. In his stand up act, David Spade joked about how all the easy trails have names like pop tart. Not this one. Everyone has a story about Fluffy Bunny which starts, “You know, it used to be called Death Road, and then something happened.” I think my favorite is, “You know, it used to be called Death Road. And then someone from the tourism board said, ‘You’re scaring away all the tourists. You have to call it something else.’ And the guy at the mountain said, ‘What should we call it.’ ‘I don’t know,’ the tourism guy said, ‘Fluffy Bunny?’
Though when I look up previous trail maps of Snowbird, I can’t find a reference to the trail Death Road. Fluffy Bunny makes its first appearance in the 2014 map. However, there’s a bit of a twist. In the lawsuit ROTHSTEIN v. SNOWBIRD, from 2007, William Rothstein sues Snowbird for injuries sustained on Fluffy Bunny. So, the name existed before 2014 and might have been called Death Road before then. But the story has all of the hallmarks of a local tall tale.
Another unique thing about Snowbird is the amount of snow it gets each year. At 500″ it’s at the top of the North American list. However, this large amount of snow leads to some interesting problems. The nine miles of Little Cottonwood’s Highway 210, the main road to the mountain, is threatened by 65 different avalanche paths. Even 80% of the town’s structures are situated within avalanche run out areas.
Due to all of these possible avalanches, the town of Alta, which includes Snowbird, has instituted a policy of Interlodge. When Interlodge is enforced, everyone must stay inside a building while avalanche prevention takes place. This often includes triggering controlled avalanches to reduce the risk of natural ones occurring unexpectedly. During our stay, there was an Interlodge between 1AM and 8:30AM one night, closing the main road to town. There’s a short movie about the longest Interlodge to date, a 60 hour one in 2021.
To me, Snowbird is about the purity of the skiing experience. The legacy of Junior Bounous, combined with the resort’s storied past and the communal respect demanded by the natural environment, illustrates the deep bond between the mountain and those who ski its trails. The mountain is filled with a living and storied history of the love of the sport. Snowbird is a reminder that skiing is about more than just the snow; it’s about the stories, challenges, and the community that flourishes within these mountains.
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