Magazine Project

1. Wasatch Memory
BRIANA PERRY

2.  The Wasatch
mountains are where
I go to find my
peace and quiet, my
adventure, my
happy place.

3. About two years ago I started ski touring almost every morning for sunrise,
which ended up becoming an addiction. There is nothing like it, not a soul
in sight, the sun rising over the snowy peaks, and I had all of the snow to
myself!

4.  On one morning in
particular, I met one of my
friends at the bottom of
Little Cottonwood Canyon
at 4 AM, and we drove up
to our trailhead. We got all
of our gear ready, and by
4:30, in negative 14
degrees, we started skinning
up the mountain. It was
really dark and quiet, and
we were the only people for
miles around. We hiked up
in silence, just so happy to
be there. The only noise was
the relaxing sound of snow
crunching under our skis.

5. By the time we reached the peak, the sun had just barely peaked over the
mountain. We both stood there quiet on the top of this peak in complete awe.
That is the most at peace feeling in the world to me and I was immediately
hooked. These Wasatch mountains have been my home for 24 years and have a
very special place in my heart.

6. I have grown up and lived in Salt Lake City my whole life. I’ve travelled other
places quite a bit but I can’t seem to peel myself away from here. Our access to
beautiful mountains and alpine terrain is incredible. There aren’t many places that
you can drive five minutes and be enveloped in a mountainous wonderland so
easily.

7.  Right after that first sunrise
backcountry experience, I decided I
wanted to do more with it than just
experience it firsthand. I wanted to
be a part of the community of skiers
that had the same feeling I had, so I
joined on with Wasatch Backcountry
Alliance, who focuses on protecting
our wildlands and backcountry so
that it can be safe and preserved for
many years to come. For years,
representatives of Ski Utah and ski
resorts have been trying to link our
seven major ski resorts together so
that you could access them all from
one resort. As a member of WBA, I of
course wanted to stop this from
happening.

8. One Wasatch is the newly proposed idea to link the resorts,
connecting 18,000 skiable acres of land on just one pass
http://onewasatch.com/

9. This will take away that quiet, beautiful backcountry and
will give anyone and everyone access to this land. This, in
my opinion, puts people with no experience at a high risk,
takes away the “backcountry experience”, and disrupts
the environment as a whole. This plan to me sounds like it
is only for the marketers who will benefit from the money,
and not for the local skiers who this land matters to most
and I want to do everything in my power to stop it.