Fit-Fact: Happy Birthday Alta

Alta in 2009

With all of the cold weather and snow we've been having in Chicago, I've wanted nothing more than an escape to ski country, one of the few places where I can tolerate--and love--the hours outside and pray for another snow dump. So when I read about this ski news, it had to become a Fit-Fact for the week.

Alta Ski Area, one of the last skiers-only areas left in the states, turned 70 years old. While I knew it was celebrating its 70th season, I didn't realize that the date of opening was pinpointed and recognized. Turns out that Alta opened its lifts to skiers on January 15, 1939. The Collins lift, Utah's first ski lift and the fifth in the U.S., opened to 350 skiers.

Here's a little comparison for what's changed (or hasn't) in the past 70 years at Alta:

• In 1939, a lift ticket cost 25 cents for one ride, $1.50 for the full day.
• In 2009, a lift ticket costs $59 for a full day, plus a $5 charge for the reusable Alta card that serves as your pass for the day.
  
• In 2005, the Collins lift, which was upgraded a few times since 1939, was replaced with a high-speed quad that travels higher up the mountain, also christened Collins.
• In 2002, Alta and Snowbird paired up to offer a joint ticket for skiing between the resorts.
• Alta continues to use the same World War II howitzers to blast for avalanches in the area.
  
• Alta still is for skiers only. Snowboarders have to stay in Snowbird. Posted by Kate