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Jed, Seth, and I took a plane trip out to Salt Lake City, Utah to do a video on Sorenson Communications and its new E911/Real Number technique. Their headquarters is located in the city, making it very convenient for us to both do some work and have a little fun on this trip, as SLC is a great place to visit. After landing, we came outside to some cold and crispy air; it felt invigorating! The air made us more excited, because we knew the ski areas would be opening with great snow.

Arriving at the Sorenson headquarters, there was a nice set-up for our video production. We interviewed several people in order: Ronald C. Burdett, VP of Community Relations along with two VRS customers, Nancy Hammons, property manager for Fremont Oak Gardens (a facility for Deaf and Hard-of-hearing senior citizens), and Matt Baker, owner of San Diego-based Feast on This, a catering service.

It was an impressive moment, meeting a Deaf man who built his own catering business in a large city like San Diego. Nancy was also impressive too, a very spirited person, just the right kind of person to manage the facility. While at the headquarters, I was told of a Deaf event at Momentum Climbing Gym being led by a Cara Frank, a volunteer with Splore. Splore is an outdoors/athletic organization for people with disabilities, and they provide a variety of adventure programs, like rock-climbing or whitewater rafting, dedicated specifically to the disabled.

The gym was like a paradise for rock climbers – there’s no need to worry about weather, being a great and big indoor gym. Some hearing individuals were there, and they knew some sign language. I was also surprised to see some Deaf-Blind people there, like Stephen. Trenton was also there, a Deaf man helping to interpret for Stephen. They did some climbing, and used hand tactics. It was amazing to see, and I was very impressed with them! Cara was a motivated teacher, and a very energizing person, giving a positive attitude.

While our first hours in Salt Lake City passed by, there was a big snowstorm raging all day and night. The next morning brought a beautiful blue sky and perfect weather, with 11 inches of fresh snow at the Alta Ski Area. Every skier’s dream is to have fresh snow in the morning while having great coffee to start their day! It was great to have Bonnie Bass, a Sorenson interpreter, and Trenton Marsh, a avid skier, with us at Alta. We met up with Ann, Sorenson’s Director of Public Relations, and Connie, the Director of Marketing & Public Relations for the Alta Ski Area. It was a fascinating experience, meeting with them atop a ski area.

They have strong family ties with the Alta Ski business, and Alta is still running as a family business, not like the other ski areas run by corporations. It’s one of the last few family-owned ski areas in America. They actually had the first chair lift operation set up in Utah, in 1938, and they were the second ski area to do so nationally. They’re having their 70th anniversary, and it was the perfect time for me to be present and to have some fun out there! Trenton and I got on a chair lift to the top of the mountain, and he pointed out the other side of the mountain, with three small avalanches ongoing and one beautiful run of virgin snow powder.

He explained further, saying that the ski patrol always goes out in the early morning to drop some special bombs to keep the avalanches under control. The patrols always have the best ski runs than anybody else because they will always ski on the pure virgin snow first before anybody else. Trenton smirked, recalling when he used to be one of those ski bums. We found some perfect virgin snow for our own run, and did pretty good making some figure eights. Bonnie kept up the pace with us, going through chutes, forests, steep slopes, and powder areas. It was a wonderful feeling, feeling the burn in our legs. We had a great end to our skiing day, with one long run from the top of the mountain to the base.

Guess what? I actually came across a wild porcupine walking around the skiers. I approached it, and it turned out to be pretty friendly. It even came to me and rubbed its nose against my ski boots. I didn’t see any sharp spikes but all of them appeared soft to me. That’s definitely what makes a place like Alta a great place to go! In fact, you can even see SLC from up high here, and it’s a gorgeous view! It’s only 30 miles, and it’s a great escape from the city, plus only being a short distance away for people who fly into the city for some skiing. You should not miss out on a chance to ski at Alta!

VIDEOS ON SPLORE AND ALTA WILL BE AVAILABLE SOON

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