Lil Ol' Utah

Utah passed Vermont last Winter to become the third busiest state in the nation for skiing, trailing only Colorado and California. A half million or so of those skiers, including me once, went to The Canyons - a relatively new resort on the edge of Park City closest to I-80. The resorts are notoriously private about their "attendance" but the safe bet is that Park City, Deer Valley and Snowbird round out the top four.

I mention these because skiing (and the 2002 Winter Olympics) has finally put Utah on the map for something other than the state church, polygamy and the Golden Spike.

I've been talking to a lot of winter sports industry leaders for a series of stories I'm writing that will be published in various publications this Fall. (The Hat Rack will alert the world when they're available at your newstand or in your in-flight magazine. Everyone is bullish on Utah, where skiing, skating, sledding and jumping are more and more a vital part of the state's economy. (It's a billion dollars plus part of the economy!)

Anyways, this humble state with fewer people than Chicago had ZERO perception outside if the USA when the 2002 Salt Lake Bid Committee conducted an international survey in the 1980's during one of the state's many bids. Zero. Not good, not bad. No perception.

So, to attract 4,000,000 skier-days (the state's population is about 2.5 million) means the secret is out. Utah really has the "greatest snow on earth" with lots of science to back up that claim. There are 11 ski resorts within one hour's drive of Salt Lake City International airport. Nothing short of global warming or a national depression should stop this state's ski industry.

Which is good news, great news, actually.

Utah needs some good news. Because for the second time this year, the state is cloaked in sorrow. In February, it's was a renegade teenager killing six people in the shopping mall across from Real Salt Lake's offices. This week, it's the plight of six minors buried since Monday in a coal mine in central Utah. In crisis (which seems all too commonplace here for some reason), the state's residents seem to band together and support one another to an extent I don't recall seeing anywhere else. Hardly a night passes on the evening news without the establishment of some memorial fund at a local bank. Unfortunately, I think the funds are a reflection of the shallow social-service net to help this state's disadvantaged - and a deference to the state church which has significant welfare programs of its own for the 70+% of the state that adheres to it.

So, Utah copes and attempts a heroic rescue of its miners. The nation watches. Everyone prays for good news. More as the story develops, including thoughts on the two trapped Mexican nationals, whose plight has penetrated even the state's conservative, anti-immigration sentiment.

Photos: Lee Cohen/Ski Utah & Rick Bowmer/Salt Lake Tribune/The Associated Press