Skiers, Snowboarders Head To Brighton’s ‘Bone Zone’ Before Opening Day
Oct 30, 2019, 7:20 PM | Updated: 8:36 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Skiers and snowboarders made the journey up Big Cottonwood Canyon to practice and prepare for the upcoming winter season at Brighton’s “Bone Zone” terrain park.
“Yeah, this is the place to be if you’re into freestyle skiing and snowboarding,” said Salt Lake City resident Cory Iyoob. “You got to bring the shovel. Bring the shovel, shovel for a little bit, and then everything will be good.”
The Bone Zone is also a way for Brighton to give skiers and boarders a place to go so workers getting things ready for opening day on the mountain don’t have to worry about them.
“Instead of yelling at the kids to leave and get out of here, we just give them a place to go and play,” said Jared Winkler, marketing director for Brighton Resort. “It’s been popular. I can show up to work at 8 a.m. and there’s already two or three cars over there ready to go to work.”
The terrain park keeps people off the mountain while workers and snow-making machines prepare the mountain for the winter season.
No matter how cold it is outside or how much work there is to do, workers at the resort said they’re excited for opening day, which isn’t too far away as October comes to a close.
“Yeah. I love it. It’s why I work here,” said one worker while attaching seat cushions to chair lifts. “We are putting the chair pads on so it’s a little more comfortable for our clientele so they’re not sitting on cold, hard metal and plastic.”
“I’m pretty pumped,” said another worker.
In all, a team of five workers was putting cushions on 99 chair lifts Wednesday afternoon.
Workers put cushions on ski lifts at the resort.
There were also dozens of snowmaking machines scattered all throughout the mountain.
“Yeah, there’s excitement, you know? Even though it’s October, it sure feels like December and January right now,” Winkler said with a laugh.
Ever since it started snowing, Winkler said lots of people have been busy buying passes.
“Storms bring in people,” he said. “A lot of them have been coming to buy those passes because of the subtle reminder that the season is almost here.”
For some skiers and snowboarders, though, opening day is still too far away.
“Doesn’t matter. I mean, for us, we’re just focused on getting each trick,” Iyoob said.
Of Utah’s 15 resorts, Brian Head in southern Utah currently has the earliest announced opening date; according to Ski Utah, Brian Head is set to open Nov. 15 — just over two weeks away.
