Alta Ski Area and Snowboarding

Two snowboarders strolling across the snow Photo: Photo by Robson Hatsukami Morgan

LITTLE COTTONWOOD CANYON, Utah. — Alta Ski Area has always been just that, a ski area. Snowboarders aren’t able to ride Alta. Although, apparently there was one year in the past few decades that snowboarders were allowed. When Alta closed for the COVID-19 pandemic, it opened for uphill traffic. This temporarily opened up the “skiers only” terrain to snowboarding (via splitboarding and uphill traffic). And it resurfaced the perpetual question… “why is Alta [still] closed to snowboarding?”

A company called Verb Cabin, out of Lake Tahoe, California, specializes in media production. They’ve become very established storytellers in the ski and snowboard community. In January 2020, Verb Cabin acquired the Mountain Gazette, in an effort to bring back the nostalgic title and historical relic of mountain culture.

Verb Cabin and Mountain Gazette worked together to produce Silver Linings – An Alta Snowboard Film. The film features three Alta heroes: Alta matriarch Connie Marshall, famous photographer Lee Cohen, and journalist Derek Taylor. Each of them talks about the history of Alta and why it’s still a skier’s only mountain. Also, included in the film is Lee’s son, Sam, and professional snowboarder Faye Gulini. Faye was one of the lucky snowboarders able to shred Alta this past spring. There are some great clips and historical perspectives about the beloved ski area and its perpetual stance on snowboarding.