The Cool Hangout
Beaver Mountain Ski Resort is the closest place for Aggies to hit the slopes to get their dose of the winter powder.
Only 30 minutes up Logan Canyon, Beaver offers the ski enthusiast a break from the school work without taking too much time from a busy schedule.
According to Caitlin Laughlin, an employee at Beaver, the resort is the longest family-owned resort in Utah.
According to the Beaver Mountain Web site, Harold and Luella Seeholzer dreamed about owning their own ski resort, and they opened a 1,000-foot towrope in 1949 to the general public.
The site said the resort, now with three lifts taking skiers to the top of the mountain, is owned by Seeholzer’s son Ted and his wife Marge, along with their children.
Many students who go to Beaver said it’s one of the smaller resorts they have been to but like it because it’s close and not as crowded as other resorts.
Derrick Lyons, a junior in exercise science, said he tries to hit the slopes at least once a week. He said he has been going to Beaver to ski for almost five years because of the less crowded slopes. Lyons and his buddy Ben Carter, a senior in marketing, arranged their school schedules so they only have classes Tuesdays and Thursdays, leaving more time to ski.
Carter, who has been skiing Beaver for about four years, said he tries to get up there three times a week. He said he enjoys going despite the resort’s small size.
“For being a smaller resort, it covers a lot of terrain,” Carter said.
Lyons said after a good storm, the powder is pretty decent.
Ryan Werner, a senior majoring in psychology, said he has been coming to Beaver for three years and said, “The snow isn’t the greatest, but it’s close and cheap.”
Laughlin, a soon-to-be freshman at USU who works in ski rentals, said she loves Beaver, as she has been skiing there since she was three. She said the resort hasn’t had the greatest snow this year but enough for the whole mountain to be skied.
The price for a day pass costs $33 as opposed to $47 at Brighton. To ski for a half day, it costs $27. The Seeholzers said they do group discounts for groups with 10 or more people.
At the beginning of the school year, Beaver sells season passes for $270. Ted Seeholzer said the season usually starts within the first ten days of December and runs until March 31. Those who buy passes at the beginning of the season have over three months to ski. Seeholzer said passes right now cost $305.
Getting to Beaver doesn’t take that long, said Dianna White, a senior in elementary education. Seeholzer said he suggests students carpool to the mountain to save on gas, but students who don’t have cars can still make it up to ski. Each Saturday. Beaver charters a LTD Bus from Logan, he said. The bus leaves Logan at 8 a.m., drops skiers off and comes back at 4 p.m., when the resort closes.
For more information, go to Beaver Mountain’s Logan office, located next door to Fredrico’s Pizza along 400 North and just east of campus.
dwkoecher@cc.usu.edu