Eric Ramirez 10 posts 0 comments

A couple and their two kiddos stand on the summit of Bald Mountain — located in the Uinta Mountains, Northeast of Heber, just off of the Mirror Lake Highway. At ground level, the mountain appears to be just a pile of boulders, but from the family’s elevation of 11,947 feet, the magnificent peak offers incredible views. With big smiles, the children point at distant, abrupt mountains wrapped in cliff bands. Everything around them is visible. Looking past Mirror Lake far below, they spy the Duchesne River drainage filled with…

Heber Valley – it’s not only a breath of fresh air but also a growing city where one can still see trillions of stars. In our heavenly mountains, views are priceless. Most of them require the sunlight to see: the Wasatch Mountains, Deer Creek, and acre after acre of open pastures. What happens when the sun sets? Then what view draws our gaze? When were the Big Dipper and the Milky Way discussed as treasured views from the valley floor? I can step out onto my lawn in central Heber and look up to see both of these on cold,…

Opening the door to his newly-acquired commercial space at 350 S. Main Street on a cold February day in Heber, Jim looked around and whispered, “What am I going to do here?” Retracing family roots in the hope of creating a better connection to the outdoors, Jim Roach moved his family from Salt Lake City to Midway on New Year’s Day 2016. A characteristic widely shared in our community, Jim’s desire to connect with nature represents an outdoor way of life we all want to preserve in the Heber Valley. Likewise, he wanted…

At just 17 years old, Adam Posacki honed Bergspar’s simple fashion and clean look. The burgeoning clothing company’s inspiration stems from Adam’s experience moving here four years ago, when the beauty of our valley struck him. However, beauty and vision do not start businesses — and Adam wanted to succeed. In 2018, Adam launched a new clothing brand that’s designed to represent the outdoor lifestyle of the Heber Valley. To help “light the flame and scale as fast as possible,” Adam participated in Wasatch High…

I remember being little and sitting on the mesh trampoline between the two hulls of my older brother’s catamaran. Looking out onto the rippled water of Deer Creek Reservoir, it was an experience I could not appreciate as I do now. Above me was the mainsail, full of wind. We were moving swiftly across the water. With me were my nephews; it was their father who was at the helm. We all had crew duties — on a sailing vessel everyone is employed and there are no idle hands. From time to time, I see others sailing on Deer…

(n): a form of transportation of people and sometimes goods that only uses the physical activity of the human being for the locomotion. I laid the question down for my friend Eric. “What was it like riding your bike everywhere for a year and a half around Heber?” “I got super fit!” he answered with a grin. “I would ride to work, then grab some groceries, and after dropping the groceries at the house, go mountain biking at Coyote Canyon.” Eric more or less set the bar for getting around by bicycle. He…

I pulled out my water filter, started pumping, and realized no water was filling my bottle. Somehow, it was just moving air! Turns out, the filter cartridge had cracked. I was now stuck deep in the Wasatch Range with no water. What we do outside is not about the gear. Admittedly, though, gear can make or break an outing. If you left your bike pump in the garage and are already at the trailhead with under-inflated tires, it might leave you scrambling for a way to salvage the ride. If you hiked six miles down Uinta’s…

Safe backcountry skiing starts with weeks of weather watching. I follow the wind and the moving snow. I watch the mountain weather stations to understand what is happening where I like to ski. I take note of the observations, forecasts and advisories offered by the Utah Avalanche Center. I make my plan only after I have determined where I can ski safely. It snowed last night. The sun is coming up and I’m high above the Heber Valley. I’m with my ski buddies, out for a backcountry ski tour. We’re on alert for avalanches…

Slipping down the Soldier Hollow tubing hill at an ever-faster speed, I couldn’t help but giggle. I had never sat in a tube and gone so fast! Friends were hooting and hollering and the night was a riot. Like children drawn to birthday cake, we made our way back to the top for another serving. I made five laps that night, each its own brand of winter fun. While we live in a mecca for winter sports and activities, many of us aren’t “winter” people. For some, the thought of tearing up the backcountry on a pair of skis is as…

In the beautiful Heber Valley, we have the good fortune of looking out the door and viewing some of the greatest mountains in our part of the state. Looking southwest, we can see the great Mount Timpanogos, named for a Ute princess who fell asleep on top of the range. Looking west up the Snake Creek drainage, we can see the white rocks that make up the backside of Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons. And to the east, we’ll find the behemoth mountains of the Uintas. Living in this idyllic valley of ours, we have all heard…