New heights for Ogden
There are no comments for this page [ Add Comment ]Sunday, March 11, 2007
By Bryce Petersen Jr.
Standard-Examiner staff
Ogden's getting attention for outdoor offerings
OGDEN -- The word about Ogden seems to be getting out, at least to outdoors industry-types and travel writers.
"You guys are getting ink, man," said Tom Tatum, an outdoor filmmaker. "Every time I pick up a magazine, there's something in there about Ogden."
Tatum was in Ouray, Colo., lunching with his friend, Jeff Lowe, Ogden resident and ice climbing pioneer. Lowe is one member of a devoted outdoor community -- including Mayor Matthew Godfrey -- that has been working to promote Ogden's surroundings and pushing for development of its outdoor recreation opportunities.
Tatum, who has been filming ice climbing at Ouray since the first festival, which Lowe organized in 1995, is just the kind of guy they'd like to attract. He splits his time between Los Angeles and Telluride, Colo. But he's thinking about branching out further.
"I'd like to buy a house in Huntsville," he said.
OK, so it's not quite Ogden, but as Kym Buttschardt, president of the GOAL Foundation, a nonprofit that organizes events such as the Harvest Moon Festival, puts it, "Ogden City needs Ogden Valley, and Ogden Valley needs Ogden City."
The symbiotic relationship seems to be blossoming: As word spreads about the world-class skiing at Snowbasin and Powder Mountain -- both racked up accolades from ski magazines this season -- Ogden keeps checking off ski companies from its wish list.
The movement of well-known ski brands such as Descente, Rossignol and Amer Sports, maker of Saloman skis, to Ogden is what sparked the interest of Reed Albergotti, a reporter for the Pursuits section of the Wall Street Journal Weekend Edition.
"After talking to a few different companies that were either moving to Ogden or knew someone who was, I kind of connected the dots and thought, 'Oh, there may be something going on there,'<2009>" Albergotti said.
So he took a side trip from his annual ski vacation -- he made it to Powder Mountain for the first time this season -- and spent a couple of days reporti downtown Ogden. His story appeared in the March 3-4 edition.
"It's a charming downtown area," he said. "With the backdrop of the mountains, it's just a pretty place."
Within the last six months, stories on the area have also appeared in the New York Times (Chris Peterson's via ferrata), the Washington Post (Snowbasin and Powder Mountain) and Sky West Magazine (Antelope Island and Union Station). Ogden is also featured in the April issue of National Geographic Adventure.
Some of the buzz about Ogden is tied to a controversial seven-letter g-word. Asked for a gut reaction about Ogden, several people at the recent Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, the annual trade show where manufacturers from all over the Europe and North America pitch their wares to retailers, gave a variation of this response: "Isn't that where they're building that gondola from downtown?" (Other favorites included Snowbasin, the Olympics, the via ferrata and an acquaintance's pending move here.)
But if you ask Buttschardt, who owns Roosters with her husband, Peter, there's a lot to be excited about, with or without a gondola.
"Ogden is a great outdoors town. That is a vision that Pete and I have had forever, and it's so neat to see everyone participating now," she said. "What's exciting is this younger group that's moving here. It's still an affordable community, but our access to recreation is just great."
She cites miles of hiking and biking trails, kayak parks in Riverdale and Ogden and events such as the Xterra triathlon and the Harvest Moon Festival.
Now, she can point to a growing snowball of support, as outdoors enthusiasts come together with city and county governments to brainstorm ways of highlighting Ogden's natural beauty.
Last summer, Ogden City organized a High Adventure Committee to coordinate its efforts toward making the area more friendly to outdoor users. The committee is divided into seven subcommittees, covering everything from alpine skiing and climbing to cross-country skiing and motor sports.
Most committee members are avid participants in the sports they represent. Business owners and representatives from Ogden City, Weber County and the Forest Service are also included.
The coordination among governments is one thing that has Buttschardt excited.
"I give all the props to Ogden City and Weber County. That they can work together to make this happen is just so great," she said.
It's one more part of Godfrey's initiative to promote Ogden as an outdoor destination -- for businesses as well as individuals.
"What sets us apart in the world is our fabulous natural resources. That's what we need to capitalize on," said John Patterson, Ogden's chief administrative officer.
The active community and the promotion push were among the factors that convinced Outdoor Utah, an annual magazine that gets 85 percent of its 285,000 circulation from out of state, to name Ogden its recreation community of 2007.
Not Park City. Not Moab. Ogden.
Monique Beeley, publisher of Outdoor Utah, cited trails, access and kayak parks, among others, as reasons for the designation. But her first answer was less about the surroundings than about the people.
"Ogden is really kind of up-and-coming as far as promoting itself as an outdoor destination," Beeley said. "We got with this group of people from Ogden and saw all the enthusiasm they had for their area. It's just a great place and a great group of people."
The magazine will be available toward the end of March.
Recently, Ogden-Weber Convention and Visitors Bureau pulled together $225,000 from local governments, businesses and nonprofits, got a matching grant from the Utah Tourism Board and now has $450,000, which is being spent on promotions such as targeted mailings a new Ogden adventure guide, said Shelleice Stokes, president of the bureau.
At the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, there was evidence that even paid advertising was contributing to Ogden's buzz.
Mitch Weber, publisher of the online magazine telemarktips.com, said his most recent exposure to Ogden came from "Open Windows," this winter's release from the big mountain telemark filmmakers at Tough Guy Productions. At the end of the film, Weber said, Ogden was mentioned in a list of sponsors.
tly, my reaction when I saw that was, 'I've always thought Ogden would be a nice place to live,' " said Weber, a resident of Aliso Viejo, Calif.
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