Casual atmosphere, a menu with lots of variety, and craft beer make Wasatch a winner for the whole family. IMAGE: AUSTEN DIAMOND
Don’t forget these 5 tips.
Posted on Dec 21 2017 - 12:45pm by Housecall
By Dixie Somers
Can’t wait until spring to sell your home? Winter can be a tough time to attract buyers, particularly if you live in a region where there’s going to be ice and snow all around. Your home may not show as well in bad weather; however, it is possible. Here are some winter real estate facts to keep in mind:People Like an Orderly Property
In the winter, all visitors may see is a blanket of snow (depending on where you live). Do your best to keep the driveway and walkways neatly cleared and free of ice. Even if there’s just a light dusting of snow, sweep it away. Spread some sand over walkways to avoid slips and falls. Try to keep the roof clear of snow, as well, as a good roof is important to selling any home. You can always call in a roofing company if yours isn’t up to par.
Bright Light Is Cheery
There's nothing that makes a house cheerier than sunlight. Wash the windows inside and out so they sparkle. Pull up the blinds and throw back the drapes for some warming illumination. In darker corners and niches where the sun won’t reach, place a lamp and keep it on. You could also use spotlighting to illuminate major features of the kitchen, living room or bathroom.
Warmth Is Comfort
People coming in from the cold will be pleased to find your home is warm and toasty. As a retreat from winter cold, your buyers will have more of a reason to feel comfortable and take their time. You might consider lighting a small fire in the fireplace or wood stove to keep things toasty. Try to keep indoor humidity between 40-60 percent to avoid that dry, stuffy feeling.
Everyone Appreciates Mood
Create a cozy feel by adding extra pillows or afghans to the sofa and beds, or some plush throw rugs on the floor. Leave the dining room table set for dinner, along with a champagne bucket and a couple of glasses. Add some extra-fluffy towels or robes in the bathrooms. In short, make everything look comfortable and inviting.
Winter Can Be the Ideal Season
You’re more likely to get bids faster in the wintertime because you’re dealing with motivated buyers. They need to move, and soon, or they’d be waiting for the balmier temperatures of spring. You may get fewer visitors, but they’ll be serious buyers, not just frivolous house-shoppers. Stage your home well for the season and you may very well sell faster, and for a higher price, than you expected.
You always want to keep your home clean and in good repair, but the trick to selling in winter is creating the effect of a warm, sunny retreat from the elements.
An important benefit of homeownership is that you can design and decorate your home to your tastes, but sometimes you need a few ideas to get started. Should you paint or wallpaper? Should you stay safe with neutrals or go wild with color? The answers may lie in these top trends for 2019.
Color Over Neutrals
This is the year to embrace color – reds, blues, greens, and yellows look terrific against a backdrop of black and white. Meanwhile, grays as neutrals have had their day.
Patterns
The global look of Ikat, Morrocan Trellis, and Shibori is giving way to large classical florals with a modern edge, including bohemian abstracts. Consider the lush wallpaper and fabric patterns of Timorous Beasties.
Style-Mixing
Mid-century modern and minimalistic decor have been hugely popular over the last few years, but now the styles are looking dated. One reason why is that to be most effective, they’re rarely mixed with other styles making a home look more like a museum. Feel free to mix furniture and accessories of compatible eras.
Comfort
While metal, acrylics, and wood furniture look great, don’t be afraid to soften the edges. You’ll see sumptuous fabrics overlaying stuffed chairs and sofas. Make your bedding inviting with plush duvets filled with lightweight down.
Other trends include one-of-a-kind artisan goods such as bronze sculpture, oil, acrylic, and mixed media paintings; lighter than darker wood floors, and accents of brass, pewter, and chrome.
Whatever you choose, it’s your home, so enjoy!
The 2018 Year End Wasatch Back Market Overview is here. For the digital online version, go to https://joom.ag/FRga
IF YOU THINK Park City winters aren’t for you because you aren’t a skier or snowboarder, think again! Not only are there plenty of other ways to enjoy the snow, our little mountain town also offers a plethora of options for foodies, art connoisseurs, and anyone who just wants a bit of rest and relaxation. Don’t believe us? Just check out all these fun activities waiting for you.
Cheers to winter fun everyone!
February Events
2/1 - 2/10: FIS World Championship, Deer Valley Resort, Park City Mountain, and Solitude
2/4: Adam Sandler, Salt Lake City
2/9: It Gets Better Project with San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, Park City
2/14 - 2/17: Legacy Winter Festival, Midway
2/15 - 2/17: Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour, Ogden
2/20: Wasatch Speaker Series: Steve Wozniak, Salt Lake City
2/23 - 4/7: Spring Grüv, Park City Mountain
2/28: MUSE Stimulation Theory Tour, Salt Lake City
From February 1st through the 10th, approximately 1,400 athletes from 40 countries will converge on Utah to compete in the 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships, presented by Toyota—the biggest winter sports event to be held in Utah since the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Contests held as part of this elite event will include snowboardcross and skicross; freeski and snowboard big air, slopestyle and halfpipe; snowboard parallel slalom and parallel giant slalom; and freestyle moguls, dual moguls and aerials.
HOW TO WATCH
There are two ways spectators can get in on the excitement of the 2019 FIS World Championships: watching the events from the comfort of home via the NBC television broadcast or online live stream at nbcsports.com (see complete schedule below) or live, in real time at the venues.
VENUE ACCESS
Solitude kicks off the 2019 FIS World Championships competition schedule with what are likely to be some of the most easily accessible—and perhaps most exciting—events of the entire 10 days: the snowboard and skicross competitions on Feb. 1 to 3. It is highly recommended that spectators take the Utah Transit Authority bus as parking on site at Solitude is limited and will be available to the public at the Moonbeam base area only.
Plan on plenty of time to get to and from the Park City venues—Deer Valley® and Park City Mountain--particularly if you plan to attend the 2019 FIS World Championships opening ceremonies, featuring the freeski big air finals, a free concert with Main Squeeze and fireworks, at Canyons Village on Saturday, Feb. 2, which also happens to be the last night of Park City’s Sundance Film Festival. Deer Valley® Resort’s evening freestyle aerials and moguls events on Feb. 6-9 are also expected to draw high attendance and it is highly recommended that spectators park at Park City High School and take the free bus to Snow Park Lodge.
Get the latest on 2019 FIS World Championships competition, road conditions, weather updates and more by visiting 2019worldchamps
While it’s not easy to beat the gravity-induced fun of a day on the slopes, even the toughest little rippers need an occasional change of scenery. Here’s your guide to the best in off-piste family adventure.
If your legs are done with the slopes but you’re still craving some downhill speed, Soldier Hollow Nordic Center has 1,200 feet of tubing lanes, all accessible by the magic carpet—it’s all the downhill fun, none of the uphill work. 2002 Soldier Hollow Lane, Midway, 435.654.2002
Discover activities for all ages and curiosities at the 1,200-acre Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter. Kids can test their vertical skills on the indoor climbing wall, track wildlife on a snowshoeing adventure, or color their way through Craft Sunday. 1258 Center Dr, 435.649.1767
The ice-blue wonderland of the Midway Ice Castle is not to be missed. Explore an acre of rooms, tunnels, and slides made entirely of ice and illuminated by a kaleidoscope of LED lights. Dress for the chilly night air and wander through a crystalline fairyland. Located near the Homestead Resort in Midway. Advance tickets only. 866.435.2850
Spin a little mountain-town vacation magic at the Park City Resort Ice Rink. Twinkle lights, hot cocoa, and music set the stage for making memories gliding (or falling) together. Complimentary skate walkers make it easy for the littlest skaters. 1415 Lowell Ave, 435.615.8165
Stoke your artistic flame at Red Flower Studios, where kids from 2 to 99 years old use breath and fire to make hand-blown glass creations. From abstract trinkets to a new favorite smoothie cup, here the transformative power of fire lights imaginations. 1755 Bonanza Dr, Unit C, 435.602.1949
At Paint Fusion, kids of all ages can choose from several hundred ceramic objects and paint them however they like. Decorate animals, fantasy creatures, platters, mugs, or even candy bowls. The work is kiln-fired for a professional finish, so plan on a couple days before picking up your masterwork. You can also up the artistic ante with a custom glass fusion piece. 1635 Redstone Center Dr, #115, 435.575.6463
Think you can’t paint? Think again. At the Paint Mixer, professionals lead you and your crew, step-by-step, in the creation of your own masterpiece. Your house will be the perfect showcase of the talent you didn’t know you had. 738 Main St, 435.604.0820
Bowling, billiards, and video games at Jupiter Bowl provide hours of family fun. While you’re there, call dinner done by ordering a round of gourmet burgers or a hand-tossed pizza; and grown-ups can top off the high-octane revelry with a cocktail from the bar. 1090 Center Dr, 435.658.2695
Part intimate arcade, part upscale tavern, Daly’s Pub & Rec at the Montage is as much geared toward your inner foodie as it is the kid in you. Play video games or tabletop shuffleboard, and don’t miss the main attraction, the four-lane bowling alley—right next to the gourmet kitchen. Call ahead for availability. 9100 Marsac Ave, 435.604.1532
Aside from ideal timing, Niehues says he thinks he has an innate ability to see a whole mountain in one shot. We’d have to agree—his maps are incredibly accurate, down to the parking lots, but with a nostalgic wash of pastel color that’s instantly recognizable.
Thanks to a Kickstarter campaign that runs until January 3 (and has far exceeded its goal), he plans to release a book this summer showcasing three decades’ worth of work. Niehues told us about his book project, the mountains he’s always wanted to draw, why you can’t beat a hand-painted trail map, and how technology has changed his job for the better.
On His Process: “I always fly over the mountain and photograph it. Today I can go in deep on Google, but aerial photography gives me an idea of what it looks like that I can quote from. Then the first step is to go into a small pencil sketch. If it’s a complicated mountain, and I see different ways to illustrate it, I’ll send different thumbnails to clients. Then I’ll go into a comprehensive sketch that will be as big as the map. Once it’s approved, I’ll project the image onto my painting surface, trace every detail, and then airbrush. I start with the sky and work from the top down filling in details.”
On the Details: “It’s a puzzle to put together. I struggled early on getting the back sides of mountains right. I’m constantly trying to get all the flow lines correct and running down the page. Resorts know what they want and need, but sometimes they want to show their mountain bigger than it is. My job is to bring it back to reality. My favorite mountains are the ones where I can paint cliffs or rugged peaks and the mountains beyond. But I really like to do the mountains in New Zealand, because there are no trees there.”
On Skiing: “I learned in ski in Europe when I was in the Army. A couple of us guys took leave and went to down to Switzerland. Mine was the fastest time down, so I thought I was pretty good. When I tried to ski again at Powderhorn, outside Grand Junction, after I came back in 1969, I walked off the mountain because I couldn’t turn. On the job, I became an intermediate skier. It’s important, because I understand what other skiers go through in navigating the mountain.”
On the History of Ski Maps: “There are artists that have drawn a few maps, but there are really only two others who have done what I do. In the 1970s, Hal Shelton pioneered it here in the States. He was the first to paint trail maps, and he did it with an airbrush, because you can create subtle surfaces and lots of backlight. Bill Brown did it in the eighties, and then I took over for him. In the late nineties, everyone was looking at new technology because they thought computers could do a better job of mapping, but a lot of them have come back to my style. Now with the internet, it’s so important to have a good image. You’ve got a mountain that’s beautiful and challenging, and you’ve got to show that, and the computer images just aren’t as beautiful. This is one thing that is better done the way it was done 50 years ago.”
On Anthologizing: “Way back in the mid-nineties I started thinking that maybe I’d have enough illustrations for a book, so I started working book rights into my contract. Didn’t pursue it heavily, but then I started realizing, I’m 72 now, so it’s time to get it going.”
On Retirement: “I’ve tried to retire, but then someone will call me and I’ve always wanted to do their mountain, so I end up jumping back in. I’m doing a sketch of Mount Bachelor right now; they have 180 degrees of skiing, and I’ve always wanted to do that. An artist named Rad Smith, who is in Bozeman, Montana, is working as a protégé. He used to make maps with computers but realized he couldn’t do it as well, so he went back to painting. There don’t seem to be any others who are jumping into it. It’s a small market. It was a small market for me.”
On Art: “I think of the paintings as art instead of trail maps. In the early days, it was really about the map, but the values have shifted. Hal and Bill realized it was important to get the beauty and to give people something they could look at and dream about. I think a computer-generated map is a reflection of the office—it’s rigid. A hand-painted map reflects the outdoors. You ski to get into that environment.”
By EMILY MEANS • JAN 3, 2019
Since 2011, Utahns have visited a winter wonderland in Midway. This Saturday, Ice Castles opens for the season. KPCW’s Emily Means has this report.
Icy fortresses, slippery slides and frozen waterfalls decorate an acre of land at Ice Castles at the Homestead Resort in Midway.
Visitors are drawn in by interactive light and music displays. The design of the castles changes year to year, with 20 to 40 ice artisans tasked with creating structures formed from thousands of icicles. Construction on the castles began in November, and Ice Castles typically opens between Christmas and early January, depending on how many warm days there are during the building process.
With six locations—five throughout the U.S. and one in Canada—Ice Castles CEO Ryan Davis explains how the structures, comprised of more than 20 million pounds of ice, come to life each year.
“All of our ingredients come out of a fire hydrant. We make about five to ten thousand icicles in a day," Davis said. "Then we place them, we fuse them to ice and we spray them with water, and when they’re sprayed with water they thicken and they grow in mass. So, it’s basically we just hand place the framework that we freeze the ice on, and everything’s made out of ice.”
After a good snow, snowmen and forts can often be seen decorating front yards in Utah. Ice Castles similarly sprung up from the ground, when Davis says his business partner, Brent Christensen, got creative one cold day in Utah.
“He’d moved from California to Utah, so the cold weather was a novelty for [Christensen]. He just started freezing things in his front yard and figured out that he could use icicles and build—fairly quickly—really tall ice formations," Davis said. "The first place he did it was in 2010 in Zermatt Resort up in Midway at a larger scale, and then I teamed up with him about then, and we just keep growing bigger and bigger.”
If last year’s warm, dry winter is any indication of what to expect in years to come, though, Ice Castles’ cold-reliant operations might require some adjustment. Davis says he’s not sure what has led to the number of warm days, but the more mild weather is something Ice Castles is particularly sensitive to.
“The weather’s always unpredictable, and we noticed that the Midwest seems to be warmer than it has been in the past," Davis said. "You imagine Minneapolis being really cold, and sometimes it is, but a lot of times it’s been pretty warm in the winter there. Every now and then you’ll have a week with three or four days in the 40s, and then the next week it’s five degrees. The average is still pretty cold, but it seems like there’s more warm days than there has been in the past.”
Ice Castles remains open until the weather warms up, usually around late February or early March. Guests are advised to dress appropriately—wear boots to keep your feet dry during the warmer times of day. You can visit icecastles.com for hours of operation and ticketing information.
