Category: Photo Journal

Autumn at Sundance Resort: Bearclaw Supper Club, Harvest Market and Halloween Lift Rides

Autumn is a great time to be in the mountains. Our family lives near Sundance Resort in Utah and love to celebrate autumn with the great events hosted there. These are three of our favorites.

Bearclaw Supper Club

In September Mountain Dad and I enjoyed Sundance Resort’s newest fine dining experience – dinner al fresco on the patio of Bearclaw Cabin. On select nights in the summer and fall, guests can enjoy a lift ride to the top of Ray’s and Arrowhead lifts, a five course dinner, and live music from the highest point at the resort. The views are amazing.

Sundance Harvest Market

Every year Sundance Resort hosts a Harvest Market to beat all others. On the last Saturday of September artisans bring their crafts and wares to share in the beauty of the mountains. Although this year rain moved the event indoors, it did not disappoint.
What I love about the Harvest Market is experiencing the homemade. Whether it’s jewelry, artwork, home décor, furniture or food, the Sundance Harvest Market offers items you won’t find in any department store. I loved wandering the stalls, admiring handmade soaps, sampling Heber Valley Artisan Cheeses and listening to the talents of a local bluegrass band. My kids loved the owls from The Great Basin Wildlife Rescue. 

Halloween Lift Rides

I’m not a fan of haunted houses, I like my horror in more family friendly doses. That’s why I like Sundance Resort’s Halloween Lift ride. Riding Ray’s Lift on a crisp autumn night with scenes of ghosts, cemeteries, and skeletons below puts me in the Halloween mood. This year spooky lift rides will be offered nightly from October 23-November 1st (closed Sundays), 7:00-10:00pm weekdays, 7:00-11:00pm weekends. Don’t miss it.

Disclosure: Sundance Resort did not ask me to write this post, but I do blog for them at www.sundanceresortblog.com.

Sundance Resort Sounds of Summer

Autumn is in full swing but before we abandon summer for the year I wanted to post my last moment of summer fun. This is a post I originally wrote for the Sundance Resort Blog in August. Enjoy!

Sounds of Summer Concert Series by Susan Strayer
Warm weather, good music and relaxing on blanket on a lawn. All these things are synonymous with summer for me and Sundance Resort’s Sounds of Summer Concert series combines them all in one place.
This month, Sundance has sponsored a free outdoor concert every Sunday afternoon from 4-6:30 pm. Local bands including The Black Lilies, Book on Tapeworm, and The Nate Robinson Trio have shared their music with the Sundance crowd on Ray’s Lawn with the final group, Please Be Human, set to perform this Sunday, August 31st. With the mountain and Ray’s Lift as the perfect background scenery, the bands have brought a great feel to the resort, the perfect end of summer experience.
This past Sunday I packed a picnic and spread our blanket on Ray’s lawn to enjoy the musical talents of the Nate Robinson Trio. A reggae/country/rock band of local renown, the Nate Robinson Trio has been together since 2008, entertaining audiences of all ages.
My kids loved dancing along to the music, while my husband and I relaxed on the lawn. It turns out I didn’t even need to pack a picnic either. Concessions were available thanks to Sundance catering offering sandwiches and burgers for guests to enjoy.

 

If that kind of music isn’t your thing, don’t worry, each week has brought a different local flavor. The Black Lilies, and Book on Tapeworm have played as well and the final band scheduled is another local favorite, Please Be Human. The last week to enjoy the Sounds of Summer Concerts is this Sunday, August 31st from 4:00 – 6:30 pm.
The warm weather, good company and happy sounds of summer were the perfect way to celebrate the end of this great season. I hope the Sounds of Summer Concerts will become an annual tradition.
Don’t miss the final week of Sundance Resort’s Sounds of Summer Concert Series – Sunday, August 31 between 4:00-6:30 pm with the band Please Be Human.

Waterfall Week Bonus: RZR to Cascade Springs, Utah

Fall is officially here. As a farewell to summer I wanted to post one more time about the things we most loved this summer. A few months ago I did a series of posts on local Utah County waterfalls (Stewart Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, Battlecreek Falls) and wanted to include this last waterfall visit as an end of summer goodbye. Read more about Cascade Springs here.
Cascade Springs, Wasatch – Cache National Forest, Utah
Big E, Little g, and cousin watching for wildlife in the springs.
Little g on the trail.

 

Off roading trails begin near Cascade Springs and we had a blast driving the RZR on them.

 

Mountain Dad, Big E and Uncle exploring a secret swimming hole.

 

Brrr! That water’s cold!

 

Big E and cousin loving to play outdoors.

 

Me and little g resting in the shade.

 

I love the mountains!

 

Glassblowing at Sundance Mountain Resort, Utah

I wrote the following blog post for Sundance Mountain Resort about their awesome glass blowing program. If you ever have a chance to check these artists out, DO IT!

This article originally appeared at www.sundanceresortblog.com.

Sundance’s Recycling Glass Program by Susan Strayer

Beautiful colors mix in a molten sphere as artisans create fragile treasures to inspire and admire.Sundance Mountain Resort boasts one of the nation’s only recycled glass workshops, where Mexican artisans Gustavo Calderón Sr. and Octavio Fidencio Flores mold and shape old bottles into new beautiful creations. This past week I spent some time chatting with them while admiring their work.
 Glassblowers 2
Speaking in their native Spanish, Gustavo explained how the furnace functioned. “We have three ovens here, one melts down old bottles at 2,000 to 2,300 degrees Farenheit. The finishing oven is used to heat the project while we work it, to keep its shape. The final electric oven finishes the glass, lowering the temperature slowly so the piece doesn’t break.”

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All the glassware at Sundance Mountain Resort, from drinking glasses in the cabins to platters at the restaurants, is made on site in the Art Studio’s glassblower workshop. Pitchers, glasses, platters, vases, wish balls, and beautiful ornaments are created here. Whatever is not in use in the restaurants is on display in the Art Studio Gallery in a colorful array like a stained glass window.
 Glass (9 of 10)
“Glass blowing is about teamwork,” said Octavio. “I blow and shape the glass to give it the form and Gustavo finishes. We always make new things, so it never gets boring.” As I watched Octavio take a glowing glob out of the furnace, I could see he was right. The pole he used was like a big straw and he could blow into one end to inflate the glob into a sphere. Gustavo was on hand to add colorful shards into the pole before Octavio put the piece into the second oven. Then like dominoes falling into place Gustavo was ready to snip the globe, finish the wish ball ornament and place it into the final oven. It was like watching a well rehearsed dance with both people anticipating their partners’ next move.
 Glass (3 of 10)
“We have to work quickly with recycled glass,” Gustavo explained. “It’s harder to bend. With new glass workers could take up to an hour to make a platter. With recycled glass we have maybe ten minutes.”
 He explained that it takes up to ten bottles to make one drinking glass because of the quality and thickness of the materials. Empty wine bottles from the restaurants and soda bottles from the deli are collected at the resort and turned into new glassware and décor. Even local homeowners like myself have been known to leave their used bottles from time to time.
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Both Gustavo and Octavio hail from Guadalajara, Mexico where there is a strong glass blowing tradition. For the last thirteen years, this pair has left families at home to share that tradition withSundance Mountain Resort guests. Working next to furnaces of several thousand degrees can’t be easy but when I asked how they managed the heat they just shrugged and said, “Your body get used to it.”
To see these artists in residence in action, stroll past the workshop Wednesday through Sunday from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm May to January. You won’t be disappointed. Glassware can be purchased in the Sundance Art Studio.
 Glasses2
Susan Strayer is a resident of Sundance and an outdoors enthusiast. Read more of her outdoor adventures at www.mountainmomandtots.com.