Trails and boulders in Little Cottonwood Canyon look a lot cleaner now after Alta Ski Patrol spent a day this week giving back to the community. With Alta Ski Area under limited operation for the remainder of the season, Alta Ski Patrol took time to gather and remove graffiti from boulders and do maintenance work on the trails. This day of community service was part of the Adam Naisbitt Living Memorial, which is a way for Alta patrol to honor one of their own.
On Monday, patrollers teamed up with the Salt Lake Climbers Alliance, Access Fund, U.S. Forest Service, and the Cottonwood Canyon Foundation for the cleanup. They scrubbed rocks to remove spray paint around the rock climbing areas and at the old pavilion site on the Temple Quarry Trail. Other patrollers did trail maintenance such as building stone stairs and shoveling out drainage near the Gate Buttress and the Alpenbock Loop.
Adam Naisbitt Living Memorial
Adam Naisbitt was a beloved member of Alta Ski Patrol who lost his life last year. In addition to Alta, he worked at UDOT as an avalanche forecaster in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Perhaps Adam is best known to Alta skiers as the one who helped raise and train Fitzroy, one of Alta’s avalanche dogs. In the off season, Adam spent summers working for the Forest Service, climbing in Alaska and summiting Denali.
To remember Adam and the impact he had on friends and family, the Alta Ski Patrol and the Naisbitt family started the Adam Naisbitt Living Memorial. This is now an annual event to honor Adam’s life. According to Alta Ski Patrol, the event is “intended as an opportunity for his family to plan and participate in an experience that fosters self-awareness and increased consciousness of each other. We aim to invest in the ongoing mental health of the group while sharing Adam’s legacy with generations to come.”
In this, its inaugural season, Alta Ski Patrol raised funds to support the Living Memorial by organizing and hosting the Curt and Adam Naisbitt Memorial Groundhog Day Race. Alta Ski Patrol also received a generous donation from the Snowbird Ski Patrol.
Here’s the segment I produced that aired on KSL Outdoors.