What’s in name ?

Ski runs are named after a variety of things, events, animals or people. Most of the Park City ski trails are named after mine claims since many of our runs are on, or near, old silver mines. 

There are however exceptions to that, like Stein Way at Deer Valley, named after Stein Eriksen or Ligety Split, after our very own Ted Ligety and many runs at Canyon named after animals.

There are some names though, that remain hard to relate to, like on the Canyons side of Park City a run named “STH” next to “Spider Monkey”. It’s not actually a run, it’s more of a crazy steep spot that’s very hard to ski when snow is thin, but that’s quite fun this season as long as you don’t make a mistake and fall. 

So, as I’ve skied that run a lot so far this season, I wondered what does that acronym STH stands for? I did some research and found that STH could be an accepted abbreviation for “something” or even “sthenic” which means having a high or excessive level of strength and energy. 

That could have made some sense, but I was still not satisfied, so one day as I was riding the chairlift, I asked a female ski patrol who had no clue whatsoever, but another passenger said: “It means ‘Steeper than hell’, and Snowbird has a run named just like that. 

I was relieved and satisfied as I had finally solved a bothersome mystery!