Palm Springs, CA - May 01, 2013. The National Ski Area Association (NSAA) awarded the Golden Eagle Award for medium size ski areas (2000,000- 500,000 visits) to Utah’s four Salt Lake County resorts (Alta, Snowbird, Brighton & Solitude), under the umbrella of the visionary Cottonwood Canyons Foundation (CCF). Established in 1993, the Golden Eagle Awards are the highest honors bestowed on resorts for environmental performance.

"We are honored for this recognition of the great work of the CCF,” said Bob Bonar, who is President of Snowbird and started the CCF along with the three other cottonwood resorts. “Hundreds of thousands of dollars has been raised by this program, which supports environmental stewardship and education.”

Since 2002, an unprecedented partnership among the four Big and Little Cottonwood canyon resorts, Salt Lake City and the U.S. Forest Service has demonstrated the power of collaboration between businesses, government and the public via CCF. Alta Ski Area’s General Manager and President Onno Wieringa, who also serves as Director of the Alta Environmental Center, states “It has been extremely rewarding to be a part of the collaborative efforts and dialogue for not only our ski area, but also for the protection and education relative to the careful and sustainable use of our collective sensitive watershed areas.”

NSAA is the trade association founded in 1962 for ski area owners and operators in the United States. The announcement was made at the annual convention today at the Westin Mission Hills Resort and Spa.

For more information, please contact:

Emily Moench, Communications Manager, Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort

emoench@snowbird.com/ (801) 891-3496

Connie Marshall, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Alta Ski Area

connie@alta.com/ (801) 799-2263