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SALT LAKE CITY -- The KSL weather team has been warning us for several days now: "Say goodbye to fall. Winter is on the way."
A lot of people don't want to hear that, but others are really excited. Some folks we talked to Friday said they can't wait to get out in the snow and cold.
On the day before the Utah deer hunt, the Cabela's store in Lehi was busy. Racks of orange clothing hit you in a huge display as soon as you walked through the front doors.
"All of this stuff is going amazingly fast. I mean, we stock this stuff every morning, and it's nearly empty by the end of the day," said Tom Bean, event coordinator at Cabela's.
If it wasn't orange, then camouflage was the other major design of choice. Bean says hunters have been preparing for weeks to get ready for this year's elk and deer hunts.
A common sight in the parking lot on the day before the hunt are pickup trucks, pulling camping trailers. Tim Golightly, who's been a hunter all his life, came from Idaho to check out the latest cold-weather gear.
"I like it when it gets colder and it snows, so you've got to be prepared," Golightly said. "So that's what we're doing, looking for some different clothes to keep us warm."
For the moment the high country is bare, and hunters are taking advantage and getting their camps set up. Come next week, though, many of these brown areas will be covered with snow, and that has Utah's ski industry amped up.
"Now is the time when they start to think about their winter vacations," said Jessica Kunzer, director of communications for Ski Utah. "Any early snow fall that we can accumulate really boots consumer confidence and definitely has a positive effect on bookings."
Kunzer said many of the resorts have spent millions in various improvements.
"Utah resorts really stepped it up the last couple of years," she said. "And despite the economy, they've continued to move forward with their plans."
During the past several years, the Utah ski industry has run a series of funny TV spots featuring humans dressed up as Utah snowflakes. Several new ads have been created, with the same human-flake theme. They'll begin running on major TV networks next month.
If the thought of skiing and snowboarding doesn't do it for you, the 61st annual Warren Miller Ski Movie, called "Wintervention," plays for the next two nights at Abravenel Hall. It's always a spectacular display of skiing terrain, and Utah is prominently featured once again.
So, get ready. Grab your skis, get some ammo, try on that orange vest, and take a long look through that new scope that you've always wanted. The season is changing.
E-mail: kmccord@ksl.com
