Utah's dry powder is world-famous — enthusiasts call it the "Greatest Snow on Earth." During recent years our resorts and facilities have matured and now offer world-class accommodations, including great dining, shopping and nightlife. There's not much better than spending a day skiing powder and then "coming home" to an exquisite room right at the resort — no need to drive miles, fight traffic and hunt for parking. Minutes after hopping off the lift you can be enjoying a gourmet meal or a soak in an outdoor hot tub.

Rain, widespread rain, is falling over much of Utah. It began Monday and is expected to last through Friday. It's starting to get soggy around here — starting to feel like Seattle. I need a massive dose of desert. I'm fleeing to St. George to play a little golf!

It almost never rains in St. George, where the summer sun spends the winter. Conditions there will be ideal for golf during the next few weeks, with sunshine and shirt-sleeve weather, while most of Utah and the U.S. get nippy temperatures, gloomy skies and winter-like storms.

St. George boasts 10 top-rated courses within a tight radius around the city. These are challenging courses, built to harmonize with the surrounding national park-like landscape. They are open year-round; during the dead of winter I play while wearing a light jacket.

Conditions are perfect on these courses during November and March. My favorite time is February, when snowdrifts pile high around my northern Utah home and I get a serious case of cabin fever. Also December and January — actually they're all good. We can help you book golf trips.

Golf is just one of the great fall activities available in the St. George area. See www.atozion.com for more ideas.

This mid-October storm, still underway, is expected to leave a foot of white stuff in our northern mountains. Long-term forecasters expect Utah to enjoy normal snowfall this winter, and temperatures slightly warmer than normal.

Sounds like great golf weather to me!

We are looking forward to another excellent ski season, with resort facilities in prime shape. Many resorts plan to open Thanksgiving weekend. (A few may open a week earlier, if this wet trend continues.) Last year snowfall was a little below normal but snow conditions were great and we saw huge smiles on skiers' faces, along with a record number of skier days. This season should be even better. We can help you book ski trips.

Snowfall will soon close seasonal byways in mountain areas. Highway 150, our famous Mirror Lake Scenic Byway in the Uinta Mountains, will close and will be groomed as a snowmobile route. Alpine Loop, Nebo Loop, Wolf Creek Pass and other similar roads will also close soon.

— Dave Webb

Upcoming Events Of Special Interest

Moab Fat Tire Festival, Oct. 28 - Oct. 31. This annual festival has developed into one of the most popular rendezvous for mountain bike enthusiasts from around the globe

Scottish Festival>, Oct. 29 - Oct. 31. The 21st annual Scottish Festival includes bagpipes, dancing, food, and a formal blessing of clan tartans.

Moab Folk Festival, Nov 5 - Nov 7. This festival brings together some of the finest singer/songwriter musicians from the national, regional and local contemporary folk music community.

Heber City's Cowboy Poetry Gathering and Buckaroo Fair, Nov 9-14. Features the biggest names in western entertainment, including Waddie Mitchell, Michael Martin Murphey, Riders In The Sky, The Bar J Wranglers and The Sons of the San Joaquin with the BYU Symphony.

Festival of Trees, Dec 1-4. This annual Salt Lake area activity benefits Primary Children's Medical Center. Businesses and family groups decorate and contribute some 600 Christmas trees.

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