What compelled you to join the Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History?
When we first started visiting Park City 20 years ago, my kids were young and we would take them out of school for the annual ski trip. Their principal said she would excuse the absence if I could find a way to make the trip educational. In my research for turning a ski trip into an educational experience, I discovered the silver mining history of Park City. I realized Park City was more than just a ski town — this town was built by prospectors and silver miners. Every year on the annual ski trip, I would venture into the bookstore and the history museum, buying more and more books about Park City. Fast forward 15 years, we moved here, and I realized I could learn even more about Park City if I volunteered at the History Museum. One thing led to another, and I found the Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History. They were doing projects to save the mining structures on the mountain, and I knew I wanted to be a part of that. So many of our mining structures are already gone from these mountains — I think it is very important to restore what we still have an opportunity to save.
What I enjoy most about the Friends and the Historic Mine Route
What I enjoy most about the Park City Historic Mine Route is how hiking the trail makes me think what it must have been like to really be a miner in Park City. Walking to work in deep snow, working all day in wet mines, living in boarding houses; it all just comes together when you hike up Treasure Hill or Empire Canyon. We tend to romanticize the past, but as I hike from mine site to mine site, I think about what a miner’s life was really like.
About me
I grew up in southern Ohio and graduated with a degree in Industrial Hygiene (workplace health and safety) from Ohio University. I worked in private industry, but found I really enjoyed consulting. Consulting gave me an opportunity to see many different types of industries and government sites. Perhaps that is why I find the silver mines so interesting — I keep imagining the health and safety issues of mines developed in the 1890s!!