Feedback on Utah for Triathlon Lifestyle

Gabe Peterson

I am considering an exciting career opportunity that would take me to the Salt Lake City area.  Of course, beyond the career growth my most important consideration is family.  However, triathlon training is somewhere in the top 5.

I'd love to get feedback from folks on the team who live or have lived in Utah, especially the SLC area, on how it fits in with the triathlon lifestyle.  I did St George 70.3 earlier this year, and that was when I became open to the idea of living in Utah.  It seems like there are some epic outdoor adventures to be had there.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Coach Rich

Southern UT is very different from northern UT / SLC area. Still, I think UT is a one of the US's great undiscovered secrets. Just awesome country. 

Teri Cashmore is your gal, hit her up if she doesn't see this. 

steve Beyer

Gabe...lived in Orem, which is about 40 min. south of SLC, for 8 years. Moved back to Chicagoland area (which is where I'm originally from), for work, and miss Utah very much. With the LDS church influence, it's very family oriented, but a common misconception is that SLC is "all" LDS, when in fact I think it's less than 50%. Point being that it's not as if you "have" to be LDS to fit in so to speak.

As far triathlon goes, it's been since 2003 when we moved back to illinois, but I remember there being a very lively triathlon community. And as far as general outdoor stuff goes, totally agree with coach R in Utah being a great undiscovered secret.

Listen to coach R and hit Terri up. She's a little west of SLC, but I'm sure can give you some great feedback.

Gabe Peterson

Thanks for the feedback, Rich and Steve! I agree, every time I've been to Utah I think: why don't more people know about this place? The outdoor options are appealing to me. I would be stoked to explore the Mountain West.

I appreciate the feedback on how the area is family oriented. I have a wife and two young daughters. I've learned the hard way: happy wife, happy life.

I'll reach out to Terri if she doesn't see this thread.

Thanks again!

wdjacobs

I lived about 45 min south of SLC for 6 years. Utah really is a great place to live if you like the outdoors and can handle living in the snow (which is entirely different than "liking the snow," as I found out). I got into triathlons after I moved so I can't say anything about the tri community there but I ran competitively there for a long time and there's a huge running community. Let me know if you have any questions. I have a brother and his family living in SLC right now attending U of U med school. 

Eric Stubbs

Hey Gabe,
My opinion may be biased based on the fact that I’ve lived in Utah all my life. There are many groups / individuals involved in the sport of Triathlon so you defiantly won’t be alone. It’s a beautiful place to ride, run and swim. There are quite a few lakes nearby with areas for open water swimming. During the bulk of the winter you’ll probably be relying on the trainer. There are places in Salt Lake that hold group rides on the trainer as well. Spring always comes early to St. George so it relives some of that long winter, it’s always nice to head to Southern Utah on the weekend, do some riding and enjoy the fresh spring air. Also… if you mountain bike or trail run there is plenty of that close by as well. This is an awesome area! If you have any specific questions let me know.

Gabe Peterson

@Bill, thanks for the feedback. I've never lived in a place that gets actual snow. There has usually been a snow option in nearby mountains. I guess I fall into the "I like snow" category. That will be a new adventure to live with snow.

@Eric, thanks for the feedback on the tri scene. I actually do a lot of my rides on the trainer even though I live in an area where you can ride outdoors all year. After a while, all the routes near my house got really boring. I would definitely need to get a pimped out pain cave for the winter months, but that shouldn't be a problem since we'd probably have a much bigger house than we have in LA. I would probably also get a treadmill. If I make it out there, we'll have to get an EN sleeper cell going.

[Deleted User]

Gabe - Eric did a good job describing the tri community in SLC.  You will have many options to train with others.  I don't get into SLC to train much since it takes me about 40-45 minutes to get to most places to ride.  When I have, there are always other people out riding.  A good way to get to know people and to find people to train with is to join a local tri club. Riding on a trainer during the winter isn't bad at all since the EN workouts are short.  I grew up in SoCal but I enjoy living in Utah and have been here for 9 years.  Its a great place to live and raise a family.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Gabe Peterson

Thanks for the feedback, Teri!

I am interested in what you found to be the biggest change from SoCal to Utah?

My wife is Asian, and one of her concerns is that she "doesn't want to be the only Asian in Salt Lake City." My experience has been that the area has some level of diversity, although most of my trips to SLC have been for business in the technology sector where things tend to be pretty diverse.

Gabe Peterson

Thank you to all of the folks on this thread!  This was really helpful in my decision making.

I am headed to SLC in early December!  Looking forward to joining the EN Utah sleeper cell.

Al Truscott

Ski Little Cottonwood Canyon (Snowbird, Alta): The runs are steep, the snow is deep, and the lifts are cheap. Where I learned to ski powder, the best sport on earth, in the best snow on earth.

Gabe Peterson

Thanks for the recommendation, Al!  I am looking forward to taking up winter sports.  Living in California, it's always been an option.  It seems like I'd be missing a key part of the Utah experience.

Gordon Cherwoniak

Gabe,

To your wife's concern see the link below but it appears that Utah has a lower Asian population compared to the  as a whole US, 2.3% vs 5.3% respectively.  If you click on the drop down box for SLC it has a 4.4% Asian population versus 2.0% for Utah.  I'm a bit confused by the census data for Utah being 2.3% and 2.0%.  California for reference has an Asian population of 14.1% according to the Census Bureau numbers.

I'm not sure that this will give her comfort or make it worse. 

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/49000.html

Gordon

 

Gabe Peterson

Thanks for the info, Gordon! We've made the commitment to move, so it's too late for her to change her mind.

wdjacobs

What an exciting move! Be sure to update us after you've settled in.

 

Ps. Al gave good advice about the snow in Little Cottonwood Canyon but be sure to check out Park City and The Canyons too. Tahoe just doesn't compare.