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Mountain Bike Mania: Pedaling Utah Tourism

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Mountain Bike Mania: Pedaling Utah Tourism


SALT LAKE CITY — A growing number of Utah high schools have about as many mountain bike racers as football players. That surprising development becomes obvious at the starting line of weekend races.

“We are the largest youth cycling organization in the nation,” said Dallen Atack, board president of the Utah High School Cycling League.

Just 10 years ago, there were 320 riders. Now more than 7,500 students compete.

“I love being out there all the time,” said Morgan High School rider Blair Erickson.

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Riders aren’t the only ones who love high school mountain biking.

“They have an incredible impact on our community,” said Maria Twitchell, director of Visit Cedar City, Brian Head Tourism Bureau.

“It bolsters the community because they have to eat and get gas and stay,” said Dennis Jorgensen, mountain bike organizer in Richfield.

Mountain bike races held among the ridges of Richfield, the peaks of Price and the vistas of Vernal bring thousands of visitors who likely wouldn’t otherwise come to these small Utah towns.

“From fast food to sit down, our restaurants are full,” said Price Mayor Michael Kourianos.

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In Richfield, traffic and hotel parking lots are filled with cars carrying valuable cargo.

“Any time you drive down main street, you see a van or car with bikes on the back of it, and that didn’t use to be the case,” said Carson DeMille, chairman of the Richfield Trail Committee.

A pair of cars transporting multiple bikes each shown outside a restaurant. Utah locals say it’s now common to see bike racks when driving down main streets, and that wasn’t always the case. (Courtesy Ashley Burr)

What’s become clear in city after city, is that on race weekends, huge open fields have become paydirt:

  • $1,000,000 in Price
  • $1,800,000 in Cedar City
  • $500,000 in Richfield.

So no surprise, small towns all over Utah are racing to build tracks of their own.

Tracks have existed for a number of years in Richfield, Cedar City, Vernal, Price, St George, Manti, Beaver Mountain, Eagle Mountain and Soldier Hollow.

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More recently, trails have come online in Mantua, Herriman and Beaver. And new trails have come or are coming to Tooele, Panguitch and Gunnison.  Morgan has a track in the works.

A map showing Utah counties and the many bike trails that have been established. (KSL TV)

The cities of Price and Herriman are working on second tracks.

“It’s pretty competitive. We don’t really talk about it, but on our end, we try to take care of those race directors,” said Lesh Coltharp, director of Tourism and Events for Uintah County.

Ahead of the races, big open fields of dirt turn into mini cities of high school staging tents. There’s a reason these races are more suited to rural Utah than established ski resorts and trail areas.

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“We do have specific standards on how long the course needs to be,” said Michelle Lyman, race director for region 2.

They need broad tracks that are 4-6 miles, about 500 feet in elevation, with nothing too steep or too narrow.

But the number one requirement:

“We need to have at least 1,000 parking spaces to hold one of our races,” Atack said.

Many cities combine private, county and BLM lands with donations, county and state grants to build their tracks.

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It’s more than just economics that fuels mountain biking mania. Unlike most high school sports, everyone gets to compete. No one sits on the sidelines.

“Nobody rides the bench, is one of our favorite mottos of the league,” Atack said.

These tracks provide a valuable source of recreation and opportunity for kids, especially in small towns.

“I knew that if we could get these kids riding it would change their lives,” said Dennis Jorgensen, of Richfield.

“We’re building athletes.  And those athletes turn to lifetime users and recreationists and come back year after year and bring their kids,” added Maria Twitchell, of Cedar City.

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In many cities, trail maintenance can also become a part-time, high school job.

Since mountain biking isn’t a high school-sanctioned sport, the need for parent volunteers is great. They require a 1:6 coach-to-student ratio, just to ride on the trails.

“This is a sport where parents can practice and ride right alongside their kids, support them in the day,” Lyman said.

So, while mountain biking is changing the face of high school sports for thousands of families, it is also putting Utah towns on the map for tourism.

“Word of mouth continues to grow, so the impact is much larger than we anticipated,” said Amy Myers, Sevier County tourism director.

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“When the community benefits,” Jorgensen said, “We all benefit.”



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Utah Falls to Edmonton, 5-2 | Utah Mammoth

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Utah Falls to Edmonton, 5-2 | Utah Mammoth


It was a close game through the first 30 minutes; however, 11:24 into the second period the floodgates opened. There were several quick momentum shifts as all four goals in the middle frame were scored in a span of 3:40. After Matt Savoie scored shorthanded and put Edmonton up by a goal, associate captain Lawson Crouse’s 20th of the season evened things up 35 seconds later, 2-2. However, Oilers Captain Connor McDavid’s 400th career NHL goal eight seconds after Crouse’s tally took back momentum for the visitors. Jack Roslovic scored his second goal of the game three minutes later which gave Edmonton a two-goal lead.  

“I thought (the) first half of the game was good, showed some compete and then obviously the power play goal that we tied up was big,” MacKenzie Weegar shared. “Then they scored right after that, and then again quickly right after that, and then I thought we lost the momentum. We didn’t have the energy after that. The compete level in 50/50 battles wasn’t really there either. Definitely something that comes within, it’s not something that you can teach. That’s definitely look yourself in the mirror type stuff, but I trust in this group, and we’ll bounce back the right way.”

“We obviously just didn’t have enough of a pushback, in the third especially,” Kerfoot explained. “We’re down two goals in a game, fighting for a playoff spot against a team who’s also fighting, and we didn’t even make them work for it, didn’t make them earn it. Disappointing. It’s on us.”

Utah was held to 18 total shots and Edmonton blocked 24 of Utah’s attempts. The Mammoth were kept outside due to the Oilers structure, and they needed to get more pucks through to challenge Edmonton goaltender Tristan Jarry.

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“Just putting more pucks on net,” Kerfoot said. “Don’t even know about quality. We didn’t even really get many looks. Against a team like that, who kinds of allows you to have a little bit of possession on the outside, you have to break them down by shooting, recovering pucks, getting them out of structure. We allowed them to be in structure way too much.”

 “Your biggest enemy when you trail is you think you want to score, Tourigny said. “So, instead you keep your tank, your energy for to go on offense … you defend because you don’t have the same aggression, you don’t create a stop, you don’t create a hit where there’s a battle then you can recover the puck and go on offense. So, you end up spending all your energy defending instead (of spending) quick energy defensively, recovering pucks, and then you can go on the offense.”

Center Barrett Hayton was hurt on his first shift of the game and did not return. He played 0:17. Postgame, Tourigny said there will be more tests tomorrow and they will figure out “what’s the nature” of his injury.

Utah’s final game in a four-game homestand is on Thursday against the Washington Capitals. Tickets are available here!

Additional Notes from Tonight (per Mammoth PR)

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  • Tonight was Tourigny’s 400 NHL game as a head coach. He started his head coaching career with the Arizona Coyotes during the 2021-22 campaign, and this is his fifth season as a head coach. 154 of his 400 games have been with the Utah Mammoth franchise. 
  • Crouse scored his 20th of the campaign against the Oilers. He has reached the 20-goal mark four times in his last five seasons. He is currently fifth on the Mammoth with goals.
  • Karel Vejmelka played the first two periods before Vítek Vaněček took over for the third period. Vejmelka stopped 11 of the 15 shots he faced while Vaněček turned away all 10 shots he saw in the final frame.
  • The Mammoth did not take a single penalty in tonight’s game. Utah is 173-for-219 this season on the penalty kill (79.0%).
  • Utah has five skaters with 20 or more goals. They are tied with the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights for most in the NHL.

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How Big Was Jordan Clarkson’s Impact on Utah?

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How Big Was Jordan Clarkson’s Impact on Utah?


SALT LAKE CITY–Who knew that the number double zero would become so iconic in the state of Utah? Jordan Clarkson recently made his return home to Salt Lake City in a game against the Utah Jazz on March 11, 2026–His first time back at the Delta Center since being bought out by the team. 

“That’s a home for me,” Clarkson told the New York Post before his homecoming game at the Delta Center. “I loved the organization. I love the coaching staff. Yeah, I love the city. All I had was love there.”



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Utah mom accused of kidnapping autistic son’s 11-year-old bully until he apologized

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Utah mom accused of kidnapping autistic son’s 11-year-old bully until he apologized


A Utah mother allegedly kidnapped her autistic son’s bully and kept him at her home until he apologized — then threatened to have her husband beat him up.

Shannon Tufuga, 40, was slapped with kidnapping charges Monday after she rolled up on her son’s 11-year-old bully while he was riding his bike around his neighborhood in early September, according to charging documents obtained by KSL.com.

Tufuga was “driving around looking” specifically for the boy, whom she confronted and corralled into her car without his parents’ knowledge, the documents alleged.

Shannon Tufuga allegedly kidnapped her son’s bully and kept him at her home until he apologized — then threatened to have her husband beat him up. Facebook

She allegedly hightailed it back to her home in Provo, Utah, and kept the boy there until he apologized to her son.

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The boy readily apologized, but even then, the vengeful mom wouldn’t let up, according to the police report. She “threatened to have her husband beat up” the accused bully and sneered that he “was lucky she did not run over his bike,” the documents alleged.

Tufuga eventually drove the shell-shocked boy back to his home.

The alleged kidnapping caused the boy “serious emotional distress” over the following months, and he now suffers from “high anxiety and has had to alter his daily routines significantly,” according to the charging documents.


Tufuga was
Tufuga was “driving around looking” specifically for the boy, whom she confronted and corralled into her car without his parents’ knowledge, the documents alleged. Facebook

Tufuga was charged with child kidnapping and aggravated child abuse on Monday, both as second-degree felonies. The charges were lowered from first-degree felonies after the Utah County Attorney’s Office determined that a “reduction would be in the interests of justice.”

Tufuga’s son is on the autism spectrum, according to a post on her Facebook.

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