It’s winter in Utah. One day it’s sunny, the next it’s snowing. For people who wanted to get out and enjoy the snow while it was here, Eaglewood Golf Course was the place to be. For the first time, North Salt Lake City had a professional tubing area that ran from mid-December to late February. It closed last week. But during those three months, individuals from all ages enjoyed flying down the slope at the golf course.

“We got a late start because it’s been a warm winter,” said Eaglewood Golf Course General Manager, Tyler Abegglen. “Gateway Parks ran it and they made their own snow. It was professionally groomed and they provided the tubes. They did a great job. We’ve been pleased overall.”

There was a lower number of people than expected, he said. “It certainly brought a different demographic than would normally come to Eaglewood.”

 Abegglen said he used to work in Spanish Fork. “They started it two years ago. They said they’d done it with this group (Gateway) and I thought Eaglewood would be a cool space to do this. We got connected with them to come here.”

When they saw the beautiful Bountiful bench they fell in love and wanted to do it, he said. “We kicked it off at the city council and they felt like it added value. The city is all about community. Everyone was all in.”

This is the fun part, said Abegglen. “The owner is a former snowboarder and he built a lot of snow equipment for ski resorts. It wasn’t just tubing. They did a run next to the tubing hill that was free with a magic carpet that took everyone back up.”

Their mission is to get people to learn how to ski on a smaller scale, he said. “We have about the same amount of skiers and snowboarders as tubers – kids coming up to it for free.”

Abegglen said he’s anxious for next year. “We’ll look to make some changes. I’m hopeful the community will rally around it.”

Their initial concern was taking away what’s normally been free, he said. “But we’ve had no trespassing signs for years. There’s still hundreds if not thousands of tubers more to the north side. We’ve brought some of them over to go up and down the hill multiple times instead of twice because you have to climb the hill.”

The city didn’t pay any of the cost to run it, said Abegglen. “Gateway pays its employees and the city gets a portion of their sales. It’s a good time when golf isn’t open to give us an added revenue stream.”

It’s a good trade off, he said. “They pay for the electricity and water. It’s a win, win for the city and for them. It’s great for North Salt Lake residents. It’s a benefit for everyone.”