The class catalog for the University of Utah’s Park, Recreation and Tourism Department reads like a fairytale for outdoor enthusiasts of all kinds, and it’s especially true for the downhill aficionados.

For instance, tell me the description for this class, Ski Mountaineering (PRT 1415), doesn’t make your mouth water: “Fundamentals of ski mountaineering such as route finding, rope management, ridge climbing, and advanced ski travel skills. Requires adequate winter camping and backpacking skiing skills. Instruction will include land-management and wilderness ethics. Overnight camping.” The class meets once, then goes into the “field” for a weekend. And, you receive two credit hours.

Here’s another hair-raising, adrenaline-packed course for the snow junkies: Natural Resources Learning: Backcountry Avalanche (PRT 2007). This class includes snowshoe, backcountry ski, snowboard/snowshoe travel in steep terrain, and the analysis of stability, snowpack change, terrain, human factors, and rescue possibilities.

The list of winter adventure classes keeps going (as you can see below) and includes courses that will help certify prospective ski and snowboarding instructors, which could come in handy for subsidizing the cost of grad school.

Other PRT-Snow course offerings:

1228 Yurt Camping Uinta Mountains (2): Resource management issues, skills, safety, natural history, and environmental ethics associated with yurt-based camping and the Norwegian outdoor education philosophy on US Forest Service-managed lands. Overnight camping.

1411 Beginning Snowshoeing (2): The basics of snowshoeing, winter safety, environmental ethics, and recreation-management challenges associated with snowshoeing. Overnight camping.

1412 Snowshoe/Ski/Backpack (2): Snowshoeing techniques in the Utah’s Uinta mountains, including winter safety and backcountry travel techniques. Also includes study of recreation management implications associated with snowshoeing in the Uinta mountains. Overnight camping.

1420 Alpine Skiing (2 credit hours): Designed for beginning through intermediate skiers, this course provides practical skills and information on resource and facility management, ski history, and techniques.

1421 Advanced Skiing (1.5): Designed for advanced skiers, this course provides practical skills, and information on resource and facility management, ski history, and techniques.

1430 Cross-Country Skiing (1.5): Covers basic to intermediate cross-country touring and track techniques as well as recreation-management issues associated with this activity. Development of safe and versatile skills is emphasized.

1431 Telemark Skiing (2): Intermediate to advanced techniques for skiing telemark on metal-edged, free-heel skis in varying snow conditions. Includes examination of recreation management issues associated with telemark skiing.

1435 Snowboard I (2): For novice students who have never ridden a snowboard and want to learn. This course takes the novice through the skill of snowboarding in a variety of snow conditions. Students will learn safety, rider awareness, and slope selection. Includes study of recreation-management issues associated with snow boarding, consumerism, and safety.

1436 Snowboard II (2): Divides the experienced snowboarders into groups whose skills are similar in order to learn more advanced techniques of snowboarding. Includes study of recreation-management issues associated with snow boarding, consumerism, and safety.

1450 Ski Teaching, Beginning (3): Classroom and on-hill clinics for prospective ski instructors. Learn skills and knowledge necessary to teach downhill skiing. Includes study of recreation management issues associated with skiing, and practical teaching experience.

1455 Ski Teaching, Advanced (2): This course fine-tunes the teaching skills of the instructors who taught during the prior ski session. Instruction is at an advanced level, enabling students to improve their skills and become ready for employment. Includes study of recreation-management issues associated with skiing.

1456 Snowboard Teaching (3): Learn how to teach snowboarding. Class provides the basic techniques used in the American Association of Snowboard Instructors certification program. Includes study of recreation management issues associated with snow boarding, and practical teaching experience.

1457 Backcountry Ski Guiding (2): Through class and field sessions, students examine resource management issues, and learn specific skills related to commercial guiding of backcountry skiers. Includes safety, consumerism, and Leave-No-Trace skills.

2008 Avalanche Awareness (1.5): Practical field experience, lectures, slides, and films acquaint Wasatch skiers and snowboarders with problems encountered in back-country travel. Course provides a basic working knowledge of group safety, route-finding, and minimizing winter hazards in the backcountry of Utah mountains.