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Richard Thomas learned his love of the outdoors from his father during innumerable family and Scout camping and skiing trips in the Cascades of Central Washington and the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia.
A resident of Alta for over twenty years, Richard has witnessed steady growth in Little Cottonwood Canyon, both public and private, including the Town Office, the completion of the sewer and gas line, the re-building of Goldminer's and the Rustler expansion, many structural improvements for the benefit of visitors tothe Alta and Snowbird resorts and the gradual build out of the available residential properties at Alta. He strongly supports the efforts of the Friends of Alta to assist the Town in its legal battles to enforce its zoning decisions, to maintain the watershed and to conserve the natural heritage of the Albion Basin.
Throughout his early childhood in Utah, Richard was regaled with anecdotes about his great uncles, Roy and Earshel Newman. They told exciting stories about their mining adventures in the Central Wasatch, during the decades before skiing Alta's powder snow was economically more important than finding gold or silver. Roy became reknowned as the "Blind Miner" of Big Cottonwood Canyon when he continued working his claim there many years after an explosion took his vision. Earshel looked out for his brother over those many years, and, during the thirties, was a mining engineer at the Live Yankee Mine in American Fork Canyon. In winter, he would ride the tram buckets across avalanche paths to ski over the ridge into Little Cottonwood Canyon and down to his cabin in Holladay. Sometimes Earshel would visit Alta's Mayor Watson along the way, and humorously told of his difficulties skiing down after sampling a potent beverage called a "Pinecone", so named for the fir branch flavoring the brew.
Richard is a long-time member of the American Association of Individual Investors and the Society of Professional Journalists. In addition to his affection for the Alta community and his experience observing financial markets and trends, Richard brings his knowledge of graphic design and communication to the Friends of Alta organization.
Email him here: Richard Thomas
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