Here’s How To Talk The Talk.

Every region has its own pronunciations, so if you take a western ski trip you might want to brush up on a few words and say them the way the local say them.

Word 1: Alta. This popular ski-only resort in Utah is the granddaddy of powder skiing. It averages 500 inches of snow a year, yet it’s just 25 miles from Salt Lake International Airport. How to say it like a local? Use this as a guideline. “My PAL AL skis at ALta.”

Word 2. Nevada. If you go a littler further west you’ll ski in Nevada at resorts around Lake Tahoe such as Kirkwood and Heavenly. But the state’s name often gets clobbered by visitors. Try saying this: “I’m GLAD not MAD to ski NEVADa.

BLIZZard, no longer BlizzARD. Talk like a native.
Credit: Harriet Wallis

Word 3. Blizzard. That’s a snowy weather condition. It’s also a brand of skis that’s popular out west. The Lift House, a full service ski shop at the base of Big Cottonwood Canyon in Utah, says that the brand is modernizing and Americanizing its name. No more “BlizzARD”, rhymes with “yard.”

Now you’re in the know. You can pronounce BLIZzard skis just the way you’d speak of a big snowstorm – a blizzard.

Does your region have some words that get mispronounced by out-of-staters?