Adventurer Barbara Stewart Anderson began with Stewart Falls
Barbara Stewart Anderson poses for a portrait with Timp Haven Ski Resort and Sundance Mountain Resort mementos in her home in Orem on Monday, June 1, 2020. Anderson’s father, Raymond Briggs Stewart, owned and operated Timp Haven Ski Resort, which opened in 1944 on the slopes of Mount Timpanogos in Provo Canyon. In 1969, Raymond sold the ski resort and surrounding land to actor Robert Redford, who turned the resort into Sundance Mountain Resort.
Pins earned by Barbara Stewart Anderson from summiting Mount Timpanogos over the years are displayed in her home in Orem on Monday, June 1, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
A photo showing Barbara Stewart Anderson’s father, Raymond Briggs Stewart, and actor Robert Redford hangs among other mementos at her home in Orem on Monday, June 1, 2020. Raymond sold Timp Haven Ski Resort and the surrounding land to Robert Redford in 1969, who turned the resort into Sundance Mountain Resort. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Skis adapted by Barbara Stewart Anderson’s father, Raymond Briggs Stewart, that allowed her to ski the Mount Timpanogos Glacier hang in her home in Orem on Monday, June 1, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Barbara Stewart Anderson poses for a portrait in her home in Orem on Monday, June 1, 2020. The map behind her has pins in every location Anderson has visited, and she estimates she’s been to over 65 countries. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Sundance Mountain Resort ski passes from over the years stand in a line at Barbara Stewart Anderson’s home in Orem on Monday, June 1, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
An article that touches on Barbara Stewart Anderson skiing the Mount Timpanogos Glacier with skis adapted by her father, Raymond Briggs Stewart, is displayed in her home in Orem on Monday, June 1, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
A photo of skis adapted by Barbara Stewart Anderson’s father, Raymond Briggs Stewart, that allowed her to ski the Mount Timpanogos Glacier hangs in her home in Orem on Monday, June 1, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Barbara Stewart Anderson poses for a portrait with Timp Haven Ski Resort and Sundance Mountain Resort mementos in her home in Orem on Monday, June 1, 2020. Anderson’s father, Raymond Briggs Stewart, owned and operated Timp Haven Ski Resort, which opened in 1944 on the slopes of Mount Timpanogos in Provo Canyon. In 1969, Raymond sold the ski resort and surrounding land to actor Robert Redford, who turned the resort into Sundance Mountain Resort.
Books written and compiled by Barbara Stewart Anderson are displayed in her home in Orem on Monday, June 1, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Photos of Barbara Stewart Anderson’s collection of skier figurines and a newspaper clipping are displayed at her home in Orem on Monday, June 1, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Medals won by Barbara Stewart Anderson’s father, Raymond Briggs Stewart, in the Coca-Cola Cup Championships hang in her home in Orem on Monday, June 1, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
A child carrier that Barbara Stewart Anderson used to carry her son on adventures hangs in her home in Orem on Monday, June 1, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Award-winning cross-stitch pieces and other art created by Barbara Stewart Anderson are displayed in her home in Orem on Monday, June 1, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Barbara Stewart Anderson wears a coat her brother-in-law purchased for her as she poses for a portrait in her home in Orem on Monday, June 1, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Barbara Stewart Anderson wears a coat her brother-in-law purchased for her as she poses for a portrait in her home in Orem on Monday, June 1, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Barbara Stewart Anderson wears a coat her brother-in-law purchased for her as she poses for a portrait in her home in Orem on Monday, June 1, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
Barbara Stewart Anderson wears a coat her brother-in-law purchased for her as she poses for a portrait in her home in Orem on Monday, June 1, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald
One of the favorite mountain hikes in Utah County is the trek to Stewart Falls in Provo Canyon. The 200-foot, double-layered falls share a vista with what some have called the most majestic mountain scenes in the Rockies.
The falls, and the pools of water below, come directly from a year-round glacier on the north side of Mount Timpanogos. Its water is cool, clear and inviting to tired hikers.
Barbara Stewart Anderson could tell you just about anything you’d want to know about the falls. The area was homesteaded by her family.
“My grandfather and his brother homesteaded the canyon,” Anderson said. “My father’s land was from Aspen Grove to Wildwood.”
Wildwood is a collection of year-round homes and summer cabins at the turn-off to the Sundance Ski Resort.
Anderson noted that the family still owns an acre of land at Aspen Grove.
Anderson’s story
Anderson was born in 1936 in Salt Lake City to Raymond R. Stewart and Ava Beckstrand Stewart. She was the oldest of four children.
During her early years, Anderson moved to American Fork, Provo and settled in Orem. She graduated from Lincoln High School.
Her home away from home was the family cabin by Aspen Grove. The entire family loved skiing and in the mid-1940s started the Timp Haven ski resort.
It was her uncle, Paul Stewart, that later sold the lower half of the canyon to Robert Redford. Redford renamed Timp Haven and built up what is now Sundance Ski Resort.
Anderson loves to ski and, to this day at age 84, says it comes naturally.
“I still ski with my lifetime pass at Sundance,” Anderson said.
To say the Stewarts loved the outdoors is an understatement. Anderson can attest to that.
Ray Stewart was known as “The Father of Utah County Skiing,” and he and Ava Stewart have been honored as ski pioneers in the Intermountain West by the University of Utah Ski Archives and the Intermountain Ski Areas Association.
During the late spring and summer, Anderson and her siblings would pick fruit to earn money for their fall school clothes and things. First, it was strawberries, then raspberries and then cherries.
She worked hard during the week, but on the weekend you could find her and her family at their cabin in the mountains.
In the winter, skiing was the family pastime. Anderson won her first ski race in 1948 at age 12 through the Provo City Recreation Ski Program. By 1954 she was a ski instructor for the Brigham Young University Ski Program.
In July of 1955, Anderson was the first to sign the hike book register for climbing to the summit of Mount Timpanogos, and in 1957 she was named BYU’s Snow Queen.
Knowing she was going to ski the glacier, her father made her some special cut-down skis. In a book celebrating his life and Timp Haven, Ray Stewart describes making the skis.
“I cut down some skis and made short skis for her to ski on the Timpanogos Glacier. I boiled the front ends, and put them in a press to make them turn up as tips,” Ray Stewart said.
Ray Stewart was also creating inventions to help out on the mountain.
“He had a unit under the small waterfall (at Stewart Falls),” Anderson said. “He had the water go over a box and that was our refrigerator.”
The glacier water is very cold and it is not uncommon for picnickers to put cans of soda or watermelons in the creek to get them cold.
Anderson’s adventures
Anderson’s life has been full of the great outdoors, meeting new people and seeing new places. Her bucket list of adventures is full.
She started as a third grade teacher and went on to get her master’s degree in Library Science.
“I’ve been involved with a lot of libraries,” Anderson said.
Anderson married, raised a family and married a second time. By reading her life story you would think life began after the children grew up.
Her world adventures really got started when her brother-in-law invited her to go to Nepal in 1996.
In her book, “Why Not … ,” she says this of her first experience:
“In a country like Nepal, I utilized five ‘P’s’ in my life – physical fitness, preparation, prayer, perspiration and perseverance. Since the majority of time I spent in Nepal was trekking, the challenges for a woman my age were almost overwhelming,” Anderson said.
While overwhelming, it didn’t stop her from going back. She returned to Nepal seven times. She says her favorite climb was reaching the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro on Jan. 2, 2013, at age 76.
“Kilimanjaro is my favorite place and I loved scuba diving in New Zealand too,” Anderson said.
Anderson was wanting to scuba dive so bad she took a 10-day crash course to get her certification.
She has stayed at Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal twice. She has ridden elephants in India, rode a yak in Tibet, went heli-hiking in British Columbia and took a hot air balloon flight over the Nile River and Valley of the Kings in Egypt.
“I went with a group to Israel and did a month-long archaeological dig,” Anderson said. “I found a pot that is now in the museum in Jerusalem.”
That was not the end to Anderson’s world of adventures. She rode a camel to the top of Mount Sinai, went scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef and climbed the Great Wall of China.
Some of Anderson’s adventures have been closer to home. She has been sky-diving in Las Vegas and biked the San Juan Islands in Washington.
“I went (with my family) on a whitewater river trip,” Anderson said. “We did all of the rivers in the Western United States.”
During all those river trips, there was only one that caused concern.
“We got tipped over by a wave and two of my kids ended up in the water and under the boat,” Anderson said.
They ended up being OK, and Anderson said of the experience, “I’m glad I did it.”
Anderson has a big map on her wall with all the places she has been marked with a pin. She also has a small flag from each place as well.
“I have patches on my backpack from wherever I’ve been,” Anderson said. Anderson never wants to forget the places she’s visited.
No matter where she has been, be it the Easter Islands, skiing in Canada, traveling through Europe or skiing at Sundance, Anderson has learned a great deal about this planet called Earth and those who live on it.
“I’ve learned that people are wonderful throughout the world,” Anderson said.
While she only speaks English, Anderson said she was always been able to communicate. “Everywhere you go someone can speak English,” she said.
Her travels have slowed down now, but that doesn’t mean she has. She loves doing genealogy and connecting her families, and she continues learning.
No doubt, if all goes well, you’ll see Anderson on the slopes at Sundance come next winter.
