The CragBaby

On the lift. The boys are on the next chair.

I headed up to Solitude for a half day of riding with Triznut and The Tobin James. The conditions were better than expected when we started to ride, but as the day progressed a storm blew in. Next thing we knew we were riding up the chair lift, surrounded by thunder and lighting and were told that the mountain was closing down. It was dumping snow, so we slowly made our way down from the summit, enjoying all the fresh lines. By the time we made our way to the bottom the lifts had re-opened for one last run. W00T! We took it, smiling all the way down. We finished out the great day with a classic Garlic Burger and beer at the Cotton Bottom.

The Tobin James with me in the background.

All three of us freezing but happy!

Third time up in this year of powder was spent at Snowbird with Shaft and later joined by Dr. M. Snowbird has been my resort of choice for the past three or four years and feel like I know the mountain well. However, Dr. M. had a whole handful of excellent beta of chutes and tree lines I had never skied. Poor Shaft had already done a 5mile snowshoe walk / race that morn and remained cheerful as we drug him all over the mountain. Good times!

Me real smiley on The Road to Provo.

Dr. M joined Shaft and I half way through the day. Even though he has skied for years, he insists on always have the bar down on the chair lift. =D

Shaft also captured the Snowbird boogie, a staple for a good day of riding.  H.I.P. #2, this is my equivalent of the “Going to the Burren” dance.

I haven’t really hit up the snow this year. Seems funny to live in Utah, especially this year and not “slide on snow”. I think I just needed a break for a year. I usually have a season’s pass and take snowboarding a little too seriously. So, I didn’t make the investment and have only gone out a handful times, though our snow has been phenomenal. I think this year I just wanted to climb more than board. And the rarity of the days has made riding real fun. One powder day in January Triznut, BW, Shaft and I decided we were heading up because we were slammed with powder. We waited two hours (Triznut and BW in one car and Shaft and I in another) by the 7-11 at the base of the canyons. We were hoping to get up Big Cottonwood for a day at Solitude, yet when the 2 hour wait mark hit, Shaft and I headed up Little Cottonwood to Snowbird. It was my first time to snowboard with Shaft and it was such a great time. The powder was fantastic, the lifts were not too busy and the alpenglow on Superior at the 4 o’clock hour was stunning. I had taken pics, but unfortunately they were erased. No pics, but still great memories.

I have purchased a season pass to Snowbird for the past four or five years, loyally riding at least every Saturday and Sunday plus more while I was in school. Last year I started to burn out on being specific resort bound and just on snowboarding in general. As a result I decided to forego the pass this year and thought I might expand and check out some other resorts, or even considered just climb all winter long.

My first day out for the season was with Gunner and one of his orthopedic surgeon friends, Kubiak, at Snowbasin. Sure I had heard of Snowbasin, but I had yet to ride there. To my surprise the terrain was phenomenal and the crowds at least half of that at Snowbird. Huh… who would have known? To top it off, riding with Gunner and Kubiak was a blast as we all loved to swerve through trees and the day even ended with Kubiak’s pass being revoked. =D

Once a year, my work calls a ski day in the winter and a water-ski day in the summer. Today was the Ski Day. I went up to Snowbird, as that is were I have my season pass, and it was a bluebird powder day. The best part was the grayhghost, the Stone-face-killah and Wydysh all had it off work as well. The three of us enjoyed the powder, and the grayhghost (you will never believe this!) snowboarded rather than skied. I actually saw him fall, a sight I have never before witnessed.

A bearded grayhghost. Photo by me.

Me and the StoneFaceKillah on the lift. Photo by me.

Me enjoying the pow of Little Cloud, quite soon after they opened the gate. Hell’s yeah. Photo by Grayhghost.

TB having anything but a good day. Bummer.

As many of you have probably noticed, global warming is really starting to take a toll. Just look at New York. Absurdly warm temperatures about a month ago, my friend Charlie had the top down on his convertible, and now upstate New York has 9 feet of snow! We have seen weird weather here in Utah as well as it is now February and we have had hardly any snow. The top of the Cirque at Snowbird is still rocky and there is a sign by one of the chutes that says “rocks!”.

But yesterday warmed my heart. We had been pounded with snow the night before and Sunday conditions were fantastic. I got to the resort at my usual time, around noon’ish, and there were still powder shots, walk on trams and many double black diamond gates were open. I was grinning ear-from-ear while riding through the trees with my friend Wydysh.