That’s not me in the yellow. That’s me back there in the distance making my point this past weekend near the summit of Mount Nebo.
It’s a TGR maggot thing.
(click the image and you’ll see it better)
Woke Saturday morning to the pitter-patter of rain on my window. Rolling over I thought that the previous plans to ski would be on hold. I can tell I’ve lost the winter mentality.
Regardless, my ski partners for the day arrived in Kamas and we headed up the Mirror Lake Highway in search of snow to slide on. The scenery was impressive as we passed Yellow Pine and Beaver Creek at mile 7 or so.
(click for a larger view)
By the time we hit mile marker 25 near Bald Mountain Pass the we had re-entered winter.
Needless to day, we found plenty of snow out there to ski on as we summited and then skied down most of Reid Peak via the NW Coulior.
Regarding the road being open, it’s been plowed past Bald Mountain Pass to Butterfly lake. All of the lakes up there are still frozen over, every single one of them. Fishing is not happening anytime soon. For road biking, the snow on the side of the roads isn’t a factor until just prior to the pass where the snow is easily 4-5 feet deep on the shoulders. They may get the road open for the Over the Top bike race but it’ll be a cold ride with the snow on the sides of the road from Provo River Falls and beyond.
As for the skiing, I think we’ve got a few more weeks of good skiing. Right now though the obvious and less steep spots are hit hard by the sledders who on Saturday were nearly as thick as the mosquitos are in July. So my advice, go steep (NE face of Bald) or be creative about your approach (Watson, Hayden)
While a number of the peaks have aspects or ridges that are void of snow, gullies and sheltered aspects (east, north, NW) hold plenty of snow. My next target is Watson, whose east face is still mostly filled in. With snow predicted for Wed into Thur this week it’s bike-ski-bike week.
More pics to follow….
TodayI skied at Snowbird. They had received over 17″ in the past 48 hours and although it had settled the experience was beyond good.
I didn’t take any pictures of myself while skiing but the expression below of my son McKinley from our last ski day at Deer Valley/Park City sums up how I felt skiing powder at the end of May.
Took McKinley skiing this past week to Deer Valley. Not that it was anything out of the ordinary but then again, it was. After an early morning ski tour on Mt. Aire with friends I came home, got a couple things off my plate and went and pulled McKinley out of school to ski the rest of the day at Deer Valley.
After years of begging, my parents plunked down for some used gear and a night lesson at Sundance that my dad took me to. I remember that night like it was yesterday. That night a fire was lit inside me. All I wanted to do from that night forth was to ski.
As my passion for skiing grew he was always there to push me along and support me. We’ve only skied a couple times together and as a kid taking me out of school to ski was something I always wished he could have done, but he didn’t ski so much and we weren’t nearly as fortunate when I was growing up. Either way, taking McKinley to Deer Valley today felt like coming full circle.
Aside from falling in love with the place, Deer Valley had little jumps everywhere that McKinley honed in on like a heat seeking missle. I snapped a photo of him in action:
It’s so very cool to see my son develop a love for skiing. And it’s even cooler to see him making parallel turns down steeper slopes and keeping up with me as I ski my own pace. This year has been his year indeed and ripping up Deer Valley from one end to the other was a great way to showcase his skill.
Finding ourselves on the Empire lift at closing time (3pm), being the end of the season and since we have season passes at Park City we broke the rules and ducked over to PCMR to finish out the day skiing more tree stashes of powder (Deer Valley was also a gold mine for untracked powder in the trees). The first thing after doing so McKinley said “Dad, Snowboarders!!”. The joy of being a skier at Deer Valley.
After a few runs at PCMR on McConkey’s, Pioneer and a home run down his favorite black at PCMR we took a ride on the mountain roller coaster. I HIGHLY recommend this ride - it’s a bit pricey but what a blast we had riding it together.
McKinley’s reaction after the roller coaster ride
As we rode the town bus from PCMR back to Deer Valley I struck up a conversation with the young man sitting in front of us. He asked if we were here on vacation to which I replied that we lived local. He asked if McKinley was out of school today to which I replied that I had pulled him from school to get one last powder day while the lifts were running.
He turned to McKinley and said, “You’re one lucky kid. Your dad is one cool dad.” If you say so…
A month or so ago I was up at Brighton Resort with the Bluehouse Skis crew for the Bluehouse Rail Jam. It was cool to see all the skiers that came out to compete. Brighton hooked up the kind spot and a slew of sponsors including Tramdock.com kicked down prizes. The winner took home some MR’s.
Check out the vid:
My buddy Tim Cartwright loves skiing more than anyone I know. On any given day, 365 days a year I could phone him up with the suggestion of a ski trip, a destination, a line on a peak and he’d be game. He’d likely up the ante by suggesting an aspect to the adventure that I hadn’t thought of. I should know, it’s happened multiple times.
After a trip to Utah a few weeks back where Tim and I skied The Canyons and Snowbird, he returned to Seattle just in time for the heavens to open and cold temps to decend upon the PNW.
I’m stoked to see his most recent experience about skiing Crystal Mountain and Alpental was published on PowderMag.com. Nice job Tim!
I’ve long contended that Deer Valley is a great place to ski and despite the nay sayers there are some cliffs, drops, steeps and plenty of untracked powder to be had amid the corduroy and the Bogner one piece suits. Dan from Bluehouse Skis is evidence that I’m not blowing smoke. I can’t tell if he’s skiing the new prototypes but either way he went big, very big.
I was skiing at Park City Mountain Resort this morning with Brian Kahn of “Locals Have More Fun” and I found myself thinking to myself, in perhaps an egotistical way, “Locals indeed have more fun”.
But what is it about being a local that is so cool? I mean, everyone is a local to wherever they live so what makes me think that being a local to Park City so much better than being a local to say, Omaha, Nebraska?
As I was thinking these things we were skiing our last run from the top of the Bonanza lift and I looked to the south at Deer Valley and the mountains beyond, just as the clouds were breaking. It was an amazing view and I once again egotistically thumped my chest, “This is the best place to be a local”.
Weather you can agree or not, there’s not doubt that views like the one below are a treat no matter where you’re considered “local”.
With that thought here’s my write up of the morning ski for Ski Utah’s blog.
It’s always great to get out and ski but even more so when all my friends are at the “office”. Making it a great day was calling it “work” and skiing with a fun crew of people all having a great time didn’t suck either.
Tuesday I was up at Park City Mountain Resort with the Bluehouse Skis crew. Park City TV was along for some interviews and put together a really cool piece that featured a couple of the riders, part of the crew and some good riding. For a season that has been lacking so far, I was impressed by the conditions at Park City. Props to PCMR and PCTV!
I love skiing. Surprisingly, to some, I also love the ski industry. Yes they are two separate things.
I’ve heard some tell me that they have enjoyed skiing more once they left the ski industry than while they were working in the ski industry. Perhaps that’s because they, along with most who live to work in the industry, don’t realize that there is a difference. Trust me, there is a difference.
Knowing that, I was very intrigued when Jared Richards from Bluehouse Skis called me up and wanted to chat. He and a partner Adam Hepworth had spent two years and a pile of cash developing and building a new ski brand and were going “live” with 2 different models - the MR and the District
After a couple of chats with Jared, Adam and Shane I wanted in and knew it was time to once again work in the ski industry. I’m stoked to be a part of the Bluehouse team helping to push the brand forward and embrace existing and future customers. Most of all I am looking forward to pushing a quality home grown Utah ski company forward and enjoying the ride.
