Kendall Card 2.0

I remember skiing with Shane McConkey (first voice in the following segment) once and while driving to Alta with him and the Gaffney bros he asked what I did in the summers. At the time I was running a lot of trail marathons. He sort of laughed and said that he’d rather jump off stuff with a chute on and push the edge rather than do something as boring as run 25 miles.

I’ve never been much for ego so the jab didn’t hurt and I’ll admit that running for hours on end can be seen by most as boring…and psychotic by others. Interesting that during the summers I choose spend hours on end on a road bike – although my enjoyment of screaming down a mountain pass at 50+ mph on a road bike is much more to “the edge” than trail running ever was. That’s why I dig climbing – it’s the descent that is the rush.

All of these thoughts were spurred when watching the following video (which I watched a couple of times) and hearing Shane’s voice behind the footage.

I’ve had 3 amazing resort days this past week skiing at Snowbasin with my oldest son McKinley, Park City Mountain Resort yesterday and then today at Deer Valley with Jason Mitchell, my good friend who owns FeedTheHabit.com. But Wednesday morning backcountry skiing, which is the primary content in the video below, is evidence of why I love to backcountry ski!

In case you’re wondering, yes, I forgot my goggles and had to ski in sunglasses. What a rookie move.

Vid filmed and produced by my friend Derek of Piton Productions.

No matter how hard you try I’m certain that you can’t make adopting a dog look this good in print. Billboard? Nope. Glossy tri-fold? Nada. How about a podcast? Boring.

Video is media, video is fun.

From Katie at The Wasatch Report

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.

After much prodding from my wife I pealed away from the computer for some needed ski touring. The road over Wolf Creek Pass is still open so I took advantage of the easy access and solitude.

The evidence is posted over at FeedTheHabit.com but here is some proof below of a great morning of skiing.  Nothing like some time in the backcountry to clear the mind and freshen  your attitude.

My buddy Eric and I were driving along Highway 224 from Park City towards Kimball Junction and a behemoth H2 Hummer came rolling by. It’s not that I haven’t seen a H2 before. On the contrary, I am quite tired seeing the plethora of Hummers that drive around the Wasatch Back. But this one was different.

As it drove by something caught my eye. I did a quadruple check and asked Eric if I was seeing things. Sure enough I wasn’t. This H2 Hummer was sporting some nice little “Hybrid” insignias which looked oh so familiar to the Ford Escape Hybrid symbol. Could Ford and GM be sharing symbol manufacturers?

Incredulous I pulled out my digital camera and documented the sighting. Evidence:

Still incredulous I did some poking around the web. I found this quote from the GMHummer Fan Site, posted by the Admin in January 2005:

The Hummer has been knocked by environmental groups for its fuelish ways, but don’t expect a hybrid gas-electric version of this General Motors SUV anytime soon.

“Should we immediately go and get on the hybrid bandwagon? No, that’s not appropriate for us,” said Susan Docherty, general manager of the Hummer Division.

“We need to be true to what we are from a Hummer standpoint. We’re a real masculine, rugged, irreverent brand,” she said Tuesday.

OK, so that was 2005. Then this year Arnold was presented with a special edition Hummer Hybrid followed by Paris ordering a Hybrid Hummer (nobody bothered to tell her that Hummer doesn’t make a hybrid – she just smiled).

Further investigation led me to the HybridAutoInfo.com blog. Although it spoke about the 2008 H2 Hummer and included a video of one from an auto show which didn’t have the “Hybrid” symbol from what I could see, there was no mention of a hybrid.  It the only thing close to was this one liner following a mention of a diesel Hummer H2 expected out in 2009:

What next? Hybrid Hummers?

Botton line: is this just a scam by some ultra rich yet self conscious and dishonest Parkite looking for an adda-boy while driving his 6400 lb behemoth around Park City? Or does the H2 Hybrid really exist, leaving me looking like the over-zealous tree hugger that some think I am?

Anyone got some light to shed on the topic?

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!

Disclaimer: Although this could be considered shamelss self promotion it is in fact shameless self promotion…as well as promoting my friend Adam Barker who is a very talented photographer

If you’re looking for something that the skier in your life will be stoked on and will appreciate for years to come look no further. This photo was taken on 4-19-2006, just a month after the doctor gave me the go ahead to start skiing again following brain surgery where I dogged the bullet and got what I call “extra innings”.  I’m stoked it came out so well and certainly shows Adam’s skill.

The photographer, Adam Barker, is doing a limited run of 1000 of these posters which are 24″ x 36″ and printed on high grade extra thick card stock. $1 from each poster sale will be donated to the Cottonwood Canyons Foundation.

If you’d like to purchase a poster check out Adam Barker’s website to buy one online. Cost is $25.

I found this worth the 9 minutes it took to watch. Why? Because it caused me to think about global warming in a way and with a simple organized approach that I have not yet seen or considered – with open perspective of the varying results from our action or inaction.

I can’t really poke any wholes in this. The comments on YouTube are interesting as well.

I’d love to see this argument be the foundation for a debate among the presidential candidates.

–Thanks Dow

Thanks to our fantastic neighbor Chloe, little Annapurna is ready for the snow. And timely too since we have seen two storms this past week that left 8″ in the front yard.

We’re headed out tomorrow night to Wolf Creek Pass to cut down our Christmas tree so I suspect that Annapurna will be sporting this cute outfit below…if she’ll leave the hat on! (she loves to take them off just as fast as we can put them on her)