What a Change 48 hrs Can Make

Dalt and I tried to recreate the magic of last Tuesday up USA bowl, this time with Fletcher. We were originally going to hit it for the second time on Wednesday but decided to push it back a day, this turned out to be a mistake. We met at the BCC park and ride at 4:30 am, picked up Fletch at 4:52. We would have been right on time for the Fletch pickup but-for "the twins". Apparently there is a moose that has twins every year that lives near Fletch's cabin. As we came around the bend near Butler Fork we got boxed in by the two youngsters and it took some time to navigate safe passage. We were skinning by 6:10. The ascent was once again very pleasant. The downhill was a different story. The snow got baked on wednesday and had re-frozen over-night to produce some challenging turning conditions. We made it out alright and to work by 8:15. A fun morning.

Just When I Thought I Was Out...

They sucked me back in. Can you believe all this late year dump? Crazy. Tuesday morning Dalt and I met up at 4:30 am. We were skinning up USA bowl by 5:05. About 25 degrees (f). The skinning was effortless, for some reason my heart never really got pumping for the whole ascent. (happy to be back on the dawn patrol I guess)

*sidenote* Mindy emencely dislikes the term Dawn Patrol, so now whenever I want to go I have to say something like "I'm thinking about a morning ski tomorrow". It sucks, I love the term dawn patrol. Kindof like my sister Amy emencely dislikes the words "moist" and "nugget" get over it. *sidenote over*

The first signs of day-light came around 6:50. We started our transition around 7:10. The descent was a game changer for me. The Zealots are from heaven. I love them, they love to float on powder, and we are all edified. Dalt made some perfect figure 8s of my track on the way down. Even the mildly steep tree lines were amazing with that combination of snow and float. It was cool. The sun never really came out so we didn't get any good shots so I'll include some file footage for good form.

Super-Saturday Run and Gun

Well, another super-saturday run and gun style. We slept at Gary and Sue's on Friday night so we could be at the Basin when the lifts opened. Since I have been burning hall passes at an exceptional rate, Mindy got all rights on the day. So Gary, Jed, Reilly, and Mindy set out to conquer the mountain while I had the pleasure of skiing with Talin, Aiden, Elle, and Presley. It was very fun. Elle and Talin used their ski poles for the first time. Elle took right to it. However for Talin the poles were too much of a distraction. Maybe next year. As we were approaching the lift I was sorting out Talin and before I knew it, Aiden (5 yrs) had gone right ahead and jumped on the lift. I was very surprised as I didn't know if he had ever gone alone before. Elle and Presley got on the next chair and were frantically yelling instructions. Aiden took it like a real pro. He never let on if he was alarmed in the least. As it turns out Presley and Aiden are exceptional skiers.

They took us on some bob-sled style runs that were pretty hairy. After about 8 runs on Wild Cat we broke for lunch.

I had to leave the resort around 12:30 to get to a 2:00 rugby game in Sandy. So I took the kids to Sue's (thanks Sue) and changed in the car as I drove south. As for the rugby, well if you can't say anything nice...

We all got home around 7:00 and had a nice dinner with our neighbors, Jim and Ireland. Shout-out to Ammon for all the great rugby photos.

No Friends on a Powder Day

Crazy the snow storms eh? A real beaut of a storm series dumped like 60 inches over 60 hours. Well guess who go the hall pass at the 60th hour? And guess who go a new pair of BD Zealots for his pre-b-day? That's right.

Dalt and I headed to Fletch's cabin around 10:30 pm. The storm was howling the whole way. Originally we were going to do a dawn patrol then hit the resort at 9:00am. However, with the avy danger characterized as "spiking" and "extreme", we reconsidered the DP. The Cabin provided a good night sleep and a breakfast fit for royalty (thanks Fletch). We arrived at Solitude's lower lot at 8:30. The crew included Shorty, Beez, Ben Beez, Micha, Fletch, Dalt, and myself. Unfortunately, LCC road was closed so we got all the hounds from Alta and the Bird mucking us up. Nevertheless, we joined them in gobbling up 27 inches of pow for about 6 runs on the quad. We then moved to the back side of the mountain, and not a minute too soon. As we came down Milk Run off Powderhorn we saw about 15 people waiting in the Summit lift line as the chairs began to move for the first time of the day. I think only about half our crew realized at that moment we were in for something special. The other half figured it out about 5 minutes later. We blazed untracked runs down Summit for about 5 runs until at just the right moment, what could be better...they opened Honeycomb. We hiked the north ridge and had the best run of the year.

Highlights of the day include a couple of bomb-crater style wipe-outs, Shorty always one run ahead or behind, and blasting through white-out rooster tails behind Dalt at super speeds on the new skis. It was great. To my crew, if I ever left you behind or didn't include you in the pictures, I dont have much to say, because as the saying goes...there are no friends on a powder day.

The Hybrid Season

Due to the crazy early day light savings switch the dawn patrols have been a off for a wee while, maybe in a few weeks.

For the last ten years or so I always hoped for an early winter and an early spring. Early winter for skiing and an early spring for rugby. This year I just want winter to hang around a little longer. I guess that's where the ski in the morning, rugby in the afternoon hybrid day enters.

We got everything ready friday night: boots (x5), skis (x4), edgy-wedgy, harness, baby bjorn, helmets (x3), parkas (x5), bibs (x5), gloves (x8), goggles (x5), base layers (x5), breakfast, snacks... check. Its never easy is it? Mind, Elle, Talin, Ava and I loaded into the car and miraculously made it to Solitude before the lifts opened. We made a 8 runs from 9:00 to 11:00, a good pace considering the party. Ava strapped to my front, Talin dragging Mindy down the hill like he is a Husky in the Iditarod, and Elle making perfect little turns and looking for steep chop. I love my crew.

It was a windy day so T and Elle made a fortress out of the Haggis's kit bags and took a little nap, very resourceful. The game didn't go so well as we gave up a try in the final minutes to lose 15-12. We all came home and enjoyed the warm weather in the neighborhood.

Oh Well

Tough to not go skiing on Saturdays. I had a rugby game in Provo so Mindy took the kids to Snowbasin to have a go. She is very capable. Apparently Ava never really made it out of her jammies. As for the rugby... not so good. A tough loss 31-10. Never fun to play, let alone lose to Provo.

Rugby in St. George

Fletch and Flandro were at my house by 8:00 pm on Friday night. We had the distinct pleasure of traveling in the VANTASTIC. Near Nephi the VAN started to feel as if it was not getting gas. Much to Fletch's annoyance, the surge didn't bother me too much as I slept from Fillmore to St George. (apparently we barely made it)
We pulled into the Crystal Inn parking lot around 2:00 am, rolled out the sleeping bags and crashed. The Crystal had a beautiful swimming pool and continental breakfast to boot. We dropped the VAN at the mechanic and made it to the rugby field by 10:00 am. We watched a few rugby games, greeted the Haggis as they rolled into town and played a pretty physical match v. St George. It was a very fun game, a lot of running and broken play. In the end we won out 45-5. While we waited for the VAN to get ready we enjoyed a well cooked meal by Hoke at Morgan's brothers house. Fun little George trip.