Sunday
December 31, 2006 Park City, Utah I rode Park CIty today,
as it was sunny this morning, I was on my way
in time to get a spot in the parking garage, and I really wanted to
hit some park jumps to get a feel for and get more dialed some of
the stuff
I have been doing on natural terrain in a different setting. And honestly,
it has just been looking good for me over there on the side of the
mountain -- I can see the parks when I stop at intersections on the
way home.
I started with the smallest jumps, and I was really feeling it for
a few runs. Then it got massively crowded at the little lift that
services
the park run and these lift people were being extremely bossy and as "not
chill" as possible (maybe the Euros have the right idea with the
free-for-all line situation after all...) Of course I am like "they
should have a high-speed quad here" anyway because coming from Mammoth,
that is the only way to lap a park...and they should have chill people
who have actually ridden park or ride or something handling the lift
lines and stuff. It was just like such a vibe killer which by itself
would have been okay except for the amount of time it was taking to get
a lap completed...I am like "I want to ride I do not want to stand
here in this situation". So I headed over to the McConkey's side
of the mountain and took some runs and played around over there for
awhile, then it was pretty much early afternoon and had become high-cloudy
flat
light so I decided it was time to go buy some socks in the village.
I tried to go back and ride the park again but everything was invisible
and I didn't have my other lenses and it was even more crowded than
in
the morning. I guess I learned my lesson about trying to ride PCMR
on a major holiday weekend. I will go back some other sunny day when
I don't
feel like driving to the Cottonwood Canyons and see how it is on a
regular weekday.
I went to Solitude for the first time on Friday, crowded but
fun, there is some good terrain over there that needs more exploring...I'll probably
keep going
to Brighton mostly, can't get enough of Millicent and some other stuff,
even without fresh snow it is good.
Sunday December 24, 2006 Park City, Utah I have been riding Millicent Lift at Brighton pretty much all weekend. The wind is doing some pretty interesting things with the snow over there and there haven't been many people around until about 11. I suppose a lot of people write off the natural terrain stuff unless there has just been a huge dump. I am glad everybody likes their rails! Brighton only reported 2 inches of new snow but I was buried up to my knees at one point this morning. Windblown on top + icy crusty to styrofoam packed powder underneath = enough speed to hit almost anything + powder turns and some powder landings. I think these conditions are almost my very favorite, even more so than deep powder sometimes. And the textures and the little windlips and all of the spines, ledges and things that are coming to life over there...there is not much more that I could ask for from terrain. There are rocks flush with the surface snow all over the place so there is some holding back in some regions but it is okay. So many things to play with on Christmas, it is okay to save some for later. The spaces between the more distinctive features are also to be explored...like in music improvisation the crescendos and flowery arpeggios are counterbalanced and interconnected with meaningful and elegant downtime...the minimal and the silence. And then comes the hotness again.
Monday December 18, 2006 Park CIty, Utah I went to Brighton today, it was good. Didn't get there until mid-morning as my departure was delayed by some heavy fog and lingering snow in Park City. But the drive was worth it, the Millicent area was fun late morning and early afternoon and then I hit Crest and Snake Creek and the halfpipe in the afternoon. I kind of wanted to stay for night session but my board wasn't sliding on the extremely cold snow, I hadn't waxed for that degree of coldness in several days. The snow is so light and fluffy, it is indeed very nice, I kind of want it to stick to things more so I can see what is hidden underneath the snow...A lot of the area right under the millicent lift toward the top was closed due to avy danger. People were over in it anyway (not me). There are some good things to hit under there that need to be accessed through some steep lines from that top ridge. It is supposed to stay cold this week, all of these choice terrain zones will have more excitement when the snow packs down. Here is a photo taken in the Big Cottonwood Canyon on the way home.
Thursday December 14, 2006 Park City, Utah It has been a week of roller coaster weather...including around a foot of fresh, light powder at Brighton on Monday, a low-key cloudy day at PCMR on Tuesday, a few inches of nice heavier powder at Brighton on Wednesday, and a warm spell at Snowbird on Thursday with still somewhat wintry conditions up top transitioning to late spring heavy, wet snow at the bottom. Millicent at Brighton still needs more snow on the bigger stuff but is on its way to filling in nicely, the rock garden under Snake Creek Lift at Brighton was the highlight on Wednesday, and today was good in the morning with some nice natural terrain stuff and laps on the new Peruvian quad lift. I got to see into the tunnel but I didn't go through as the fog situation would have made the ungroomed backside stuff kind of iffy in terms of fun potential -- I'll save it for another day. Photos are SLC/Cottonwood Heights area/view with fresh snow Monday, Snowbird Tunnel opening Thursday.
Friday December 8, 2006 Park CIty, Utah Tonight I went to watch the FIBT World Cup Two-Man Bobsled event at the Utah Olympic Park. It was really exciting and I was really cold. Not many spectators, so I must say it...needed more cowbell. There, I said it. The USA women's sled won gold earlier in the day and two of our Skeleton athletes won gold but it didn't look like we were winning the 2-Man when I left. Below is a picture of one of the deer props from the 2002 olympics hanging in the museum up there and a still from one of the USA teams' starts. Also here is a short selection of raw video clips (including part of the new USA disabled team's sled's historic run forerunning the track, one of the USA team's runs going around turn 12, a different USA team's start and a German team's start with the pink and silver sled -- all in that order).
Wednesday December 6, 2006 Park City, Utah I stayed in town today so I could get some things done and went to Park CIty to ride. The pipe build is underway, here are a couple of pictures.
Tuesday December 5, 2006 Park City, Utah I went to Brighton today, just kind of cruising around, the runs are still pretty soft. Pictures below are of the Millicent lift area (left) that isn't open yet, and one of the lodge/restaurants (right). All roads at Brighton lead to rails. Amidst the mellow terrain and sunlight I was feeling a bit conspicuous in my not hitting the rails nor having a pack to run with so to speak. That is just how it goes. It doesn't really phase me anymore.
Monday
December 4, 2006 Park CIty, Utah (Day 50 of riding this season...500
total days of snowboarding) This
morning I finally got my sofa. Then I went to the post office, the recycling
place and to look at some other furniture at the consignment shop. They
have lots of oversized suede chairs and giant log tables and stuff that
belongs in these monstrous ski lodge mansions that are clumped along
the ridgelines here. I finally got up on the slopes at PCMR around one
o'clock. Today makes 50 days for the season (including Europe days this
fall) and 500 days total. It is a lot...but not that much. In other news,
I believe my ipod is deceased. I have become accustomed to listening
to music while I ride -- I may have to go get a new one to hold me
over
until I get it back from Apple. It was working fine today for the first
few runs, then it just died. I am sad.
I think to make myself happy I am going to go and ride at Brighton
tomorrow. I really like Snowbird's terrain, it can be, if one looks
in the right places,
dare I say, like riding Dr. Seuss landscapes...but when I am there it seems
so dark and shadowy and I feel so lonely, like there is no one there
but yet way
too many people there...but only skiers and weekend people and maybe a few "freestyle"
skiers and snowboarders but no one talks with one another. Then at Park
City, even on a quiet Monday afternoon there are so many "holiday" skiers
that the rocket science calculations involved in hitting any bumps or
transitions to do anything with all of those erratic asteroids to figure
into the equation was just mind-boggling. But it is good wide-open riding
when things are just so. When I go
and ride I want
to ride, I hate to put a utilitarian spin on it but I really want to "get
things done" right now. I want to experience, if only once and awhile, what
it is like to ride from 9am until 9pm at Brighton. I may have to risk getting "soft" from
not riding the mysterious mountain of risk and wonders to go off and do some
intense making things happen (i.e. getting things dialed).
Sunday December 3, 2006 Park City, Utah (Day 49 of riding this season...) I rode at Snowbird today, pretty crowded but got some interesting runs in new and interesting places in my attempts to get some space to move around. The previous three days I have been riding at Park City Mountain Resort (PCMR). Thursday was a "curiosity about newly opened terrain" day and I got some nice powder riding in in a couple of the back bowl areas and fun hopping off of things on fluffy, soft groomer runs. Friday morning it was snowing pretty hard when I was getting ready to leave to drive to the Cottonwood Canyons (where Snowbird and Brighton are) so I decided to stay close to home and was well rewarded with almost pilllow-line deep fresh powder runs in an area they just opened for the first time. Definately one of the best days so far this season and virtually no crowd -- fast and loose riding...then Saturday I hit PCMR again just because I wanted the wide open sunny spaces to continue what I started on Friday (and I wanted to avoid the combined weekend crowd/Jeep King of the Mountain races at Snowbird). It got super-crowded by 11:30 but I got some solid riding in during the morning. I made myself go swimming in the afternoon because I hadn't been in over a week. It started snowing again, big fluffy flakes, with the sun out when I was leaving the aquatic center. I need to hone my crowd-avoidance strategies in preparation for the busy holidays times ahead. And I have to find a job in town, because traffic here can be berserk.
Wednesday
November 29, 2006 Park City, Utah "Chronicles of the Big Storm" It
was snowing in Park City before dawn on Monday morning, and by the
time I was over at PCMR taking
a few runs mid-morning there were a couple to a few inches of fresh snow
on top of the ice. Some nice slashes and mini-powder turns were to be
had before I had to come home to receive a sofa delivery. The sofa never
made it because by mid-afternoon the secondary roads were slick and snow-covered
and the delivery guy called me to say he couldn't get his truck up my
street.
Enough snow had fallen by Tuesday morning to make me have second thoughts about
driving all the way to the Cottonwood Canyons to ride. Even though the really
heavy snow didn't come until Tuesday afternoon, it seemed like a good call
to stay in the Park City area. I drove over to The Canyons and bought a ticket,
boarded the gondolas and rode around over there for a few hours. A lot of fun
was had on the fresh snow, the open terrain was relatively flat but there were
some natural features, banks and rollers in the runs that were more than entertaining.
Almost white out conditions by about 2pm, called it a day shortly thereafter.
It was getting scary cold too, but my mittens and outerwear stayed warm and
dry.
Went and got stuff to make sashimi...went back out later in the evening. It
was still snowing. Found out Utah allows indoor smoking at bars, somehow I
had thought
it was smoke-free here like in California. I am kind of annoyed with myself
for not researching that situation better.
Today, Wednesday, was the big tram powder day at Snowbird. Even though I got
up at 6 something I didn't get over there until a little after nine due to
my not planning for the road conditions and the commuter traffic leaving Park
City,
on I-80 and in SLC. So I didn't get to do the wait for the tram thing, but
the line was so long that by 11 I'd only taken one tram run. I got a few fresh
tracks
but nothing spectacular. I was really impressed with the light, fluffy snow
quality...it was -12 F up top this morning. I didn't quite have the right wax
so my board
wasn't sliding so great, but I made the best of it and got to have some fun
up there. Then I got to "cut in line" with ski patrol and board the
tram before everybody else standing there waiting in line because I had meeting
with
ski patrol for some undisclosed reason up at the top. But after that I was
over it with the tram for the day, people were getting one tram run per hour
it looked
like, so I took my second tram line down into the Gad Valley and rode around
off those chairs for the rest of the afternoon. I scoped out a couple of things
over there, played around on them...some interesting possibilities. I traversed
back to the tram side and got wax and candy in the Snowbird Center stores before
heading back to Park City. It is below zero here now and it isn't even 8pm.
I am completely exhausted.
Monday November 27, 2006 Snowing in "City, Park City"
Sunday November 26, 2006 Snowbird, Utah (Day 42 of riding this season) So today was my first day riding off the tram. So crazy being crammed into a tram again after all of that gondi/tram business in Switzerland. I mostly rode the Chip's run way down (only that and Regulator Johnson were open) and whatever looked good close by. Snow conditions were decent (whereas the Gad Valley stuff is getting scraped) so steep, multi-dimensional contours. One spot where they were blowing snow below Chip's face near the bottom was particularly good, loose snow on a steep run in big piles, not lips by any means but I could fly off of them and then hit the next one, etc. just dropping steep stuff and cat tracks feels really good right now, feeling the momentum. I wasn't really going off, with it being brand new terrain to me and pretty dark over there this morning, but it was really fun. Snowbird is a much different scene from Brighton, it will be interesting to see what the crowds and the vibe are like after they get some more snow and season kicks into full gear.
Saturday November 25, 2006 Brighton, Utah (Day 41 of riding this season) A day at Brighton...I was mostly riding the snake creek chairlift and checking out those little mini rock formation areas that pass underneath. Really cool stuff in there, I think it is maybe best now before it gets too filled in...kind of like some of the stuff under chair 9 at Mammoth. Icy but abundant transitions...after it got shadowy over there I lapped the crest and majestic a few times, playing around on those runs. There are some steep spots in the runs at Brighton to get that kind of air but for the most part I find the basic terrain there to be kind of mild. The limiting reagent in the chemical reaction that is me getting to do the stuff I want to do is "people" (No I am not jibbing people, even though I did, just once by accident.....the rails...they are made of people...) I can't go hit that out-of-bounds stuff...over there...by myself. And, of course, one has to have the right people. I am quite frustrated right now even though I am happy with how the snowboarding is going.
Thursday November 23, 2006 Park City, Utah...Thanksgiving Day at Park City Mountain Resort My Plan A was to go to Snowbird today because the tram was supposed to be open, but instead I slept in (because I was totally exhausted from the riding/working/commuting thing...which I've kind of put to rest because I quit my job already) and rode a couple of runs here in town at PCMR. They have the ice skating rink open, snow conditions were pretty icy with some fresh flakes on top from some morning snow showers, and crowds were manageable but kind of sketchy. I've been riding at Snowbird mostly, even though Brighton seems to be "the place to be" in the opinion of most snowboarders I speak with who drive to the Cottonwood canyons to ride or who live in SLC... I like Brighton and I think when more lifts open, I am going to go ride over there some more soon. I am kind of damaged right now in so far as I think every stretch of ice is "hot" and "sick" because it is so much better to have my big wide stretches of American ice and not have to share it with world cup ski teams and endure all that oppression and abuse. I am kind of blown away by how many people decide to learn to ski/ride on steep icy runs at Snowbird. I try to be really supportive and give people lots of courtesy and space, but I am still kind of baffled by it.
Saturday November 18, 2006 Park City, Utah 3:15pm MT...Snowbird Opening Day (Day 35 of riding this season) They still have good candy in the store. Snow was all conditions -- powder, ice, manmade, hardpack, soft groomers, hard groomers...even with only 3 lifts running, there is so much fun stuff to ride at Snowbird. Really crowded. Took pictures of things that need a bit more snow and fewer people around to hit.
Friday November 17, 2006 Park City, Utah...Park City Mountain Resort Opening Day (Day 34 of riding this season) the surface was mostly manmade, but softer than most manmade I've experienced. Here are pictures of the Payday run and top lift unloading zone and Belle the rescue dog.
Wednesday November 15, 2006 Brighton (Utah) Opening Day (Day 33 of riding this season) Fresh powder. Fun.
Tuesday November 14, 2006 Park City, Utah 8pm MT So I am in Utah for this winter, I am getting settled in and actually went out and got a job today. I am working on some new entrepreneurial pursuits in my "free time" but I am not ready to not have another job yet, and hopefully I will be snowboarding well into the afternoon everyday and working in the evenings. I have a pass for Park City, I bought it before I went to Switzerland...but I am not that into riding park and pipe right now so it looks like I am going to be doing a lot of driving this winter. There are so many cool places to explore here, I am going to be all over the place. About 8 inches new snow this morning where I am. So much fun watching it snow out the window the last few days.
Wednesday November 8, 2006 Reno, Nevada 7:11 am PT Flew here last night, getting ready to go and get my stuff and head out of town. I had the idea that I'd stay here or go to Mammoth and ride a couple of days if there was snow, but there isn't snow (that white ribbon in Mammoth doesn't count this year and my Mammoth pass is in Indiana anyway...) lots to drive and do today, hope everything falls into place.
Saturday November 4, 2006 Florida, USA 4:34 pm ET So I was supposed to fly from Geneva to Louisville, Kentucky (near where my Mom's family is from) Wednesday but instead I came to Florida...having a nice few days here with my parents before I head back out west in a couple of days.
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