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Yesterday I headed up to Sundance for some spring corn skiing. Sundance is nestled in the bottom of a mountain valley with steep beautiful mountains surrounding. Hilary made the observation that “Sundance is one of the only places in Utah where it looks like you are in Europe.” I checked in to the lodge before heading over to the Foundry Grill for a tasty feast. Then we headed rustic Owl Bar that I have heard so much about, for some cocktails. The next morning I took in more of the view from the deck and relaxed as the sun softened up the snow. Once the snow was starting to corn up, we headed up Ray’s Lift and cruised over to Arrowhead. We could tell from the lift the skiing was going to be awesome. We saw a guy making nice turns down a smooth sunny face. When we got there, the face was soft but not sloppy. Nice and smooth without bumps, we cruised some nice effortless turns down Bishop’s Bowl. Then we took Bishop’s Cat Track back around to the lift. With barely any people there, we could ski right on. Don’t be thrown off by the warm weather, the skiing is great! Right now the skiing starts to get good around eleven. Then it is best between about 12 to 2, before it starts to get sloppier. On really warm days the timetable can be earlier. Shaded area’s take longer to thaw, but can have better consistency later in the day. Today it was perfect at about 12:30 on sunny slopes. Sundance has awesome views and a relaxing atmosphere. For a real getaway without a far drive, cruise up to Sundance for a mellow mountain town vibe with voluptuous mountains.

Just like the rest of the week, it was another beautiful spring day in Park City. I started out by heading up the Payday lift. On the lift ride, I noticed some kids screaming at the top of their lungs as they rode the gravity fed Alpine Coaster. Then I rode up Bonanza before heading over to McConkey’s for some soft bumps. By the end of the day they are nice and soft, serving up slushy face shots. I don’t bother starting early morning in the spring unless it dumps. It’s better to let the snow thaw out from the previous night’s freeze. That schedule works nicely with my sleep habits as well. After McConkey’s I figured I better head for the park. I don’t ski the park much. However the spring slush makes this the perfect time of year to work on some new tricks and style out old ones. After a few soft landings the confidence builds, and all you want to do is go bigger every time. Then at the end of the day I went up for one last cruiser. On the way down I noticed that Widowmaker was smooth with almost no bumps. The slush made it easy to feel like a hero opening it up down a run that I would normally have to make more turns down. I love spring skiing! Now I’m off to the next stop on the Freeskiing Tour. I’ll be back for the rest of spring break in a few days.

Warm sunny weather makes for great spring skiing. I decided to cruise over to Deer Valley today to enjoy some soft spring snow. With conditions being firm early and then getting softer as the day goes on, I opted for a later start. The bumps on Solace were nice and slushy allowing me to take a pretty straight line while easily controlling my speed. After that I cruised back up Empire and headed over to the Daly Chutes. Getting a little less sun, the main chute was soft but not as slushy. Then I cruised back over to Silver Lake to spin a couple of laps off the Sterling lift. With no ice anywhere to be found, you could ski fast and lay your skis over, knowing your edge will hold for sure. I did realize that it’s time for me to start waxing my skis again. The melting snow is super slow on the catwalks late in the day. Some warm weather pink, red or yellow wax mixed with graphite takes care off that. Between laps I noticed there were plenty of people enjoying the spring weather by lounging on “The Beach” in front of Silver Lake Lodge. The bikinis are out, meaning that it must be spring break. Soft snow and sun equals lots of fun!

The World Superpipe Championships took place this weekend at Park City Mountain Resort. A huge crowd came out to see one of Shaun White’s best runs of the year. The 2006 Olympic Gold Medalist won the snowboarding competition on the men’s side. The skiers got in the pipe on Sunday, and Simon Dumont came away with the win. Harry O’s, a big nightclub on Main Street in Park City, was the site of the WSC party on Saturday night. Here’s some photos… yes, we do party in Utah.

This is the busiest weekend of the season for ski and snowboard events in Utah. Today the U.S. Freeskiing Nationals and Steve Young Celebrity Ski Classic are taking place at Snowbird and the World Superpipe Championships are underway at Park City Mountain Resort. The Canus Lupus Challenge is also going on today at The Canyons. Last night Park City Mountain Resort had a VIP party with DJ Knucklz at Legacy Lodge. Olympic Gold Medalist Shaun White, a.k.a. The Flying Tomato, was there to pick up his bib for the event and hang with his many young fans. Krista Parry and Paula Fabel got down to hip hop beats spun by DJ Knucklz.

West Baldy was the venue for today’s US Freeskiing Finals. Spectators, armed with coolers of beer and barbecues, gathered below to watch the action. A few inches of fresh snow fell overnight so when limited visibility delayed the competition there was awesome skiing at The Bird.

Today was the semi final for the World Tour event at Snowbird. Because I didn’t get through the qualifier, I am now a spectator for the rest of the event. Although it’s disappointing not to be competing, it is still fun to drink a few beers while watching your buddies throw down. Throw down is what they did. About seven inches of snow the day before softened Silver Fox. Soft landings made for some big air. Skiers were hucking all the biggest cliffs on Silver Fox. I saw a few very creative lines that I hadn’t noticed previously. Tonight there will be a significant cut before tomorrow’s final day. The final will host the best skiers form around the world throwing down on one the best venues in freeskiing. With new snow expected and wide-open terrain with big features, it promises to be a good show on North Baldy. Spectators can access the venue easily by riding the Tram or Peruvian Express, and cruising the groomer down to the finish area. Grab a cooler and a lawn chair and head over to Snowbird to watch it all go down.

Last night Snowbird put on a great party for the U.S. Freeskiing Nationals with free Corona, vodka Red Bull and a DJ spinning tunes at the Tram’s docking station. The unique venue offered a fun way for the athletes and others involved with the event to party and schmooze the night before the Semi-finals. Below are some pics.

Today was the inspection day for the Subaru US Freeskiing Nationals and first World Tour stop at Snowbird this week. Athletes were looking at different lines, scouting take offs and probing landings. The idea is to find the most difficult line you can possibly ski without falling. Whoever ski’s the sickest line the best, wins. I started my day by inspecting West Baldy. This venue will be used over the next two days as a qualifier for the World Tour event that starts Friday. When looking at West Baldy, most skiers noticed that the snow had gotten firmer from warming up yesterday and then freezing overnight. Most athletes running early will probably go a little smaller to avoid wrecking. Athletes running later will enjoy better snow as it starts to thaw. On the next run I made my way over to North Baldy, which will be used for the final day. The snow there was not affected by the sun and was nice and soft. With good snow and a wide variety of big features, people will be going fast and huge on North Baldy this Saturday. Friday’s venue will be held on Silverfox, which is holding up nicely in the shade. A rope closer over the main chute is also keeping it from getting chewed up by people skiing and inspecting. In general, most athletes are stoked. The venues are looking different than years past, which will open up some creative lines. The plan for most of us is to ski aggressively but smartly for a couple of days until the final. Then it’s time to get stupid. Maybe not stupid, but that is when it’s time to take some extra risk and try to win. After all as Ricky Bobby says, “If you’re not first, you’re last.”

Head up to Snowbird this weekend to check out the competition which is free to spectators with a valid lift ticket or season pass. The semi-finals will take place Friday and finals on Saturday. Utah is home to several top freeskiers, many of whom will be competing.

After a doozy of a birthday party night in Park City, Fletch and I cruised over to Snowbasin for some Pow skiing. Lucky for us, a good day of skiing is just what the doctor ordered to cure the brown bottle flu. We headed up in the Needles Express Gondola and got the scoop about what’s been skiing the best the last couple of days. Then we hopped on the Strawberry Traverse and cruised the groomer over to Carnahan’s. There we found some soft, chopped up pow that felt so good I was cured. However, the birthday boy was going to require more pow to be fully cured. On the next lift ride we noticed that there were still some fresh lines off the traverse in Sister’s Bowl.

Then we got on top of our lines in Sisters Bowl. We saw a sweet little ridgeline that looked like a lot of fun. Fletch ripped it first, and then I took the snow right of his tracks. It was soft and smooth like mayonnaise! Then we cruised some wide-open, chopped pow down Rainer’s. Everything is staying super soft regardless whether it’s been skied or not. After that we rode back up and got some good skiing without a hike or traverse in The Walrus Trails. Then Fletch took this picture of a pulley system connecting two peaks. I’m not sure what it’s used for, but there looks like some crazy zip line potential.

Another ridiculous Pow day! Every day this week has been the best day of the year. The cycle of dumping all night and clearing up during the day has worked out just fine. Today we started out by heading to Rocky Point. With conditions being as perfect as they were, I wasn’t surprised to see that a group of people beat us to the punch, lining up A Frame and a few other nice hucks. Looking for something to huck, we worked our way around the corner and lined up a nice booter over a tree. We were stoked when the tree booter ended up being more fun than the huck we went out there for. Just like the rest of the week, you could send it big into nice soft landings. After a couple of hucks, we decided it was time to make a few untracked creamy Pow laps before heading back inbounds. With several new runs opening, there was plenty of pow for everyone. My buddy Aaron claims he took three runs on Baldy Shoulder without crossing a track. Then in the early afternoon Devils Castle opened up for some ridiculously deep snow. Aaron also said that was his “best run of the year until tomorrow.” It’s tough to imagine the skiing getting better. However, that is what keeps happening. Earlier this week it was dreamy good, and it just keeps dumping and getting better. Even the tracked out runs are staying soft and deep allowing you to open it up anywhere you go. I don’t know what else to say other than GO SKIING! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!