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Oil and water- two liquids which have a tough time mixing. Snowboarding and Alta/Deer Valley- a sub-set of the population and two mountains which have a tough time mixing. I must admit that I am a die hard skier. I have never put on a snowboard and probably never will. But throughout the years and all biases aside, I have had one secret desire- to see one of these mountains poached.

As many readers may know, the resort of Alta and Deer Valley in Utah are skier’s only resorts (ie no snowboarders allowed). I have logged many a skier day at both of these resorts and have never seen a snowboard on the Alta’s or Deer Valley’s mountain. But deep down inside the sight of a rebel snowboarder on a kamikaze mission to disrupt the utopia of the skiers was a sight I would love to see. As of yet, I have not had the privilege of witnessing this in person. But a few snowboarders were kind enough to capture it on video for all to see.

Enjoy your 5 seconds in the spotlight snowboarders. Skiers still rule the mountain.

A couple weeks back some of the Ski Utah crew make the trip down to southern Utah for a visit to Brian Head. Check out the video wrap up of the fun we had.

Check out all the Ski Utah videos from the 2007-08 season.

This post is from visiting contributor Tim Cartwright who after moving to Seattle 5 years ago returns to Utah to ski his old haunts during this epic season.

I don’t really know where to begin. For five years I was fortunate enough to call Snowbird ‘home.’ I’ve traveled around the world in search of powder and to this day there are few, if any places that can match the overall vibe that resonates at the ‘Bird.

Racing toward the bullpen, I am elated to find the tram dock empty. A sensory experience unfolds as the turnstile cranks, ticket scanners beep, and the subtle yet persistent hum of the bull wheel brings Red Tram to a silent stop.

Skis clank, boots shuffle forward with anticipation. It’s been three years since my last Tram – and I’m starting to get goose bumps. I spy a few familiar faces and suddenly it feels like home again. A half empty boat, aqua blue skies and a fresh 16” of the Greatest Snow on Earth- it’s apparent the ‘Bird has rolled out a proper white carpet.

The arduous task of picking lines would be a virtual trip down memory lane. As the tram hovers past the Cirque- my head spins toward Baldy. We immediately march up the short hike and dive off the traverse. Fast and smooth, I’m overtaken by a rush of adrenaline. Careful to scrub my speed approaching Broom Closet, I find a nice 12 footer to drop.

Speeding through the apron, I ski directly over to Chip’s Face. The groomers did their usual split job- leaving powder on the left and soft corduroy to the right. It might only be a few turns, but the fall-away turns while viewing Superior are breathtaking. A few seconds later and I’m back on the Blue Tram, ready to do it all again.

As we exit the top station, powerful winds point like an arrow, directly at Hanging Bowl. Breaking trail into the upper chute was a surprise. Obvious wind loading provided strong clue, it was a wonder why nobody had hit this stash sooner. Rarely a disappointment, the deep and chalky wind-loaded powder delivered as promised. Smiles grew wider as we charged through the undisturbed snow.

The Peruvian Express continues to alleviate the past history of tram crowding. Greeted by a full day of walk-on trams, my legs would burn as we’d churn up an easy 30,000 vertical feet. After racking up ten satisfying laps, break time was necessary for this now sea-level dweller. We retreat to General Gritt’s Deli, hidden in the back of the grocery store on the lower level of the Snowbird Center. A quick pit stop was all that was needed, since the Gad Valley was calling.

With the sunshine beating down from above and ample powder for the taking, we rallied a few laps down Nirvanna and South Chute- taking advantage of their continuous fall lines and oft forgotten powder. As we boarded Zoom for another Round the World lap, whispers of a Thunder Bowl opening percolated. Diverting from our original plan, we quickly shot over to Gad 2. As the chair approached, sounds of Pink Floyd and guitar echoed the loading platform. “How I Wish, How I Wish You Here.”

Thirty minutes later, cracking a cold Wasatch Brew on the Tram Deck and reminiscing amongst the cobalt sky- it couldn’t have been more appropriate.

You may recall earlier this month the post I did about the Ski/Snowboard Lingo contest that Ski Utah and Winter at Westminster hosted on the Addictionary site (it’s an online dictionary of made up “werds” - you know, like the words you used to make up with your bro/brahs but never wrote down).

People came out of the woodwork and from all over the country to submit their werds. Hundreds of new werds for the “one werd to rule them all” category poured in and another stack of werds for the lingo category piled up like the snow at Alta.

With the contest now over I give you the winners.

Snowriding (n) A new winter recreation industry term describing the act
of either snowboarding or snow skiing down a slope.

Snowriding, the grand prize winner and the new werd for “skiing and snowboarding,” was submitted by: Roberta Stjernholm of Lakewood, Colo. She won a week long trip to Utah. (Am I the only one that sees the irony in this?) Perhaps after checking out how easy it is to get to the resorts around here versus running the I-70 ultra-marathon she’ll move to Utah.

gnardonculous: (a) gnarulous and ridonculous. The definition of this winning werd actually consists of made-up werds. So to clarify,
gnardonculous is an appropriate synonym for such go-to adjectives as: gnarly, sick, rad and/or ridiculous.

Submitted by Andrew Howard Johnson of Stamford, Connecticut, this new snowriding lingo werd took home the prize of 2 lift tickets to The Canyons Resort and 10 shirts featuring the new werd.

I’d definitely wear a tee shirt with the word Gnardonculous on it. Andrew, if you read this and have an extra shirt to pawn off, let me know. I’ll take a Large.

One of my favorites that didn’t win is the self describing Snowcrastinator: (n) One who puts off work and chores intentionally and habitually in favor of skiing.

Check out the other new werds from the contest on the Addictionary site.

I heart Alta and Snowbird and Solitude and all of Utah’s lovely resorts…but I feel like a lot of people (locals and tourists) don’t give Brighton a chance. They don’t have outstanding lodging or restaurants, which means perks in other places. A day pass at Brighton is $53 [Canyons=$79, Snowbird=$69, Solitude=$55, Alta $59]. They almost always are the first resort to open, give out a very local vibe, have recently upgraded the Milly lift to a quad, and have an awesome park crew. Even if you don’t ride park, its fun to be involved with the events weather you’re a volunteer or a spectator.

I recently got to be a judge for the Bluehouse Slopestyle comp that was held at Brighton on March 8th. It could have been a balmy spring day, but turned out to be a bit of a blizzard. Despite that it was fun to see the die hard kids compete for gift certs and a brand new pair of skis. In the past I have always been on the competitor side of these Slopestyle events and found myself as the only female competing often times. So, I had extra respect and stoke for Kristy Giles who was the only female (and killed it by the way taking 4th place with all the males). Brighton was more than happy to have us there and groomed the park nicely for the athletes.

If any of you can make it, Brighton is also hosting a sweet event this Saturday March 22. Put on by Slug Games, they will be hosting a slopestyle comp…funds raised by it will be donated to fighting Breast Cancer. A local Burton rep, Krista Moroge, is in her own fight to stay alive…come out and support this wonderful woman.  If nothing else, come out and give Brighton a try.  [p.s. During April Brighton will be doing a buy one get one free deal on Tuesdays!]

April 15 can’t come soon enough and I’m not talking about taxes. This License Plate Poker contest is too much.  I hope I’m not alone but I can’t stop looking at license plates and wondering what hand that car owner has. In fact, I think I may be tainted for life. Not since I was a kid sitting in the back of our family car on yet another road trip have I spent this much time looking at plates.

Back then it was the hope of seeing a new state license plate that I had not yet caught a glimpse of.  At least then I could savor the joy of a spotting my first New York or the coveted Rhode Island plate (I grew up in Oregon).  Now when I see a plate with a stellar hand I’m left wishing somehow I could tell the owner of that nice Chevy Tahoe just how lucky he or she is only to have them turn right on 7th east, never to be seen again.

I have to admit when I first read about the contest I snickered a bit, but the longer it has gone on the more I’ve gotten into it.

Case in point: In late January I attended the Outdoor Retailer’s show in Salt Lake City where huge exhibit halls were full of all sorts of cool outdoor and ski gear. Despite enough new gear to make this gear junkie salivate like a kid in a candy shop, the one thing that sticks out in my mind is the full house of 8’s and queens that I spotted on a rental van as I entered the building. I stopped in my tracks, looked around for someone to savor the moment with, just anyone to show it to. But I knew that any of the passing show attendees would certainly think I were crazy trying to explain the logic of a full house on a license plate.

The current winning hand is this one below, submitted by Ericka Askerlund of Herriman, UT.

4 of a Kind

So although many of you will be thinking tax deadline come April 15, I’ll be looking forward to being able to peacefully drive around town without the urge to check out every new Utah license plate, seeing if perhaps they have the best hand in license plate poker.

Alta Ski Area really is “A Place for Skiers” in every sense. Known for their standoff-ish (according to snowboarders) ski-only image, legendary expert terrain and bottomless face shots, Alta is in touch with the hand that feeds them. That hand comes in the form of skiers of all abilities and walks of life. And, in this case, my 2-year-old daughter, Alta, was introduced to skiing at Alta completely for free.

Now, many resorts offer free tickets to kids under 5 with a paying adult ticket, but Alta takes it one step further than that. Their learning area rope tows are free all day long and Sunnyside Lift–a great beginner lift–becomes free for all skiers after 3:00 pm every day of the season. So, a 9-5 working stiff like myself can slip out a bit early with my daughter and hit the slopes after 3:00 pm completely free. So we did.

I’m getting ahead of myself there a bit since this was Alta’s first time on a real ski hill. We’ve tooled around in the backyard and she’s mastered that, but this was the day for her to get more vert on those little Volkl’s in one run than we can in 20 runs in the backyard.

Suiting up at the Albion Base Area, it was hard to wipe the grin off her face. “I’m going skiing with Daddy,” she beamed as we posed for pictures. My little red puffball was skiing with her daddy for the first time of many hundreds in the future.

The weather didn’t cooperate so well for a little skier like her. With 14+ inches of new and an untracked learning area, it was a challenge, but it certainly didn’t dim her spirits. At this point, I was just thrilled to have her sliding on snow–even if she didn’t get the whole “make a pizza with your skis” process just yet. I’m guessing mostly because pizza for her is a whole bunch of tiny squares, not a pie-shaped piece. We’ll have to come back and work on that.

As we slogged our way up and down the Grizzly Tow in whiteout conditions, there was no way to wipe the smile off either of our faces. Two laps were all either of us could take, but Alta is now officially a skier. And what better place to ski for her first time than the resort that carries her name… Alta, A Place for Skiers.

I woke up today with a skiff of snow on my deck. Like the powder snob this season has made me into I was half trying to rationalize why I didn’t need to meet my buddy Brian at The Canyons for some turns, thinking that they likely got little new snow overnight.

Funny thing was Brian was doing the same thing.

Then I checked the SkiUtah.com snow report. It looked like this:

As I scanned the report this is what I was thinking:

“Alta - 7″ yea, not bad, could be scratchy underneath in spots…Brian Head, 0″, no love for the south….Brighton 10″, nice, a Big Cottonwood storm, westerly flow likely….The Canyons 10″!?, whoa, could it be true? wow, 10″, but where? 9990? hmmm….DV, 8″….Basin, 6″…Bird, only 5″? interesting…Solly, 10″, right on…straight up westerly storm….could be good. I guess The Canyons is a green light”

I donned my Eider jacket and tossed my Rossignol Scratch Brigades in the car thinking at 98mm under waist they’d be fine for today. After all, it’s only 10″, not nearly enough for the big guns. Scanning the snow report in my mind I wondered when during the past 24 hours the snow actually fell? How deep will it really be? Would it be tracked from yesterday? Questions raced through my mind…

While riding up the gondola I was with two couples who were looking over the trail map, wondering where to go. So I passed the time giving them a full run down of what to expect, where to go, what runs would suit their preferences, telling them that the long groomers with a couple inches on top of them may be the ticket today given a possible dust on crust scenario in many places.

At the top of the gondola I hooked up with Brian who runs Park City based Locals Have More Fun and we pushed off towards Tombstone thinking a strategy of high with north aspects would be best. Starting down Chicane I tested the sides of the run only to realize it was boot deep everywhere and deeper in select spots. Riding up Tombstone with a small handful of people around only confirmed that the report was indeed wrong…there was definitely more than 10″ of new snow. BONUS!

Tombstone kept our attention for a few laps with untracked lines of 20-30 turns each run. Lifts were nearly empty and the trees even less so. South facing slopes were a bit scratchy under the 10″ but anything north or east facing was money, the bumps from the previous week only added to the soft texture of the experience.

Tombstone was far from skied out given the scarce skier population, but we headed towards 9990 anyway, only to find it was still closed for avalanche control work. Bonus was that we bumped into my buddy Ben to make it a trio.

Peak 5 would have to hold our attention until 9990 opened…and it did just that. Two quick laps in some of the best gladed pines you’ll ever find had me giggling like a school boy. Given the banner year we bee lined for “The Abyss”, a double black diamond area on the north side of Peak 5 that offers plenty of billy-goat lines through rock bands and old snag trees. Working our way skiers right I honed in on a chute and sent it, Brian and Ben following as we indulged in face shots towards the apron.

9990 opened and the powder frenzy was on. What was boot high to knee deep on Tombstone was now knee deep to face shots on 9990. I should have brought the big guns.

The next hour or so of repeated laps was accompanied by an intense snowstorm that filled in tracks and kept stoke levels spiked. And we had only scratched the surface. We had only skied 3 of the 11 upper mountain lifts. I’m sure a mile to the north and nearly 3000+ acres away on the Condor Lift conditions were more of the same. Acreage certainly does have its privileges.

Check any ski or snowboard online forum and you’re bound to find a plethora of threads posted by teens looking for advice on where to go to college. Mixing the pleasure of ripping untracked powder in the morning with classes in the afternoon is a continued search. Heck, even making it to class can be an issue for most college students who love to ski or ride.

I found a website the other day that spells it out pretty clearly. It’s the Snow and School Report which was cleverly built by the University of Utah (commonly referred to as the “U”).

In fact, doing the math on this one doesn’t require a High School degree.

(click the image to see a larger version)

With another storm rolling in right now and a near guaranteed powder day tomorrow I’m sure there are piles of students at the U who will be taking advantage of that 45 min drive and the 500″ inches. Will you be one of them next year?

- via Shawn at Ski-SaltLake.com 

This past week Ski Salt Lake held a unique photo contest called the Ski Salt Lake Shootout. It featured 4 Utah resorts, local athletes, and a number of top photographers from around the western United States and Canada. The recipe for getting stunning images of the Cottonwood Resorts was the brain child of Adam Barker.

Here’s how the Recipe played out:

1. Heavy dose of Ski Salt Lake’s 4 resorts (Alta, Brighton, Snowbird, Solitude)

2. A small handful of local ski athletes like Sage Cattabriga-Alosa, Ben Wheeler, Jamie Pierre and more

3. 1 bunch of top notch ski photographers (1 bunch = 7 photographers)

The final and secret ingredient - 2 feet of fresh Utah Powder - air chilled at 15 degrees overnight

Let the mixture loose for 5 days, uncovered and unencumbered.

The result? Well, the results of the Ski Salt Lake Shootout are in and the final product is nothing short of amazing.

While I love the powder division winning shot of Snowbird local Ben Wheeler gasping for air amidst flying powder, the overall winning image by Grant Gunderson is a shot taken in the early hours of the morning near Alta of skier Bryce Phillips. It’s not hard for me to say that it’s one of the most diverse and amazing ski images I’ve ever seen.

Categories included Air, Powder, Big Mountain, Mountain Lifestyle, City Lifestyle with each category winner taking home $1000. Grant Gunderson’s image landed him a cool $4K as the overall winner.

Check out the winning photos at Ski-SaltLake.com