Skiing is still possible here in Utah and can you believe it's August!!! Yesterday, I got to check another item off my list, August skiing!
Long before I moved to Utah I used to think it was incredible when Killington Ski Resort in Vermont would stay open well into May. In high school we used to plan trips to drive up to Killington on the weekend to ski the one run of man made snow that was barely hanging on. Even though these trips never happened, the dream was still there. Even when I moved to Utah I never really thought skiing on Memorial Day was possible, now after being here for 5 years, I've realized that not only is it possible but 2 out of my 5 Memorial Days have been deep powder days. I almost feel like powder days are the norm on Memorial Day now, if I don't get them I almost feel cheated. Then after the two consecutive snowy winters of 07-08 and 08-09, skiing Baldy Chutes at Alta has now become a tradition as opposed to a possibility.
This year my world has been rocked again. Once again I wrongly assumed that skiing in Utah during the month of August was completely impossible. Now I'm talking real skiing, not just linking together two or three turns on a patch of snow and calling it skiing. Yesterday was a full on ski day. I probably logged about 1500 vertical feet just under Pipeline Bowl at Snowbird. This morning my legs were screaming from having to hike back out of Little Cloud basin in order to beat the incoming storm clouds. The last place you want to be hiking during a Thunderstorm is on top of an 11,000 foot mountain with your skis in a pack pointed towards the sky. Fortunately, I made it back to Hidden Peak and was able to download on the tram before the real nasty stuff rolled through the Wasatch. Yesterday marked day 141 for me, that's 11 consecutive months of skiing. Be sure to check the blog at the beginning of September and lets see if we are able to make some turns in Utah in order to accomplish my newest goal of skiing 12 consecutive months. If all goes well, I'm assuming the next objective will be to ski 24 months in a row.
Check out the photos of the lightning storm I was able to capture over Park City Mountain Resort last night. Boy am I glad I made it off the mountain before this thing rolled through.
