I worked the entire summer, pedal to the metal, driving around the Northeast in the Yakima Subaru. I lived out of my car from June to September traveling from shop to shop, from whitewater spot to bike trails all with the goal of spending a month in Utah once the busy season was over. Living on the road and on an expense account you rack up (pun not intended) a lot of savings. I spent the first bit on a plane ticket to SLC in November; January 8th I would leave for SLC and re-live the dream I had when I moved to Utah at 19.
I parked my work car in my lawn, packed up my samples in my storage unit and began my journey out west. I took a taxi to the bus depot on Cape Cod, I boarded a bus to Logan Airport and I was on my way. I arrived in SLC at Midnight, my friends Tim and Ted snatched me up from Passenger Pickup #5 and brought me over to their living room which I would raid for the next 3 weeks. Tim and Ted live at the intersection of 200 W and North Temple in the shadows of the LDS mega center that takes up most of downtown Salt Lake City. I spent that first weekend catching up with Friends and walking through the new and old super structures of City Creek and the Mormon Office Buildings, one of the weirdest places I have been in the world.
The entire weekend I had been scoping NOAA for the chance of getting some of the illusive pow I had spent the past two years thinking about. I saw a couple of 2-4 inch storms on Monday into Tuesday Morning, and for some reason had a really optimistic vibe on this particular system. My vibe came correct and sure enough we woke up Tuesday Morning to 20 inches of snow in the Wasatch. I went skiing with friends that day at The Canyons, and it was just one of those days that made you feel like you had made all the right decisions in life. We rolled up to 99-90 right as the ropes dropped and scored some of the best turns of my life off Red Pine.
With the possibility of getting skunked on my trip no longer looming over me, it was time to get to exploring. During the two seasons I spent living in Utah I mostly rode Brighton or Park City and had always wanted to explore Little Cottonwood Canyon's playgrounds of Alta and Snowbird. My friends have slowly but surely been ditching the Park Rat lifestyle and stepping up their big mountain game so there was no shortage of people to show me around. I spent the next week riding Snowbird, truly one of the mecca's of shredding here in North America. Every run finding new cat tracks to jump, new lines to shred, and new spots to let it out and ski faster than I ever have before.
I happend to be out in Utah during the Outdoor Retailer show, and because I am borderline crazy I spent a couple days of my vacation walking the show, schmoozing, and even working a bit. The last night of the show Saga hosted their OR after party at Urban Lounge, I was finally able to see all the homies I had yet to see, and we sent it Salt Lake Shitty style. We kept the party going well into the morning before eventually crashing on my Air Mattress at 4am. I woke up at 8 AM to meet my friend Katie from Boston, and shred The Bird once again.
Conditions were firm that day, reminiscent of my east coast stomping grounds. It hadn't been snowing for a couple weeks, and cold temps the days earlier turned the entire mountain into an ice block. We spent the day exploring the mountain, checking out some of the greatest hits I had found the days beforehand. It was a pretty fun day, sunny, fast, and I had great company. I headed up Peruvian to meet my friend Heff who had been lapping the chair. The clouds had come in for a bit and I was planning on finding Heff at the bottom.
I dropped in cruised through the first steeps of Peruvian super fast, stopped for a second, jumped off a cat track and continued speeding down the mountain, until the white cloud of death. Skiing down minding my own business I hit something on my ski, ice chunk, rock who knows... It caught me while I was going easily over 60 MPH, and that was the end. Once the cloud was gone I found myself sitting there knowing something was wrong. I had about 8 people around me asking me if I was OK. I reassured everyone I was fine and I just needed to sit there for a second. Unfortunately as that second turned into minutes I knew something was very wrong.
Ski Patrol showed up and I was convinced I had done something to my hip. The nice ski patroller girl exclaimed "I need to get into your pants" and through all the pain I laughed and said be my guest. My upper thigh was swelling like crazy so into the toboggan and down to the clinic I went. As I took the painful ride down the mountain I realized the pain was in my Pelvis. 3 X-Rays later and my fears were true. I had fractured my pelvis.
I parked my work car in my lawn, packed up my samples in my storage unit and began my journey out west. I took a taxi to the bus depot on Cape Cod, I boarded a bus to Logan Airport and I was on my way. I arrived in SLC at Midnight, my friends Tim and Ted snatched me up from Passenger Pickup #5 and brought me over to their living room which I would raid for the next 3 weeks. Tim and Ted live at the intersection of 200 W and North Temple in the shadows of the LDS mega center that takes up most of downtown Salt Lake City. I spent that first weekend catching up with Friends and walking through the new and old super structures of City Creek and the Mormon Office Buildings, one of the weirdest places I have been in the world.
The entire weekend I had been scoping NOAA for the chance of getting some of the illusive pow I had spent the past two years thinking about. I saw a couple of 2-4 inch storms on Monday into Tuesday Morning, and for some reason had a really optimistic vibe on this particular system. My vibe came correct and sure enough we woke up Tuesday Morning to 20 inches of snow in the Wasatch. I went skiing with friends that day at The Canyons, and it was just one of those days that made you feel like you had made all the right decisions in life. We rolled up to 99-90 right as the ropes dropped and scored some of the best turns of my life off Red Pine.
With the possibility of getting skunked on my trip no longer looming over me, it was time to get to exploring. During the two seasons I spent living in Utah I mostly rode Brighton or Park City and had always wanted to explore Little Cottonwood Canyon's playgrounds of Alta and Snowbird. My friends have slowly but surely been ditching the Park Rat lifestyle and stepping up their big mountain game so there was no shortage of people to show me around. I spent the next week riding Snowbird, truly one of the mecca's of shredding here in North America. Every run finding new cat tracks to jump, new lines to shred, and new spots to let it out and ski faster than I ever have before.
I happend to be out in Utah during the Outdoor Retailer show, and because I am borderline crazy I spent a couple days of my vacation walking the show, schmoozing, and even working a bit. The last night of the show Saga hosted their OR after party at Urban Lounge, I was finally able to see all the homies I had yet to see, and we sent it Salt Lake Shitty style. We kept the party going well into the morning before eventually crashing on my Air Mattress at 4am. I woke up at 8 AM to meet my friend Katie from Boston, and shred The Bird once again.
Conditions were firm that day, reminiscent of my east coast stomping grounds. It hadn't been snowing for a couple weeks, and cold temps the days earlier turned the entire mountain into an ice block. We spent the day exploring the mountain, checking out some of the greatest hits I had found the days beforehand. It was a pretty fun day, sunny, fast, and I had great company. I headed up Peruvian to meet my friend Heff who had been lapping the chair. The clouds had come in for a bit and I was planning on finding Heff at the bottom.
I dropped in cruised through the first steeps of Peruvian super fast, stopped for a second, jumped off a cat track and continued speeding down the mountain, until the white cloud of death. Skiing down minding my own business I hit something on my ski, ice chunk, rock who knows... It caught me while I was going easily over 60 MPH, and that was the end. Once the cloud was gone I found myself sitting there knowing something was wrong. I had about 8 people around me asking me if I was OK. I reassured everyone I was fine and I just needed to sit there for a second. Unfortunately as that second turned into minutes I knew something was very wrong.
Ski Patrol showed up and I was convinced I had done something to my hip. The nice ski patroller girl exclaimed "I need to get into your pants" and through all the pain I laughed and said be my guest. My upper thigh was swelling like crazy so into the toboggan and down to the clinic I went. As I took the painful ride down the mountain I realized the pain was in my Pelvis. 3 X-Rays later and my fears were true. I had fractured my pelvis.
