After skiing this past Monday with Mama T. and one of the ferners at the ‘Tude on Monday … today I skied Snowbird (for the first time) with the short one, who was very, very patient with me, because the runs she took me on (with the exception of the first warm-up run) were definitely WAY above my ability.

Took the tram to the top of Hidden Peak, then dropped into Mineral Basin taking the Path to Paradise (blue) along to Junior’s Powder Paradise (blue/black); then taking the Mineral Basin Express back to the top of Hidden Peak, then along the Cirque Traverse to drop into the Upper Cirque (double black), then down Chip’s to Who-Dunnit (both blue) to drop some things back at the car.

My boots were killing me, and I was battling a grumbly tummy, so I hung out at the Plaza while the short one went back up for another attack on the Cirque. We then met up with Tom Boonen, and took the tram back up Hidden Peak, where they bagged the High Baldy Traverse before dropping into the chutes above Peruvian Gulch … I had a long argument with myself at the gate, and since my confidence levels were nigh upon nil, I backtracked, dropped Chip’s Run (blue) to Primrose Path (black) back to Chip’s Run (blue) to Chip’s Face (black) then back to Chip’s to the Plaza.

Lunch at the Forklift, then back up the tram for our last couple of runs (skipping the last run) … I let my compadres talk me into tackling Baldy this time around … hiked along the first part of High Baldy Traverse, then skied the rest of it towards one of the easier drop-offs into the double-black soft stuff. By this point, my legs were jelly, and while I’ve been having problems getting forward enough over my skis anyway, I was really having problems getting down this … rag-dolled once, fell a couple of other times, but ultimately made it down alive, well, and proud of the attempt, even if it wasn’t the prettiest descent in the world.

Jennie … thank you so much for introducing me to your mountain, and while I’m sure you would have had a better ski day without me holding you back, thank you (and thank you too, Todd) for your patience with my various struggles. It may not have always looked it, but all-in-all, I really did have an enjoyable day.

I will be back, albeit probably not until next season, with new, properly fitting boots and some more off-piste technique practice; and anytime you want to ski Solitude, let me know, and I’ll show you what I can do on MY mountain.

No photos today … every time I stopped, I was too busy trying to catch my breath (amazing how much more difficult it is to breathe at 11,000 feet than it is at 10,000 feet) to take the time to haul the D80 out of the bag and shoot some of the incredible views.

Up early this morning with a hangover, and headed up Big Cottonwood to Solitude … icky grey in the valley, and not much better up the canyon until about 12:30, when the sunshine finally broke through.

Today’s runs:

1. 1,500 ft — Eagle Express I - down Sunshine Bowl to Main Street
2. 1,600 ft — Powderhorn - down Diamond Lane to the Sunshine Grill, then down Hal’s Hollow
3. 1,500 ft — Eagle Express I - down Sundancer
4. 1,500 ft — Eagle Express II - down Sunshine Bowl to Same Street to Lower Tude-Dudes
5.   675 ft — Moonbeam - Straight down Main Street
6.   810 ft — Sunrise - Summit Access
7. 1,235 ft — Summit - Backdoor towards Sol/Bright, then down Corner Chute to Dynamite
8. 1,235 ft — Summit - along the traverse to either Black Bess or Voltaire (not exactly sure which, just that it was steep, it was deep, and I was hoping it didn’t break free), then down Woodlawn
9.   860 ft — Honeycomb Return - Sundancer to Post Card to Home Run and back to the car.

Just under 11,000 feet of vertical (at least on the chairs).

No photos today worth uploading.

Then into the Firm’s new building in South Jordan to make sure that everything works okay … after much frustration, it seems like all will be okay, but we’ll find out for sure tomorrow when everything is under stress.

Then shopping. Then laundry. And shortly, to bed.

What an incredible day at Solitude and in Big Cottonwood Canyon in general … simply gorgeous!

Sick pow in Honeycomb Canyon, which completely worked my legs. Tried several new (for me) runs, including the Cirque (coming off Powderhorn), Serenity (coming off Eagle Express) and Rhapsody (also off Eagle Express), hitting as many runs through the trees in Honeycomb Canyon as possible, and I took another run at the Corner Chute which led to my downfall a few weeks ago.

The only problem I had today was when some asshole pinhead (telemark skier) sharing one of my chairs, knocked me coming off the Sunrise lift, sending me head over heels into the cones; not even bothering to stop to see if I was okay, or to apologize. Just goes to show that there are assholes everywhere.

Only 10,900 feet of vertical today, but that’s okay, considering I was only up there for 4 hours, and the difficulty of a number of the runs I attempted.

And many thanks to everyone who stopped and provided assistance when the Trooper got stuck in the snow on the side of the road when I stopped to take one of the photos below.

Honeycomb Canyon


Honeycomb Canyon


Honeycomb Return


Honeycomb Return


Sick pow pow in Honeycomb Canyon


Free Sager on the Eagle Express


I can’t believe the Trooper got stuck for this photo! But I think it was worth it …


Coming down Big Cottonwood Canyon


Coming down Big Cottonwood Canyon

Crashed hard on Sunday at the bottom of the Corner Chute … not exactly sure what happened … the chute itself was probably a little bit beyond my capabilities, but I managed to make some turns, a couple side-slips and made it to the bottom without falling.

So, then comes the wide, flatter run-out at the bottom, where it merges with Shaft and back into Broadway down to the base of the mid-mountain Summit lift; I opened it up, and all of a sudden was out of my skis, somersaulting through the air.

Didn’t hit anything, so I must have caught an edge … but it was an interesting tumble nonetheless.

My back is still aching 4 days later, which may put a serious crimp in my original plans for this weekend. So for now, I take it easy … watching TV, flat on my back, and hope that things loosen up.