Went to the downtown criterium stage 3 of the Tour of Utah this evening. Took shitloads of pictures, and only 2 of the actual race even remotely came out … need to do some tweaking in Photoshop, and will post in the morning.

Went to dinner with Chippo, Melissa, Ryan K. (from Revolution), and a few others at Squatters. Much to my detriment and surprise, I’m terribly out of practice pouring beer from a pitcher. I guess there’s a reason why I generally drink straight from the bottle.

Now home, and after a short digestive period, it’s off to bed, so I can head up to Snowbird tomorrow for Stage 4.

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.