Ride Utah Blog

This weeks theme at Chill was Responsibility. We went of the Code of the Hill, you know all that stuff on the back of the lift ticket about watching out for obstacles and people and always riding in control. The goal was also to get kids to think about how this relates to life and how that responsibility plays a part in everything you do. You’ve got responsibility on the hill and you’ve got responsibility in your life and all this is inter-related. The kids seemed to get it. If you ignore your responsibilities there are consequences. That applies both on and off the mountain.

Jake is really shredding now, he’s off of the explorer chair and is shredding up the runs off of Majestic. This week we’ll be taking it to the Crest High Speed Quad. I’m working on Jake to ride out of his comfort zone a little and turn up the speed. It’s coming a long great and I’m real proud of him for sticking with it and braving the cold and the dark all in the name of shredding. More to come.

On Monday, I decided to beat the holiday weekend crowds and head on down to Sundance in Provo Canyon. What a great decision that was. Located on the backside of Mt. Timpanogos, I think Sundance is one of Utah’s most scenic mountains. The views from any location at Sundance are spectacular and the weather on Monday was absolutely beautiful. If you’re looking for a place to hideout and beat the crowds, or you’re just looking to try out your moves on the fine Sundance ski school ladies, head on down to Provo Canyon and enjoy Robert Redford’s little slice of heaven.

Another great week with Chill. Once again the weather was super gnarly, gale force winds and tons of snow. The kids didn’t seem to be phased by the weather. It’s amazing to see how stoked the kids are despite that fact that it’s dark out, really cold, dumping, and blowing like a banshee.

This week Jake, the kid I’m chaperoning, made the leap from from the Explorer lift to the Majestic chair. In order to do this he had to show that he could link turns. Jake had been really close to doing this last week, but, kept bailing at the end of the turn reaching down for the snow. Watching Jake link that first series of turns successfully and yell with the excitement of a new accomplishment got me so pumped. He still needs to work at being fluid and keeping it moving rather than coming to a stop, but, his instructor thought he was doing well enough for me to take him up Majestic.

On the ride up, the wind was howling, blowing snow straight up the mountain in waves. It looked like the coldest sandstorm ever. As we went over some steeper sections of the mountain you could see in Jake’s eyes that he was wondering what I was getting him into. When conditions are this burly it can even make the bunny hill look intimidating. Jake got off the lift and handled the conditions like a champ. I was in a hurry to get back to the lodge myself, with the wind swirling snow everywhere and sometimes taking visibility down to just a couple of feet.

On the steeper bits, you could tell Jake was a little freaked out, but, after some convincing that it’s exactly the same movements as he was doing on the bunny hill he started tearing it up, following me through the park and even finding some wind blown pow to carve.

Tonight we’ll be heading up to Brighton again for Week 3. The forecast is calling for a low tonight of -1, so it’s going to be really cold. I just hope that the stoke keeps Jake warm and that the learning curve will continue its upward arc. I’ve definitely been reminded by the kids of what stoke can do for you. Stoke keeps you warm. Stoke makes you forget that you’ve got snow down your pants. Stoke makes you forget about that last slam and helps you get up to try it again. Stoke gives you strength and stoke gives you endurance. Snowboarding is all about being stoked. Thanks to the Chill kids for reminding me.

This week I started chaperoning with the Burton Chill Program. The Chill Program is… well, I’ll just let their website say it for me:

Last Thursday night was our first night with the kids, and it was great. First we meet up at the mouth of the canyon at a secure location . All the kids go through an assembly line process kitting them out with all the gear that they need for a night shredding mission. Hat, gloves, goggles, boots, pants, jackets, and a board. Myself and the other chaperone’s run this as efficiently as possible, but, getting this many kids set up is like trying to herd cats. But, before long we’re all on the bus and on our way up to Brighton. From there the kids and some of the chaperones get some time with the fine instructors at Brighton.

Snowboarding for as long as I have, I can’t really teach anyone how to snowboard. I don’t really even consider the mechanics of it anymore. I don’t know how you’re suppossed to push your foot to make a C turn onto your toeside edge, I’ve just been doing it for so long it’s second nature. Listening to the instructors break it down 10 different ways for 10 different kids and having it make sense for them is really amazing. Being an instructor day in day out would probably take it’s toll on me, so, I really have to hand it to the instructors of the world with their infinite patience as they introduce the masses to the joys of snowboarding.

This Thursday it was dumping at Brighton. The snow was coming down at about two inches an hour. But, the kids seemed energized by the weather and most seemed to completely disregard the snow. Goggles up, jackets open. There were a lot of wet kids on the bus at the end of the night. But, all I could see were smiles.

Some kids just bomb it down the hill, others were a little more cautious opting for slower speeds, but, in all the kids you can see their excitement to be up in the mountains, trying something new. I’ve been snowboarding for so long I can sometimes take it for granted. But, watching these kids I’m forced to remember those first exciting moments on a skateboard, surfboard, or snowboard where I took a chance not knowing the outcome and managed to ride out the other end. Of course I also remember the other times when you didn’t quite make it. But you got up and did it again until you stuck it.

I’m excited to be a small part of a cool program that makes me remember why I’m so lucky to get to snowboard. 5 weeks to go. Can’t wait.

Here’s a little video I made of one of my favorite skiers, Luke Ratto, on a super ill day at Brighton. The new Millicent Quad is super fast and we lapped that thing until I thought my legs would give out. Riding at Brighton is like hanging out with an old friend. You know them so well, you wonder why you stopped hanging out every day. Enjoy the video. More to come. To see all the videos from this season go to http://video.skiutah.com

I went riding today and I decided that this is about the best as I’ve ever seen the snow conditions get.  After weeks of constant snow storms the conditions are bottomless.  Even when it’s tracked up, it’s still soft.  Today I was catching air off of everything I could find and with the way it’s dumping out, it was just filling up right behind you.  I ran some queries the other day in the Snow Report database and here are some interesting numbers that I came up with:

So far this season:

341 inches of new snow.

65 powder days.

Longest stretch of continuous powder days: 14

Second place: 10 consecutive days.

And it’s still getting deeper.  Tomorrow will be yet another powder day.  Can it get better than this?  Stay tuned.