Ride Utah Blog

Going up to the mountains these days is an expensive proposition.  Throw in lunch and it’s enough to break any shredders bank.  The Canyons feels your pain and is offering a great special this season until February 12th.  Get 2 lift tickets, 2 burgers, and 2 beers or sodas for $109.  That’s $54 each for the math impaired.  At some resorts, especially ones in Colorado, that won’t even get you on the chair.  Sounds like a great deal to me.  Go to www.pairpass.com for details.

Do you like night riding?  I’m not talking about David Hasselhoff’s break out TV series, I’m talking about shredding under the lights at Brighton.  I personally love it, but, maybe that’s my East Coast roots showing.  Anyway, the best part about night skiing is that it’s cheap.  Oh, and it’s uncrowded.  Oh, and if you need to warm up and your over 21 you can head in to Molly Greens.  But, that’s besides the point. Thanks to The Truth’s website, FightTheUgly.com, it’s now even cheaper.  Print out this coupon and ride the lifts under the lights for only $16.  You can’t loose.

http://fighttheugly.com/cmsdocuments/coupon.pdf

And remember kids, smoking is whack.

Today was the first day where I felt like you could let it rip a little bit without worrying what lurks beneath.  Here’s a quick video from another great day at Solitude.

Just got down from the mountains and it was DEEP up there.  Great turns inside the resort boundaries.  Video coming soon.  The point of this post is to share the latest UAC video forecast.  See for yourself just how hairy the Wasatch backcountry is right now.

We’re basically need to just wait for all these instabilities to settle out before punching it in steeper terrain.  With even more snow on the way it’s going to be a long while before the backcountry is stable.

We’ll see off and on snow throughout the day. West to northwest winds will blow 15-20mph then back to the southwest in the late afternoon. Temps will be 5-10 degrees F. The next blockbuster arrives tomorrow into Christmas Day. Up to and over 2′ of snow is expected, followed by another storm on the 28th.

Here’s some footage of the recent snow at the Bird.

It is currently nuking in the Wasatch right now.  We’re getting hammered by a major storm and more are stacked up behind it.  The UAC has issued and Avalanche Warning and you can pretty much guarantee that any slope with a decent pitch is going to be sliding.  Don’t believe me, check out the most recent UAC video forecast.

Becareful out there.  Tomorrow I’ll be wearing my beacon in-bounds.  Here’s the weather report for the next couple of days:

This Afternoon: Snow. High near 21. Breezy, with a southwest wind around 26 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 7 to 11 inches possible.

Tonight: Snow. Low around -1. Northwest wind between 11 and 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 6 to 10 inches possible.

Saturday: Snow showers. High near 12. West wind between 10 and 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Saturday Night: A 40 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around -7. West wind between 9 and 11 mph.

Sunday: A 30 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 23. Southwest wind around 11 mph.

Sunday Night: A 50 percent chance of snow. Cloudy and breezy, with a low around 15.

Monday: Snow. High near 24. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Monday Night: Snow likely. Cloudy, with a low around 8.

Park City has received nearly two feet of snow in the past week (it’s still snowing) and we’re opening a lot more terrain in the next couple of days! By early next week, we will have 90 percent of our lifts open. The forecast calls for storms on Friday, Monday and through Christmas Day!!

Here’s our scheduled opening plan (conditions permitting*):

Friday, December 19
Thaynes Lift
Pioneer Lift

Saturday, December 20
Crescent Lift
McConkey’s Lift

Sunday, December 21
Motherlode Lift
Three Kings Lift
Mid-Mountain Lodge Restaurant

Tuesday, December 23
King Con Lift
Eagle Lift
Silver Star Lift (Uploading/Downloading only)
Eagle Superpipe

Thursday, December 25
Night skiing on PayDay and First Time Lifts from 4:00 – 7:30 pm

Looks like it’s definitely piling up at snowbird.  See you on the tram!

Snowbird Snowcam

Going for it last season at the North Face Masters. p: Carlsen/MSI

Now in its sophomore year, The North Face Masters of Snowboarding (TNF Masters) has become one of the largest competitive big mountain snowboarding tour in the country. A three-stop tour, TNF Masters is designed to cater to the motivation, talent and skill of world-class big mountain snowboarders. The 2009 tour visits Snowbird, Utah in January.

TNF Masters features a $45,000 cash prize purse and serves as a qualifier event to the Freeride World Tour. Winners from the Snowbird and Crested Butte TNF Masters events will have the opportunity to compete in other comps.

TNF Masters gathers big mountain snowboarding tribes from all around the world. All male and female snowboarding competitors above age 18 are welcomed to participate. Registration is now open on www.thenorthfacemasters.com.

The North Face Masters of Snowboarding 2009 Series Schedule

Stop #1 – Snowbird, Utah. January 29-February 1, 2009
Stop #2 –Crested Butte, Colorado. February 12-15, 2009
Stop #3 –Kirkwood, California March 5-8, 2009

Fans of big mountain snowboarding can catch same-day coverage of the Semi-Final and Final rounds of each TNF Masters event on www.thenorthfacemasters.com where there are complete videos, photos, athlete profiles, detailed event schedules, registration information and more.

Then head up to Brighton this Friday night! X96 and Brighton are sponsoring a best trick contest this Friday at 7:00PM. It will take place at the ever delightful, always Majestic Terrain Park. Some details:

• Ride for 60 minutes, the judges choose the best tricks throughout the session.
• Top 3 tricks, plus best slam win prizes!
• Contest is FREE
• Skiers and boarders welcome
• Register in the bus waiting area of The Brighton Center from 5:30-6:30 P.M.
• Must be 18 to enter or have a parent or guardian with you to sign a waiver
• Fireworks begin a 8:00 P.M.

Fireworks, free contest, and prizes. What could be better…