Ride Utah Blog

On Sunday I was up at Solitude for the opening of the Powderhorn chair.  While conditions were still a little thin, there was some great snow out there.  Here’s a video with some of the action.

Looks like a fun flick.  The dude is a legend.

Here are some photos sent in by RideUtah’s buddy Brock Butterfield.  Photos by Jake Lawlor.  Thanks guys. Got a photo or video of you getting ill in Utah?  Send it in.  I’ll probably post it.

Check out this video that Max Raymer, Ride Utah’s favorite mini shred and Burton rider, sent us.  Filmed in Utah and New Zealand, Max is holding it down.  I knew this kid could kill it in the park, but, now he’s holding it down in the powder too?  Look out for this kid.

It is currently dumping rain in Salt Lake and nuking in the mountains.  Check out the Snow Cam at Snowbird, it’s already pushing over the one foot mark:

Snowbird Snow Cam

The current Cottonwood Canyons forecast is calling for  8 - 12 ” today and another 8 - 12″ tonight, with a 30% possiblilty of 13 - 16″ tonight.  Even more snow is on the way tomorrow.  At some point the rain in Salt Lake should be switching over to snow.  Hopefully it will be dumping on me while I’m sitting in the Hot Tub tonight.

If we end up with 3 feet or more I might have to go make my first tracks of the season.  I’ve got a little place that’s high altitude (so lots of snow), steep (for lots of speed), and grassy underneath (so I don’t have to worry about hurting my board or my butt on a rock).  Here are some shots from this undisclosed location taken on October 21st of last year.

Everything you ever wanted to know and more about snowboard fashion (or lack thereof) in the 80’s and early 90’s.

If these weather reports that are landing in my inbox are acurate we just might be shredding by the end of the weekend.  I’d be down for that.

AN UNSEASONABLY COLD STORM SYSTEM IS TARGETED FOR UTAH THIS
WEEKEND. ALTHOUGH THIS STORM SYSTEM WILL FILTER IN ACROSS THE
REGION DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS THE BRUNT OF THE SYSTEM WILL
AFFECT THE STATE SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY. SNOW LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO
COME DOWN TO THE VALLEY FLOORS FOR ALL OF UTAH EXCEPT DIXIE AND
LAKE POWELL REGIONS BY SATURDAY NIGHT.

BIG EARLY SNOWS COMING SIGNS OF ACTIVE EARLY SEASON?
TOO EARLY TO TELL YET 

FLASH   1-2 FEET HIGHER ELEVATIONS, 6-12"
LOWER ELEVATIONS OCTOBER 11TH-12TH WITH TEMPS WELL
BELOW NORMAL FOR SEVERAL DAYS THROUGH THE 14TH OR SO

 DEEP INSTABILITY OVER THE GREAT SALT LAKE FOR A TIME LATE FRI
AND FRI NIGHT AND THE AIRMASS IS FORECAST TO BE COLD ENOUGH FOR SNOW
TO THE VALLEY FLOORS. THE COLD POOL ALOFT DOESNT REACH NRN UT UNTIL
24 HRS LATER IN THE EC BUT IT TOO GENERATES DEEP INSTABILITY. 

THESE INGREDIENTS PLUS A VERY WARM LAKE ARE SIMILAR TO WHAT LED TO
THE GREATEST 24 HOUR SNOWFALL ON RECORD AT SLC IN OCT 1984. SO THE
POTENTIAL IS THERE FOR A LAKE SNOW EVENT SOMETIME THIS WEEKEND IF
EVERYTHING COMES TOGETHER JUST RIGHT.

So get ready. Wax up those rock boards, check the batteries in your avalanche beacon and prepare to start hiking as we kick off the 0809 season.

In additon to the fall colors, we’re starting to see snow dusting the high peaks here in Utah.  This winter saw cold temps and our second shot of snow already.  I spent the weekend in Southern Utah in the depths of a slot canyon where we only had to worry about some rain and the potential for a flash flood, but, up in Northern Utah they got some snow.  Keep your fingers crossed and hope for a good start to winter with lots of early snow!

Snow and Fall Colors at Snowbird this weekend.

P.S. The National Weather Service is calling for more snow this weekend in the Canyons.

What was up with all the day glo back in the day?  Vice.tv breaks it down.

Nothing changed snowboarding quite like the flip.  Once boarders started getting inverted it was a whole new ballgame.   Damian Sanders breaks down this giant leap in snowboardings progression.