Saturday, February 13, 2010

Cover Up Utah-tahs!

Deep into February and I'm back from what is becoming an annual snowboarding trip with Ellvin Kelvin and Amazing Grace. Last year we went to Mammoth, which is where we usually go given that we bunk for free with the Oblong family. Given that the Oblong's place was being renovated, we had to pick a different destination this season.

Boom. Destination: Park City, Utah.

When Ellvin Kelvin suggested it, all I thought was that Bryce Canyon in Utah looks gorgeous covered in snow. So I was excited. I had totally forgotten that the Winter Olympics had taken place in Salt Lake City in 2002.

We went for two whole days on the slopes at Park City Mountain Resort. I hadn't snowboarded in over a year, so I was insistent on taking it easy. Amazing Grace and I kept things casual on the green dot runs. Took me a couple of runs to get comfortable. But by day two, I was carving like the real snowboarders. I still have some anxiety attacks when the paths narrow or when I'm going too fast.

The thing I noticed in Utah is that most everyone skis, which is a change from Mammoth where most snowboard. But the perception seems to remain that only punk kids snowboard and thus you have a mass of dickwad skiers who ride on their high horses.

But other than those shitclogs, the trip was wonderful. Our last two hours were pretty epic. We went pretty high up the mountain and did a marathon of boarding. So great. We were already talking about where we would be going next year. Plan might be to follow the Winter Olympics around, so Vancouver might be it!

In any case, I can't wait to do it again.


Looking like Shaun White hit with a pretty stick,

Ricky