My buddy Nick and I left for Utah on the 22nd stoked for a week in snow heaven. Unfortunately we got into SLC too late for tracks that day but it allowed us time to get our gear set and ready for a solid day to follow.

Got up on the morning of the 23rd and loaded up the mobile command center (the minivan we ended up with because that was all they had) and headed to PCR. When we got there Nick got the scoop on the good snow and with that we made a line for Jupiter bowl. The ride over was a lot of fun with a solid mix of fast blues and blacks to get over to the chairs we needed. The view from the top was beautiful, indeed the view from the top of any mountain there is breathtaking. We traversed around to skiers left to the bowl and ended up over a huge cauldron of moguls. Being on a board the traverse kind of sucked, Nick skied so he had a blast, but the payoff was huge. We made it far enough around to have a really nice run at a stretch of largely untracked pow that just went on forever. It was unbelievable but with afternoon looming we figured lunch then a cross over to McConkey's was in order. McConkey's also was nothing short of Epic. Lots of soft snow and stashes of untracked pow in the tree's. At one point Nick sank his poles all the way in to the top of the grip. We sessioned it til we couldn't stand up much more then downloaded back to the MCC.

Next morning we decided Snowbird was on the menu. We parked at the Gad lifts and between some quick runs and traverses made it to Mineral Basin. We had tram tickets but we only ended up using them later for the last runs because we felt we had to you really do not need them. The first few runs through Mineral Basin were good but the snow was heavy and rutted up so we went back to the front side and after struggling through some horrendous traverses on the board that really made me begin to hate Snowbird hit a solid mix of tree runs, fast groomers and a touch of park that restored my faith in it. To be clear traverses no problem. Traverses on a board through big moguls on steep terrain is woeful.

Overall Snowbird was pretty fun but by afternoon my legs had taken a punishing in trying to traverse for powder runs so I ended up traversing mineral basing via a "easy route" i.e. a catwalk that didn't have a steep pitch but was little wider than that length of my board which made it interesting to say the least. I ended up stuck over a cliff section, I knew my lustfor pow would get me in trouble, and walking out. to be honest it's the first time I've been scared in a while. Mostly because at that point I was absolutely wrecked tired, my legs were shot and between the heat, the altitude and dehydration I was getting a little concerned about my predicament. I had to unclip and walk out to somewhere I could traverse and ride out. Luckily I was in constant contact with my buddy via radio so If things got too bad I could call him in. That needless to say ended me completely. Overall an awesome day but a complete leg killer.

Saturday we set off on a trek to Powder Mountain. It took us a while to get there because my directions were not great and the exits were hard to find and I'll be honest I was getting ready to turn around and head to Solitude but we persevered and managed to get there by 11. We got set up and began tearing it up. First runs were groomers the we made it to the timberline lift to Hidden Lake. On the way up we saw incredible amounts of untapped tree runs so naturally we tapped them. And they were epic. Soft light snow. Small rollers thrown in for jumps and great lines of weaving, jumping, dodging and ducking through Mother Nature all with not another soul in sight. Beautiful. After two runs we decided to hit Powder Country. All I can do now is drool at the memory. It starts out slow but once you cross the access road you just drop in and hit soft soft snow and then better yet untracked untapped pow. OMG it was indescribable. Flying down slopes with nothing but silence. Floating the board just at the surface and fresh snow flying off in either direction. Keep in mind that this is about a week after the last dump and it's still unbelievable. We took two runs down Powder Country before they closed it. It was cool to get to the shuttle pick up and hang with the other powder hounds dropping out of the tree line with huge ear to ear grins. It was so good we went back again on Sunday but unfortunately Powder Country was the complete opposite. Hard scrapey icy slush. Oh well the cruiser were still great and we decided to hit Cobabe Canyone which, while a little wet and heavy, was still awesome riding. Some folks had warned that the traverse in or out could be bad but I didn't have any problems with it but as Crush may tell you I've got gliding down pretty well.

Monday and it's out last day and we've decided on the Canyons and we're meeting up with Crush to kill a few runs. Just like the rest of the week the sun is out and it's baking but we still have an absolute blast as Crush shows us some great bomber runs and groomers. We start at one side of the mountain and steadilly rip our way over to the other side. Unfortunately my legs start giving out a little after lunch so I'm slowing it up big time. We take red Pine road back to the Red Pine lodge and I decide it's a gondola ride for me while Nick and Crush rip it up one last time. Big big thanks again to Crush for guiding us through a great finishing day it was awesome.

Overall while it was hot all week and it didn't snow a lick (was supposed to start snowing the day we left) we still had an awesome time and with a little searching and hitting some out of the way places we still found some great snow.

As an end note I have marked my territory and Powder Mountain is now mine and I'm not sharing so go away!.