I may be *stuck* in Utah until Tuesday AM - been here since last Friday for the Epic Gathering. My return flight on Friday has already been cancelled; looks like the next available flight is on Tuesday. I'll miss the pow you'll be getting (if you can get to the slopes), but I won't miss the cluster that the storm will cause. Be safe out there and get you some pow.

Alta is forecast to get up to 14" of snow through Sunday AM, so I won't be suffering too much. While no real Utah dump the past week, plently of knee-deep pow turns were had and some great terrain was ripped. (Mid-A doesn't have 30 - 45 degree slopes.) Some sort of trip report to follow. Highlight was skiing Monday AM with Bill Kerig, writer/director of "The Edge of Never", plus a former Warren Miller skier and contributing editor of Skiing Mag.

If my cancelled return flight on Tuesday gets cancelled because of the next storm, nice knowing y'all and come visit me in Utah cuz I ain't returning. Ullr would be sending a message....

Far better to be stuck in skier's paradise than stuck in commuter's hell, an underground Metrorail station with 20,000 stampeding, snowcrazed Govt wonks trying to pack into a train that holds 1000 - my likely fate this afternoon.

This thread from epicski contains pics of JohnL in gray and white jacket skiing Utah this week: http://www.epicski.com/forum/thread/91463/2010-epicski-gathering-trip-report-thread/30#post_1187698

JohnL, you are a JERK.

I'll bet there'll be plenty of gloating by Jimmy, SCWVA and others after they've skied 1 foot of fresh on Saturday, 1 foot of fresh on Sunday, and tasty leftovers on Monday. Should be pretty amazing. The base in the trees at T-Line will be replenished for next weekend.

Looks like the Utah forecast has been significantly downgraded , but I'm real lucky I'm not stranded in some airport half-way through my return trip. Air travel for half of the U.S. is gonna be a mess for the next four days or so. I'm also going to have a bear of a time finding my car under two feet of snow at the airport.

Jimmy and Scott are going to get some of these freshies in the Valley, but I'm not!! I'm going to have to settle for whats left on Sunday...ok, maybe it's not that bad. At least not at bad as say.....cardio phys.

Oh, and for those of you that feel bad for JohnL, here's what he's been up to for the past week (and stuck doing for a few more days)

Ya, a bit in the back seat in that pic. Look at my right pole dragging in teh snow. Not as bad as both hands in the back pockets Jimmy.

I also retrieve sticks and newspapers, in addition to lost gloves:



Some 1990's school technique on my part in that pix . Wonder what current PSIA thinks of that? Relaxing the the old downhill skill and tipping the little toe down the hill to start the next turn. Prolly a bit too one-footed for current technique? At least upper body is agressively facing down the hill and the new downhill ski (left foot) looks like it is about to engage pretty early in the next turn. Instructors, chime in. Cirquerider caught a very interesting point in turn transition in that pic.

You're skiing difficult off piste terrain in an upright position with a smile on you face (I think - photoshopped glove makes it hard to tell).

What's the problem.

No problem and no worries. Just looking to step my game up to the next notch.

Glove wasn't photoshopped, I wuz chomping down on the real deal!

Actually, the snow I was skiing on really sucked. Mineral Basin @ Snowbird in late afternoon. Unless you catch it early, that terrain gets quickly degraded by the sun and other skiers. But people still flock to it.

JohnL you should really allow time for a proper lunch, even on a powder day.