Winter 2017 has been one to remember.  From record snow for the month of December and great skiing all around.  Having been able to take trips to Jackson Hole and just skiing around the Wasatch has been amazing.

I started off the season with a badly sprained ankle and hadn’t been able to do much for the previous three months.  Despite this I was able to ski opening day up at Alta, which had some pretty good snow.  Thankfully my PT cleared me to ski the next day.  I was only able to ski 2 or 3 more times before I headed back home to Michigan for Christmas.

Leaving Michigan, some friends and I headed out to Jackson Hole for new years.  We made the 24 hour drive and got in at 5 am on December 30th.  Then next day we hiked headwall for some good snow and fresh lines.  New years in Jackson is always a riot, from loosing a few of our group on the way into town to being one of a probably 100 people trying to get a cab home that night, puking in a bar bathroom and rallying afterward, it was an overall memorable night.  No skiing was done on January 1st, but we ended up playing hockey on the outdoor rink in Wilson for about 3 or 4 hours instead (me in my figure skates of course).

We spent two more days in Jackson, hiked headwall again, some people skied Corbets, and we got fresh snow each night making the days of skiing amazing.  I then heard of a storm hitting Salt Lake and the Cottonwoods over the next few days.  So we packed up and headed down to Utah to follow the storm.

We skied two days at Snowbird, were some of the 1st ten people let into mineral basin when patrol opened it up, and got to ski over 20 inches of fresh, untracked powder.  We were also able to sneak into the hot tub at Snowbird after skiing which was a perk!

I also decided to take a class this semester, called Snow Dynamics and Avalanches, that involves learning all about snow science, avalanches, and ski touring almost every Friday!  Later on in January another storm hit the Wasatch and I got to ski a weekend with knee deep fresh snow, and was getting face shots on most turns (which I guess isn’t that hard as I am only a little over 5 feet tall!).

After a few weekend of skiing Alta, I headed back to Jackson Hole to ski with my family over Prez weekend.  I ended up getting in around 11pm, because of my snow and avy class earlier that day and it was snowing all night up in Jackson!  We skied almost all day Saturday, with runs through the Alta Chutes, Bivouac woods, Central Chutes, and of course Rendezvous Bowl.  We went slightly easier Saturday, as my mom, brother, and I were being taken backcountry Sunday!  Sunday morning, we got to the tram line around 8:45am and there was already a 2-3 tram wait.  Once we finally made it up the tram, we went through the first avalanche control gate, and down into cardiac drainage.  The first run was almost too good to be true!  And the next few runs were just as incredible!  Fresh lines, getting a workout skinning back up, then fresh lines again.  There was good, about boot to knee depth powder, and snow of the best snow I have ever skied!  We ended the day skiing down and out through Rock Springs and getting a couple pitchers of beer at Nick Wilson’s (not a bad way to end the day!).  Despite being sore and tired, we got up and skied the next day.  The snow, even inbounds, was great.  Alta 1 was great, Rendezvous bowl was great, all runs that day were amazing!

I also accomplished a life goal of mine: ski over 1 million vertical feet at Jackson.  And I achieved my goal in this trip over Prez day!  I finally hit a million vertical feet, actually over a million, as I now have 1,335,721 vertical feet at Jackson!

This now brings us to spring break, and it was very much spring skiing!  I skied most of the days, and it was 50 degrees out, sunny, and the snow was mashed potatoes! I skied Alf’s High Rustler for the first time in a while and I hit a new personal speed record: 75.3mph.  I also skied in my Red Wings jersey a few of the days because it was so nice out!  This was also week 10 at Snowbird, where my uncle knows a lot of old time Snowbird skiers.  I got to meet some really awesome skiers and people in general and had some pretty awesome home cooked meals.  One even got me to try and like a lot of different white wines, even one from Austria!

Our last field day for Snow Dynamics and Avalanches was this past Friday.  We went on a ski tour up Big Cottonwood Canyon, my first time skiing backcountry in BCC.  We worked on route planning and how to safely travel in avalanche terrain.  It also helps that we got to ski some pretty awesome snow on the way back down!

]]> http://spreadstoke.com/snow/skiing-1-million-vertical-feet-jackson-hole-wyoming/feed/ 0 http://spreadstoke.com/lifestyle/sectionals-utah-ultimate/ http://spreadstoke.com/lifestyle/sectionals-utah-ultimate/#comments Wed, 10 Jun 2015 21:54:16 +0000 http://spreadstoke.com/?p=5291 Friday April 17th, my college ultimate frisbee team, Spiral Jetty, packed our bags and headed to sectionals in Boise, Idaho.  Leaving Salt Lake City during rush hour slowed down the start of our road trip, but good friends and silly music made the time pass faster.  About 1.5 hours into the road trip, my car got a dreaded call from our fellow teammates.  12 girls left Salt Lake City and 1/3 of them were in a roll-over car crash outside of Burley, Idaho. The next hour was spent playing phone tag with different teammates trying to figure out what had happened, if those in the crash were okay, and how we were going get them home or on to Boise.  2 of our girls were taken by ambulance to the hospital because they were going into shock.  Luckily our coaches were 10 minutes behind those in the accident and able to help those in the crash get their stuff and help get the rest to the hospital.  The rest of the night was spent in the hospital, waiting for news on how our teammates were.  All 4 girls in the crash and the one boy (on the men’s team) were cleared with no major injuries, just bumped and bruised. While waiting in the hospital, our team had to make our biggest decision of the season, do we continue onto Boise and play at sectionals with 8 girls or do we turn around and head back to Salt Lake?  When one of the girls in the crash heard that there was even the slightest possibility that we weren’t going to play she told us that we had to at least try. If we didn’t, those in the crash would feel like it was their fault and would make everything worse than it already was.  With that in mind, our team made the decision to continue on to Boise to play in sectionals. Saturday April 18th was Day 1 of Sectionals, with Game 1 featuring Whitman vs. Spiral Jetty.  Whitman is a team that goes to nationals, Spiral Jetty is still a developing program.  Whitman brought 27 girls to sectionals, and after the crash, Spiral Jetty had 8.  With this in mind, our goal for the weekend was to build chemistry between our players and to have fun.  Our motto of the weekend was dropping knowledge bombs.  No one expected us to go score 7 points against Whitman. Game 2, Idaho vs. Spiral Jetty.  Spiral Jetty (SJU) won on universe point 8-7. Game 3, Spiral Jetty vs. Montana State.  SJU won 9-3. Game 4, Spiral Jetty vs. Montana.  SJU lost 4-7. Saturday night was spent team bonding in the hotel, with lots of chocolate.  We played truth or dare games and never have I ever.  We may be in college, but I secretly think we are all 12 yrs old. Sunday April 19th, Day 2 of Sectionals, Game 1, Spiral Jetty vs. Boise State.  After some mix-up with when games where supposed to start, we ended up playing Boise State for our last pool play game.  We lost 9-8. Game 2, Boise State vs. Spiral Jetty.  The first game in our bracket play was against the team that we just lost to in our last game in pool play.  SJU pulled together and won against Boise State, 8-6. Game 3, Montana vs. Spiral Jetty.  By game 3 of Sunday and game 7 of the weekend we were down to 6 players due to injuries, we didn’t have enough players to continue on to play our last game.  SJU had to forfeit the game to go to regionals against Montana. After a very teary-eyed prop circle, Spiral Jetty started the road trip back to Salt Lake City. Turns out that a car crash couldn’t stop us.  SJU went 3-3 that weekend, placing 3rd at Big Sky sectionals.  This team came together after a terrifying experience, kicking ass when no one thought we could.]]>

Friday April 17th, my college ultimate frisbee team, Spiral Jetty, packed our bags and headed to sectionals in Boise, Idaho.  Leaving Salt Lake City during rush hour slowed down the start of our road trip, but good friends and silly music made the time pass faster.  About 1.5 hours into the road trip, my car got a dreaded call from our fellow teammates.  12 girls left Salt Lake City and 1/3 of them were in a roll-over car crash outside of Burley, Idaho.

The next hour was spent playing phone tag with different teammates trying to figure out what had happened, if those in the crash were okay, and how we were going get them home or on to Boise.  2 of our girls were taken by ambulance to the hospital because they were going into shock.  Luckily our coaches were 10 minutes behind those in the accident and able to help those in the crash get their stuff and help get the rest to the hospital.  The rest of the night was spent in the hospital, waiting for news on how our teammates were.  All 4 girls in the crash and the one boy (on the men’s team) were cleared with no major injuries, just bumped and bruised.

While waiting in the hospital, our team had to make our biggest decision of the season, do we continue onto Boise and play at sectionals with 8 girls or do we turn around and head back to Salt Lake?  When one of the girls in the crash heard that there was even the slightest possibility that we weren’t going to play she told us that we had to at least try. If we didn’t, those in the crash would feel like it was their fault and would make everything worse than it already was.  With that in mind, our team made the decision to continue on to Boise to play in sectionals.

Saturday April 18th was Day 1 of Sectionals, with Game 1 featuring Whitman vs. Spiral Jetty.  Whitman is a team that goes to nationals, Spiral Jetty is still a developing program.  Whitman brought 27 girls to sectionals, and after the crash, Spiral Jetty had 8.  With this in mind, our goal for the weekend was to build chemistry between our players and to have fun.  Our motto of the weekend was dropping knowledge bombs.  No one expected us to go score 7 points against Whitman.

Game 2, Idaho vs. Spiral Jetty.  Spiral Jetty (SJU) won on universe point 8-7.

Game 3, Spiral Jetty vs. Montana State.  SJU won 9-3.

Game 4, Spiral Jetty vs. Montana.  SJU lost 4-7.

Saturday night was spent team bonding in the hotel, with lots of chocolate.  We played truth or dare games and never have I ever.  We may be in college, but I secretly think we are all 12 yrs old.

Sunday April 19th, Day 2 of Sectionals, Game 1, Spiral Jetty vs. Boise State.  After some mix-up with when games where supposed to start, we ended up playing Boise State for our last pool play game.  We lost 9-8.

Game 2, Boise State vs. Spiral Jetty.  The first game in our bracket play was against the team that we just lost to in our last game in pool play.  SJU pulled together and won against Boise State, 8-6.

Game 3, Montana vs. Spiral Jetty.  By game 3 of Sunday and game 7 of the weekend we were down to 6 players due to injuries, we didn’t have enough players to continue on to play our last game.  SJU had to forfeit the game to go to regionals against Montana.

After a very teary-eyed prop circle, Spiral Jetty started the road trip back to Salt Lake City.

Turns out that a car crash couldn’t stop us.  SJU went 3-3 that weekend, placing 3rd at Big Sky sectionals.  This team came together after a terrifying experience, kicking ass when no one thought we could.

Earlier in November I got the chance to explore the Utah Olympic Oval.  This is where the long track speed skating events were held for the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics.  I had previously heard my friends talk about the oval and this made me want to visit even more.  They told me that the oval was so big that two NFL sized rinks fit inside.

When I saw the shear size of the building, I swear my mouth was hanging open.  When I walked in the door and saw the long track and rinks for myself my jaw was on the floor.  It was huge!  The long track itself was 400 m.  And the two NFL rinks were end to end, not side by side like I had imagined.

Unfortunately, I got the time for the freestyle sessions wrong and didn’t get to skate the first night I was there.  The following day I went back and skated on one of the NFL rinks.  Compared to the speed skate long track, the NFL rink seemed tiny!  I was able to do all of my spins and double jumps, through my double axel.

The whole experience was surreal!  Getting to skate at the Olympic Oval was an awesome experience!

Who else is ready for ski season?

Only 28 more days!

An original video from Jacky Hallett. Check out Spread Stoke for more!

Saturday October 18th.  The day I made my first solo flight.

I woke up at 7:15 am Saturday morning, just like every other morning for the past 6 days,  and headed out to the St. George Airport.  After doing my preflight check, I taxied out to the runway with my instructor sitting in the right seat.  After take off we flew 2 right and 4 left traffic patterns with touch and go takeoffs and landings.  On the 6th landing we brought the plane to a full stop and taxied off the runway.  I dropped my instructor off at the hangar and taxied back out to the runway.

‘This is it.  This is my first solo flight.  You can do it!’ I thought to myself.

“St. George Traffic, Cessna 19187 departing runway 19, St. George,” I said over the radio.  I then taxied onto the runway and took off.  I had to do 3 take offs and landings, two of which were touch and go’s and the third was to be a full stop.  Turning left 90 degrees I said “St. George Traffic, Cessna 19187 crosswind runway 19, St. George,” over the radio.  A short five seconds later I turned another 90 degrees to the left onto the downwind leg of the pattern.  Turning another two 90 degree left turns I was on my final approach to runway 19.

I landed the plane, once, twice, then three times!  After the first landing my nerves had completely disappeared and a smile was on my face.

After my solo flight my instructor congratulated me by cutting the back of my shirt off and marking the date of my flight on it!

Snow Canyon State Park, anyone heard of it?  Heck, I hadn’t even heard of it until I passed the sign for the state park on the highway.  I figured it would be fun to check out, so I pulled my car to the parking lot and went for a hike!  Snow Canyon State Park has many different trails to hike, the two I explored were the lava flow from the Santa Clara volcano and petrified sand dunes.

The lava flow was awesome!  I hiked out not expecting to see anything but the rock cliffs around me.  Yet, this was not so.  There were lava tunnels throughout the hike!  Many of the tunnels have collapsed since the last eruption of Santa Clara, but there is access to parts of these tunnels.  Unfortunately, I was hiking by myself and the park required groups of at least three people to hike through the tunnels and as it was a spur of the moment hike I also lacked a flashlight.  Despite not actually being able to go inside the tunnels, I hiked around them and farther past them.  Oh, and the petrified sand dunes were awe-inspiring!  The dunes were beautiful and a bright orange / red in color!  Southern Utah is such a beautiful place!

And I almost forgot my new little lizard friends!

More photos will come soon!!

It’s finally fall break at the University of Utah!!  I am spending my week down in St. George, Utah.  Today was filled with about 3 hours of flying with 17+ touch and goes.  If you are wondering, I am working on my private pilot’s license.  Maybe I will solo before the week is up??  Anyway, this is the first time I have ever been a Pilot in Command outside of Michigan.  Flying in Utah is different from flying in Michigan.  For one, there are major terrain differences between the two states mainly that Utah has mountains and is higher elevation.  Well, I don’t know about you but I am excited for the week to come!