Like every other Utah local, I’m hoping the 3rd time is the charm. After two subpar years for snow and pow, we’re all hoping this will be an epic season – or at least a normal Utah ski season!  So far, not a bad start. We were able to skin/hike in the Cottonwoods since October, and the Park City area since at least mid-November.  Last week brought major pow days to the Cottonwoods, and enough snow to get PCMR past the usual early season “groomers only” stage.

For me, this is a very special season.  Two months ago it looked like I’d be moving to Hawaii for about a year for business reasons and having no ski season at all. Granted, there are a lot worse places to live, and I love the beach life, but I’m a skier first (I even skied Hawaii back in the 80′s). Even more depressing, when it looked like Hawaii was inevitable, was that for February I had planned a Cat skiing trip to British Columbia, followed by a few days in Revelstoke, that I was going to have to cancel.  Fortunately, Hawaii has been delayed until at least the spring, if it happens at all.

On top of this “reprieve”, not only is my Cat/Revvy trip back on, but I’m now planning a 3 week “ski odyssey” through Montana and BC on my way to and from the Cat skiing trip. If it all works out, over the course of about 3 weeks, I’ll hit Big Sky, Whitefish, Red Mountain and Big White on the way to the Cat trip, then hit Revvy, Kicking Horse, Banff, Panorama, Fergie and Bridger Bowl on the return trip. So if you’ve been to any of those ski areas and have recommendations for great ski runs or great bars to celebrate in at the end of the day, please let me know.  In the mean time, let’s all break out whatever snow dance, good luck charm or other “pow karma” we have in our bag of tricks to help make this an epic ski season!