With the fresh pow in the Wasatch backcountry shredded and sun baked beyond recognition, as well as the minimal amount of snowfall in Utah throughout January, I thought it would be a great idea to head to Park City to ride some super-pipe. I hit the mountain solo which seems to be a trend for myself this season. I was excited right away to see my buddy (born and raised Park City local) Jayson Thiros a.k.a Shortbus, causally taking laps in the pipe with a few ladies. I hurried to catch up with them and our bluebird park day had begun!

Brett Hillyard from the new company Ello Gum was on the scene and managed to snap a few shots of our super pipe shred session.  At the end of the day I felt grateful for this gorgeous Utah afternoon.

Jayson and I were ripping the sunny pipe all day with small part of our day spent in Neff Land where Chris Shields was bumpin some music in the DJ booth for us to shred to. I almost forgot how fun snowboarding can be even when it doesn’t snow a substantial amount for weeks at a time. I felt really rejuvenated after this day, one that felt like there wasn’t enough time in the day; the kind of days I live for. Cheers!

No joke, I think we’ve had almost 2 straight weeks of pure sunshine, cloudless skies, and lots of spring skiing conditions. Considering our low snow pack this year, we’re looking pretty damn good compared to most resorts West of Utah, so I’ve got no complaints. Putting the severe yearning for soft snow aside, the weather is truly beautiful and the last few days have been a blast. I’m slightly behind my 100 day goal for the season (hit day #30 yesterday), but confident that with lots of spring skiing, I’ll get there.

Yesterday Kevin, Matt, Tori and I cruised to Snowbird to meet up with some friends and spread some stoke in the lower gad parking lot. Before the party started, we warmed up with some groomer/bump skiing in Mineral Basin and then made our way to Baldy to check out what Kev calls “The Gauntlet”. I was planning to take it easy as I had tweaked my knee (possible sprained MCL?) the day before makin’ tele turns at PCMR, but shit happens and I didn’t want to be left out!

The Gauntlet’s official name is Center of Gravity which is located  near the Alta/Bird border and is a steepish couloir with shade protected snow. The last time I was in this area was a few years ago with much more snow, so getting into the couloir this year was a tad more difficult, but with enough poking around, we made it in. Safe to say, most of Baldy is sun-baked crust at this point, and certainly not the easiest to ski. But with good friends and sunshine-galore, it’s definitely worth the hike. The views from Baldy are insanely gorgeous on a clear day, displaying a perfect view of the SLC valley and the lower Little Cottonwood canyon.

After we worked our way down The Gauntlet (jump turning on a bum knee was probably not the best idea), we then met up with the rest of our crew and did a few mineral and gad laps prior to getting the Sunday parking lot party started. The day was a perfect combo of good friends, good turns, and lots of beer!

I’ll be taking a few days off to rest the knee and am hoping/wishing/praying/dancing that we get some more snow this week. Keep those digits crossed!!! And in the meantime, enjoy all this super fabulous sunshine and go get out there and ride!