Change of Scenery

Every day as I move through my daily routine, I am treated to some of the most beautiful scenery imaginable. Besides waking to Guy’s fabulous smile, I get to watch the sunrise on the mountains and the sun setting behind them. On weekends, we usually glide through a winter wonderland up in Summit County.

Most people don’t understand why we might want a change of scenery… but we decided to gather some friends and make a trip to ski in Utah. My brother caught wind of the trip and signed on to search for fresh powder with us.

The group delegated duties for researching lift ticket prices, booking the condo, arranging a rental vehicle, planning and preparing meals, etc. We ended up with a Condo at the Canyons about half way between Salt Lake City and Park City Utah, a large SUV, and of course an excess of food. The condo had a hot tub on the main floor, 3 bedrooms, and a well stocked kitchen. It was also in a great location as a base for skiing many areas.

The first day we went to Alta. Alta is up one of the Cottonwood Canyons. It is known for being steep, rocky, and having deep powder. It is also known for having long traverses to get to the good runs. It was here that Kevin began to earn his nickname, Traverse. He was our guide and would spend the weekend taking us around the mountain to all the best runs. He was terrific at checking in to be sure everyone was getting what they needed without spending too much time over their heads. I appreciated it because I am probably the weakest of the lot in terms of skiing skill and fearlessness. With a little psyching up, I can overcome most of that weakness.

Alta lived up to its reputation. We had nearly white-out conditions all day which meant fresh snow all day long. What we lacked in visibility we made up for by skiing by braille. We got one real break in the vis and immediately Traverse took us through a bowl that was deep with creamy powder. Most of the rest of the time we spent hugging the trees since vis was best in those areas. We even did one steep run that required dropping over a small rock ledge. It tested my courage to get over those rocks… not sure what it is about rocks that are so intimidating.

The second day was Snowbird. Snowbird also boasts steep and deep. Much of it seems less rocky but it has some spectacular cliff bands, glorious trees, and cornices to ramp up the adrenaline. Once again, traverses are part of the terrain negotiation and we did several to get to the good stashes. I had a frustrating morning, feeling ½ a bubble off but by mid-day was back on track. We ran a couple particularly steep runs that really ramped up the fun. And at the end of the day was a cornice drop into a steep run just below the Tram. Being a featherless chicken, I did find a notch to drop though instead of taking the cornice and trying to dodge the rocks below. “Do one thing every day that scares you” is easy when skiing in Utah. And somehow it gets easier as you do.

The last day of skiing we stayed close to the Condo and went to the Canyons. This area ranges pretty far and wide with slightly less steepness but generally ample powder. We toured the area checking out various interesting runs that the patrollers said might have good stashes. Some of them were rich. The patrol said that on a busy day they get about ¼ of the skiiers that a busy Summit County resort gets. As with the other two days, there were essentially no lift lines.

We had scheduled to leave the ski area by 4 at the latest and targeted a 3 p.m. return to the car. At about 2:45 as we rode up one more lift, at about the halfway point we suddenly say lightening which was followed by a long, low-rumbling thunderclap. Yikes! Here we are dangling at treetop height in a metal chair holding metal poles and it’s lightening. Of course, the ski area has to shut down the lifts. So when we reached the top, they made a feeble attempt to direct us to the bottom. The trouble was, it was now snowing and was nearly a white-out . We missed the turn with 99% of the rest of the skiiers and ended up back at the same lift. This area has no way out except to take another lift. Unfortunately, it was nearly ½ hour before the lifts came back online.

On our way again, we enjoyed one last run in the 3 inches of fresh that had fallen in the last hour. We crammed gear into the car, planning to pack at the airport once the snow had melted off, and headed out. Shortly after we hit the highway, we came to a dead stop. We sat on the highway for about 1 hr 40 min as it was shut down about 2 miles ahead. Our time was slipping away fast. We finally got to the airport at 6:24 for our 7 p.m. flight. As the rental car agent did the return we stuffed our bags. Guy was first off the starting line and into the terminal. I followed a few minutes later just as he called to say he was checked in. I ran carrying my bags and skis to the baggage drop off while phoning the others and telling them to run. We cut the security line and peeled off shoes, jackets, etc. for security. On the other side, we grabbed them and ran for the gate without even stopping to put on shoes . When we got to the gate, we took off our ski pants and extra clothing for more comfort on the flight. In the end, our whole crew made it to the flight. It was a wild end to a fabulous trip.