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Saturday was the third and final of the three-in-a-row openings here in Utah (see 2 previous posts for other openings) and it happened at Snowbird. The day before I skied Solitude, ran off to work & then jumped on the climbing wall, finishing my day with eating until midnight. Shouldn'a done all that.

Saturday I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to get my Solitude coverage finished for First Tracks. Four hours of sleep. It's cool. My new ski buddy, Matt Baydala, was running a little late so my slow pace wasn't too big of a deal... until I got to Snowbird and met up with Marc & friends who got me right on the tram and right into powder. Powder & rocks. Powder & rocks & I can't see.... oh, and I put yarn in my boots to keep my heels down. (Matt was happy to share that story around to everyone he introduced me to.)

Just a little more detail about the night before so you get a feel of where I was coming from. I climbed my first *5.11c in a long time and attempted the first half of a 5.12 as well as some other routes. I was toast, but feeling pretty good. Figuring it was worth a celebration, my friend and I headed to Friday's and ordered the endless soup and salad meal and stayed... and stayed... and stayed. All this meant the next day I was feeling it in my quads after about 4.75 turns in the powder. I pressed on but slipped gradually further away from the guys.

Nevertheless, I was up there for free and even though defeated, I was happy. So, without further introduction, here's my article for Snowbird's opening day, published just now:

Snowbird Opens

(In other great news, I just registered for the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market. So excited to see what new technology & gear are in store for the ski industry...)

*If you're not familiar with the climbing grades, check out this article.