the last two months have been kickin! work has been good, a couple trips to idaho, a couple jazz games, and tons of skiing! since getting into the whole backcountry skiing, Kurt my guide and co worker, advised me to get some avalanche training. i was able to get a couple day class up at brighton doing some rescue training and snow education. apparently there is a ton of shapes and ways snow can form and hence create some pretty scary situations. so i invested in an avalanche beacon, shove, and probe. the class was sweet. i learned a lot about safety in the backcountry and we were able to make some sweet lines in some great powder. since that class i have hit a couple other sweet peaks. Kurt and i did Reynold's peak in big cotton wood canyon and made some nice lines. the hike was a couple hours long, yet so worth it. One of the original Powder Whores was celebrating his 50th birthday a couple weeks ago so Kurt and i joined him and a couple of his friends on one of the greatest and scariest adventures of my life. we headed south to provo and climbed to the top of Mt. Timpanogos (11,500 ft). we stashed a car in orem and then drove up the provo canyon to sundance ski resort and began hiking at 5am. we started heading up and i soon realized i may have been in over my head for my third time out in the backcountry. the snow was hard and slick and i was using a ton of energy and not getting far. i usually go by the motto "slow and steady wins the race". i had the slow part down.....steady had not arrived at that point. i was quickly becoming frustrated and scared. i could hear the waterfalls all around me and was cross cutting the slopes above these freakin things and struggling. well i made it passed that section, in the dark non the less, and had built some character along the way. once the sun started to come up my eyes were amazed at the cliffs and majestic peaks all around. the beauty was breath taking! once it became to steep to skin up the mountain we packed our skis on our backs and continued on. there were sections where i was just praying not to slip and fall. i would use my hands to reach into the boot tracks and keep climbing. after summiting we crossed over a lake and the cliffs and peaks were even more grand. we rested at a year round hut and then did the last section up this glacier to the summit. by this time i thought i was going to die! i slowly made it up to the top and as i was able to look all around and see the amazing view, this rush of energy came over me and i was ready to ski over 5000 vertical feet of pure soft snow down into the orem valley. we chilled for a while eating lunch waiting for the snow to warm up and be skiable. i looked around and couldnt believe what i had accomplished. it was such an experience. of course it was mixed with prayer and profanity, yet i was grateful to have made it. all in all the hike took about 5.5 hours of hiking. we skied amazing snow for about 1.5 hours and then had to hike a couple miles out on dirt cause the snow ran out. it was pretty cool to be passing hikers in shorts and tank tops and we walked out with skis and snow gear. after we got to the car you could look back up and see how far we had skied and hiked. in the pictures you can see the white covered peaks in the background and get an idea of how far it was. this week my bro scott was able to come down and we hit up a jazz game and two days of DEEP powder. we got hammered with 3 ft of snow and had a blast drawing lines down the mountain. the weather wasnt the greatest but the snow was! then he left back to idaho in the tahoe. :( it was my last day with her. my sister lisa had her 3rd kid and they bought it from me. maybe i sold it too soon with all this new snow we are getting. i will miss it but im glad it went to good hands, plus my niece hallie just loves it. she has a backseat all to herself and a dvd player. feb and march have been amazing. april and may will bring more adventures and i am so glad to be alive and experiencing life and all it can offer. hope you all enjoy the pics.
