Ya know, Dug might just be right with this one! There is absolutely nothing that I could possibly add to his extremely thorough review of Diet Coke. I mean, I hate the taste of regular diet coke and have always opted for Coke Zero or the original Coke. I have recently stopped at the local Chevron and mix half Coke with half DC w/Lime. Yum. Yes, I just typed Yum. Anyways, I bought a 12 pack and tried it straight up today and the results were still Yum. Now, this doesn't mean I will discard my other soft drink choices but this is definately something that will be added to the mix.

On anther note, we hit up Scotties again Friday morning early for some recycled powder. I say recycled because it had been ski'd out heavier than we all had thought, plus the wind was blowing from the opposite direction that the avy forecast said it was. There was still really nice snow up top in the bowl and in the trees to the west of the main Scotties shot. Still a great morning. Only downside was, I left my poles behind. The wind knocked over my skis and my poles in the parking lot. I put my skis in the back then pulled my soaking wet undershirt off because I was freezing, then the wind kicked up again so I threw on another shirt and made a b-line to the car leaving my trusty old bent poles behind. Heard a rumor that someone may have picked them up but we have yet to be reunited. Hopefully the poles they picked up are indeed mine, if not I guess I have an excuse to get some new ones.

VD

No, not THAT kind of VD, Valentines Day! The weather in these parts has been a little bit on the warm side. Warm for us up here in Northern Utah, not warm for those of my readers down south in Arizona. Its still cold for you. Anyways, the temp has been nearing 60 for the last few days so I decided to try to take advantage. On Monday instead of going for sushi with the sales team after our meeting I brought my bike and decided to go for a ride. Besides, there is only 1 other sales rep besides myself left and the thought of looking at him all lunch vs. going for a ride up Emigration Canyon well, you get the picture. Sorry Phil!

Our meetings usually get done fairly quickly and that would leave me about 2 hours before I needed to be back to my model. I left from my model in S. Salt Lake and headed North. The sun was out I was in knee warmers and arm warmers with a vest. No booties, no long sleeve jersey, no winter hat. Ahhhh, it was nice. I pedaled towards the Zoo a little unsure if I would head up Emigration or do a nice loop over towards Millcreek and head down 39th back to work. I opted to head up Emigration. Its a nice mellow canyon until you hit the switchback. I pedaled to just before the switchback and turned around. The ride back was into a nice headwind and the sun went away. It never got cold however and the entire ride was very enjoyable. Topped off the day at my parents for my dad's birthday. Yep, birthday on VD. Not very often is it nearly 60 in February in Salt Lake. Lots of people are gettin the spring itch. I know I am. But, theres another winter storm on our doorstep thats about to drop 12-18 inches of new snow. Brigham Young got one thing right, This is a pretty great state to call home.

Beautiful Reward

Last week was a pretty good week for skiing. Wednesday we got to do a very nice Scotties Bowl shot. The snow was soft and fast. 18" of new snow fell earlier in the week and I had to make an exception to get out and ski some of it. The climb as always sucked. Well, thats not all true. I don't mind the climb, Im just slow and that part sucks. Not sure how to get faster. Anyways, I joined Dug, Mark and Steve for a nice long lap. No pictures, forgot my camera again. I suck.

Friday we got up early for some Pink Pine. There was a huge army that was out that morning. Not even really sure how many. At least 8, no more than 15. The climb up to Pink Pine was nice, UDOT was bombing on the North Side of the Canyon. Its always kind of cool and somewhat nerve racking to be hiking and hearing huge artillery go off in the not too far distance. I got to the booter just a few minutes behind the last person of the main group so I hung out there for a few for Dug and is Brother-in-law. Dugs binding broke again so he had to drag one of his feet up the entire skin track. It did look like a lot of fun and I almost locked my binding down but in the end I decided to use mine as they were intended. Booting is always interesting. This is only the 2nd time I have done it so its not like I have vast experience. Its kind of a cool thing to boot up a ridge. I try not to think about what would happen if I slipped and fell. Its kind of steep. The boot up to the top didn't take too long, we put our ski's back on to skin a little further in and then took in the view. Pretty amazing. I took this little video clip at the top.



The shot after the booter is much longer than stopping just short. Dug said its always better to boot it if you have time. I would agree. Snow was really, really good! Super sweet turns up top, little crust in the middle and great turns the rest of the way. 2 great tours with some of the best snow we have had in a month or so. I managed to tear the shit out of my heels on Friday. My moleskin slipped right off my heels. It doesn't work so good when its bunched up somewhere in your socks. Hopefully they heal up fast. Shoes don't feel too good right now. Worth it though.

Dry spell with spring like conditions over the next few days. I think I will be able to get out on the bike a few days this week. I am craving some red dirt but also have really been enjoying this year skiing. I lost count but I think I have been out 20 or more times. Waaaay better than last year. There is still a few months left of skiing. March/April will probably bring a mixture of riding and skiing. I can live with that.

Mouse no more

It came to my attention that I had a little critter hitchin a ride in my car for who knows how long. I have had the seats down for quite some time now for  my skis to fit. I put the seat up the other day and saw remnants of a little critter. I mean, if I was a mouse, it may not be a bad way to live. Endless food supply thanks to a snackin 4 year old ridin around. Its warm for the most part. Atleast its warmer than it is in the garage. I have not figured out how said mouse got in the car but I have my theories. I do know however, how said mouse got out!

I set up 3 traps in the car. 2 on the shelf under the back seat and one on the floor. Filled the traps with some crunchy peanut butter. Sidecar-I really, really hate setting up snap traps. Its one of the worst jobs as a homeowner. Im usually just waiting for them to go off in my hands. Hate that!

So, after less than a few hours I checked the traps and sure enough! GOT ONE!

Now I just hope the little bastard didn't have a friend hidin out in there. Don't want babies runnin all over. That would be bad, very bad.

Took the car to the car wash the next day to vacuum out the little bastards crap, put some air freshener in and its good as new. Well, at least as new as a 7 year old car can be.

Hey kids, dont forget!

Got out for some sub-zero hiking and subsequent skiing with the usuals. Temps were downright cold and the winds definitely were not helping to warm things up. Nonetheless we started our way up flagstaff but instead of climbing flagstaff we headed towards Cardiff. I had never been over that way so I was a bit excited to check out something new and different. The climb was going great (as great as suffering can go) until I hit an icy patch and slid off the skintrack. You can see this from the gps track below my demise.

The full gps below

Once to the top the wind was really rippin. We transitioned to ski mode, well most did. I fucked around and forgot to switch my boots into ski mode. I wondered for half of the first decent why do I feel so retarded. No, it wasn't the sheet of ice that we all slipped off on. I slid what felt like 50 feet but was probably more like 15 until the snow got soft enough to hold an edge. Woowee, that was exciting. Still pissed about forgetting to flip my boots. Won't let that happen again. The snow was soft once we were off the ridge. A little more wind affected than we thought it would be but still soft. We transitioned again and started our way out to poleline pass. Climbing went pretty good until we were about 2/3 of the way up. We found the rain crust and it wasnt going to let us skin to the top. We transitioned to bootin. My first boot pack and not the last. It was interesting to see how well the snow holds when its like that. It was like a staircase in some spots. I felt kind of like Rocky in Rock IV climbing the mountain. Except he was a bad ass and did it in Sorels. I had nice stiff ski boots and poles. Rocky rules. 

Once to the top of poleline we transitioned again and half the group took off just as I was getting there and I brought up the rear. The turns down Cardiff Pk were pretty good. A little heavy in spots but overall pretty good. Ski to the road and walk a block or so back to the car. 

As always, with each tour I learn something new. Todays lesson, don't forget to switch your boots out of walk mode into ski mode. It will make you look stupid. Or at least MORE stupid than usual. 

Thanks to Steve for the pictures. I forgot my camera. 

Mike and Dug almost to the top. Mark and his buddy are hiding on the ridge in the trees. 

Me after sliding off the skintrack and losing contact with the group

Seeking shelter in the trees. They didn't offer much protection.

Our tracks. Someone else beat us there and put some tracks in too.