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.