Sunday at 10,518 feet
My wife, somewhere near the top of Snowbird ski resort (10,518 feet=3,200 meters)
We had just dove off the edge of a trail called “High Baldy Traverse”, a double black diamond of freaky-steep fun, and I asked Jess to mug for the camera when I noticed she was backlit by the sun.
There are moments at this altitude, where the trees are stunted & twisted from lack of oxygen & the harsh conditions, when it’s like standing on another planet.
Both Jess and I use Skiboards, instead of conventional skis. Skiboards feel more like skates, and they turn the steepest, sickest, tree & rock covered chutes into a playground.
Ignore what conventional skiers say about skiboards, it’s 99.9% wrong. If you are used to the extremely demanding balance point of ice or inline speedskating, these are a complete blast.
Drop the poles & fly free!
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There is such a feeling of gravity sucking joy that skiing creates. Especially when the sun is out, it’s warm, and the slushy snow is at that “perfect” consistency.
But somehow, as awesome as skiing is, after so many years of cycling and speedskating, where you use your body to create velocity or to climb a mountain before enjoying the descent, somehow, riding lifts feels like cheating.
Incredibly fun cheating, but cheating nonetheless.
Filed under: from the coffee shop
All hail skiboards! Mine are the big fat chuncky kinds that look like miniatue snowboards, but I wouldn’t trade them for skis or a board — been there, done that. I did use poles this last time, though, and it worked great, even enabling me (me!) to do seriously intense moguls. Do I see a ski playdate for us in the near future?
Oooooh, fun!! To me, of course, what sounds like fun is the 10,518 feet…I’m not so into those winter sports, you know?
Great picture, as always! Jessica, you’re in such a cool pose there, and with the lighting, the whole thing could be a poster.
Photoshop helps.
That was wicked steep, especially at the top. We had to concentrate hard on placing our bodies exactly where they needed to be, or else we’d crash into rocks, then start tumbling down the slope with no hope of stopping. That was the steepest terrain I’ve ever done. When we stopped for that photo, the snow around us kept moving, and I thought …avalanche???