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The Best Day of Boarding Ever!

Have you ever had an absolutely perfect day? You know, one of those days when the entire universe seems to have miraculously aligned just right for you and life is uncharacteristically blissful?

I had one of those days on Friday. Despite the current officialness of spring, we got hit by a snow storm on Thursday that dumped heaps of snow in our mountains. It was the lure of that fresh snow that convinced me and Jason to skip work on Friday and hit the slopes at Brighton Resort.

The weather forecast for Friday predicted temperature highs in the twenties and gusty winds, so we were expecting a cold blustery day. We were therefore very pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be sunny and calm. With highs twenty degrees warmer than predicted and oodles of soft powder covering the mountain, we were in boarding paradise.

Jas on the lift-he is oogleing the snow.
Jason on the lift-I have no idea what the silly face is for.

But not only did the stars line up perfectly to create the ideal combination of sunny weather and fresh snow, they also seemed to favor me with unprecedented boarding progress.

For years I struggled to develop my toe-carving skills but only had limited success until the end of last season when I finally had a breakthrough and figured out the basic toe-carving motion. I was unbelievably excited about that breakthrough and this season I have been attempting to refine my still sub-par carving abilities. Although my skills have improved with every boarding outing, my carving was still pretty shaky…until Friday. Amazingly, on Friday everything came together.

That's me under all that snow attire with a perma-grin!
That's me under all that snow attire. You can't tell but I've got a supremely satisfied look on my face.

All of a sudden my carving became nearly effortless. I didn’t have to concentrate and steep hills didn’t intimidate me. I was completely floored by this unanticipated achievement and having a fabulous time! You just can’t beat the feeling of gliding gracefully over fresh powder while soaking in sweet sunshine-especially when you are genuinely surprised that somehow, suddenly, you are able to do this.

What an incredible day and what an incredible sensation! Thanks to my new skills I feel like I can now claim that I am a “boarder” rather than just someone that goes boarding. Hallelujah!

Unexpected carving success + unexpected lovely weather + luscious new snow + no crowds = the best day of boarding ever! We will definitely be boarding again soon, though it will be hard to beat such an utterly perfect day!

Rachel March 30, 2009 No Comments

Snowwalker

Despite the fact that we live in a valley surrounded by gorgeous mountains, and we love spending time in those mountains whether they are currently snow covered or leaf laden, Jason and I never attempted to snowshoe until last Saturday.

Jason’s parents gave us snowshoes for Christmas and we were eager to try them out so last weekend we headed up to the Nordic Center at Sundance Resort with Jason’s brother Jeremy, Jeremy’s wife Kara, and Jason’s parents.

The Whole Gang
The Whole Gang

It was a beautiful day for this activity. The sky was a pristine blue, with not even a trace of clouds. We followed snowshoe trails that wound through aspen covered hillsides and Mount Timpanogos was our backdrop. It was very serene and peaceful-a much different experience of our now frosty mountains than what you get whizzing down them on a snowboard.

Trekking down our first hill
Trekking Down our First Hill

Although snowshoeing was more work than Jason expected, he still seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. We look forward to going again soon and trying out another location. With so many beautiful spots to choose from it will be hard to pick one.

Gorgeous!
Gorgeous!

On a side note, during our snowshoe outing we ate lunch at the Foundry Grill at Sundance. It was reasonably priced and quite yummy. I had a pesto pizza covered in pine nuts, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, Portobello mushrooms, and goat cheese. It was made fresh in their wood-fired oven. Delish! If you aren’t drooling right now you must not have any taste buds.

Rachel February 3, 2009 1 Comment

Playing in a Winter Wonderland

We are in the midst of another frigid, flurry-filled, Utah winter. We have been pounded by a seemingly endless stream of snow storms over the last month. These massive storms have already depleted many cities’ plowing budgets and left scores of Utahans very weary of the current season. While others dream longingly of the distant spring with each falling flake, Jas and I decided on a different cure for the winter blues-taking a little retreat.

I know the words “winter retreat” usually conjure up visions of warm sandy beaches and palm trees swaying in delicate breezes, but Jas and I had something else in mind. Our retreat was a bit like going from the frying pan into the ice box.

Milo thought dumping snow into my tube was oodles of fun!
Milo thought dumping snow into my tube was oodles of fun!

We decided to spend a weekend in Midway and Park City. We went tubing at Soldier’s Hollow accompanied by my brother Drew’s family and the Rowleys, who were visiting from New Jersey.

We rocked the tubes!
We rocked the tubes!

Most of the little kids in our group had a blast tubing, except for Jadon, my brother’s three year old. He refused to even sit in a tube and spent nearly the entire time taking a nap on his mom’s lap instead.

Jadon taking a snooze.
Jadon taking a snooze.

Although the weather that day turned out to be sunny, a rare occurrence as of late, as soon as the sun started going down the temperature dropped very quickly.

Silas was a happy tuber.
Silas was a happy tuber.

After tubing we headed up to Park city to eat and shop. We ate at a tiny Mexican restaurant called El Chubasco. The salsa bar there was delish! Then we found some good deals at the Tanger outlet stores. While we were in Park City the temperature plunged to a glacial -2 degrees. Man, I haven’t been that cold in a long time! But we warmed up nicely afterwards back at our Midway condo as we played hours and hours of geeky board games.

Geeking it up with some Dominion.
Geeking it up with some Dominion.

Despite the ridiculously cold weather, we had a lot of fun on our little break. I’m glad we got a chance to actually enjoy our heaping snow instead of just cursing it as we slip and slide through it on the roads.

After all, if you can’t beat the snow, you might as well jump in it!

Rachel January 8, 2009 No Comments
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