The 2021-2022 snowboarding season has begun rather fantastically. As our booted feet return to the slopes, let us remember the mountains of 12 months ago. That was a season of paradoxes, overall underwhelming but with some of my favorite snow days of all time. The precipitation came later than ever yet Jason and I boarded more days together than we ever have in a season. Journey back in time with me and up the canyons to the winter of 2020-2021.

Friday Feb 5^th at Solitude

You may be wondering why we didn’t go boarding until February. The answer is simple: the snow sucked. Accumulation didn’t pass 60 inches until then. COVID-caused closures late in the 2019-2020 season meant we hadn’t boarded in nearly a year, so we decided 60 inches was going to have to do. We went up on a day 6-10 inches were forecasted to fall over operational hours, and the wind was forecasted to gust over 30 MPH… both of those predictions seemed accurate. Free refills were supplied all afternoon, at least I’m pretty sure they were. We couldn’t see more than a couple feet ahead on the upper half of the mountain. Luckily, since the wind seemed focused on the tops of the slopes, we only got pelted ceaselessly in the face not utterly frozen. The plus to the gusts? Despite the plentiful precipitation, the resort was uncrowded leaving us to enjoy Grumble, Rumble, and Stumble unconstrained.

Friday Feb 12^th and Saturday Feb 13^th at Snowbird

See my post covering these two days to uncover the details of my favorite day of snowboarding ever.

Tuesday Feb 16^th at Brighton

Yes, we were back on the slopes only a few days after our Snowbird adventure. The snow kept dropping, so we couldn’t resist. Brighton got 14 inches overnight, but avalanche danger was extremely high. Therefore, Big Cottonwood Canyon was closed until noon for avalanche control. We started heading up the canyon just half an hour later. It took an hour and 50 minutes to get to the resort. Why? I have no idea. We had just two hours to board by the time we reached Brighton, and we made use of every second. The snow was enticing and the resort fairly empty. My favorite powder field had few tracks in it. The conditions weren’t as unbelievable as Mineral Basin a few days earlier, but it would be ungrateful to expect two such days in a lifetime let alone in the same week.

Wednesday March 3^rd at Solitude

Spring weather in the low 40s prompted us to spend a couple hours at Solitude. The snow wasn’t as slushy as we thought it would be, but it wasn’t a solid sheet of ice either. Unfortunately, I fell directly on my thumb during our first trip down the mountain and detached one side of my nail (a real nail). The only way to keep it from bleeding everywhere was to stick it back in my glove and let the glove take the abuse. As I prefer my gear not to be bloodstained, it wasn’t ideal. I now always carry some Band-Aids and Kleenexes with me when snowboarding. Sorry my mittens!

Monday March 8^th at Brighton

Temperatures were in the mid-40s, so we went up for the afternoon despite the 20+ MPH wind. The wind didn’t end up being much of an issue except when it literally blew me over as we were coming down Pioneer. The snow, while decent in most spots, was hard as a rock in places. I wrecked on it once, and its inflexibility bounced me from my knees to my head. Since there was no traffic in the canyon and hardly any people at the resort, it was an acceptable day. We squeezed in 2.5 hours of boarding before the lifts closed.

Sunday March 14^th at Solitude

We took a nephew with us as his birthday present. We put him in ski school for three hours and then rode Moonbeam with him the rest of the afternoon. Ski school started at 10:00, and we didn’t stop boarding until a few minutes before 4:00; it was a full day with fickle weather that fluctuated from cold and cloudy to sunny and cozy. The nine inches of powder which had fallen the last 48 hours were mostly gone, but we still found some at our favorite spots on Eagle. Our nephew soundly improved from his lesson, but he still couldn’t figure out how to heel carve or control his speed. I’m glad I don’t have to go back to the many ungainly stages of boarding.

Friday March 19^th at Brighton

The temperatures reached 48 degrees, which made for a cheery and slushy experience. Everyone else wanted some of that sun action apparently, and the resort was quite full. The lift lines were disorganized and there was a lot of cutting, which made me a bit irritated. Although we didn’t start boarding until 2:45, we rode for a little over two hours thanks to passes that let us dip into night riding. For the record, it was perfectly light for this “night” riding.

Friday April 2^nd at Solitude

We started boarding right before 2:45 again. However, there were no lift lines, so we squished quite a few runs in before 4:00. This was a quintessential spring boarding day. Jackets weren’t necessary. The snow was soft. The people were absent. We found another fun run called Last Run, which did end up being our last run of the day.

Friday April 9^th at Solitude

We got in exactly one hour of boarding before the lifts closed. It was definitely our shortest day ever. I had received my second COVID-19 shot two days earlier and was just happy to feel good enough for an hour of boarding since I was still experiencing intermittent sweating, dizziness, and general weakness. Snowboarding seemed to help my body get over its melodrama. The resort was even less crowded than the week before though it wasn’t quite as warm, and the snow was starting to get a little crystallized.

Friday April 16^th at Brighton

It was the closing weekend for Solitude and Brighton. A storm brought 18 inches of powder to Brighton and a heap of people. The lift line at Snake Creek was ridiculously long, but the runs were oddly empty. Temperatures were in the high twenties and low thirties with no wind, a.k.a. pretty pleasant. Getting a dose of powder that late in the season was a treat.

In a related opinion, I was not impressed with Brighton’s lift operators last year. Even with social distancing causing extra line chaos, some of them just sat around talking instead of directing people. Not surprisingly, line jumping and even more confusion ensued. Not all lifties did this of course, but I left Brighton aggravated a lot more than I should have considering its enduring status as my favorite resort.

Sunday April 18^th at Solitude

This was supposed to be Solitude’s last day, but at the last minute they decided to add four “secret” days to their season. Everything about it was a celebration. Temperatures were in the 50s, and the parking lot was packed with cars and people having barbecues and dance parties. This left the runs to those who prefer to board in the mountains and dance in their basements. We tried a few new routes off Apex, specifically Wallstreet, Abba’s Alley, and Blue Spruce, along with revisiting some of our old favorites on Moonbeam. Wallstreet was our preferred of these. I have to say, Moonbeam is ideal for ease of access when the resort isn’t jam-packed and can be a lot of fun.

Friday April 23^rd at Solitude

Secret days are super! The snow was a fast slush with patches of dirt peeking through here and there. We spent most of our time on Apex and an hour and a half whizzed by faster than we imagined our boards did.

Saturday April 24^th at Solitude

The last of the secrets! We explored Alta Bird, North Star, and Fleet Street. The snow was so soft in some places it wouldn’t hold a carve. Instead of resisting, it would just slide down the mountain and take you with it. It started snowing during the last half hour as the slush beneath our feet remained sloppy. Bizarre! Still, you’ll hear no complaints from me about an extra day!

By standard criteria for boarding seasons, 2020-2021 was a bit of a flop, but we experienced knee-deep, untracked powder amidst the general disappointment. How could a season so tardy and indifferent contain moments so exquisite? Whatever the reason for this dichotomy, one should never look a gift flake in the germ.

On a side note, we did improve our experience last season through implementing some hard-earned wisdom from previous years. We avoided traffic in the canyon by mostly going later in the day, and we avoided most weekends in favor of Fridays. These changes made for significantly less time wasted in our car and a lot less parking-related anxiety.

Once a year, you get a day older but receive credit for a whole year of maturity. It’s not quite right, but the discrepancy comes with some perks. The festivities for my birthday this year took me from my backyard to the top of a mountain and from speeds above 35 MPH to under one. Yes, birthdays can be a beautiful blend of diverse delights… and endurance training.

My birthday occurs during a busy time of the summer. Therefore, it often gets forgotten amidst travel and holiday plans. Those who make it a priority gain elite status in my heart. My sister is one of those. In the days leading up to my birthday, she took me and some of the other family females out to brunch. Then, her clan came over for a backyard meal around a cozy fire.

Jason is the ultimate birthday spoiler, though perhaps not the ultimate cook. He bravely attempted to make some sort of cinnamon bun from scratch for my birthday breakfast without any of my help. The recipe was labeled easy online but will never receive that designation from him. They turned out more puck than bun. He consulted his friendly household food scientist afterward, and the problem was quickly deciphered. He had substituted volumetric measurements for weight measurements. I appreciated his thoughtful gesture even if I didn’t consume too much of the outcome.

Dense buns weren’t Jason’s only birthday plan. He took me to the Utah Olympic Park for a tour of the facility and a zip line tour. I loved learning about the history and operations of this venue, which was built for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Isn’t all new knowledge fascinating?

The zip lines at the Utah Olympic Park make use of the gully the park is situated in, zooming seven times across its gap. The first line is the longest at about 1,500 feet and moves fast enough to make your eyes water. Other lines range between 550 and 800 feet in length. My birthday was a busy day for the park. Even though we had a reservation, we had to wait about 45 minutes to get on the first line. After that, the zipping zipped. The zip line system at Utah Olympic Park isn’t as sophisticated as some of the others we’ve been on. You have to grab a rope on the adjacent line as you come in. If you miss it, let’s just say you will feel rather silly about the amount of effort required for the line operator to heave you in. Maybe not high-tech but still high fun.

The next day, Jason correctly guessed I’d appreciate a magnificent challenge as part of my annual reminder of our ever-aging state. For what better way to feel like a babe than ascending a 30-million-year-old rock? In Kessler Peak, we thought we had a short trek. Kessler Peak is one of the most prominent mountains in Big Cottonwood Canyon at 10,403 feet, but the trail to its apex is only 2.3 miles each way. An online guide we read said this journey takes 5-7 hours to complete. We got a good laugh out of that. Seven hours to hike 4.6 miles? What a joke! It took us six hours and 55 minutes. I guess the joke is on us. Fortunately, since we started at 2:45 PM, we only had to use headlamps to light the last 10 minutes of our expedition.

Why the dawdling pace of less than a mile an hour? This path climbs over 2,900 feet. With a grade of 79% for long stretches, it takes more time to go down in some places than up. The last 1.5 miles are particularly sheer and unforgiving.

What did we think of the hike? The view from the summit is remarkable and our favorite of the peaks we’ve climbed in Big Cottonwood Canyon. However, although the trail is easy to follow, there are no signs indicating you are on the right path. I’d not recommend this hike without a downloaded map that includes GPS as some offshoots are more worn than the main route. A branch 1.8 miles from the trailhead, which leads nowhere, baffled us. Without the help of a map, we might have been wandering the hillsides clueless for quite a while.

My birthday this year held memorable activities, people, settings, and workouts. Many thanks to my considerate and adventurous husband and thoughtful family members for the assorted commemorations of another obligatory trip around the sun.