Tag: A Skier’s Journal

Articles that contain excerpts from the book I wrote about my first ski season at Snowbird in Utah

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Main Chute

Mount Baldy’s Main Chute (right of center) from the Collins lift at Alta Ski Area

I had never considered skiing Main Chute until one day in April 2007 while skiing at Alta with my friend Steve and his friends Kevin and Drew. Main Chute is a steep, rock-lined couloir that cuts through the rugged northeast face of Mount Baldy, the 11,068-foot peak that serves as the boundary between the Alta and Snowbird ski areas in Utah. The chute is accessible via a hike from either ski area. It’s a popular destination—when it’s open. Avalanches coming down from Mount Baldy put the terrain in Collins Gulch at risk; therefore, Alta’s ski patrol only opens Baldy’s chutes when the avalanche danger is low. The last significant snowfall had been ten days earlier; the snow was stable. Main Chute was open. We decided to go.

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Ragnar Hawaii 2017: Fueled by Fat

Mauna Loa from Kohala

The island of Hawaii’s northwest corner is in the rain shadows of Kohala, its oldest volcano, and 13,803-foot Mauna Kea, its tallest. Storms riding the trade winds from the northeast drop most of their rain on the windward side of the island before passing over the volcanoes. Thus, the stark, grassy landscape on the leeward side of the Big Island resembles the dry southeast corner of Idaho more than it does a tropical paradise. The resorts along this coast, however, still deliver quintessential tropical Hawaiian experiences, thanks to meticulous landscaping and modern sprinkler systems.

The Big Island of Hawaii, the archipelago’s youngest island, was literally still under construction when I arrived in November 2017 for the Ragnar Hawaii race. I had flown to the Big Island two days before Marie to see the newest earth on Earth. Lava was still flowing to the ocean from a vent on Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone called Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō (pronounced poo-oo-OH-oh). I parked my rental car amid a bazaar of bike rental outfits. Although the bike rental options were tempting, I stuck to my original plan to hike the four miles to the viewing site.

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A Tough Ski Day

The Peruvian Cirque from the Cirque Traverse at Snowbird Resort

Day 25: March 24, 2006

Today’s snow conditions were the toughest I’ve encountered at Snowbird. The groomed trails and some of the sheltered north-facing terrain were the only places where the conditions were reasonable. My original goals for today, however, didn’t include skiing groomed trails. I planned to explore new terrain, including Great Scott, Wilbere Bowl, and S.T.H. Today, it turned out, was not the right day for those endeavors.

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Epic Midweek Powder Day

Day 24: March 21, 2006

Patience was not a virtue present in the tram line this morning. People were cutting in front of Brendan and me until I adopted a defensive stance using my poles. A gaggle of malcontents complained when the line didn’t start moving at the stroke of nine (the tram’s opening time). A few minutes later, a veritable riot broke out when the tram line ticket checker let a group of instructors and their clients through the turnstiles instead of the public. The malcontents heckled her until she started the public line moving again.

It has snowed for eleven straight days and seventeen of the last nineteen. About a hundred inches of snow has fallen at Snowbird since March 3, including a foot last night. At less than 5 percent water content, the new snow was about as light as it gets.

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