U2 (Boloney Blasts Back)

It's MLK weekend, and Tim and I are in SLC, well, Midvale, but same thing.  Things are good and Utah is rocking.

Just like last year, we're hitting an identical weather pattern.  Week or two with no snow, mega blue and sunny yesterday, slightly overcast and cloudy today.  First order of business on Friday was of course, demolishing the continental breakfast at the Days Inn South.  I might also add that Tim and myself were greeted as returning VIPs by the Bobby Sharp himself.

So after making a few waffles and drinking an uncomfortable amount of coffee, off to the UTA bus, next stop Snowbird.  The Bird is in fact, the word.  As usual it offered the most amazing steeps and lines around.  Again, even without fresh snow, great runs and packed powder were abundant.  The added bonus of Utah being sans fresh snow is the crowds are just not here.  No wait on anything and enjoying the great sun made for an amazing day of near beers and cruising.  With TK on the planks and myself on the board we cruised around all the favorite spots:  Black Forest, Mineral Basin, and Peruvian.  Even after riding this place last year, I am constantly blown away by just how terrifyingly steep nearly all the terrain is here.

Because no one hill is going to have "epic pow" this weekend, TK and I decided a exploration was critical.  Today's mission was one of Solitude.  Fun Fact about Utah:  Never ask advice from morons that probably don't ski about where to go and where to ride.  Solitude, what was claimed last year as a boring waste of time hill, turned out to be mega gnarly, easily on par with Snowbird or Brighton and quickly became of favorite.

Solitude had every kind of terrain imaginable:  Steeps like the Bird, wide open cruisers like A Basin's main face, Craggy bowls like Jackson, trees like in the North East.  The added bonus of Solitude is just that, no one is here.  And because of that, snow, and I mean actual powder was everywhere.  If you had told me it hadn't snowed here for two weeks I would call you a liar.  All the terrain off the high lifts and within the woods was rip-able and full of stuff to push around.  Enough good things can't be said about this place, so I'll just sum it up this way:  next year I'll be going to Solitude first.

Tomorrow's mission will continue the plan of Blasting Back the Cottonwood Canyons.  We're off to Brighton to go through the awesome woods, down the death steeps of Rein's Run, and through the gnar gnar bowl off the Miley Chair.  Check out all the pictures to the right.

Giddy'up.