Wheels on fire, rolling down the road.

You could say it was an eventful day. Our intention was to try out some of the other mountains before the boys arrived on Wednesday. With this in mind we set out for the evocatively named Powder Mountain. This hill was a twenty minute drive up the valley and included ‘The steepest paved road in Utah’ as a local Nostradamus warned us. No problem for me matey boy. I used to live in Pontypridd. Indeed, the drive up was quite tame by Welsh standards, if a bit longer than I was used to. So, sure enough twenty minutes later we arrive at a tiny looking resort, buy our tickets and set off up the two-man chair (Circa 1930’s). Scanning the piste map our mild confusion turned to disgust as we realised the half-mile green run to the start of the main ski area was essentially uphill. Not good on a snowboard, where your only motive power is gravity. (Note to any Americans reading this: Local library, Isaac Newton, Gravity).
Once we’d negotiated that run(On foot mostly) we realised we’d parked at the wrong place, and from there, things looked up.

The snow which had been an occasional flake during the morning increased in frequency throughout the day, becoming heavy at times during the afternoon. This in turn covered the runs with plenty of fresh powder. The resort appeared deserted. I would estimate less than 200 people were on the hill, indeed you could complete a two mile run without seeing another rider. When you compare the resources, and resorts here with some of the Euro favourites, where you have to wait twenty five minutes to get a lift, it makes you wonder why you’d ever go back.

So, the runs are fantastic, the resort is empty and it snows a lot. It’s inevitable then that we all agreed that this was the best day’s riding we’d ever had. Not top five or ‘one of the best’ type days. This was it, best ever. One run was particularly memorable, ‘Secret’ was its name and it claimed to be a ‘Powder run’ which means the whole area was unpisted and with lots of trees and undulations. It looked like we were some of the first people to get down it all day. What a ride it was, full chat, shooting trees, gouts of snow flying off our boards, leaning back get the tip up, no stopping ‘till we reached the bottom and joined the next run. Amazing. We’re going back again tomorrow in case it was all a dream.

Eventually we had to leave, not as easy as it sounds for a number of reasons. Already we’d lost Ash for a while as he had to pop down the hill to get a new strap for his bindings. Then Kev left his rucksack in the lodge, so had to drop back over the other side of the hill to pick it up. Then, the rest of us took a wrong turn and ended up right at the bottom of the hill again (cartography isn’t a strong point in powder mountain). When we finally all joined up at the car the fun really started.

It’s a long way down the mountain I’ll grant you, nonetheless, I didn’t expect the slightly strange juddering that came from the brakes turn into flames when I stopped to see whether there was ‘something wrong with the tire’. Having lots of snow available at the side of the road can be beneficial in some very unexpected ways.

Back at the house, a quick shower and we’re off again. This time we’re going to Salt Lake City to pick up our new gear.

Gear details for the technically minded.

Rod;
Rome Anthem Snowboard
Burton Cartel Bindings.
Ash;
Arbor Alt Snowboard
Burton Cartel Bindings.
Phil
DC Judge boots.
Kev
Smith Prodigy goggles
Nick
Burton Concept Fleece.

Finally the long day was topped off with a trip to a Salt Lake City Brewpub for steaks and beer. (Except for me as it was my turn to drive)

What a great day.

Rhodri.