Ski Season

Welcome back to the blog! I’m sorry I neglected to post anything for longer than I realized/cared to admit to myself. Things have been busy but with much of the same things, work and skiing. The two big takeaways - I forced myself to learn how to ski, and we bought a house!

You probably care more about the house than the skiing, so I will address that first.

Yes, I am just as shocked as you that we like Pootah enough to buy a home here.
No, we are not buying a house to fill with kids. We won’t even be getting a dog anytime soon.
It’s a townhouse about 15-20 minutes west of where we currently rent. The town is called South Jordan. It’s a suburb with a ton of walking trails near an up-and-coming “downtown” area somewhat similar to what they’ve done with “Downtown Columbia” for all my HoCo folks.
It’s an end unit of a new townhouse development that should be ready around October, which lines up well with our current lease. Ours is the last to be built in the whole development, which already has several units built, both inhabited and uninhabited.
It’s similar in size and square footage to our current rental townhouse, except it has a rooftop deck. We are quite excited for the rooftop deck. No yard, though, which is a bummer and makes the dog situation a little trickier.

In other surprising news, the fact that I ski now is almost as shocking as us buying a house. I’ve always been kind of anti downhill skiing due to some traumatic experiences trying it in the past and never having been exposed to it growing up.

Ian snowboarded and now skis, so I figured either I’d spend the entire winter inside alone or go and learn so we can go together. I really didn’t have a great excuse to be a stick in the mud about (other than the fact it can be outrageously expensive) since I had never given it a true concerted effort. So I threw caution to the wind and got myself some season rentals and a Sundance season pass (per Ian’s recommendation - less busy and good for beginners).

It took about three ski days for things to click. According to my ski tracking app, my first day out was December 10 and I’ve gone a total of 21 days this season at four different resorts. Today (April 7) is actually closing day for Sundance, so we skied this morning for one last hoorah.

Over the course of those 21 days, I upgraded my season rentals (skis and boots) to a more advanced version, and did a demo day on slightly more advanced skis than my upgrades just for fun. I’m now listed as Level 2 in AJ Motion Sport’s rental system, and consider myself painfully intermediate. Not to toot my own horn, but I’ve made a ton of progress this season. I can do any blue run you throw at me. I like powder and groomers, but I LOVE skiing in the trees on off trail stuff. I also love little jumps, which are often found in the trees too.

I’m working my way into the blacks. There’s one in particular (“No Excuses”) at Sundance that is shorter and less of a death plummet that I enjoy, but I’d much rather weave through the trees than speed racer down a super steep black any day of the week.

This is at the top of Sundance’s highest lift. RIP my red ski pants, which I ripped right through the crotch during a later ski trip.

Brian Head Resort in Southern Utah. Red Rocks + skiing = amazing. This was far and away my favorite resort because it has the best tree stuff and little jumps.

Brian Head - Always take a gratitude moment at the top of the run to admire the view, the opportunity, and the ability to ski before you head down the mountain.

Here’s us at Brian Head on top of this little hill you ski up to before you go down through some tree stuff to a little secret jump spot.

Snowbasin Resort (about an hour north of where we live)

Snowbasin had nice long runs but not enough tree stuff.

Snowbasin, despite it’s lack of tree stuff, did have the fanciest bathrooms and the fanciest food, like the chicken and waffles pictured here.

Brighton Resort. Looks a lot like Snowbasin, but with tree stuff!

The Brighton day was interesting because it was warmer weather all afternoon until about 4 PM when it decided to start dumping snow. People were skiing in shorts and t-shirts all day then BAM. Snowstorm. Whiteout conditions. It was unpleasant, but still a super fun day.

We took a break from skiing to visit home around Easter. It was great to see family and friends, and we miss you all already!

Spring brings a ton of exciting plans and future blog content. We have a goal of running a half marathon and going on a one-night backpacking trip every month starting in April. We also have a laundry list of local hikes and paddleboarding we want to do too.

It all kicks off on Saturday the 20th for the Salt Lake City Half Marathon. The following weekend we’ll be backpacking in Southern Utah with Ian’s best friend and his wife. Get ready for more exciting adventures, house updates, and tons of photos!

We celebrate and remember the dogs who left us, Holly the puggle and Pilot the black lab.

Q2 2024

Goodbye, 2023