Alta Base

This is a  bit old, but Brian and I hit up Alta back on May 18th and this was the size of the base still up there:

Awesome.

Skyline.

The American Fork Skyline from our home. Lone, Pfeifer, and Box Elder, all calling my name:

Free.

Brian took me up for my first day on teles last week. The first few runs were a little shaky:

But I feel we made lots of progress by the end of the day:

It was a bit awkward to feel so amateur again at something I love to do, but I’m excited for the prospect of learning something new.

Clark’s TT

Brian and I had a beautiful ride this morning in Corner Canyon in Draper.

(Pics Stolen from UTRider)

We rode up Clark’s so I cranked it as hard as I could to see how I compared to the rest of the times on the Clark’s TT site. I did it in 15:53. Even though that’s last place right now I feel really good about it. My goal was to do it in the 15′s which tells you I almost killed myself in that last minute. I’ve cut about two minutes off my time so far this year.

We then rode down Rush and over to the bottom section of Ghost Falls. The re-worked upper portion of Rush is a blast and I thank whoever did all the work. The whole downhill ride was an incredible payoff for only 16 minutes of uphill riding.

I’m feeling good about the Xterra coming up on July 17th. I’m in a lot better shape than I was at any point last year so it should be fun. This whole next week we’ll be on vacation in Idaho so it will be a really good training week right before a rest day or two before the race. Wish me luck!

Airsoft.

I found all of these pellets while weeding the flowerbeds at our new place this morning. I wonder if these are biodegradable or if I’m going to continue to find more for the next 20 years…

Race?

So about those racing plans for this summer:

May 15 – Bear Lake Classic 52 mile Road Race. Multiple conflicts mean this one is off.

June 5 – Salem Spring Sprint Triathlon.

July 17 – Beaver Creek Xterra. My friend made me “man up” and sign up for the full race instead of the half-distance. His knee has now gone out on him so I’ll be doing this while he watches.

Sep 11 – Lotoja Team Relay. Denied, our team wasn’t accepted. In it’s place I’ll probably do the Yuba Triathlon.

Sep 25 – Xterra UT in Ogden.

Sundance/Soldier Hollow Weekly Race Series. I was just called to help with the young men at my church, while I’m sure I’ll love this, it will occupy my Wednesday evenings so now this one is out of the question as well.

I need to find some other races to get me amped up this summer…

Springtime in Utah.

I love living where I do, especially when it comes to springtime weather. While most people I know complain about the weather, I fail to see the problem.

On Tuesday I was skiing over 30″ of fresh powder, lap after lap, until my legs couldn’t stand it anymore. Then I did a few more laps:

Then yesterday (Thursday) I rode my road bike 14 miles in 60 degree weather and enjoyed a perfectly sunny springtime day in Utah Valley:

And right now I’m off to hit the dirt trails behind my work. If you’ve been praying for warmer weather, please continue, I’ll take as much of this weather as can be thrown at me.

*Here’s the map from yesterday’s ride, check out the new Fly-By Video option, pretty cool.

Solomon Skis.

You thought I was going to talk about Salomon brand skis, didn’t you? Nope, instead i’m looking to enthrall you with a post about Solomon’s first day on skis. Sol will be turning 2 on April 15th so I thought it would be cool to get him on skis while he was still 1. Last Thursday morning posed the perfect opportunity with some fresh snowfall and a warm, spring day.

We took him to Nyman’s Ski Shop on the way up to sundance where Scott was kind enough to hook us up with some 70cm skis.

There were several steps along the way where I figured he might decide this wasn’t for him, the first being after trying out the boots.

He did tip over once, but caught on pretty quick. He’s always liked shoes so to him this was just a cool new pair of boots.

Sol has watched skiing with me on TV and we talk about it a lot, but he was really fascinated once we got to watch some kids skiing at the base of the hill.

He kept saying “Ski?” and was urging us to get going.

Once we got the actual skis on him he was a little more hesitant. He definitely wanted to go but knew it was a little over his head.

We mostly pulled him along while he tried to balance himself, though he did get a couple of 4-5ft long slides in by himself.

After 20 minutes or so he decided he had learned enough for the first day.

So I took him up the ski lift. I knew it might make him a little nervous but he settled right in and had a blast.

He kept pointing out the trees, snow, and mountains.

We rode up to the midway stop on Ray’s and I held him as we skied down. He loved skiing through the Magic Forest, the spot just under the lift before you get to the midway stop. He kept laughing and saying “fun?” I did set him down and let him ski a little more on his own, then I carried him the rest of the way down.

It turned out to be a beautiful day and a lot of fun. We figured at some point he would have lost it, but he had a great time.

Today I showed him a picture of the trip and he said, “Ski? Fun?” Yes Sol, ski fun.

Sledding.

I always made fun of rednecks for calling their snowmobiles “sleds” (I still make fun of anyone who calls them snowmachines). But now that I’ve been out a few times, it really is a lot easier to say, or maybe I’ve just lowered my IQ a few notches from breathing the 2-cycle exhaust.

Brian and I have been backcountry skiing some this year via snowmobile. A couple of weeks ago our friend Jeff was in town and wanted to join so we just made it a Snowmobile touring day.

Jeff at Trailhead

Brian and I also wanted to scope out some areas for skiing around Ridge 157/Mill Peak behind Timp so we took off from the Soldier Hollow trailhead and headed West toward Cascade Springs.

Me at Trailhead

The trail was beautiful with a few inches of fresh and only a couple of other tracks laid before us. We rode into Cascade Springs and checked it out then continued up the road toward the Alpine Loop Summit. Those of you familiar with the area will recognize these next two shots as the main road coming down from the Summit into Cascade Springs.

Before reaching the Alpine Loop road we made a right turn and headed North up onto the ridgeline. The sledding here was much more fun with narrower, untracked trails and the snow getting deeper as we climbed higher. We got on top of the ridge and played around a while…

Until Jeff mandatorily got stuck as the newbie snowmobiler. Actually, he IS from Boston and did an amazing job handling the sled as the snow got wetter and more cement-like. The sun had come out and within minutes we went from soft, fluffy powder to very dense, wet snow. With a bit of digging we got him out.

Jeff's Victory Salute

The combination of blue skies and thick rolling clouds made for some amazing scenery. Yes, that’s a very small me in the left side of the picture, click to make it larger.

On the way back down we found this awesome ridge with 8-10 rollers up it where we could get air off of each one. We played around on it for an hour or so before we had to head back.

Once back into Heber we ate at Don Pedro Mexican Restaurant, amazing food, perfect for post-snow activity. If you’re ever hungry on the way back from skiing, backpacking in the Uintas, etc., stop by this place.

Update.

Should not having a camera be a good excuse for slacking on the blog? Probably not, so I’m sorry. But really, how interesting is a blog without a few fancy photos?

A lot has happened lately although a lack of content on the blog may signify otherwise. Life has been full of trips, holidays, birthdays, health goals, an expectant wife, and a home purchase.

Unfortunately, as much as I’d love to share some wonderful pictures of all these adventures, we both bought and lost a new camera recently so there will be a void in the family photo album for Dec ’09-Feb ’10. We did give in and buy another camera, so we can once again start to document our family history through pictures.

I mentioned my climbing skins in my last post and I have since taken my Level I Avalanche Certification course and gotten out a few times in the backcountry despite the few safe days we’ve had this year. However, with the warm weather lately, most of our focus has been on the search and subsequent purchase of our new house. Other than being a beautiful home and my wife falling in love with it, one of the biggest selling points for me was that it’s located 4.5 miles from the mouth of American Fork canyon with it’s amazing scenery, road/mtn biking, camping, climbing, etc. It does have an great view of the Lone Peak/Pfeifferhorn/AF Canyon skyline, and I WILL post a picture of that as soon as I get one. EDIT: Photo Added

AF Skyline

This summer will be busy with settling in to the new house, working in the new yard, and a new baby on the way in August. With all that however I do still plan on a few races to keep me pushing myself;

May 15 – Bear Lake Classic 52 mile Road Race. This one is always a lot of fun and a perfect way to kick off the season.

June 5 – Salem Spring Sprint Triathlon.

July 17 – Beaver Creek Xterra. This is the first big one, 1 mile swim, 15.5 mile bike w/3,600 ft vertical gain, and a 10k Trail Run.

Sep 11 – Lotoja Team Relay. 206 miles, but not by myself, so more fun.

Sep 25 – Xterra UT in Ogden.

Sundance/Soldier Hollow Weekly Race Series. There are a total of 17 Wednesday night races and I’d like to catch as many as I can.

With all of that, Solomon continues to grow so fast and seems to find joy in learning new things.

Discovery

Undersea

He will be 2 next month and I’ll be taking him skiing this Saturday. Who knows how it will go, but I’m sure he’ll appreciate it later when he can say he’s been skiing since he was 1. I will make sure to document that adventure with pictures and will post on it later.