Skiing has been great this year! I don't think that I have skied a day this year where the mountain slopes were not covered with a new blanket of famous Utah powder. As I work my way into the 30 year old category, I don't know if I should stop jumping out of fear of leaving body parts on the hill, or fear of not being able to ski next week (I think more of the later). Amy has skied a few times with me, while I picked up her snowboard and skated that around. Usually I ski Solitude because of limited crowds, close proximity to home, and plenty of soft powder several days after a storm. Up until yesterday I have mostly stayed in-bounds. Yesterday Kendrick and I could not resist the towering peak above No Mans Land that had one solo track from top to bottom. We existed from the Summit lift gate and up Fantasy Ridge. After strapping our skis on our packs, we crawled up the ridge and onto the top. At the top we skied across the ridge to the last boot pack up and over to the north side of honeycomb canyon. The views from the top were spectacular. A cloud cover quickly moved in just as we were preparing to drop in. I watched as Kendrick dropped in down the hill cautious to not provoke any avalanches. He took off toward an edge that quickly descended into nothing. When he stopped I dropped in veering to the right and below the cliff Kendrick had established himself on. To straight run the cliff band, Kendrick would be attempting a 60+ foot air. I helping him work his way down through the rocks and after a little coxing he floated off a nice 20 footer into the untracked chute below. The run turned out to be one of the best of the year for me. After a week of storms totaling more than 60 inches, the powder was bottomless.
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