Nothing says “welcome home!” like a huge southern storm that slams into Salt Lake and doesn’t let up for 4 days.  After a grueling but good few days in Telluride, I came back with the full intention of laying low and skiing later in the week.  The weather began to move in and I was made aware of why I had moved to Utah.  A combination of cold temperatures, light wind, and extremely dry snowfall made for perfect skiing.  The Ski Patrol with whom I rode the lift on monday informed me that the water content in the snow that had fallen was 3%, meaning that for every inch of water that fell from the sky, it produced well over a foot and a half of perfect powder.

I was lucky enough to ski with my friends Lars Chickering-Ayers and Ryan Hawkes, two extremely creative and adventurous skiers from Vermont.  These two are the genuine article, living in their van and chasing the storms as they compete on the World Freeskiing Tour.  Along with a few others, we all spent several days wearing out our legs and choking on waist deep freshies.

As the storm let up for a brief time, I found myself searching new places and taking chances in hopes of finding more untracked snow and new lines through Snowbird.  Luckily enough, my friend Chopo Diaz took the same chances and it paid of for us in dividends.  These lines are in plain sight and now one seems to want to ski them!  Click the link below to watch the footage…

Lines From Planet Utah