Ski Bum Poet

Recently I was psyched to get my hands on a couple of Discrete Beanies, thanks to Julian (Julian’s Blog). I’m wearing one of them right now at the office…the Red Banger. Julian and team certainly run a class act over there. I’ve been seeing this brand around Little Cottonwood (and beyond!) for a while…after all you can’t miss Ted, in his pink Doyonator, patrolling ’round Alta keeping all the fired up locals in line.

To be honest I haven’t had a new winter/ski hat in ages, so it’s great timing for me to check these out and write them up. My old favorite yellow insulated winter hat I got from the Peruvian is really salty, has a crusted brim and frankly shouldn’t be worn out anywhere. Maybe I could wear it cleaning the chicken coop or something, but not out and about in public.

I took a close look at the Discrete About Page, and the story behind the brand is a good one. Nice work you guys. Check this out…

Discrete mathematical principles exist “in the sense of not supporting or requiring the notion of continuity.” Even most of Discrete’s products are named after mathematical and computer science terminology…

Great concept, sick design, killer company culture. Definitely worth checking out.

You can buy Discrete winter hats from Backcountry.com or browse select products below on this page.

That’s what Ellie kept yelling at the top of her lungs on her first day skiing from the chair lift, last Tues February, 16th 2010. She rode up Sunnyside lift at Alta three times. She was between my legs for each run, and the last one we went top to bottom without stopping. On the steeper sections I just stayed hard in the wedge and she kept forward leaning into my hands. When on the flats, she stood straight up and held all her weight, just holding on to my fingers.

Was a special day for me, and a big thanks to Dobber and team at Peak Photo for getting this shot for us!

Here is the caption from the Twitpic where I posted a high resolution version…

Ellie at 2.5 years old skiing off Sunnyside Lift at Alta on February 15th 2010. She took three runs, stands up on her own on the flats and yells “Go Fasssstttttt” the whole time.

Haven’t even finished watching this in full yet, but felt compelled to post. Keepin’ it real as always. Gotta LOVE Donna the Buffalo. Aside from family and friends, they may be the most influential force from the Ithaca area I miss…(not discounting phat growing seasons and lotsa lakes)

IF YOU ONLY COULD

How about a gasp for the current Little Cottonwood Canyon snowpak? The first photo below is courtesy of Spencer Wheatley on Facebook… although he points out that he didn’t take the photo. Here is his caption, and the photo:

“Natural avalanche in Cardiac Bowl -Fracture wraps into Little Superior Buttress.”

From the same cycle, check this next photo from High Greeley in the Alta Ski Area boundaries…this photo taken by Carvn Chip Robinson. Jesse posted a quote on an article at The Daily POW about this, yikes…

“An Alta ski patrol worker was briefly buried during avalanche-control work at the resort Sunday morning. About 9 a.m., he was helping with routine avalanche control when he was caught in a larger-than-expected slide near Greeley Bowl, said Alta General Manager Onno Wieringa. He was buried with only a hand sticking out, but his fellow patrollers pulled him out within about two minutes.”

Man, scary stuff. Stay safe out there hippies.

New teaser vid clip of some sorts from Julian.. best watched with sound.

I’m about to start a busy ten days smack in the middle of the Utah January thaw. Maybe the real deal POW will show up when I’ll need it most  towards the end of the month. Although I certainly wouldn’t complain if I was on top of Baldy today. Check out Alta’s pic of the day for 1/11/10…

On Sunday the AvantLink crew will be leaving for Vegas for Affiliate Summit…arrive Sunday morning and leave Tuesday morning. Two nights is good for me. It’s honestly about all I can handle in one of those casinos. Maybe I’ll only spend $100-a nickel at a time-this year.

Wednesday night we have an Outdoor Industry Association dinner in Salt Lake City, and then OR winter market starts on Thursday. Looking forward to seeing a range of people there. And on Saturday, January 23rd our company is sponsoring both an educational seminar on Affiliate marketing and a meet and greet reception. If you’re reading this, going to OR, and have an interest in Affiliate marketing feel free to come around for one of both of the events. Here are some details:

• Intro to Affiliate Marketing (for Outdoor Retailers)
  Saturday, Jan 23, 2010 – 12:00PM to 1:00PM
• Outdoor Affiliate Meet & Greet
  Saturday, Jan 23, 2010 – 5:00PM to 8:00PM

We have a New Year’s Blue Moon. And there’s powder snow at Alta. Not too shabby, eh? I heard this story on NPR this morning on my way to the office:

A Blue Moon is a full moon that is not timed to the regular monthly pattern, and results in two full moons in one lunar cycle. It happens once on average about every 2.5 years. But a New Year’s Blue Moon only happens once every 19 years. The last one was in 1990, and the next will be in 2028.

Considering it’s stormy in the Wasatch…which NO ONE is complaining about…there probably won’t be too many hippies skiing the full moon tomorrow night. But keep this rarity in mind during the celebration.

Happy New Year!

Here is a little info from someone in the know, about the coming storm. Looks good…we sure could use it in the Wasatch. Looks like Wednesday morning might be the one…National Weather Service Alta, UT

Looks like its coming in right side up. The first foot is a little heavy- around 8% and the second foot is supposed to be around 3%- the high for Wed, when it’s done, is 11. Light winds. Sounds like facies to me.

See ya soon Jim!

I’ve paid the price two times in two days on high boy. It’s been good exploring on low snowpak. That’s important at Alta. When the powder comes you can take all you want, but always be willing to pay the price when there’s none.