Ski Bum Poet

I have been watching this short YouTube clip go viral around the web over the past four days. It’s an episode that played out on the Alta transfer tow.

When I first saw it less than a week ago, there were 80 views. And as I type this post it’s closing in on 100,000 views, Google is serving ads while it plays and apparently it was on Anderson Cooper/CNN last night.

I must say it’s a pretty athletic move he does…what with balancing off the ground like that All I can say is that dude is probably glad no one can see his face. I wonder if he’s seen it yet? Glad you weren’t hurt my friend, and thanks for the laugh. Enjoy:

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.

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’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.

And she already has her Alta pass, so WATCH OUT!

Official word just came down via Alta.com. Lifts will be running Wednesday morning, so gear up hippies!

With the nice 10” weekend storm and the good snowmaking weather we will be ready to open this Wednesday at 9:15.

We will open with our Collins detachable quad, offering top (10,400′) to bottom (8,530′) intermediate and expert skiing, and our Sunnyside detachable triple, opening up nice beginner and intermediate skiing. Other lifts will open as conditions allow.

The mountain is closed to uphill traffic. The summer road, Grizzly Gulch, and Supreme will remain accessible.

So we installed WordPress at AltaCam recently, but it’s not linked up from the site yet. I found the Panorama Theme by Themocracy from Underground Parent…and I think it’s damn sweet. I just customized the header graphic that came with the theme by using an array of ski photo contest winners over the last few years. Let me know what you think! Hint hint, I might just update Ski Bum Poet with this theme soon as well. Jah knows it’s over due.

Please check out The Daily POW and let me know what you think…

How about this Alta footage! You may have seen this last year on the AltaCam Ski Forum, but a few weeks ago Mark (the guy who shot the film in 1974) posted a new, high-quality version. The best part about this: Although there are more people and tracks nowadays, the blower pow hasn’t changed a bit…thanks Mark!

Powderhound (Jesse) posted to AltaCam about opening day recently, and the season is definitely closing in on us. With a good snowpak start in Little Cottonwood Canyon, Alta announced that opening day for the 2009-10 ski season will be November 20th. That’s on a Friday, so sneak out of work and come up and say hello to everyone! (if you can’t wait that long, Solitude plans to open THIS Friday, Nov 6th)

Here is the Alta.com featured pic for the first week in November…it’s looking pretty good up there.