Ski Bum Poet

Be merry, and ask Jah for more snow! From our wee cabin in the Uintas, to your home wherever that may be, enjoy the season.

Here is some cool Sage POV of a random lap at the bird early 2010…he’s following Matt C.

Last year there was an exceptional winter snowpak throughout southern Utah. They were getting pounded with storm after storm while we all drooled over their fortunes up north in the Wasatch. This is a killer piece documenting some incredibly rare, desert spine skiing in Southern Utah. Great story, great footage, great music. Nice work Provo Bros!!

Let me give you an idea of what we’ve been up to in Little Cottonwood since the last post. BIG GRIN This is Johnny B on The Daily POW…and you can tell just how cold it was that day by the silence, and the cold smoke.

It’s been blustery Graupel all day long at our place on the Wasatch Back. Alta is probably already in the thick of it, and this one is going for at least another two or three days. Check out the screen grab of the map below from November 20th

Anyone remember Thanksgiving 2001 in Alta?

Met up with Jesse and Johnny for skiing and lunch on opening day. The skiing was surprisingly good, although it was difficult to get to the good skiing. Just had to turn yourself into a bag of feathers in a few places on the high T is all. Although the light wasn’t good, here are a couple of clips from AltaCam’s YouTube channel and The Daily Pow…that first one there is Jesse butttering the top of Highboy (with of course Johnny narrating).

“From the film ‘We Got That Fiyo’ of the Festival International 2010 event in Lafayette, Louisiana.” At :27 the YouTube vid switches to just Tara & Jeb unplugged. I have to put a “Music” category on SBP.

It’s Love Time

…from our family to yours And enjoy all that fresh POW in Little Cottonwood! We have 6-8 inches at the house but it’s looking like upper LCC got around 40..

Last November I posted a clip of Vintage Alta Powder that Mark Johnson originally posted to YouTube and then AltaCam. Folks loved it! In fact it’s still in the top 5 Google results for the search term “Alta Powder”. Not too shabby, eh?

Anyways Mark posted another great piece of vintage Utah skiing footage to AltaCam last month, so I thought I would bring it to SBP as well. Incidentally it is footage from the year I was born Let me know what you think and thanks again Mark for sharing these. Great job all around!

I finally digitized the film of our trip to Alta during during Spring break, 1971. This short reel (?3 min) is a companion to the slide show that is already a featured topic on this site. You’ll note that some skiers had problems with the loose snow and terrain. There was plenty of snow (as is still the case in March) and great times. Also note the that there was quite a bit of traffic while driving up Little Cottonwood.

I have always considered myself to be at least somewhat compassionate, patient and tolerant. Lately I have been even more conscious of these personal attributes, ever since I subscribed to a daily thought/quotation from the Dalia Lama on Facebook. After all how could one not want to start their day reading something like the following..

One of the most effective ways to overcome anxiety is to try to shift the focus of attention away from self and toward others. When we succeed in this, we find that the scale of our own problems diminishes. This is not to say we should ignore our own needs altogether, but rather that we should try to remember others’ needs alongside our own, no matter how pressing ours may be…

Or…

It is self-evident that a generous heart and wholesome actions lead to greater peace and that their negative counterparts bring undesirable consequences. Happiness arises from virtuous causes. If we truly desire to be happy, there is no other way to proceed but by way of virtue: it is the method by which happiness is achieved. And, we might add, that the basis of virtue, its ground, is ethical discipline.

Perhaps this post sets me back a bit in that regard, but what the heck is going on with the continuous incompetence out there in day-to-day life? Is it just me?? I know that when I do things for work, I do them right. I know that when I say I’m going to do something, I actually follow through and do it. But it seems I’m not getting the same thing in return…and it’s happening more and more and more and more.

I will spare you the details, but from my experience it’s looking more as each day passes that large companies cannot be trusted, that household goods and kid’s toys are manufactured to break in three days, and that the majority of service industry workers do not care if they actually deliver with a smile what was ordered and paid for.

It’s certainly becoming more of a challenge, but I will keep working on stressing less and smiling more

“Men say, practically, Begin where you are and such as you are, without aiming mainly to become of more worth, and with kindness aforethought go about doing good.” -Henry David Thoreau