POWDER DAY!!!

Well, I didn't explain that the coolness of my last post was that President Hinckley can be with his wife again - what a joy that must be!

Now, about the powder day!

I am such a responsible student. No seriously, I really do try, but I am a ski bum at heart. If Mormons weren't sort of expected to support large families, I would probably go be a ski bum for the next ten years or so and delay my college education. Alas, I must keep learning so I can start earning...

BUT, it snowed on Tuesday and Thursday, and I have been tormented for the last few weeks with amazing ski stories from friends and family, and none of my own. I did not skip class, but as soon as I got out of class I headed up to Sundance (I hadn't tried that resort yet, so I was almost obligated to go!). They had a special on their two-hour twilight skiing, so the tickets were only $13 each instead of $15. Full-day passes there are a bit overpriced for such a small resort - $50 or something.

I took my girlfriend, even though she's a snowboarder. I'd never gone with her before so I was a bit hesitant - I thought she would be toast after the first black diamond, or that she would chicken out at the top. We rode up the first lift, found a steep concave bowl, and I asked her if she was up to it. "Sure!" was here reply, so I jumped off the edge and landed in the waist deep powder. My first two turns were a bit awkward, but by the third or fourth turn I was in a state of absolute euphoria. Really, who needs drugs when you can get thrills like this naturally?

I was pleased to find out that Patrice could competently ski (I mean snowboard) in powder, and even on moguls. She didn't even have to go sideways on the moguls! That is a rare talent for a snowboarder, I get so upset when boarders go sideways and polish the perfectly good bumps into icy lumps. I generally go to Alta and avoid the boarders all together, but Patrice has managed to soften me up a little in that regard.

So we skied hard for two hours, and I actually managed to get pretty sore. The powder was amazing, and all of the moguls were new and still soft, the overall conditions were the best I've seen since before my mission. My only complaint was that with the low light around 4:00 or 4:15 it got very difficult to ski on varying terrain - I sometimes couldn't tell when powder turned to ice, or vice versa.

I have just two more brief powder stories, then I'm heading to bed. At one point, I got a little greedy and skied out past the edge of the run to find untouched snow. Actually, that happened several times, but this time I didn't have enough momentum and the hill flattened out for a few yards... I sank in up to my chest (no joke, it must have been a drift or something) and had a pretty good struggle before I could get out. Another time, I was skiing fast and hard on a steep section with a similar amount of powder. When I went over a little ledge, I made a few turns that threw a cloud of snow several feet above my head, and heard several people start cheering. Weird, I thought, until I looked up and realized that when I went over the ledge I ended up directly under one of the lifts - I guess whatever I did must have looked pretty cool, I wish I could have seen a picture of it. This is one of the many reasons I feel so spoiled to live in the Rocky Mountains - most skiers only dream of this kind of snow!

Well, I think I'm going to get a good night's sleep tonight. That's all.