First of all let me say how much I enjoyed skiing and talking with all the Epic Gatherers. I had a great time skiing with everyone at Solitude and Snowbird. I'm not really much on skiing with groups BUT I thoroughly enjoyed my time with all of you and would readily join again. It was a special and interesting group of people. Additionally, I would comment on the high quality of skiing the group displayed. Let me tell you, the Gatherers were all very good skiers. (BTW, this should not be a dis-encouragement to any Epic member for attending. I believe this group is capable of including skiers of every level).
Second of all I'd like to give special thanks to Bushwacker for his efforts and enthusiasm in keeping the energy going on the Gathering. This kid has a lot of heart
. I'd also like to give thanks to Harkin Banks and Adipose. Harkin's yellow jacket (very sharp) and Adipose's orange pack meant I never had to struggle to follow a group of good skiers on Sunday afternoon at Snowbird. On the other hand, Bob Peters gets no thanks for his white jacket that perfectly blends in with the snow
. Personally, I found Max's white jacket much more recognizable
.
Thirdly, I hope everyone had a great day at Snowbasin.
Finally, for those of you who might come back to Solitude this year. Today I went out the get to skiers right (NOT the Honeycomb gate) off of the Powderhorn lift and took an immediate left down Milk Run. I stayed high left with the rope line in sight. When I hit the Caution Cliffs Below sign I continued down. No one hardly skies here (because it's normally very cliffed out and rocky) but today (and I expect anytime the rest of the season when there is soft snow) it was an amazing run. Clear paths all the way down through steep and exciting terrain with short waist deep powder filled chutes to keep the speed under control. Maybe two tracks found on the entire run. Additionally, quite good length for Solitude standards. Obviously your experience may vary so be careful and don't try this unless you have pretty good skiing skills and experience. I didn't want to lead people here on our Solitude Day because it really is some place where you have to be willing to take responsibility for yourself. As a contrary example, today I went down a few other places where I didn't lead the group. In two different cases I got to a point where I had to either climb back up or make a jump into a relatively tight spot. I've been to all of these before and backed out many times. Today, however, with 3+ foot of soft billowy pillow to land on I pushed ahead. While all of the landings were ugly by most people's standards I was thrilled to do them. For anyone going to Solitude I'm happy to offer the advice that I can.
