Snowbird Mountain, Park City, Utah
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As I come off of a jump, I see my brother out of the corner of my eye, watching me. In an effort to impress him, I spin 180 degrees before landing. All would be fine and dandy, except instead of landing on snow, I landed on a rail instead, which initiated a grind. Miraculously, I kept my balance the entire time, and came through the grind without falling. My brother processed what he just saw for a brief moment and spoke: “I think you’re ready for Utah. You wanna come with me this year?” It was either the adrenaline in my blood, or my brain having trouble comprehending his words, that caused me to spit out “yes” before he could finish his next sentence. I felt that I was ready too, and a month later, I was on the airplane to Park City, Utah.
With two exceptions, I took all of these pictures on the slopes of Snowbird Mountain. The first picture in the album is the first exception. This picture was taken 11 kilometers above sea level. No, I did not jump that high… I took it in the airplane on the way there. Upon landing, we were driven to the hotel along some narrow roads through many mountains, and finally arrived at the resort. The next morning, we had a hearty breakfast and hit the slopes.
The second picture was taken from the lower peak of the mountain. A gondola transports 50 people at a time to this point, and this is the view you witness as soon as you step outside. It was a beautiful sight, and I was pumped for the trails that awaited me. Notice the orange ribbon! This is the only protective measure that you have from slipping down into an “expert” (Black Diamond) slope. In the third picture, I got as close to the edge as I could, without falling, and tried to capture the fifty degree drop. I did not consider myself an “expert yet, so I just edged away from there and went down the “intermediate” (Blue Square) slope.
A few hours later, I met up with my brother and his friends and snapped picture number four. It was another Black Diamond trail, but I felt that I should try it, so I joined them in taking it down. It was quite an exhausting trail, and we decided to take a break half-way through it. In picture five, Pasha is resting. You can see how his hood blends right into the mountain, like a chameleon. This is my favorite picture in the album, and the one that I believe captures the serene beauty of the mountain.
As we get back up, I hand the camera to my brother to take picture six. A good rider can always “see” the trail that he is going to take. This prevents surprises and mistakes that can easily be avoided by just thinking ahead. Here, I can be seen doing just this. My planning proved to be useful, because in picture seven, you can see the edge of a cliff which leads to a Double-Black Diamond trail. Only true experts should go on these trails, and I managed to avoid it by a safe distance. Pasha, was not so fortunate and slipped off the cliff unintentionally. He came out alive, but spent a considerable amount of time getting through the trail.
Picture eight was the most difficult one to take, because I really wanted a shot that captured speed. This meant that I had to be moving while taking the picture – backwards. Admittedly, I did fall immediately after this shot, but it was well worth capturing the beauty of speed.
Pictures nine and ten show the tunnel that went through the mountain. It brought riders from the lower peak, to the higher one. The tunnel had a motorized track so that you would not have to walk the enormous distance with all your gear. As I was exiting the tunnel, the blinding light made it difficult to see, but my eyes quickly adjusted to the beautiful landscape portrayed in the final two pictures.
It was the first time in my life that I, literally, felt on top of the world.
