First Snow Of 2013- 1.11.13.2013

Well, after a couple of weeks of nasty inversion in the valley, and warm days riding in the sun we finally got a snow storm. The storm got named "Gandolf" which was funny to me, as that is my favorite Lord Of The Rings character. Apparently Gandolf was serious as he told the snow "you shall not pass" 7,000 ft in elevation in great accumulation. There was 22" in my front yard, and barely 12" at Snowbird. I made my way up on Friday, and pretty much stuck it out on Peruvian and Gad II for most of the day. I found some really nice snow, especially lower on the mountain, and a few rough spots as the layer underneath had solidified. It is always fun riding in a storm, and I made the best of it. No powder panic for me, I have been more into just riding and having fun these days. Sunday was a chilly -5 on the peak, with windchill expected to be -23. On any angle, sliding was perfection, on the flats your base was squeaking away. You sure were not going to be breaking any land speed records because the snow was so cold your base just could not feed the wax you needed in spots. But the sun was out, and the energy was good, so I made the best of it riding in the sun with some nice finds in the stash category on the front side to finish out the day. I only lasted a few hours on Sunday as the cold was bitter, and it really does take it out of you after a while. A pretty fun, but blustery cold time up at the Bird. Looking forward to some warmer days coming later this week. Enjoy the short video!

First Storm Of 2013 1.11.13.2013 from Christian Paul on Vimeo.