2007 Mini Ski-Epic Page 3
(1/4/2007 - 1/28/07)
2007 Mini Ski-Epic Page 3(1/4/2007 - 1/28/07)
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(Read
a personal
description of Backblaze here.)
On 1/23/07 after skiing at Alta, Utah all day, I drove to Park City Utah where the Sundance Film Festival was going on. I have several different sets of friends in Park City, the first I met up with was Stash Wislocki and others working at Sundance. I know Stash through some common friends (Lise) where Stash lives in Telluride. Below is Stash, mugging for my camera because he knows I'll put his picture up on ski-epic. :-)
Below are Mark Steele (on the couch with glasses), Stash (on the couch with red sweatshirt), Eric "Viking" Cooper standing by the fire, and Barb Hunt closest to the camera facing away reading a magazine. They are resting after working all day at Sundance.
At midnight some of us went to the Egyptian Theater in Park City, Utah to watch one of the Sundance Films. Because they work for the festival, I got a tour of the projection booth/balcony. Below is a picture FROM the balcony facing forward at the screen.
Below is a picture across the balcony.
Below is a picture (slightly brightened so you can see details) of the Egyptian Theater in Park City Utah, right before a show.
I stayed with my buddy Mike Chow and Jack Nino in Park City during the Sundance Film Festival of 2007. Below is Mike (leaning forward) and Jack (in the USC red sweatshirt) at the Egyptian Theater, we're about to see a movie about zombies. :-)
On 1/25/07 I skied at "The Canyons" right outside of Park City, Utah (5 minutes down the road). "The Canyons" is an enormous very new ski area (about 5 years old) that is being heavily, HEAVILY built up. The developers are dumping huge money into the condos and town at the bottom of the lifts. Below is a picture on the (long) walk from the parking area to the bottom of the gondola. You can see the valley in the distance, the ski hill is behind me.
This is a panorama of the base area (half of which is under construction) at "The Canyons Ski Area" near Park City, Utah. This picture taken from a few hundred yards up the ski slope from the gondola base.
A little later, a random picture from the slope with the valley in the background.
A picture looking up the chair lift at "The Canyons" ski area near Park City, Utah. It's a beautiful warm (40+ degree) ski day with a lot of sunshine.
I turned around and took this picture over my shoulder pointing down the lift.
The ski patrol had just brought up this new "Avalanche Dog" for training. The puppy below is 6 weeks old. The dogs are used for search and rescue, particularly when a skier is buried by an avalanche the dogs help find them quickly. I talked with the ski patrollers, and they said the dogs will have a career of about 7 years, and they like to introduce one dog about every year. The dogs need to be taught from a very young age to ride the chair lift and get used to people and the snow.
An Avalanche Dog's first day of training at 6 weeks old -> just ride the chair lift and meet the ski patrollers.
The Avalanche Dog (Avalanche Puppy) pictured below is a Yellow Lab.
A panorama from the top of "The Canyons" ski area near Park City, Utah. You can see the valley in the distance, and off to the right many of the ski runs at "The Canyons".
Random picture down the slopes.
You can see Park City, Utah in the background right behind these skiers riding the lifts at "The Canyons Ski Area" near Park City, Utah.
The guy circled in red in the picture below had climbed the lift tower and was performing some sort of maintenance.
A close up of the mechanic on the ski lift tower. The lift was running the whole time, not sure what he was doing.
Riding this lift (I think this is the "Short Cut Lift") I just thought it was a good picture showing how they need more snow. There is NONE left on this particular slope that gets a lot of sun.
The next day I drove to the very south west corner of Utah, to ski at the "Brian Head Ski Resort". On the way I noticed I was following this guy in his pickup truck. If you look closely, that is a pump shotgun on top, and a lever action rifle on the bottom of that pickup's gun rack. Displaying these guns this way is a full on statement of some sort, I just don't know what statement. :-) This is very 1970s to have a gun rack in that position, nobody does this anymore, it's like putting up a sign that says "steal my guns please".
A little way further down the road I stopped to take pictures of these two elk standing near the road. Notice the one on the right is missing half it's antlers.
A close up picture of the elk with a missing half of antler rack.
This is a gorgeous elk below. I would call that a 5x5 antler rack.
On 1/27/07 I skied at "Brian Head Ski Resort", in Southwest Utah. Below is a picture of the Navajo Lodge (one of two main lodges). "Brian Head" is a small ski area, only two or three lifts.
Here is a trail map of "Brian Head Ski Area" in Utah. Click on the map to get a larger more readable version. The two halves of the ski area are not connected, you must take a 5 minute shuttle ride to get from one to the other. The town has plans of connecting them with a cat-track and a bridge over the road, it just hasn't raised the money yet.
Below is a panorama from the very very top of "Brian Head Ski Area" in Utah. This is at the top of "Giant Steps" lift.
One of the slopes at "Brian Head Ski Resort", in Utah.
A picture of the "Giant Steps Lodge" at the base of "Brian Head Ski Area" in southwest Utah.
I skied down "The Plunge" here at the "Brian Head Ski Area". It wasn't quite as challenging as "The Plunge" at Telluride. :-)
Time to pick it up and get home. A couple minutes down the road in Utah, going 75 miles per hour.
Southwest Utah, and Nevada, and then into California down south is very pretty desert area.
Last picture, some pretty desert terrain.
(Read
a personal
description of Backblaze here.)