A (Half) Day on the Slopes

Yesterday my dad and I decided to head up the canyon so I could have a chance to snowboard once this year before I head back to Phoenix. I didn't go at all last year and only went once the year before, so we decided that we'd only do a half day.

We started the morning with breakfast at Silver Fork Lodge...eating pancakes and sipping hot chocolate next to the fireplace was so nice! I'd never been there before, but if you're ever in Big Cottonwood Canyon and in need of some food and good atmosphere, you should check it out (here's a link to their website).

After breakfast, we headed up to Brighton. We got there right as the lifts started running and the parking lot was EMPTY--we got front row parking. I haven't been to Brighton in years, but it's the resort where I learned to ski and snowboard, so it was fun riding down trails I used to know. Plus, fresh snow had fallen on Tuesday and Wednesday and it was pretty cold up in the canyon so the conditions were much better (and a lot less slushy) than normal spring-skiing.

My dad started me down a nice, simple green which I appreciated. And surprisingly, I remebered how to snowboard (apparently it is just like riding a bike, which my dad had been saying all morning). By the end of the morning, I had worked my way back up to blacks, which made me happy. Sadly, my legs were SCREAMING by noon (which was when our passes expired). I can't believe I used to do this two times a week for almost every week of ski season. I couldn't even make it through one day!! Obviously my life sitting behind a computer doesn't keep me in as good shape as my life of dancing and snowboarding did back in high school and college...growing up is so depressing sometimes! Anyway, here are some pictures from the day:

It was sunny and beautiful!! Some clouds rolled in, but they cleared out within 15 minutes. I'm glad I put on sunscreen because I still had a little sunburn at the end of the day.

This is my dad on the lift. Sadly, we didn't take a picture together...

This is me on the lift. I'm wearing a wonderful mis-matched combination of my various ski outfits throughout the years. My matching coat and hat were left in Phoenix...

This is a view down the lift. If you look closely, you'll notice that most chairs are empty or only have 1-2 people on them. This is how the entire day was for us. We only had to wait in line for a lift once, and that was for our last run of the day. For all the others, we unclipped and walked right on for the next availabe chair. It was awesome!

This is my dad holding my cute snowboard. It's the only board I've ever ridden (aside from the ones I initially learned on) and if you know me, you know I have a hard time with change. My dad informed me that I have most definitely outgrown this board. I have a really hard time picking up or maintaining speed and apparently that's due to my board, but I don't know if I can part with it!! For now, if I'm only going once or twice a year I think it'll be just fine :)

Anyway, yesterday was a wonderful day...thanks Dad for the fun!!