VMT Pow Report - P3 - Operation: Cold Smoke

I love a good road trip. Especially these days when the demands of the 8-5 life can make you so locked into your normal daily routine. It takes a day or two to escape the vortex, and to remember that your world won't stop while you are gone. I'm fairly busy these days, so I didn't break free completely. I was shooting, editing photos, a blog post here and there, but at least I was out seeing and doing new stuff. Now that I'm back I'm as busy as before, and missing the slightly (for me) more simple life of waking up, eating and throwing the skins on the skis and heading out for a day in the deep snow, with frost soon to be on my beard.


I know I missed an epic week in the Wasatch, but it wouldn't have been the same. Something would have kept me from skiing seven days in a row, all day. I know the snow was deep here, but damn, it was pretty deep up in the Valhallas too. It snowed about every day, with no wind, so it just piled up light and fluffy like.


Skiing seven days in a row will test, and solidify your gear/ski kit. I've got it pretty dialed; Dynafits on older BD Verdicts, my trusty synthetic puff from Patagonia (maybe the most key piece of clothing I take on a day touring.) Even when I thought the zipper was going south on me, it keeps on working. I was pleasantly surprised with some of my new Backcountry.com items. The Merino wool shirt, which I wore every day to ski, and most nights to hang out in, was pretty sweet. The Rime pullover was nice for the skin up, before the puff gets put on at the top. I had a stash of Pro-Bars, which were almost as good as my friend Evan's espresso brownies. And they stay warn and chewy if you put them in the Rime's chest pocket.


It was an eye opening trip in a few ways. For one, I'll be going back to Canada. It's a new frontier for me- close by- for skiing in the winter and climbing in the summer. And it demands a good solid 10 day or more road trip, which everyone needs on a regular basis. I also gained a newfound stoke for skiing. I guess that's what it takes once in a while- to get out there and live the life, away from daily responsibilities, to really tap into that sense of freedom. It's a good thing.

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