The first year I moved to Salt Lake City I was faced with the grim reality that once I moved, Colorado had one of its greatest years in history and I ended up spending much of my time there, even though I was residing in SLC. The next season I spent my time chasing the Freeskiing World Tour around the globe, while it dumped in Salt Lake and I seemingly encountered the worst conditions imaginable. Now, when I say the “worst conditions imaginable” I mean it in a relative way, because the term condition stipulates that someone has judged the situation based on a set of principles or ideals. In all honesty the conditions where not always bad, as a few competitions were cancelled because it snowed too much. Then again I did not stipulate what the conditions were based on, but traveling to compete and then skiing powder with some of the worlds best skiers instead was not such a bad tradeoff. None-the-less, after returning back to Colorado and chasing the storms around the west for a few more years I have come to the reality that snow is not predictable, but a matter of luck or mother nature’s will that we are so fortunate to encounter. When the earth is blanketed with a layer of granulated frozen water the earths imperfections are masked and the possibilities to play with gravity are boundless.
However, I sit yet again in Salt Lake City missing the snow yet again. What happened to all this “Utah Powder” Powder Magazine told me about? All I have experienced this season is some of the worst air conditions imaginable. I once read that living in Mexico City, when an inversions prevent the cycling of the air, is like smoking 40 cigarets a day. I am not sure if that statistic holds true for Salt Lake, but I am sure its not far off this winter which makes me regret snickering in middle school at the pictures of the Chinese people riding bikes with respirators or face-masks on. On many occasions I have avoided going to the gym or for a walk this winter because the air is thick enough you can taste the filth and imaging balling it up like a snowball. After recently learning the mechanics of snow creation in the atmosphere, it makes me ponder how great this season could be if only there were precipitation falling, as there are more then enough air particulates to create the snow.
I am not looking at this winter as a total wash yet, as there are many months of skiing left, but instead I look at it as a time for productivity in other ways. Besides, next week I hit the road so inevitably it will start snowing.
