Park City Skids » Mountains

Soul Poles: Locally-made Bamboo Ski Poles

admin — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:34:06 +0000

I recently met up with Bryon Friedman and Erik Schlopy, two Park City locals, ex-U.S. Ski Team members, and entrepreneurs. They have set up a little operation here in town with big ambitions to change the ski industry, one pole plant at a time. Here’s an excerpt from a story on the Ski Utah blog:

Have you ever had an idea for something that hit you at the strangest of times, only to persist until you have pursued it many years later? For ex-US Ski Team alpine racers Erik Schlopy and Bryon Friedman, Soul Poles is an idea whose time has come but has been many years in the making to get off the ground. For Schlopy, he had an epiphany while driving through Europe. He was on the homeward bound road, extracting himself from an illustrious World Cup and Olympic ski racing career that he literally retired from while mid-turn in a race in 2009. Perhaps it was thoughts about what comes next in life that filled his head, but for whatever reason, he asked himself “why isn’t anyone making bamboo ski poles?” Good question. Read the full article on the Ski Utah blog site.

Soul Poles are Bamboo ski poles made in Park City, Utah.

You can get Soul Poles at backcountry.com. Here’s the gratuitous affiliate banner:

Presidents Day Powder In Park City

admin — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 02:53:22 +0000

This past weekend was a wild one here in Park City, Utah. We had the Mountain Trails Round Valley Roundup skate ski race in the worst conditions imaginable. 40 kilometers (2 laps) in blowing wind and driving snow, and the whole time I was thinking I was robbing myself of a powder day. Well that’s not exactly true, it couldn’t have been the whole time, because at least half the time I was delirious and thought I was going to die. I had some serious Jack London moments out there. The following Monday, the observed President’s Day holiday made up for missing that powder day. I got to the mountain early enough to claim front row parking, and my skiing buddy and I were only 5 or 6 chairs back at Crescent. We opted for a quick shot over to the Pioneer lift for a run through 10th Mountain Trees, then we overheard a ski patrol talking into his radio that Pine Cone had just opened up. There were hardly any lines at the Jupiter lift, and we swiftly made our way up to Scott’s Peak, then down the shoulder, then took our places in the line to hike up Pine Cone. We bagged second and third tracks in Full Moon Bowl, which was the highlight of the day. See for yourself:

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Powder to End 2010. Powder to Start 2011?

admin — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 23:01:31 +0000

Quite a few days of storminess we have had here in Park City. The Christmas storms were what they like to call “upside down,” coming in light and fluffy, then warming up on the tail end. I heard people complaining in lift lines about how they came for Utah powder, but instead got Sierra cement. But I heard another guy say “hey, at least it’s 30 inches of something.” Now the New Year is upon us, we have had more classic Utah powder. Light, fluffy, and absolutely the Greatest Snow On Earth. I hope you have had a great 2010, and are getting ready for the best year yet.

Pre-Thanksgiving Pow Pow

admin — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 18:32:04 +0000

Yes, occasionally the Skids crew travels over to the other side of the Wasatch Mountains for some powder turns. After Opening Day at PCMR, I hitched a ride with a few buddies and sampled some Alta powder. This was shot on November 21st.

Opening Day Video From PCMR

admin — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 08:12:08 +0000

I love Opening Day. Saturday, November 20th was the first day of the ski season here for us Park City folks. I made a few runs with some staffers from the mountain who were happy to get the season rockin’.

It felt good to be back on the snow, and I was amazed how good the conditions were for the first day of the season. The weather was a mixed bag; a little bit of snow, a lot of wind. As the day went on, the cold front moved in, and by evening, we had a full-on blizzard on our hands. Forget about a white Christmas, we’re going to have a white-out Thanksgiving. Looking forward to some powder turns on Thanksgiving day. Be thankful for what we got.

Silver Summit Moose On The Loose

admin — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 19:32:27 +0000

We had a visitor to the Silver Summit and Trailside area this past Sunday. A moose provided a spectacle for neighbors, ate a few bushes, scared a few dogs, then made for the hillside and (hopefully) the Round Valley open space.

Get Your Mountain On

admin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:20:51 +0000

Attention, all ski bum wannabes. The Canyons is rolling out a worldwide search to find a pro blogger for the 2010-2011 season. Here’s what you get, if you are selected:

A SEASON PASS TO THE CANYONS
SUPERIOR (SUITE) LODGING AT THE WALDORF ASTORIA
SALARY OF $40,000 FOR JUST FOUR MONTH`S OF `HARD-WORK`
USE OF CAMERA, VIDEO CAMERA AND LAPTOP
HEAD-TO-TOE SKI OR BOARD GEAR
CANYONS CLUB ACCESS
AIRFARE TO AND FROM CANYONS
SPA TREATMENTS
SKI SCHOOL AND AVALANCHE TRAINING CLINICS
FIRST TRACKS AND HELI SKIING ACCESS
VIP CREDENTIALS FOR ALL CANYONS EVENTS

Let’s analyze this. The “airfare to and from Canyons” might indicate “locals need not apply.” But I’m guessing many Utahns will submit nonetheless, heck, I’m hearing that employees at other Utah resorts are already working on their videos. If they picked a local blogger like myself, I’d be happy to drive down to the airport and have the helicopter pick me up and drop me off.

For more info on how to apply, check out their new microsite, HowDoYouMountain.com

Anyway, I’ve started working on my video. It’s about how I am going to get to The Canyons if I win the contest. Tell me what you think:

From Winter To Summer In a Week

admin — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 14:17:49 +0000

It’s amazing how quick we go from winter to summer here in the mountains of Park City. Memorial Day weekend was unsettled, with some cold rain and chance of snow. This past weekend hit the 80s and felt like summer. Just like that. There is still plenty of snow up high. I rode my road bike to the top of Bald Mountain Pass in the Uintas, and there were still 4 to 5 foot snow walls, but then again, that was at about 10,795 feet. How about you? Did anyone ride the mountain bike trails here in Park City this weekend? How high up did you get?

Snow Is Back To PC

admin — Mon, 24 May 2010 17:03:06 +0000

This morning, May 24th, I woke up to snow covered rooftops in the hood, and a good 4 or 5 inches on the car. The drive up and over Parleys Summit was just like a midwinter commute. UDOT trucks were out plowing the road, semis with their flashers on, single file all the way down to Mountain Dell. Rumor has it, last Saturday was a legit powder day at The Bird, and no doubt today would be great, but they are only open on weekends from here on out. Below is a video from an early April powder day at PCMR, not previously shared for some odd reason.

Powder Easter

admin — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 04:17:40 +0000

Nothing like hiding Easter eggs in the snow for the kids. While they are running around looking for eggs, the avalanche bombs are going off all along the Wasatch Back. 14″ of fresh reported by PCMR this morning, but I wasn’t in line when the ropes dropped for Jupiter. Instead, I kicked back with an extra cup of joe, and let the kids have their fun. I finally made it to the hill with the little girl in tow, just a daddy daughter day at PCMR. No fighting for a parking spot on Easter Sunday. We had our fair share of kiddie pow, and managed to burn through Detonator, my daughter’s favorite run, when it’s not icy. Today it was all filled in with fresh snow, and my little ripper had a blast. We made our way down to the bottom as things were starting to warm up and get heavy, and made a stop for ice cream at Yellow Snow, where my daughter had “Peeps” ice cream. That’s right, ice cream with those little technicolor marshmallow birds mixed in. Happy Easter.

Detonator at Park City Mountain Resort