A couple weeks ago I went down to Brian Head to do a few days of shuttle laps with the Huck n’ roll team of photographers. The trip was incredible! We had an all time caste including Jenn Berg, Re Wikstrom, Tommy Chandler, Grant Gunderson. We arrived around 2pm and quickly set up camp just out side of the Cedar Breaks National Monument. Within the hour we were all loaded with our bikes into our two vehicles ready to set up the first shuttle of the trip, to hit Dark Hollow.

We hit the trail and immediately I knew this was going to be an epic few days!! The trail was flowy and fast with some techy parts mixed in as well. After shooting tons of photographs and hiking bikes back up sections multiple times, before we knew it we had been out there for about 4 and a half hours just on the one trail and our hopes of squeezing a second lap in was a bit ambitious so we did what any good freeride team does, we started drinking beers as we headed back up to camp to make a fire and prep for a tasty dinner of shrimp fajitas. Yummy!!!

That night we kicked it around the campfire discussing the game plan for the next day. We would hit Bunker Creek and then hit up BlowHard. With great anticipation I crawled into my tent. Around 6:30am my eyes popped open as the realization of where I was cut through my dreamy mind. I jumped out of my tent and was welcomed into the day by watching the peach sky gently waking up The Cedar Break formation as well as the rays of the sun silhouetting the Peak at Brian Head. It was an invigorating way to start the day.

As the rest of the crew rolled out of their tents the scent of backcountry coffee and breakfast simmered out of camp. With full tummies and amped bodies we hit Bunker Creek. It was a fun trail with a few pedally sections, but we got some great shots. As we reached the shuttle truck the clouds started moving in and with further discussion we decided that Blow hard was a ride best left for tomorrow and that Pizzono’s, the local pizzeria, was our most intended destination. We ate more pizza then our exhausted bodies could or should probably be tolerant and then it was off to bed.

The next morning we woke, had some oatmeal, and then it was off to Blowhard. It’s a magnificent trail with the first few miles riding along the Breaks. Stunning views and a few exposed areas to really let you know you were riding in southern Utah. Again, hiking back up and taking multiple shots made for an extra long decent and by the tme we reached the shuttle Jen and Tommy had to start their journey back to Sal Lake City. Re, Grant and myself were more opened and decided to hit Dark Hollow again, without cameras. Despite an interesting flat tire, we made it down in relatively good time.

My goal for hitting Dark Hollow again was to hit this area of red rock spires and shale that I had scoped on our first day. I had decided on the trip that i wanted to start getting into Big Mountain Freeriding and this spot looked like the perfect way to kick it off. It was a little under 500ft. of vertical. So I rode ahead and started the long hike-a bike ascent. If you have never hiked a big DH bike up a lose scree field, I strongly suggest it. Nothing is more character building then trying to keep your footing while maneuvering a 45+ pound bike up a sharp rocky field. At any rate it took about an hour and a half and a few sketch falls to make it to the top. As I put on my knee-shin guards, my elbow pads and my full face my heart rate began to spike. “What was I doing up on this scree field?” With no trails and just a crazy lose descent in front of me. “What was I thinking?” Then I began to look at it through my skier eyes, suddenly it did not look so steep and my line became clear. I yelled down to Re, who was shooting from the bottom “Dropping” Next thing I knew I was surfing the shale, feeling confident, while at the same time realizing that my previous concern of cutting myself up on the shale if I skidded out was the least of my worries. Now my focus turned to the fact that I was mocking down this slope and if anything went wrong I would be tomahawking at skier speed down a rock field. Yeah… a spine and neck guard will be my next Huck ‘n Roll purchase! At any rate, miraculously, I made it down. With more adrenaline then I have ever felt before in my life, I threw down my bike and started jumping around in complete elated disbelief. I did it! My first Freeride line. Success!!!

With that accomplishment under my belt we cruised down to the truck, had celebratory beers and made the journey home.

I can not thank the crew at Huck n’ roll enough for inviting me on this adventure!!

The snow totals ranged anywhere from 1″ to 8″ across Utah, and the Uinta’s were looking promising. So, I put on all my new Trew clothing (they have to get broken in some how) brought everything needed incase we found a filled in spot that was actually skiable and started up the road.

As we drove past the Jourdenelle reservoir the skies broke and we could see the fall colors on Deer Valley and Park City Mountain Resort as well as the snowy alpine terrain of Mt. Timpinogos and the provo range.

After a quick stop to take it all in, we jumped back into the truck and continued on. As we headed up the Mirror Lake Hwy I couldn’t help but catch my self staring at the beautiful tapestry of fall colors, while driving through the lower elevations leading through the Uinta National Forest. As the road wound further up through the majestic range we suddenly were faced with a huge herd of cattle casually walking down the center of the scenic byway. I quickly slammed on the breaks, praying that I wouldn’t injure any of my bovine friends.

Weaving through the maze of cow

It was wild, as if we had just pulled up on a scene from an old western. There were cowboys driving the herd of at least two hundred down the paved path. As we weaved through the mooing cattle and yelled “Yah! Yah!” out of the truck window, I couldn’t help but get a sense of time a place, beyond heading up to go snurf, saucer, or ski, to being in a place that holds such a deep history and where so many worked, struggled, and died in an effort live and survive in this landscape. As we cleared the last of the cattle and hit the accelerator heading to our point of play, I felt so fortunate to be part of this environment, this mountain landscape, a place that to me represents play, peacefulness, challange and personal growth.

Wintery vista of Hayden Peak

It was with these thoughts that I summited the pass and roled over to the east side. With vistas that open to Wyoming and the High Uinta Wilderness, the snow grew deeper and the excitement of getting out of the truck and romping around was too much to contain.

We jumped out at Fehr Lake trailhead. After assessing, that while the snow was deep, it just was not quite enough to ski, we brought the only tools that could possibly withstand the versatile conditions that lay before. A Snurfer and a saucer. And in the great spirit of the late and great Shane McConkey, we headed off for an incredible adventure with our $4.99 plastic companions.

Slaying the Log slide on the saucer!

Pond Skimming on the Snurffer

Scoping lines for the coming season

The day was filled with side splitting laughter and an over all sense of freedom and excitement for the winter season to come. On our way home we stopped in to our favorite spot right at the gateway to the national forest, the Samak Smoke House. There Jen and Dave brewed up some hot coffee drinks and made some delicious sandwiches. A perfect way to end an incredible day up in the Uinta’s.

I have always had an innate understanding of the phrase “timing is everything” and in this case it couldn’t have been more true. I got a response that afternoon saying that she was going to pick the team by the end of the week and could I get all my info in before then. Of course I could! So with the heist of a college student finishing the final pages of a term paper minutes before it’s due, I typed, cut, pasted, and linked my way through the forms. I sent it in that evening and waited.

During that waiting period, which happens when you approach any company about representing them, I tend to get hyper obsessive, checking my email just about every time I pass my computer. Maybe it’s that I am still a bit of a rookie who is way over zealous about anything that has to do with skiing, let alone the potential of getting to represent companies that I have yearned to be a part of since I can remember.

At any rate, about three weeks and a couple false alarms later, I got the Hesta team list and sure enough, the last name on the last team listed (the local team) was yours truly. So game on Hestra!

I have been speaking with a lodge up in BC hopefully planning yet another Women’s big mountain trip. (For those of you who don’t know, last season myself and six other women competed in The World Telemark Freeskiing Championships up in AK. After the comp. we jumped into our rental RV and headed up to Valdez with a for some real fun!) Anyway, super stoked for this next trip and I’m hoping that everything will pan out.

This week also brought a very exciting package to my door. I got all the new Trew threads that I’ll be rocking this season. They are so HOT! Not only are the colors Rad, but the fit is just perfect and I can’t wait to rock em outside of my living room.

Yeah… That’s Right…. They’re BIBS!!!!

Other than that, the first issue of Backcountry Magazine came out and the boys from TwentyTwo Designs suprised me for the second year in a row with using one of my photos as their ad for the AXL binding. Thanks guys!

Well hopefully this awful virus I’ve picked up will release me this week and I’ll get back to the usual summer activities.

I have been keeping busy the last few months doing my guiding thing with White Pine Touring up here in Park City, taking people rock climbing and mountain biking all over the wasatch and Uinta’s and getting really into Downhill mountain biking (yeah, super fun sport).

But, as the summer bbqs seem to be getting engulfed by the darkness earlier and earlier, I am starting to get that insatiable itch for the ski season to begin.This is always the hardest time, because I know that I have gotten way too excited way too early. But, I guess I’ll just start emailing sponsors, making travel plans, reading magazines, hitting the gym… oh yeah, and keep taking DH laps at Deer Valley.

Speaking of sponsors, I have joined three new RADICAL companies. The first is TREW Gear. They make the sweetest outerwear on the planet and if you haven’t heard of them you should definitely take some time and check em out. The second company that I am teaming up with this year is Backcountry.com if you don’t know who they are you have probably been sleeping under a rock for the past three years. They are the leading online outdoor retailer and they have some killer deals on anything you could possibly want and are launching some of their own product this season as well. The third is CW-X, they make the most incredible performance training wear on the planet. (you can purchase them on backcountry.com). I am really excited to have joined these three new companies, as well as continuing on with all of my previous sponsors and with their help I’m ready to push it this coming season!

So, stop reading this and go check all this new stuff out!