AT HOME WITH SALT LAKE JAKE

The Snowbird Tram.

As is always the case when departing the venue of a good time snowboarding adventure, the weather channel showed a huge storm rolling in. So as we rolled out of town in a GMC Jimmy which had less than 400 miles on the clock and was about to experience one of the hardest weeks of its rental career, Vick, Brent and I all hoped that very same storm would continue its roll southwards and deposit some of its load on the Wasatch Mountains next door to Salt Lake City.

To keep things interesting we avoided the interstate and travelled South through the Caribou National Forest down the border of Idaho and Wyoming. A beautiful journey through some wild canyons and over a couple of smallish mountain passes with the obligatory hoard of snowmobile masses. We stopped at Bear Lake on the Utah border and got our adrenalin buzz for the day. The idea was to see who could get on the thinnest, most unstable piece of floating ice on the edge of the Lake without ending up in it.

How Lucky are these guys - Spencer and Salt Lake Jake

If you are into mountains and the related activities, then you would have to appreciate that Salt Lake City is the luckiest city in America and possibly the world. The city sits right at the base of the Wasatch Mountains which place 4 excellent resorts within 30 minutes of the central city and more backcountry than you could poke a very large stick at.

We were fortunate enough to be staying at a friend of a freinds place - Jakes. An extremely cool cabin in the trees at the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon (LCC). At the head of LCC youll find Alta and Snowbird, world renowned resorts.

The first 4 days at SLC were spent up at Big Cottonwood Canyon (BCC). The entrance to BCC was 5 minutes back towards downtown. The drive up to BCC is amazing. At one moment you are in a city of 1 million people, round the first bend of the canyon road and the city dissappears. Brent and I rode 1/2 a day at Solitude. We scored the opening of Honeycomb Canyon. Pleasant snow but hell traverse out.

Brent performs pleasantries under one of brightons 7 chairs

The next morning we awoke to a foot of fresh around the cabin. We had to break trail up the long windy driveway and were very thankful for our 4wd truck. At this point the next three days to be spent at Brighton were looking pretty promising.

Brighton or as locals know it; Be-right-on is at the top of BCC just past Solitude and has to be one of the best all round value for money resorts available. Brighton offers the best deals on lift passes and accomodation in the Wasatch with some awesome package deals available. Brighton also offers some serious night riding, free 1st timer lessons and free lift passes for under 10's and seniors. The annual snowfall is in excess of 500 inches of typically Utah dry and light. Brighton's 7 chairs access a huge variety of terrain across 3 peaks .From awesome tree lines off Clayton Peak to crazy rock formations on Mt Millicent. All will be satisfied.

Backcountry access from Brighton is as sick as sick can be. What has been known to local backcountry enthusiasts for many years is now rapidly becoming public knowledge. Our 3 days at Brighton was barely enough to explore in boundary, but we did do a couple of small missions and had a good look around. You could spend your lifetime exploring off of Brighton, as I'm sure many have, and still love the place.

The veiw from one of Brightons 3 Peaks

Brighton is unusual in that it is predominantley snowboarders (up to 80%) however the skiers you do see have huge grins on their faces. Because of the popularity of snowboarding here, even though the natural terrain provides more than enough excitement, Brighton also provides 2 excellent half pipes and numerous table tops, hits and launching devices. Brighton Provided us with an awesome time. Many thanks to Dan "the Man" Malstrom. www.skibrighton.com

Our final days riding on this mission was to be spent at Snowbird. From the top of our challenging driveway, its a 10 minute steep climb up into LCC, renowned for huge avalanches blocking and burying the road. Snowbird is right next door to Alta. Jake tells us Alta is great but those of us who can't or don't want to ski may never know. No Snowboarders allowed. However, Snowbird was keen to let us up and we felt that we should oblige. Large amounts of steep and challenging terrain most of which is accessible by one 125 person tram. You impersonate a sardine for 8 minutes and then they unlease you on the top of the mountain with many an option. If you wait another couple of minutes you'll be the only one at the top and have an uninhibited ride down even if you take the main trail. www.snowbird.com

Salt Lake City is a great place. If you have time, go to the Delta centre and check out some NBA action with the Utah Jazz. 48 minutes of basketball turned into 2 1/2 hours of crazy American style entertainment. Most amusing. www.utahjazz.com

Boarder Zone Correspondents - Cookie & Vik, Steep & Cheap