Winter is finally and unofically over. I say finally, not because I am glad it is over, but because I got more riding in this season and saying it is finally over, tells what a wonderfully long season it was. For those of you who do not know, I moved to Salt Lake City (from Portland) last October. There were many reasons for the decision to pick Salt Lake, but 90% of the reason came down to the epic epicenter of snowboarding that Salt Lake City is; and the greatest snow on earth did not dissapoint. Snow records were beat across a number of Utah resorts this season which not only gave me some of the highest quality POW riding I have ever experienced, but also my longest season on record.

Another reason I concede to summer is the fact that Snowbird Ski resort finally closed for the 2010-11 winter season, making the end of the ski season official (in Utah, anyways). After operating a record 202 days (only beating the old record in the 2004-05 season by a single day) and smoking their previous snow fall record by nearly 100 inches of fresh! During the 1983-84 season 688 inches of snow fell, with 783 cumulative inches falling this season. To say they went out with a bang on the 4th of July this year would be an understatement. Also, Snowbasin (one of my favorite resorts in Utah) for the first time ever re-opened their lifts for weekend opps the last few weeks of June due to a high summer snow base.

To say the least, I was definitely spoiled my first winter in Utah. Now that all of the ski resorts are now closed, I don’t mind trading in my board for a measly 4 months and enjoying the summer mountain biking, trail running and camping. See you on the slopes in October (fall steeps hikes at the Bird anyone???)…let the countdown begin.