Living Earl: Snowboarding in July?

In search of a furlough from summer days, Tucker and I went looking for snow on a cloud-covered day. Tucker had been at Snowbird the week previous and noticed that there was enough snow up on Hidden Peak to have some fun, so he gave me a call.

We met up at the park and ride as the day turned dreary. We drove up in a slow drizzle arriving at Snowbird to a more crowded parking lot than we had anticipated. There was an acoustic music festival and a mountain bike race going on so we walked around enjoying the sounds and the smell of rain hanging in the mountain air. We made sure they would let us up the tram with our boards and we bought our 12 dollar tickets to the top.

Tucker said there was a lot more snow the week before but there was enough to build a little hip jump and to hang out for a few hours. I hiked down from the tram deck to the snow on a muddy trail in my flip-flops. Needless to say we caught a few funny looks from people while we were walking around with our snowboards.

The jump was fun and for a little while we caught some blue sky. The day couldn't have been any better. Up at the summit it was 55 degrees and it felt like spring skiing. Eventually we decided to hike back out and Tucker decided it would be a good idea to go straight up this rocky steep section... I decided that was not the best course so I told him it was stupid (I can be kind of a jack) and I walked up the easy snow path and caught a couple switch backs. After huffing his way up to meet me he agreed that his path was less than ideal. It has taken many years of being Tucker's friend to know not to follow his lines snowboarding, biking, or hiking. You always end up on rocks, in the bushes, or wheezing your way up this horribly steep path. We got to the tram and luckily made it down before Tuck got sick and puked. (He didn't drink enough water or eat enough food.)

On the drive home we decided we needed some nourishment so we stopped at this restaurant called Neils Fish House on 123rd S. in Draper where fish tacos blew my taste buds away. Really. Go there and get a taco.