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Here it is- the Heli TR
It had stormed for three days along the Wasatch Front, blanketing the mountains with fresh snow. The greatest snow on Earth, if you believe the license plates. For the past several days, I had awoken to gray skies, often with snowfall. Normally, this would be a welcome sight on a ski day. But this was to be no ordinary ski day.
I woke up before the alarm. I looked out the window, and saw the beginnings of a perfect, bluebird day. The kind of day you always see in the ski movies and magazines, but rarely get to actually experience for yourself.
I pulled out of phUnk's driveway, and began the drive up to LCC. Past the Olympic Flame at Rice-Eccles Stadium, along Foothill Drive, and onto I-215. I pulled off the freeway, where Altachic was waiting. Still no signs of clouds in the sky.
We drove up the canyon, past Snowbird, before finally reaching our destination.
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And waiting there for us was the greatest ski lift known to mankind- the A-Star
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We checked in, and ate a big breakfast. I checked out a beacon and a pair of B3's. My manhood was threatened, as AC was skiing on a bigger, burlier set of skis than I was. But as we all know, she's a real badass.
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After a short breifing on safety and helicoptors, we waited until it was our turn to fly. Finally, it was our turn to go up. We left the ground, and headed high up into the Wasatch. The pilot dropped us off on top of a ridge, and we were ready to go.
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And so began a series of runs through the deepest, freshest powder I had ever experienced. Every turn was amazing. After a lifetime on the ice coast, the feeling of skiing through bottomless snow was life transforming. This must be what a junkie feels the first time they shoot heroin.
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We proceeded to ski the rest of the day, legendary Wasatch pow billowing from our skis. Here's Altachic ripping it up in the trees.
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After seven perfect runs, our guide Ole
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Asked us to come forward. Usually, the guide will ski the pitch first for safety reasons, but this time he gave us a special treat. First tracks invirgin powder. Altachic and I took off together, enjoying one final set of turns through the deep. As we waited for the final heli trip, I felt a little sad. This had been an amazing week, and now it was almost over.
We flew back to LCC, where there was a gourmet spread awaiting us. After gorging ourselves, it was time to go home. It had certainly been a perfect day, the type every skier dreams about. A crew from Warren Miller was up there, shooting footage of Brant Moles and Jeremy Nobis.
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Thanks you so much to all of the maggots who made this possible, especially the Rev and Cletus for organizing the whole thing. Thank you phUnk and Mrs. phUnk for letting me stay at your place. Thanks to Inspector Gadget for showing me around the Canyons, powstash and GT40 for the lift tickets, and UTDave and Natty Dread for showing me around Alta.
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Very, very cool. Glad you guys had such a sweet day
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Righteous.
Thanks for getting well.
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So altachic had a bigger dik eh;)
Man those pics are making me drool. Looked like a great time:cool:
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WOO HOO!!! NICE!!!!
right on! god knows you two earned some freaking fabulous turns!!
sounds like a great day, to say the least!
:D :D
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Wow, glad it all worked out in every sense of the way.... :D
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thats fantastic dude.. glad to hear you and ac had a blast!
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Bump, for one fantastic TR, for two deserving folks.
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Sweet report, very sweet!
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Thanks again to everyone. What an awesome thing we have going on here.
Great pics and write-up plake...can't wait to see more of the pics that were taken.
Maggots do RULE.
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Who needs crack when there are heli trips. Unfortunately crack is cheaper and less addictive.
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Brings a tear to the eye.
It couldn't happen to two nicer people.
First tracks on a virgin slope are easy to remember for along time. Hope both of you can get many more in the future.:cool:
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Awesome guys, just incredible.
Its really amazing to see what a bunch of folks who mainly know eachover by screen names can do for each other. I cant think of many other places where a simple love for the outdoors brings so many people together, and makes so many folks go out of their way to help others. The hospitality, stoke, and love in this place is unbelivable.
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If that ain't what it's all about, I missed the flight briefing.
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right on! best TR EVER. TROTY!
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Altachic, I wish you could have joined us at The Canyons, maybe another day.
Plakespear, I enjoy your writing and I'm glad I was able to play a small role in your great adventure.
I said it in another thread and I'll say it again.
This picture is worth a 1000 words.
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For some strange reason, the fact that this all came together so perfectly doesn't surprise me.
Maggots are some of the greatest, kindest people in the world. Karma has no choice but to shine brightly on two people as strong willed and kind hearted as Plake and AC. And when you've got people like the Rev and Cletus holding the reigns, it seems like nothing can go wrong.
I'm sad/dissapointed that I wasn't able to contribute monitarily, but hopefully my positive thoughts and strong feelings about the welfare of you two will make up for it. The fact that I'm a part of this amazing community makes me happy, the fact that you were able to experience this amazing day makes me ecstatic, and the fact that you two are doing so well almost puts tears in my eyes.
You guys rock!
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