Spicy Magic Sauce

The seasons are changing and winter is pounding on the door, so I've been cooking up some fresh batches of tasty rocket fuel to help keep me warm.

Fresh bottle of Spicy Magic Sauce, surrounded by its contents

It's been a long time since I've posted anything as I nearly forgot I had this blog going, but stay tuned.  I'll probably be cooking up a recap or two of more enjoyable happenings from the summer, as well as getting myself into all sorts of wintery fun times as the snow starts to pile up.

Late Season Snow

Sunrise over an empty Brighton

Spring time is awesome in Utah.  Down in the valley it's sunny and warm... perfect for mountianbiking, climbing, hiking, or any other summertime outdoor activity.   In the mountains, however, the snowpack is as deep as ever, and winter storms continue to roll through and drops copious amounts of snow through April and well into May.  Despite the continued snow up high, the Wasatch gets noticeably emptier in the spring, as many of the ski areas have closed and much of the usual crowds have mostly given up on skiing for the winter and moved on to their warmer weather work and activities.

For those who keeps skiing into spring, this is often the best time to get out and ride.  It often feels like you have the mountain to yourself- no traffic to fight or powder-panicked crowds to race... but with deep, wintery snow to top it off. What could be better?
Eric Balken and I spent a couple of deep days skiing around Brighton after they closed for the year.  Enjoy!  (but don't get too dizzy from the POV footage)

On The Road with Solitaire Episode 1

The first of a twelve part webisode series from the boys at Sweetgrass Productions, following the making of their new film project, Solitaire.  Enjoy!

Ski Salt Lake Shootout

Last week I was fortunate enough to be an athlete in the Ski Salt Lake Shootout.  This is a week-long photo contests that takes eight pro photographers, pairs them each with three athletes, and then unleashes them upon the four cottonwood canyon resorts outside of Salt Lake City for an all out photo frenzy.  Each team gets one day at each of the ski areas, and then submits a portfolio of the best two images from each day at the end of the contest.
I was placed on a team with Lee Cohen (photographer), Pip Hunt (skier), and Tony Pavlantos (snowboarder).  The night before the contest it snowed 16 inches, and then went blue for the rest of the week- perfect conditions to get some incredible photos.  We took full advantage of this- maximizing our days with early mornings and long days of skiing and hiking in and around Snowbird, Solitude, Alta, and Brighton.  The crew worked together really well, and we definitely came away from the week with some incredible images, but so did of the other teams.  Our portfolio didn't end up placing, but we did win the bonus "Urban Meets Mountain" category, and we still have this image from a jump outside of Solitude in the running for the Facebook Favorite section of the contest:

Corked 720 at Twin Lakes Pass, photo by Lee Cohen

Help us out by voting for it here: http://www.facebook.com/VisitSaltLake?v=app_7146470109

Also, here is slide show of the final images from all eight photographers.  I would hate to have had the job of judging this thing, because all of the the photos entered were amazing.


Powder Magazine also has a gallery of some more of the photos here

Mini Teton Trip

It's been a while since I've done any bloggin' and updated this silly little thing, but that is primarily because it was snowing in obscene quantities for a little while here in Utah, and I have only recently taken my mind off of snow for long enough to get on here and write about... well, umm... snow.
During the whole powder frenzy I spent a lot of time out and about with my friend, including the guys from Sweetgrass. Some of our escapades can be found on their blog.  (This was one of my favorite days out in wolverine cirque: http://sweetgrass-productions.com/blog/?p=1411 )
 Anyway, that was then, this is now, and unfortunately the firehose of snow had to shut off and the powder feast had come to an end for a little while.  Last week it was raining in Utah, so I jumped in the car with Balken and Asa for the weekend in hopes of finding better snow in the Tetons.  We most certainly did, and had a blast skiing pow and exploring Targhee and Teton Pass for a couple of days.  Here's a mini edit from the shots gathered on the handful of times we pulled the GoPro cameras out of our pockets during the trip.  Enjoy!

Leftover goodies

I've slowly been filtering through all of the random, unused, leftover footage on my computer from last winter, and I managed to put together a little edit of some of the more memorable shots.  It's not much, but is a good reminder of lot's of on snow fun from last winter and is maybe a sneak of what to look for more of this year.  I hope it provides a little entertainment and the fact that it is mostly POV footage doesn't make it too disorienting to watch.

Leftovers from Carston Oliver on Vimeo.

Snow-vember

Less than a month ago, it was still more or less summer- the sun was shining and I was riding my bike everyday... that however, changed very quickly.  One night the weather in Utah decided it was time for winter, flipped the switch, and it has been puking snow almost nonstop ever since.  We just barely finished up the month of November, and already have a 64" settled base and a 140" of total snowfall for the season.  The snow has finally taken a break for a couple days, and I am finally catching my breath from the extended powder feeding frenzy.  Here are a few photos from the Turkey Day weekend to recap the gluttonous gobbling of frozen fluffy stuff from the sky:

Fresh turns at sunrise on a Thanksgiving tour.
Photo by Jay Beyer

Preparing for Thanksgiving dinner by skiing myself into a nice caloric deficit.
Photo By Jay Beyer

Hiking for some leftover goodies at Brighton with Eric Balken
Photo by Chris "Shifty" Shifrar

It's nice to be able to get a healthy bit of space between your skis and the snow before December.
Photo by Chris "Shifty" Shifrar

Early season Brighton pillows
Photo by Chris "Shifty" Shifrar