In 2002 Salt Lake City organized the Winter Olympics, so when visiting the region in the winter, skiing is a must! The snow is absolutely amazing and as soon as you hit the slopes you feel that nothing can stop you and all of a sudden floating looks quite possible. Of course the first fall will cut short the magic and bring you back to reality: gravity works.
Utah claims they've got the best snow in the US. And they're probably right. For some reason, the mountains east of SLC, the Wasatch mountains, get an exceptional amount of snowfall. Actually it's not just "some reason". They call it the "lake effect". Winds carry the moisture from the Great Salt Lake towards the mountain where they meet a wall of cold air. The result is more than 12 meters (!) of snowfall per season in most SLC ski resorts. That's just astonishing.We've spent two days in Solitude, skiing with our new (and old) friends. Most of them had much more experience than me and it was quite difficult to keep up with them at first, but they were patient enough. Here where I live we get about 1.5 cm of snow per year, so I had my excuses...
The most famous slope in Solitude is the Honeycomb Canyon which I didn't try because it was closed and probably too difficult for me. Of course that didn't stop my friends who lead by the beaver-hat man (he's from Alaska) managed to squeeze every drop of adrenaline from their bodies.
But above all, Georgi had the most fun. She's briefly tried to learn how to ski before but decided that this sport is not for her. So this was the first real ski she was doing, and she was terrified. But as soon as she saw the "Bunny Hill" a sense of hope, relief and joy could be seen on her face. Soon the "Bunny Hill" became way too easy for her and with a bit of help from virtually everyone she learned one of the great lessons of life: skiing is fun!!! The video below is taken by my friend Emil.
Later in the evening, while waiting for my ride back home I found a very interesting thing about Solitude. Apparently a Mr. Barrett in the 60s, while skiing in Alta, the main resort in the region, couldn't use the loo which was reserved for guests only. Annoyed and obviously suffering, the man decided to build his own resort (Americans!) where everyone could make use of the toilettes. He was rich enough to keep his promise and that's how Solitude was born. Thank you Mr. Barrett!
And when everyone went to bed and the time was past midnight, I did another thing to remember: spent some time in the hot tub. Maybe I should also mention that the hot tub was outside where the temperature was well below zero, and the tranquillity of the moment had to be every so often interrupted by brief runs in the snow. Crazy! Of course, Emil was there to enjoy this wild adventure. And in the heat of the moment I've realised one thing. Emil and I haven't changed a bit. Yes, we're 20 years older and we can talk about deep existential issues, but we can still sneak out in the middle of the night to eat an icicle and enjoy a snow fight. Just like we used to do.
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