Days 12 & 13: Sparkling Dreams And Kicker Madness In Utah
by Shanti Sosienski

Brighton, Utah

Utah was a warm welcome for our little touring entourage as we were all sick and tired of the cold and each other after over a week on the road. With Utah came warmer weather, better snow, easier access to the mountains, and a pack of local pros helping us find Kodak moments at Brighton.

Brighton seems to be the choice mountain for Salt Lake snowboarders. It’s an unusual resort in that it seems more like a group of mountains linked by the fact that it’s all titled as Brighton. To get from Millie’s lift to the Crest quad, you have to walk across the parking lot or skate on a flat, difficult to find traverse.

Brighton has seven lifts servicing the area, but the backcountry is immense and perfect for snowboarders. It seems that throughout Utah there is a general consensus that lifts are used for getting as high as possible in the area, and then your feet take you the rest of the way. Long, fairly easy hikes up the mountain side offer incredible views and somewhat tame, even crowded at times, backcountry experiences.

The ease of slipping out-of-bounds in Utah is made possible by the open gate policy at the resort areas. This means where ever there is an opening near a roped off area leading off-piste, you can trek into the backcountry, but it’s all at your own risk.

That morning as we slipped through the gate a dry-erase board screamed out in capital letters that the avalanche danger was HIGH. Coming from the Northwest where the snow is heavy and slides involving death are not as common, our group took a good look at the sign and laughed uncomfortably. The other half of our group took no notice of our hesitation.

Jimmy, Billy, and I had an avalanche course coming up next Monday in Idaho, but this was a few days away from now. We turned our transceivers on, strapped in, and followed locals Timmy Ossler, Tinino, Red, Mike Klunker, and Matt Shrier out into a familiar Brighton backcountry area that is often featured in the slew of snowboard magazines.

The next few hours entailed a fairly productive kicker session where we were flanked on either side of our staked hit by other photographers and riders. There were a few moments when all that could be heard was a succession of "Dropping! 3, 2, 1." echoing off of the mountains around us. On one cliff to the riders right of us was a couple of guys sitting atop a cliff waiting for their photographer to set up.

The humor of it all is inescapable as we looked no different than them with our oversized pack of huckers shooting themselves like cannonballs one after another off of a kicker. Eventually enough human sacrifices had bum-holed out the bottom of the kicker so that the rocks beneath began to bear some teeth from below. We were over it. We were hungry. We hiked and then rode a groomer in for lunch.

Our second day at Brighton we added Blue Montgomery of Division 23 and Yang to our pack and headed out for the same location, new hit. The sky was still blue, no snow had fallen, and a thin layer of crust had settled atop the fluff. Just above that layer a sprinkling of sparkley, sugar snow crystals shined in the morning sunlight. Avalanche danger hadn’t lessened, but we were getting used to the idea that this was just how Utah was. After playing a lot of hide and seek trying to round the group up we eventually made our way to our not-so-secret spot.

There was a perfect hill calling our name riders right of where we had been the previous day. Once again the valley was a circus of incoming photographers and riders. We had probably the largest roaming troupe, but we weren’t afraid--more hands to help build the kicker. It took no time at all and soon an ant trail of boarders were trickling up and down the slope. Profanity and disappointment was the name of this kicker, especially for those riding goofy. The transition never seemed quite right for anyone and the morning went on like a scheduled shoot for Snowboarding’s Funniest Bloopers. Many landings were followed by flailing arms, cries of frustration, and puff of snow in the air until Timmy Ossler rocked the house. He claimed to Jimmy that he was just going to pull a method, but he launched a smooth rodeo 7 riding away like a true pro. This was followed by cheers and then the realization of where the missing tranny was. Things improved. Everyone seemed inspired by Timmy, pushing themselves higher and higher.

Then Matt crashed in the runway before even taking flight. Ross followed, and the spell that had been present for a short while was lifted. The kicker sucked again. It was time for us to go to Idaho anyway, so we bid farewell to the Utah backcountry and wandered back into resortland readying for our long haul to Idaho where we would be taking a two day avalanche course with Peak Adventures.

To find out more about Brighton check out their website at: www.skibrighton.com.

Day 8: Busted and Broken in Jackson Hole