Most people will call me a snow-snob. And I’m okay with that. I am a snow-snob. But after my first trip to Powder Mountain Utah, I think I’m a weather-snob too. Powder Mountain weather took me to the brink… all while sprinkling in sunshine, fresh powder, friendly faces, vast terrain, and a big heap of hurricane force winds. Here’s my complicated first experience with Powder Mountain. My highs. My lows. And every other emotion in between.
First Stop On Our Road Trip
We set out on a three week road trip to New Mexico. But anytime we drive multiple days to get to our final destination, I always try to make the miles count and put stops along the way. So the first full day’s drive got us to Ogden, Utah… and that meant Powder Mountain.
Neither of us have ridden Pow Mow and our thought was this could be our last Indy Pass chance to do it. We love the Indy Pass. It’s taken us to so many great independent ski resorts and even as far as Japan! But I’d seen the comments that things were most likely changing at Pow Mow next year, both for the resort as well as its relationship with Indy. There was no way we were passing up the chance to snowboard there, essentially for free, as we already had our Indy passes for the season.
Reservations Required
The reservation process was easy. I just logged onto Powder Mountain’s website, created an account, and picked my days. I could choose all the days and add people at the same time. Kudos to whoever designed it. I never got mad or frustrated and was done in a couple minutes. We lined up the itinerary to get us there on weekdays for less people and a better chance of reservation slots as they were limited. Success! We had a date with Pow Mow on February 26 and 27.
First In Line
Looking back on this part of our trip, I know my overall experience would have been much different if our Powder Mountain time was at the end of the trip instead of the beginning. Being first up, fresh from just starting out definitely helped to soften the blows of Mother Nature. I know myself. After weeks on the road and then having to encounter these conditions, I would have been a total sourpuss and as unpleasant as the winds blew.
Stop And Ask For Directions
Powder Mountain is massive. And no, I’m not being dramatic. They claim 8,000+ skiable acres which is a hard number for me to wrap my head around. After being there and really trying to take in as much as I could in two days, I can’t imagine I even scratched the surface of that number. Yes, that number will decrease when they privatize part of the mountain, but even if they cut it in half, that’s still a boatload of terrain to explore! The changes on the horizon don’t negatively affect me as this isn’t my home mountain. But I totally get the frustration of change and the unknown. Only time will tell how it all shakes out.
That’s A Mighty Big Map You Got There
As soon as we stepped on the snow, a giant map stares you in the face. And it’s a big map. With LOTS all over it. Smartly so, at 10:00 am daily outside the Timberline Lodge, a whole host of Mountain Hosts show up to help usher us know-nothings around so we don’t get overwhelmed or lost. We don’t usually to the host thing, but we did here. The weather was going in and out of sun, clouds, and visibility challenges. And with only two days, we wanted to get the most out of it. So we hitched a ride to a tour and set off.
Is Our Guide A Comedian?
You’re not going to crush any steeps on a tour. That has lawsuit written all over it. But our Mountain Host was hilarious. He’d wrangle the group to a spot on the trail and then point off to some other run we clearly weren’t going on. Then he’d say something like, “…over there is a black diamond. So I can’t take you there but honestly, it’s a green. Yeah a green. Don’t ask me how things get named. But it’s super fun and you should go check it out.” Or he’d say, “this terrain is floaty but if we get a foot of powder, you don’t want to come over here. You’ll go like 10 feet and get stuck. Now where you want to go is way over there across that ridge. I can’t take you there, but that’s the spot.” His cadence was the key to his comedic delivery.
Jim Cantore Alert
Ok… no, I didn’t meet Jim Cantore at the resort. But I lost count of how many times across those two days I expected to see him standing out somewhere on the mountain, in gale force winds, giving his Powder Mountain weather forecast to all his Weather Channel diehards. I love watching him and always think – how insane are you to run into every hurricane that landfalls and then try and tell people about the current conditions. It’s ridiculous! Yet I was his stand-in today. But also entertaining… not as entertaining when you are the one actually doing it. At least that was my personal impression.
Thar She Blows
Wind is my #1 weather disliked condition. I can deal with the cold and sort of hot. Rain and snow are fine. And hail can be tolerated as long as I don’t get any major head whacking. But wind and low visibility really touch a personal nerve. I despise the wind. And then if Mother Nature also adds low visibility on top of the fact that I’m trapped in a torturous wind tunnel machine that NEVER turns off, then I hit my ceiling. The weather flip-flopped across nice, decent, horrid, worse than horrid, powder, so-so… it was all over the place minute to minute. But can I come back to the wind, please?
I’ve been in windy conditions. I grew up on the East coast where actual hurricanes do exist. But this Powder Mountain weather was the first time I have been physically moved by the wind on my snowboard without me applying any effort to move myself. It was an eye-opening and even more mental training moment than I’ve previously experienced on my snowboard.
Comfort Crisis Exercise
One of my all time favorite books is Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter. I’ve read it many times and told myself at the beginning of the season that I need to work on my personal comfort crisis this winter and toughen up. And by that I mean go into outdoor situations that I don’t like and just suck it up and make it work. This was one of those moments. As I stood over and over again in winds that challenged my balance, even more they challenged my mind. I expected the cold temps so was dressed for that. The only thing I had to combat was the wind itself. And I did.
Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda
I wish that my time at Powder Mountain would have been one of those epic powder days you remember forever. As I don’t know when or if I’ll ever be back. But ultimately you decide whether you had a good day or not. El Niño was a bit of an odd ball this year so it hadn’t snowed in a while before we got there. Thankfully Old Man Winter did sneak in for a little powder refresh but much of the terrain we were ogling at was off limits as the conditions weren’t right. Perhaps the allure of what could have been is what gets me back.
What I did have was an emotional growth moment pushing past the weather and savoring the time I did have at Pow Mow. Powder Mountain weather isn’t unlike any other place. Everywhere has its moments – good, bad, and please let’s forget that ever happened. And while I’d like to re-spin the wheel and pick different conditions, I wouldn’t give my time back. It’s always a gift to be able to travel and visit a new place. To meet new people and play in their snow. And for that I do have lasting memories of personal triumph and a day (or two) out of the office. Thanks Pow Mow. Perhaps we’ll meet again.
