Nor'Easter BC from Utah: Stein Erikson says "Colorado Be Damned"

A long long time ago I learned one of those harsh eternal truths that define you for the rest of your life. People from Colorado are huge d-bags. They love to bust on our honest, hard working East Coast icecapading way of life. "Why ski the east when it's all ice and tree stumps?" they say. "I'd never ski Vermont, not even on a powder day" they blaspheme. Well, I made a rule on the day I met my first duche from Colorado. I would never ever ski on the powdery slopes of the Rockies until I met a native Coloradoian who had traveled east to earn turns or lift it up a major Vermont ski area. To this day I have not, and likely never will. Glorious 14k footers of the central rockies, thou shalt I never see. 

But lets face it. Living out here, you cant hedge all your bets on coastal snowfall and the occasional Alberta clipper. So, that's why this week Nor'Easter BC was on location in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah to experience what many believe to be "the world's best snow." The Japanese might disagree, but their overuse of pokemon at the Nagano Olympics really spoiled trans-Pacific skiing for most of us and now nobody takes shinsitsu seriously.

I'll post a few shots a day from the trip, starting with some highlights from the World Freestyle Ski Championship that we were lucky enough to overlap with, along with some beauty shots from Park City's most under appreciated mountain, Deer Valley. Although I couldn't snag a shot of Norwich VT's golden girl Hannah Kearney (although spotting her twice and embarrassing myself only once), there were still some gems to be found on those infamous deery slopes.

First, whoever said Deer Valley is for pu$$ys is totally wrong. Deer Valley is for people who ski for coco. Which is why it's the perfect place for people who ski for POW. Like me. Conveniently, because no one at Deer Valley has the cahones to ski off piste, there are just buckets of powder waiting out there for you in the trees. Oh, and moguls. Somebody there knows how to ski because they built up about 3 straight miles of consecutive moguls. Which I used to put on a tele mogul clinic the likes of which no one on that pretty, pretty lift had ever seen. I mean, pay no attention to the beautiful people. Just look at those moguls. Epic.

Here's a fantastic shot from the skier cross qualifiers at the World Freestyle Championships. It's a shame we were too drunk or hung over to make it to any of the actual events because I bet they would have been fantastic. I mean, just look at this guy's form. Hands to boots heads up ski jumping goodness right there.

Finally, the stuff that dreams are made of. You knew it was coming all along. Deer Valley POW face shots. Err... I mean, sneaky celebrity shots of one of skiing's greatest legends, Stein Erickson. Godfather of freestyle skiing. A legend in his own time. Famous enough to have an entire ski lodge named after him. And he does it in fur. What a sexy bi#ch.

And that was only the first day. It only gets better from here.