After my first OvRride Snowbird trip, I have to say… Bird is the Word!
OvRride Snowbird has been a part of our annual calendar for the past 5 years, but this was my first time getting out there. Looking back to our day of arrival, I can say that I was not fully prepared for what I was stepping into. To put it in perspective, this was only my second time out west (the first being the week before in Colorado), so day of I’m still a little unsure of myself when it comes to these big gnarly mountains. Breck, Keystone, and A-Basin were a ton of fun to ride! I had to step my game up because these mountains are no joke and… STEEP!… and then I arrived at Snowbird.
Day 1 we landed early in Salt Lake City, drove out to Snowbird, checked into the hotel, and hurriedly threw on our gear to get in most of the full day. With only three days to shred The Bird, we went 100% at it immediately, which was pretty aggressive considering the altitude. Snowbird has so extremely steep faces and is definitely the gnarliest mountain that I’ve ever ridden. Add to the scene some what I would call luck, almost a foot of fresh snow had come in overnight so Friday was all about POW lines! The weather was perfect, mostly sunny hovering in the 40-50’s, a true spring powder day!
One of my favorite things about Snowbird was that challenge. There were runs for people of all levels, but if you really wanted to push yourself the opportunity presented itself. No doubt in my mind, riding or skiing Snowbird makes you a better rider/skier. Hell, I had to adjust my stance and mid trip. I was still rocking my east coast setup and this mountain wasn’t having it! I could’t just charge down hill or launch off any hit or cliff that I saw, caution was clutch… there are some SERIOUS cliffs out there! Even just cruising the groomers, points on the mountain would go surprisingly steep if you weren’t paying attention. Prime case to unexpectedly catch an edge or repeatedly tomahawk– yes this happened to me many times. I had to step up my game, and now my game has stepped up!
This mountain makes you stop, think about your approach, and how to handle the terrain. There were definitely a few sketchy moments that made me step back for a moment. If you’re looking for an awesome weekend, and a bit of a challenge at any level, this is the trip for you!
We were so stoked on Snowbird we had to slap some footy together as soon as we returned!
Check out some of the vibes from the weekend through our Brew Crew 62 edit… Enjoy
Our last day at Snowbird, which turned out to be our last day of the season, was also the last day of the world famous Snowbird Tram. The day after we departed The Bird started the process of changing the tram cables that lifted many a happy skier and rider up to the heaven of Snowbird’s Hidden Peak, Mineral Basin, Peruvian Gulch, Baldy, The Cirque, and of course the weekend rockstar Road to Provo! Since we’d thoroughly shred the mountain and stripped it of all it’s fresh lines, we dug a little deeper to keep things fresh on Sunday. A deterrent to some, the OvR crew year’s past have been no stranger to the occasional hike and I was psyched to join them when we rolled out to “Book Ends” on Mineral Basin to keep the fresh lines in our itinerary!
Since we were all over the place and no one wanted the weekend to end, we weren’t ever able to get a full on group pic, but here’s a solid crew from OvRride Snowbird 2016. Some of these guys caught the last tram of the year and rode those OG tram cables for the last ride to the top of Hidden Peak! All smiles, all weekend!
As always…
This is Jeremy Mountain!