utah

in utah it snowed a lot and there was snow on the trees

i flew there via newark and learned how to use the nj transit and then the nj airtrain (they have one too!) to get to newark international. it's the same thing as using the subway and then the ny airtrain. i met an engineer who lived in edison, i think, who worked on tunnels so he knew a little bit about the airtrain project, and even about the hk airport construction and the 2nd avenue subway (which in my optimism i call the 1st avenue subway). they are extending the airtrain all the way into grand central, and they actually have tabled plans for the 2nd avenue subway. the flight was pretty uneventful and i sat next to this pudgy girl who wore a pink jogging suit, fretted some, and reminded me of a piglet.

the first two days it was very warm and slushy, in fact it actually hit 70+ on the slopes mid-mountain. the second day was very windy because of inclement weather, so much, in fact that they had to close mineral basin in the middle of the day. during our last two lift rides in mineral basin (snowbird) they would stop the ride every few chairs and wait for the wind to die down before moving the riders again. at some point they were almost pausing the lift between every chair. so then we went to the terrain park and jump around and anton decides to take a 6-8 foot jump (which ends up being 8-10 with the landing) and breaks the back end of his board (cracks the top, bends the metal base) and his rib. at first, following the initial jolt of pain he seems fine and accompanies us down the rest of the run and rides up again. but the second run he barely makes it down so we take him to the emergency room just to get him checked out. 4 x-ray views don't register a breakage although the doctor admits that it could be cracked but since it remained in place there was nothing they could do for him other than give him pain medications. she gave him some tylenol and lortabs and each of the boys (even the unbroken one) popped one that night, had a drink, and went to bed. oh, when we returned to the hotel we found that that windstorm we felt in the mineral basin took out the transformers that generated electricity for the area the hotel was in. so we switched to a hotel downtown for the night. i have a picture of anton groaning in pain before the lortab and before the transfer. but decided not to be so cruel as to post it.

the next day we find that it snowed so much we can barely make it up the mountain in our little rental car. we do anyway and it is sweet. we passed by a few, well what do you call a car stuck in snow? beached? cars. one was an suv even. there were signs on the windy road leading up to snowbird that forbade all vehicles but suvs and cars with chains on their tires. we can't read. there was a car that was stuck into a snow bank via its right front tire. only its right front tire. that entire day and night it continues snowing and clears up somewhat in the morning so that our drive there the next day is smooth and the snow is even better. we get some sun too. we took a couple of lifts up slopes that were completely fogged over the days before and watch some bombing of the mountains. they bomb the slopes to force avalanches which dislodge any unstable snow, and then they let the skiers on. this is all backcountry though. we didn't go backcountry there, we just went through the trees rather than on the trails. one of the explosions was so proximal that the shockwave sent our chair swinging and nearly banged us into one of the poles that hold the lift up. a ski instructor two chairs before us thought we were purposely swinging the chair and yelled at us. n00b.

that same day we have to go back home. we forget gas on the way to the airport (this is with 45 minutes to go) so we drive out of the airport again and 10 minutes or so down into the first exit and try to find gas. but it ends up being too late so we turn around to drive back to the airport (our gas fee from the rental company: $104!) and arrive about 20 minutes prior to check-in. which apparently! you can't do. anton's flight is 20 minutes behind mine and assaf's (we were heading toward newark, anton toward jfk) so he checks in and is okay. fortunately, we have a young and very helpful check-in attendant who manages to get us onto anton's flight for $25 extra each and we manage to make it on the plane without further bumps. we were all seated separately and i got seated at the window next to this fat tart and her pudding of a husband (whose chest was 6 inches from the seat in front of him). she asked me my name and what i got to do in utah and was going to ask more but i was so hostile she shut up after that. it worked out. i kept the armrest down and she and her husband's fat was relegated to one enormous lump within their own seats. and that was our trip to utah 04/14-04/18/06. i have to return my snowboard by sunday