http://www.flickr.com="">Mike, Luke and the S.O.S tour get a taste of an inverted weather phenomenon hitting Utah. Check out YouTube to see the latest video and flickr.com for more photos from the trip.


We escaped from the Salt Lake smog layer as we ascended to Alta. When we were down in the city just about every person we came across said there was a crazy inversion going on, meaning it was warmer up at the mountains then down in the city. It was sunny and pleasant at Alta, which seemed a little strange. Nonetheless, we were there to have fun and the sun was a welcome sight.

It's been fifteen years since Luke last skied and probably about thirteen for myself, so we were nervous about this stop at a ski-only area. We borrowed a few pairs of skis from Alison and hit the slopes for a pathetic attempt at skiing. 

Back at the booth things were going well—lots of interest in the RV and the five simple steps. It seemed like a lot of people who came over to sample a Clif Bar would point out which of the steps they already involved themselves in and which were next on their list. At night we headed up to the "Our Lady of the Snows" for a little more in-depth learning experience for those who were interested. The room was packed with over a hundred people and the pizza and beer was a big hit.

Afterwards Ricardo, Alison, Luke and myself headed back down to the smog and spent the night in the cold-inverted city world. I filled up with some grease at a sushi place that we had eaten at called Mikado, good food and good grease, always a winning combo. The next morning we burned off some of our free fuel as we drove over to Park City. Traditionally each stop of the trip has had little snow, and though there wasn't a whole lot here, the trails were fun.

We cruised around for a bit in the afternoon. George had a barbeque fired up at the tent so we headed back, ate some lunch and worked our magic as skiers and snowboarders stopped by on their way to the lift. We had a great time in Utah and in the morning we picked up Adam from Backcountry Magazine and headed east to Colorado.


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