January 13, 2015, Brighton, UT

Today is my 69th birthday and it’s a powder day. In less than 24 hours Brighton and the other resorts in Little and Big Cottonwood Canyons were hit with 18”. It started Monday midday and was over by midnight. The snow started wet and dried out a bit, but it was not the cold powder dump we’d hope for. It was like Cascades snow, but a bit lighter. People skiing Monday afternoon and night were bubbly. Jill and I both have the Snoqualmie Gold Pass so we have 10 free days here at Brighton. We have skied here for years and have done both downhill and backcountry skiing from the resort.

Dave P called me yesterday and thought our choice of coming to UT was good. At 8am this morning I received an email from Dave P wishing me happy birthday and then he walked into the Brighton cafeteria! I think he has a powder sickness. We have skied together for 25 years, but he is younger than I am. With 5 high speed lifts and 18” of great terrain, it is a paradise. You could ski yesterdays’ lines, but off the usual places the untracked terrain made for a “ Happy Day”. He would call us whenever the powder was cleared from his face. For us it was another powder day - a Big Powder Day. Dave P said we should not return to the Cascades for a while. Brighton is a local resort and you do not see many tourists, but you do see many workers from other resorts so they can avoid the tourists. It has the feel of Mt. Baker where the snowboarders outnumber the skiers.

It is time for a visit to the Rec Center's spa and showers; we now look cute and smell good. Dave P and Jill are taking me out for dinner to my favorite Mexican restaurant, a local taquaria..

Always a pleasure to ski powder with you on your birthday.  Even a greater pleasure  given the very few deep powder days we've had in the Cascades this year.

You are just as elegant and smooth on the slopes as the day we first met at Stevens Pass many years ago.   Very glad we met that day and have enjoyed our many ski adventures over the years.  Will look forward to more turns together...

Now off to find more powder in and out of bounds in the Cottonwoods.    Then back for what unfortunately looks like be more rain for most of the Cascades.

Happy birthday Zap. Was the big 5-0 for me also.

Happy B day Zap! Such a nice surprise to see you today at Alta today. If I'd read your report earlier I'd have known to congratulated you. Hope to bump into you again on our powder refugee tour. Happy trails. Eric & Marilyn

Happy Birthday, Zap!