WWSRA Ski/Snowboard Testing- Snowbasin, Utah

In no time whatsoever a trip was put together for myself and Brit to go down to Snowbasin, UT for Moonlight to test next years equipment. My roomate Sky was going down for another local shop, so the three of us road-tripped it down into Utah, the closest foreign country to Big Sky, MT.

With the idea of testing new equipment to give good recommendation on purchasing next year, our objectives were set. We all had experience at such events, and Brit had been down there two different occasions before, all with much better snow conditions.

We made the most out of what we were given though,and were able to get a better feel for how the boards perform- (everything rides excellent in powder) but by day 3 of the experience we were seriously over it...

It may sound like a sweeping generalization, but i can guarantee for more than one of those snowboard booths nothing was known about the products. Sales reps left these kids/adults for the lions of the industry (many whos bark is way worse than bite) to deal with, and for any new accounts i was checking out it was an absolute sh%t show, for lack of a better term. I mean i didnt want the world of info, but a general understanding wouldve presented a lot of peoples equipment much better. That and actually tuning the shit would've been a plus.

Snowbasin food service. The two lodges located at the tops of two different summit points on the ridge were just decked out. I wish i brought my camera to the bathroom there, i mean it was impressive. They pay food service people starting at 7 something though, which i thought was interesting....

The second night in town (ogden, ut...if anyones keeping score here) we decided to venture out beyond the experiences our highway-side hotel could present and head towards Park City....now if anyones been to Epcot or Newport (both prefferably) then you have a great concept of what to expect from Park City. We ate dinner there (the waiter was insane in a way only known to those passed through Utah and left safely) and left promptly after. The streets seemed like a condensed citystreet, but the stores yelled resort town and it was much too cold to notice anything else. We tried out luck in, well....the following

I'm told O'Shuck's is a widely town Park City spot, and the name held true when the pool table was short two balls (one being the 8). If I had seen this photo and you asked me where this could be i would say New York, and honestly i would probably tell you i got drunk in that bar and where it kinda was. But this was far from the east village, and a far cry from what i would expect from, well...my expectations. 3.2 percent beers, cover charges to non-locals, and patrons there just transparent. There was one guy there chain smoking cigarettes, drinking PBR in a goblet (actually i had one too) and just waiting to die, or at least that was my impression.

Apparently, Van Halen had been there, and so had Tony Hawk. Both signatures on the surfboards looked as real as id imagine. Did they play pool there though? Someone should ask them about the missing balls, and anyone else on that surfboards list possibly.

...and when it was all said and done, after 3 days in utah, we relished our return to Montana. This is Sky and I talking to a dog that was loungin in the sun. Til next roadtrip...