Top to bottom riding at Snowbird on June 15th. Top to bottom riding at Snowbird on June 15th.
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Shredding Snowbird in June

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6/16/08
Words and Photos: Mark Sullivan

Snowbird opened up again this past weekend with top to bottom riding off the tram. Wind power bigwig Seth Beck flew in from Vermont to ride this weekend after being super stoked on my posts from last week. After picking him up from the airport, we headed to E-Stone's macking SLC spread, putting a few beers back with E-Stone. Next thing we knew it was 4am and time to get some sleep.

We were a little bit rusty come 9am but managed to pull ourselves out of bed to hit up the bird. At the bottom of the mountain temps were in the mid 50s and the snow reached all the way down to the plaza deck. Snow, as you can imagine, was spring slush - fun, loose, carvable and good for jumping. Once again Deadlung showed us around - he is an amazing rider on the mountain - fast and smooth - and with all of the hits burned into his head, we jumped and slashed our way all over the mountain. The riding was amazing for June 14th - 3000' of vertical with an abundance of cat track jumps, wall hits and gaps.

After riding we headed down to E-Stones for a little R and R by his pool. When we got back to the city it was 85 degrees - perfect weather for a dip in the pool to cool off then chilling in the sun to warm back up. Later that night we hooked up with Snowboard legend's Ali Goulet, Chris Saydah and Brad Albert for a little Sushi at the Circle in downtown SLC and some people watching at the "Club Hollywood Night." You can imagine the SLC filter on ' Club Hollywood' - sunglasses at night, foil T-shirts and girls with less clothes than brains.


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Fathers day on the hill was even better than the day before with more slush and plenty of small jumps to keep us going. Closing day at the Bird, like many other resorts, brings out an odd mixture of unique outfits. I can just imagine the conversations around the water cooler this morning..."Man, it was sick, I rode in shorts all day."

I don't know about the riding in shorts part, but man, it was sick.

Reader Comments 

Posted Mon Jun16, 2008, 10:08 PM — By ArtPSSC
so sick that they're open that late! looks like a ton of fun.
Posted Tue Jun17, 2008, 1:34 AM — By PSU11
Wow, I can't believe Snowbird still has that much snow, sooo sick.
Posted Tue Jun17, 2008, 9:50 AM — By Alex
SICK MTNOPS CREW!
Posted Tue Jun17, 2008, 5:37 PM — By Mark
MTNOPS crew representing on closing day. Nice work guys.
Posted Wed Jun18, 2008, 10:54 AM — By JP
stoked! looks like i missed a good one
Posted Wed Jun18, 2008, 11:56 AM — By Woods
heck yeah mark, looks like you and seth held it down well. mtnops taking over.
Posted Wed Jun18, 2008, 4:19 PM — By JahRasta
Utah is where its at! Check out SnowBasin next year Snowboarder. Ogden aint all gang bangers!
Posted Wed Jun18, 2008, 8:57 PM — By  MoabKev
Hey Mark... Love to ride the Bird and What a Year it was!!! Thanks for the Write-up! Played with the Snow on the La Sal's - east of Moab... 12,698' on Friday the 13th... Hiked up an old shredder and made some fine turns on the way down... Still lots a snow left. Peace!
Posted Fri Jun20, 2008, 1:59 PM — By jeff crawford
it's 11:50 on the 20th of june. just got back from the bird. only 2 more days left of riding for this year, oh well. thanks for the props for my hometown hill
Posted Sat Jun21, 2008, 11:04 AM — By Huckleberry Hart
Hell yea Mark, break out the slip n slide.
Posted Mon Jun23, 2008, 7:35 AM — By dnaz
last official day was today 6-22-08 but you can buy a 40.00 summer pass , sign a waiver and ride up the tram with your board and go were you want as its all considered backcountry now but you can still get tram accesss fyi! the bottoms getting rocky 1/4 mile hike down at close sunday

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