Mountain Collective

Last year a group of us went snowboarding in Mammoth. That trip was an amazing one, full of laughs and good memories. It sparked an amazing friendship between a pretty incredible group of people. It was during this trip we starting referring to ourselves as "The Wolf Pack." It started as a joke (we call our buddy by his last name which is Wolf), but the nickname stuck. By definition, a wolf pack is a group of wolves that live, feed and travel as a family group. We are not wolves, but during this last trip that is exactly what we did.

I remember the day we all decided to buy the Mountain Collective Pass. I remember sitting with Annie on the ferry to Catalina casually picking some dates for this trip. I remember thinking a year ago how awesome this trip could be, but never did I imagine this trip would be as epic as it actually turned out to be.

7 of us set out from San Diego. Our destinations included Aspen, Colorado; Jackson Hole, Wyoming; & Snowbird, Utah. We gave ourselves approximately 12 days to complete this 2,500 mile trip, we did it in 11. This gave us 1 rest day in between each mountain and a total of 7 riding days. Our rest day consisted of hours in the car in between mountains, but I'm pretty sure none of us would have had it any other way.

our route

We left the evening of January 30th from San Diego. We drove through the night hitting all kinds of weather along the way… snow, hail, sleet & rain. Despite all the weather we arrived safely into Aspen the following day around noon. The drive from San Diego to Aspen took approximately 16 hours. Our arrival into Aspen happened to be timed perfectly with the biggest storm to hit the area in the last 50 years. Aspen received 24 inches of snow in 24 hours and by Saturday morning the totals were near 3 feet. This day is now being referred to by the locals as "Big Friday." As we pulled into the lot at the Westin we saw cars buried deep in snow, it was almost too good to be true. We were stoked!

Parking lot at the Westin upon our arrival 

Not only was it dumping snow, but upon check-in we find out the room we booked through Hotwire is a slope-side, ski-in/ski-out room. Our two rooms are connected and we have a ski valet. So far this trip couldn't have started out any better.

View from our room

The Westin

Most of us hadn't slept very much on the drive to Aspen and we had planned on relaxing our first day, but none of us could pass up the chance to board in the two feet of fresh powder that was surrounding us. We quickly checked in and within an hour we were on the slopes.

making fresh tracks

I am by no means a skilled deep powder rider. This was the first time I've ever ridden in anything this deep. It was fun, but there was a definite learning curve. When I lost my speed I got buried deep in the snow. Digging out of the snow could be brutal and frustrating, but after riding these conditions for most of our trip I can honestly say I'm hooked!

my board buried deep in the snow (to give you perspective my board is 149 cm)

Aspen Snowmass has 3,332 acres of rideable terrain, with a vertical rise of 4,406 feet. The base elevation is 8,104 feet with the summit reaching 12,510 feet.

The next 3 days in Aspen were epic, with powder at times reaching up to our thighs you couldn't help but have a permanent smile across your face.

Our first morning in Aspen

getting ready to watch the Superbowl & celebrate Ryan's birthday

After riding our 3 days in Aspen we are off to Jackson Hole. The drive takes us about 10 hours. The ride is full of twisting, long open roads, with untouched snow covered fields and farms everywhere. Everywhere you look there are cows and horses contrasting beautifully against the bright white snow. We encounter snow and sleet along the way and are only slowed down once by the Wyoming Highway Patrol. 

"The lodge" ~ our home for a few days

Jackson is cold. The temperatures are well below zero at night, most days only reaching in the single digits. We get some snow here, around a foot.

waiting for the tram ~ warm morning in Jackson

base of Jacksole Hole

the crew 

gondola

100 passenger aerial tram

Jackson Hole consists of 2 mountains: Apres Vous and Rendezvous. It has 2,500 acres of in-bounds terrain and a vertical drop of 4,139 feet. It has a base elevation of 6,311 feet with the summit reaching 10,450 feet. This mountain feels huge to me, the runs are long and they are steep. We ride the 100 passenger aerial tram to the top of the mountain our very first run. Steep terrain and blistering winds await us. It is intimidating, but the run is long and definitely worth it.

haha Wolf!! 

having some fun in the trees with Ryan

The drive from Jackson Hole to Utah is a pretty short one, about 6 hours. We arrive in Utah stoked to ride a new mountain, the forecast is calling for snow but we had yet to book a place to stay. We stop in Park City to grab a drink and a bite to eat and started making some calls. We end up booking a condo in Cottonwood Heights which is about 20 minutes from Snowbird.

The crew in Park City 

I have been to Utah a few times to ride Park City, but this was my first time at Snowbird. Snowbird is located in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest in Little Cottonwood Canyon. It has a base elevation of 7,760 feet and the summit is 11,000 feet. The longest run, Chip's Run is 2.5 miles. It has 2,500 miles of skiable terrain. Snowbird proved to be my favorite mountain of the trip. It snowed hard the entire time we were there. We got around 2 foot of snow and by this time my powder riding had greatly improved and I had a blast charging through the trees and fresh powder. On our last day the roads were temporarily closed because of the weather and you could hear avalanche grenades going off throughout the mountains. So awesome.

Tram to the top of the mountain

deep in the trees with Annie & Wolf

Boys doing the powder dance! This pretty much sums it up for me!

*video may not show up on a mobile device*

Some of my best memories of this trip were spent hanging back at the condo. Lounging in the hot tub, games of charades, cooking with the girls every night, the boys cleaning, waking up to the smell of bacon and the sound of Anthony Hall singing "Good Morning Sunshine." I couldn't think of a better place for us to have ended our stay.

my dream kitchen!!

great times drinking wine and cooking with these ladies

~Bacon wrapped chicken stuffed with spinach & goat cheese, kale & sweet potato hash and a side salad ~ I'd say us ladies can cook!! :) 

our very efficient dish washers :)

For a number of reasons I didn't get to take as many pictures as I would have liked during the driving portion of our travels. We were on the road a lot during the night and during the daytime hours the windows were covered with either snow or rain. We did though hit some clear blue skies in Utah and Arizona on the way back to San Diego. Here are a few photos from that drive.

Snapped this panoramic while getting a jump and some gas at a truck stop in Utah

Looking forward to our next Wolfpack adventure!!!