Ski Like a Champ - even in the summer! (and earn college credit)

Summer camp details:

Private house for athletes enrolled in the program

- 3 Meals per day while camp is in session

- Access to Windell’s Private Park 41 Days on snow @ Timberline

- Access to Windell’s 54 acre campus

Indoor & outdoor skateparks, trampoline, foam pit, bmx track, trials course, demo center etc.

- Wireless Internet

- Academic Advisor

- World Class Coaching

- Transportation to and from Portland Airport

- Fully transferable college credit

- All Windell’s camp activities

- Physical Conditioning

- Mental Conditioning

Additional Costs

Enrollment fees per college credit acquired

Extraneous travel

When

June 6-August 11

How Much

Whole Summer $6500

Per Month $2500

Contact: Mike Hanley at 435 640 1312 or e-mail  mikehanley71@hotmail.com

Thursday Feb 19 7pm SBeh Auditorium UFS will show MSP’s film “Claim”. Free for everyone. The last stock of UFS T-shirts will be available for pickup. Everyone who still needs their UFS shirt, please come and pick it up.

After that–Campus Rail Jam. Wed Feb 25. More details to come.

And lastly–A watersports club has been formed to keep you on your planks even during the summer.
Here are the deets:
What water sports can I participate in? Waterski Slalom, Wakeboard, Wake Skate, Wake Surf, Ski jump, these are the main sports, but introduce us to ones you want to try.

Skill Level? Whether your interested, just getting started or passionate about water sports this is the club for you. We want to chart your progress and set personal goals that will help you excel in your specific water sport.

What about boat and equipment? Because we are in our early stages we need to contact and meet. Planning out detailed ways where we can contribute to the club and find ways for sponsors to help out.

To join and other questions Call or email (I will respond with in the day)
Chase Gardner
(801) 580-3345
utes.watersports@gmail.com

Other things in the mix:
Banff Film Festival (Kingsbury 2/23 - 25)
ZOOM @ NOON - First Saturday in Mar & Apr. Club ski day. Meet at Gadzoom at noon.
MAR: Wax Demo/Ski Tuning
US Freeskiing Nationals. Snowbird Mar 12-14.
APR: End of Year BBQ!

The final stock of UFS T-Shirt’s has arrived and will be distributed at the next UFS Event which is currently being come up with by a crack our crack team of Freeskier Society leaders. Check this page every 38 seconds to find out the latest news.

Also, make sure to check your e-mail for the UFS newsletter which features this week’s current Utah Freeskier Society Ultra-Shred-Gnar Bargain at the Sport’s Den on Foothill Rd.

From Brady, UFS’ Fearless Leader:

The Utah Freeskier Society is deeply saddened by the loss of one of our own members, Heather Gross. On December 14, 2008, she was caught in an inbound avalanche while skiing the recent powder on North Baldy at Snowbird. She died later that day at the University of Utah hospital from injuries sustained during the avalanche. Heather was an experienced skier who will be remembered for her infectious smile and quiet demeanor. UFS sends its thoughts and prayers to Heather’s family and friends. She will be greatly missed by the skiing community.

My Personal Recount of the Incident:

A little after noon Sam, myself, and about a half-dozen other riders made our way up the Mt. Baldy shoulder in an effort to ski some untracked pow. Sam, myself, a telemarker, and a snowboarder made our way to the North Baldy terrain. As we reached the shoulder area a girl in a pink jacket could be seen making her way down the main part of the run. I decided that the trees would provide deeper snow and made my way another 50 meters down the traverse, while Sam, already too low to reach the Wildcat ridge followed pink jacket’s route down.

The slide started near the top of “Feel the Glory”, the first open shot past the corner. From a quick look, the crown was three to five feet deep and ran wall to wall. Heather was caught near the bottom of that shot, above the Blond Rock choke. She was swept though the choke, over Burt’s Bush, through Amphitheater, coming to rest in Amphitheater flats.

From my position in the trees I never fully saw the slide or Heather’s tumble through the North Baldy venue, but as I reached the apron at the bottom of the run I could already see people gathering in the avalanche debris using their skis and poles as makeshift probes.

As I approached, one of the first volunteers on the scene confirmed what I already was hoping was not true, “We have a confirmed burial. A girl in a pink jacket was swept over.” There was no hesitation, no pausing by anyone to think, no second guessing what happened, instinctively skiers and snowboarders alike begin to clip off their boards and grab poles, skis, and anything that would penetrate the snow and form a probe line.

“PROBE DOWN! PROBE UP! FORWARD!…PROBE DOWN! PROBE UP! FORWARD!”

At first there was only 10 or 15 of us helping a lone patroller who issued these commands as we marched through clumps of snow praying that we’d find the girl who was buried underneath it. Within five minutes the search party had quadrupled in size and patrollers from Alta were headed over the ridge with makeshift probes to help out as well.

No one complained, no one stopped working, no one questioned what we were doing, everyone followed the patrollers commands driving metal rods as deep as they could through the snow, sometimes pushing depths of 10 feet. By now there were well over 100 of us checking the area around the Amphitheater Apron hoping we hit something that felt like “punching a pillow.” Racing against the clock, we all pushed forward.

Then it happened. “I’VE GOT A HIT, I’VE GOT A HIT!” The words made everyone freeze in place. My spine felt like it had turned to stone as I turned and tried to understand what was going on. Within a split second, patrollers began running, grabbing shovels and digging faster than I previously thought possible. In less than 90 seconds a 6 foot by 4 foot by 3 foot hole had been dug in the snow and the shimmer of neon pink reflected around all sides of the pit.

I have never seen someone so pale in my life. I had been bracing myself for a cold, shivering, and likely unconscious girl to be found in the snow, but the pale white tone of her skin is what shook me the most. I sat petrified for about 10 second before the person I was probing next too brought me back to reality with the chilling thought that there could be more people buried and if we did not keep probing then they might not be found in time.

It was hard to focus on our task when everyone was worried about how our first rescued girl was doing and the fact that a patroller had been overheard saying that she was still breathing came as a huge comfort to everyone.

Nearly two hours had passed since the avalanche was trigged by the time the helicopter carrying the girl in the pink jacket left for the University of Utah hospital and patrollers had begun to get hopeful that the avalanche had only swallowed up one skier that day. As I drove home the reports that she was alive and in critical condition were a welcome relief from the much grimmer alternative that many had been suggesting.

The waiting was the worst part. Sitting around hoping, praying that she would be okay while refreshing news websites and message board threads on my computers waiting for someone to say “she is going to be okay” or “she is going to make it” was the worst part. You want to do something to help. At least when we were probing the knowledge that we were helping in the rescue effort elevated the fear that someone might not survive, but when you are sitting around waiting it is almost impossible not to focus on it.

I prayed people were wrong. I was hoping that people misunderstood a news article or were jumping the gun without having all the information, but when I finally got a text from a friend who was at the hospital with her I knew the worst had happened.

Heather Gross passed away just before 5 p.m. on Sunday, December 14. She was 27.

She managed to stay alive through the burial, the rescue, the flight back to the hospital, but she finally succumbed to her injuries late in the afternoon, nearly five hours after she had been buried. Her friends will remember her for infectious smile and her willingness to ski through the toughest conditions.

I did not know Heather extremely well, but like all the members of the Snowbird family who ski through rain, sleet, snow, and sunshine her death is a great loss. My heart goes out to her family who I hope can remember the positive things about her during this most devastating Holiday season and to all of us who skied by her side who I hope can remember that even know the risks of what we do are great, the rewards are greater.

We snowriders are among the luckiest people on the planet. We’ve found a calling in the mountains that provides more joy and good times than anything else. I think it is because of the joy that skiing provides for us that losses like Heather are so unbearable. For many of us the snow is an outlet, our one place to be happy and carefree, and when someone dies pursuing that it becomes hard to find that happiness again.

When I think about the consequences from skiing, I think of people like Doug Coombs, Billy Poole, Neal Valiton, John Nicoletta, and the many other greats who have given up their lives pursuing the thing they love the most. Now Heather, the girl in pink, is added to that list. Not as someone who died pushing the boundaries of the sport, but as someone who died on a Sunday afternoon when all she wanted to do was ski fresh powder.

Heather, while you are gone, you will not soon be forgotten. Your death will be mourned by all of us in Little Cottonwood Canyon and we will all remember you on deep days and when we think about the risks we take pursuing the sport and lifestyle we love so much.

UFS & Craig Gordan Present: Avalanche Safety Presentation

Learn how to stay safe in the snow and what do do when lots of snow piles itself on top of you.
This is NOT a clinic, but more general safe backcountry practices.
Learn how to backflip the Donner Summit train gap like Shane McConkey*
*we won’t actually be teaching this, but it’s a good marketing hook

Also! November 20th is the last day to sign up for a Snowbird Season Pass, so bring the $2.00 in you piggy bank and a check for $597.00 and sign up!*
*or $469.00 if your afraid of the magical tram

Location: CTIHB Auditorium, UofU Campus
Time: 7:00p
Cost: FREE for EVERYONE