Sometimes You Gotta Get Outdoors

Next week is Thanksgiving and when getting outside becomes more difficult. With all of the technology in our lives, we can keep ourselves entertained while hibernating during the winter months. Unfortunately this may be bad for some. This is the time of the year when seasonal depression kicks in and being outside can help cure it in some instances.

My kids are among those that benefit from being outdoors. It is probably a good thing we spend a lot of the winter skiing as I don't know how else to embrace winter and enjoy being outside. My youngest daughter is noticeably happier after spending a cold winter day teaching little groms how ski. Last year with all of the road closures on the way to Alta because of avalanche danger, she had to find other ways to get outside and keep from getting down.

Today I spent some time with my youngest son. This morning he felt rather down and so we headed outside for a walk to the donut shop. If that doesn't cheer you up, I don't know what will. Unfortunately he still wasn't his jovial self and so we put on jackets this afternoon and headed outside. We walked to a nearby park and played a round of disc golf. I'm not sure if my comedic skills brightened his day or just being outside did the trick. Afterwards he felt much better and we all enjoyed being around him more.

I know you would expect different advice from someone that used to work for a major video game company. After all, shouldn't I be telling you to play the latest and greatest game as it will make you feel better? Nope, the reality is that we all need sunshine. It is tougher to get in the winter but no less important. When you feel yourself getting down on a cold winter day, put down the donut and hot chocolate, put on a nice-warm jacket, and spend sometime outside. Remember there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing. 

Winter Driving Revisited

My daughter just got home after spending the day teaching skiing at Alta. It is 9:30pm and the drive took her over 5 hours. Normally it takes 20 minutes. Why so long? People don't know how to drive in the snow. My wife and I spent the morning skiing and had the same drive. It took us an hour and we came down at 1:00pm. During our drive, we saw a number of idiots trying to drive in the snow with 2-wheeled-drive vehicles and summer tires.

One of my most popular blog posts is from 2013 on Winter Driving. Unfortunately the video I reference is no longer available but there are some secrets of driving in the snow:

1. Make sure you have winter tires
2. Go slow

If you don't have item #1, then don't drive in the snow. Pull off to the side of the road and wait for the snow to melt. If that sounds harsh, sorry but that is reality.

While waiting for my daughter to make it safely down the canyon, I utilized several online tools. My favorite is maps.google.com. You can have it show traffic and see where the slowdowns are located. My kids all prefer Waze. This evening Waze had the better information. While I could see where traffic is slow, that doesn't help get home any quicker when there is only one way down the canyon. Interestingly, my daughter could have skied home quicker than it took to drive. Too bad they won't let you leave a car at the ski resorts overnight. After all, I will be back up there tomorrow and could have helped bring it home.

Website Consistency

Last night it snowed again. Normally a skier would be very happy about fresh snow, but it has been snowing all week and I am sort of getting tired of skiing powder every day. Don't get me wrong, I love powder. I am just ready to ski in conditions where I can actually see where I am going.

One more problem with all of this constant snow is that it makes for very difficult driving. Yesterday I watched a lot of idiots slide off the road in their SUVs with summer tires. Four-wheel drive doesn't do anything for you if you don't have tires with an aggressive winter tread. I highly recommend metal studs in your tires for winter driving.

Before heading to Snowbird this morning for another day of skiing, I made sure to check their website to see if the road was open. There were conflicting messages on the home page. First there was a banner across the top exclaiming that the road would remain closed until 8:30 am for avalanche control. Immediately under the banner was a green light with a message saying the road was open. Checking the police department's website verified that the road was closed and not scheduled to open until 8:30 am. There is an old saying that applies to this: A man with one watch knows what time it is. A man with two isn't quite sure.

That Was It?

Yesterday I wrote about how a big snow storm was supposed to hit Utah. I stayed up watching the traffic cameras and checking in on the family. My wife and kids were safe watching a movie and didn't give the storm a second thought. I got a call right before everyone headed off to bed saying that there was only 4 inches of snow on the driveway.

I woke up this morning and checked in with the family before they headed up to Snowbird for some skiing. My wife said that there wasn't much more snow this morning than when they went to bed. That's it? Only 4 inches of snow? My wife did mention that it was incredibly cold and so the salt on the roads wasn't melting the ice. That can make for tricky driving but I don't think it justifies all of the lead-up to this storm. The weather service kept saying it was going to be a 4-foot storm. The mountains only got 9 inches. That barely justifies bringing out the new skis.

It will be difficult to trust the weather service the next time I hear that a huge snowstorm is rolling in. I'm sure others feel the same way. Unfortunately that means that when the big storm really does clobber the area, we will be unprepared. Awe who am I kidding. The next time I hear about a big storm coming, I will get excited and hope for tons of snow. That's what skiers do.