Michelle, the dogs and I spent Labor Day weekend in the spectacular San Juan mountains of southern Colorado. Near the end our long drive home, as we skated through the last few lights of Cougar-Town, something caught the attention of our road-weary eyes. There, just below the hovering clouds, on the upper reaches of Mount Timpanogos, was an out-of-place swath of white, glistening in the twilight. Yup, there it was… the first snow-fall of the year… on September 4th no less! There were a few choice expletives as we rounded the corner and rolled up Provo Canyon.
Returning to work early Tuesday morning, I felt a sudden sense of urgency, thanks to this frosty, yet fleeting reminder that fall has officially arrived and our weather-window is shrinking like George Costanza in the pool. There are still summer projects to finish, winter grooming prep to begin, and coolest bike party on the planet, the Tour Des Suds, to organize.
Along with the uncertainty of the Wasatch-back weather this time of year, we’re short-staffed with Sean “Hoopty” Ward back east, celebrating and formalizing a partnership with his long-time significant other, Hunter. Congrats guys! Miss Emma Paden has left us to pursue her dream job in the Red River George climbing area in Kentucky and we wish her all the best. And for the remaining staff, after nearly 4 months of working together 10 hours a whack, there is inevitably a little bit of burnout at this point in the season. But the work continues…
Up above 9,000 feet, we’re still plugging away on the Bonanza multi-use loop, a trail project that began five long years ago and we are just now seeing the light at the end of the aspen glade. After a few last-minute alignment tweaks, the long-awaited lower Spiro alternative, Seldom Seen, is just a few short weeks from completion thanks to the work of our good friend, Chase Smith, volunteer efforts and substantial donation from Rebecca Marriott Champion. Tim and Sam are on the verge of completing a sweet Mojave overhaul and thanks to their hard work and recent moisture, this Park City Mountain classic will be riding like a dream.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be giving Silver Queen a facelift and making some improvements to Red Bull in an effort to improve safety while retaining its rough and tumble character. A ton of effort goes into planning and executing these projects and weather is always the X-factor this time of year. We’re super-excited to wrap the season on a high note and look forward to sharing the trail-love with you all this fall. So, let’s just maybe hold off on those snow-dances for a few…
Have a great one out there and we’ll see y’all at the Suds!
Rick Fournier
