When we returned to Utah from our road trip in BC, the mountains were in a state of shock. Massive avalanches had, and continued to catastrophically release all across the state. We saw slides in areas that I have never seen slide before. Conditions like this warrant extreme respect for the mountains. Over the weekend we played around in the rocky crags of the Uinta mountains. We visited some "mini golf" areas that had no deep slab potential. The terrain was fun and the conditions were fantastic. The january light offered amazing back lighting conditions all day long. The pillow lines are real dirty this time of year. There is just barely enough snow to ride them. It makes for some stoney, craggy photos though.....

^our pillow popping playground for the day
^ Clean pillows. I love the texture in this photo
^ We shot this at the end of the day. Neil lined up the chalkstone pillow gap over the ravine just as the last light of the day was sending down a tractor beam in the perfect spot. I took one frame, and the beam of light disappeared. This may be my favorite shot ever.
^ Kind of an abstract action shot if you will
^ Epic backlighting at noon. January is nice like that.
^ a couple wiggles for good measure.During sketchy times like these, patience is a virtue. Your life depends on it. As much as we want to get into the alpine and hit some big lines, we have to practice abstinence. Its the only way to stay alive in the mountains. Hopefully, we receive more snow and the snowpack can begin the healing process. Until then, we'll be playing it safe in the pillow gardens of utah.