The Adventures of Pip

www.adventuresofpip.com

piphunt — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:02:20 +0000

Hey everyone!
I recently changed my domain . All of my new blog posts and stories will now be posted there. Thanks for reading!
Pip

Fighting the Storm

piphunt — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:42:02 +0000

Despite the powder that finally hit Little Cottonwood Canyon with the recent systems of storms, fresh snow doesn’t necessarily mean safe snow. Over 80 inches have fallen in the past week and half, but the weak layers beneath the snow pack have rocketed avalanche conditions. Two people have died and others have been injured in the past week. Alta’s patrol has been working extra hard to ensure safe conditions. Last Friday, Re Wikstrom , Shaun Raskin , Paige Brady and I headed up to Alta hoping to capture some storm shots. We weren’t able to get early ups due to the avie conditions, but we did get to watch Ono and the Alta patrol bomb Mt. Baldy with the old Korean War Era gun.

Waiting for the bang

It was an incredible experience to stand so close to the guns as the were firing them! Definitely an adrenaline rush. Plus we got a couple pow turns in before the Wildcat was turned loose. Thanks Ono!

Snow!

piphunt — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:40:45 +0000

Finally, it has decided to start acting more like winter than spring. Thank God. If the only winter we had this year was the one week storm during finals week I was going to be seriously unimpressed. It started dumping Sunday night and the storms just keep on coming. Go Utah!
Check out some of the pics Carston, Cody, Kaylen, and I shot with Chad Spector on Monday on his blog .

Internet exploring

piphunt — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:37:22 +0000

Mckenna’s mum was looking online for stories and photos relating to the FWT event in Revelstoke just over a week ago. She found this one of my crash:
oops. Crashes happen!

piphunt — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:44:59 +0000

Disappointment. It’s part of the game. Sometimes you ski well, your judged well, and you walk away from the competition excited. Sometimes you crash, sometimes you feel misjudged, sometimes things just don’t work out exactly as you planned. This weekend was one of those competitions. I dropped into my first air, landed, attempted to ski away and ended up tomahawking towards my next air. In the past, there may of been tears, slight temper tantrums and severe disappointment. But yesterday, I was just happy to be in one piece. I think that is where I am now.
During an interview I did with MSI on Thursday, I was asked why I continue to compete. It struck me, I’m not really sure why anymore. I love my friends I’ve made on this tour, and the family I travel with throughout the winter. But our numbers a slowly dropping and the tour feels like a fresh crop of competitors this season. There are fewer familiar faces now, and the few familiar ones seem more content with skiing pow lines than winning titles. It used to be all about my ego. I had something to prove. I wanted to be the best. I had a couple runs, a couple moments, but never anything outstanding. And now, it’s not worth it to me to ski those winning lines. I’d rather be in one piece than get taken down in a sled. At the end of the day, is it worth it?

De ja vu?

piphunt — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 07:14:44 +0000

Last April, Crystal Squared (Crystal Lee and Crystal Wright), Hannah Whitney, Michelle Manning, and I encountered a little mishap on our drive back from Kirkwood. Our Thule exploded. And by exploded, I mean ripped the entire roof rack off my Exploder and disintegrated upon contact with I-80 approximately fifty miles outside of Reno. Five girls, eight pairs of skis, and all our luggage crammed into my car in an attempt to make it back to Salt Lake. Why then, when another box ripped off of Hannah’s box around 1:20 this afternoon, did I feel like we were once again stranded on the side of I-80?

Sooo What now?

Mckenna Peterson, Hannah, Kyle Sul, Ashley Magnuson and I left SLC yesterday at 8:30, headed for the first stop of the FWT in Revelstoke, BC. We spent the night at my parent’s house in Whitefish last night, and continued the drive today. Since the storm had passed, we were hoping it would be a fairly uneventful drive. Definitely not the case. Another box bit the dust. WTF Thule?
However, the ride was beautiful and I took some fun photos out of the car. Here are a couple of my favourites.

Christmas in Montucky

piphunt — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:57:43 +0000

1,340 miles later, I managed a quick trip up to Montana for Christmas with my family. Get together’s in my family mean food; lots of delicious food. And drinking.
My mum is a chef, and Christmas dinner resembles a small commercial kitchen, with weeks of prepping stuffing, pastry crusts, gravy and recipe testing. My stepdad, on the other hand, loves a good drink. His scotch and rum are prized, decanted, and meticulously measured. If you thought you could sneak a sip of his Maccallan’s 25 year old, you were wrong. He will notice it missing. But if you ask, he does share.
This Christmas vacation was full of crack of noon ski days, hot toddys, cold rum, and eating. Dessert turned into a full on Scotch and rum tasting. “Ahh this one tastes like Cape Cod on a winter morning… you’re not really sure if you want to be there” “Yeah, I think I can taste the closet in that one” ” well, this one tastes like a rusty nail.” Who knew rum tasted so delicious on it’s on, or over an ice cube? After the table was littered with crackers, crowns, and empty snifters, we shifted our attention to Apples to Apples.
Have you ever played Apples to Apples? You should. Best. Game. Ever. It’s a word association game, where the judge picks whatever word bests matches the definition he has picked. However, the less literal you are, the more fun this game gets. On Friday night, whipcream was lucky and early mornings were lumpy and bumpy. Although if you asked Gracie, anything that seemed like a non-sequitor was the obvious answer.
I finished out the Montucky celebrations with boxing day celebrations down town. I think I drank about six too many bellini’s and should of left the cigars alone. But hey, that’s what good friends are there for right? Telling me to “just jump” when maybe I shouldn’t…. and magically refilling my champagne class time and time again. Sometimes we all just need a little bit of encouragement.

A chairlift is my happy place…

piphunt — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:12:26 +0000

I could feel the chill creeping in through my jacket and into the tips of my fingers, the general conversation of chairlifts drifting back and forth, and, suddenly, I was hit with a bolt of excitement. I’m done. I’m done, Erin! I’m DONE!
It doesn’t feel real yet. I’m still filled with that nervous, neurotic energy that creates anxious dreams and facebook filled hours of procrastination. I’m not quite sure how to stop yet. Although, I think I’m allowed to.
It’s been a long time coming. Ok, maybe not a long time, but the last two semesters certainly felt like a long time. All those hours at the library wishing I was out playing have certainly paid of. As of 2 o’clock yesterday, I am officially done with my bachelor’s degree! I’m not sure what happened to the ten year plan, I seem to of graduated much sooner than that. But, I’m quite alright with that.
Today was my first day of the season. I headed up to Alta bright and early with Erin Bragg to pick up our ski passes and head to the annual Alta athlete/photographer breakfast. It was awesome to catch up with so many friends I haven’t seen on campus and shred the first couple runs of the season with them. And it hit me. This is what I’ve missed. Sitting outside feeling the chill on my cheeks and the freshness of cold air on an inhalation. Gliding over chalky snow, feeling my edge grip, turn, and release. The pop, absorption, and bounce to the snow. The laughter and knowing looks. O winter. How I have missed you.

Shift Freedom

piphunt — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 20:36:46 +0000

Lindsey and I finally made it to the Farmer’s Market today. It’s only taken a month of speculative planning for our date to happen, but we finally set out for pancakes and mimosas amongst the booths of Pioneer Park. Alas, the Happy Cake factory was not creating their delicious GF pancakes this morning, but they did have some fresh squeezed oj to complement our cheap champagne and smiles as we decided to sample some of the other choices at the market.
Diyona’s Designs is a company that creates jewelry out of antique typewriter keys, and as a writer and reader, I have long lusted after her creations. While Lindsey and I were exploring her boxs of keys, I came across a “shift freedom” key. Regardless of this keys use, I couldn’t help imagining all the different ways of shifting freedom.
I’m currently taking an African American lit class from Dr. Samuels at the U . A large focus in our class is the marginalization of African Americans through literature, and their attempt to radicalize their marginalization through writing, which is primarily recognized during the Harlem Renaissance. I have always loved Harlem lit. I wrote a thesis paper my senior year of high school of Harlem poetry and the emergence of jazz. The melodies of Paul Lawrence Dunbar’s “Sympathy” and Hurston’s response have constantly reminded me of the power of poetry, both subjectively and objectively.
My current idea for my grad school thesis is the marginalization and created/perpetuation of stereotypes through literature. What does the way in which a marginalized group in society is written do to create/perpetuate their stereotypes? What can be “shifted” through allowing these marginalized groups their own voice in literature? My idea is still really vague, and could take a million different paths. But nonetheless, I’m excited about the process of discovering what I will write about, eventually…

A New Kind of Challenge (kind of)

piphunt — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 01:11:42 +0000

I’ve decided to ride the 12-hours of Sundance this Saturday; a 12 hour mountain bike that you can either ride solo, as a team of two or a team of four. My new roomie Ana and I decided that we would take a whack at it, essentially “off the couch”. Ok, so maybe not directly off the couch, but neither one of us has been riding long and hard either, more like quick jaunts around the Shoreline trail between classes and sunset. I’m a little nervous as to what 12 hours clambering on and off my saddle will to me, but I’m excited too!
To tell the truth, I’ve been a little grumpy lately. I feel like everyone is taking off on fun hiking, biking, and camping trips every weekend while I’m stuck here studying. I realized around 10 p.m. last Sunday night that I hadn’t had a face to face conversation with anyone since Jamon and Re left for Stanely, ID. on Friday. Coincidently (or not) I was so jealous I was mad. Pissed. On the brink of tears mad. So of course, I didn’t cry. Crying is for suckers. Instead of crying I’m just going to crush myself this weekend.
On a more positive note, my preparation for my first endurance has left me wondering, what on earth do you eat?? Normally you would eat fast carbs, but the whole gluten intolerance doesn’t really allow for the rapid consumption of cookies or fig newtons, so instead I’ve turned to google in search of some new gf cookie recipes. I came across a new gf site that has some tantalizing recipes, I’ll let you know how it turns out!