If you’ve been following my posts throughout the month, I think you can tell I’ve had a pretty sick experience. I could write a lengthy blog post about how much this has meant to me, what it will do for me in the future, etc etc. Or I could just tell you about my last day here.

It snowed around 9 inches in Little Cottonwood today (but I think there was more). Although I had originally planned to take the day to pack, clean, and prepare for my departure… there was no way I was gonna pass up one last day of skiing. Especially on a day like today. So I hightailed it up the canyon and before I knew it I was on the Utah snow for one last time. And what a day it was.

I FINALLY understand now why people are so obsessed with this place. The snow was so light, the sky was so blue, and it was windless. People hollering all over the mountain as they dipped in and out of the trees, unseen. My first run I had five effortless, pure, face shot turns. Epic.

I had originally planned on skiing till only noon, but I went till about three. Even though the mountain was pretty tracked out by then, the snow was still so light, and all over there were still pockets of untracked stuff I could spot from the lift.

From the top of Collins I watched across the way as skiers hiked up the surrounding peaks and make effortless turns down, carving their signatures into the snow. In a way, I feel like I have made my signature here at Alta, in Utah, and at SheJumps.

As the day progressed, I saw more and more familiar faces, and I even rode up a lift with a woman who I had ridden up with weeks before. She remembered my name and that I was the SheJumps intern (naturally I didn’t remember hers...sorry!) I can [sort of] remember the names of the areas of the mountain and I even gave someone directions today. I know the UTA bus times practically by heart, and I’ve explained the mission statement of SheJumps to so many inquiring people I could say it backwards [maybe].

I could be sad and sappy about going back home tomorrow. I could whine and complain about how Sugarloaf has about a base of close to nothing. But I guess the point I’m trying to make is that even though I am leaving, I am HERE to stay. I’ve made connections, I’ve met tons of people, and I’ll be back. 

Definitely.