Happy 2004 everyone! First post of the year...

Jumped onto a plane last night after work heading for Salt Lake City - since I will be working there next week, I figure that I should bring my snowboard with me and spend the weekend visiting Snowbird - and see what it is like breathing air at 11000 ft.

First of all, an observation - have you ever visited a resort-city airport, and had to wait alongside others at the ski/snowboard pickup area? Last night I was waiting with 30-40 other people, all eagerly waiting for our gear.

The gate opened, and as the cold air poured into the airport terminal, I saw the weather outside - snowflakes slowly pouring down from the sky, dividing the fog-lamp-lit area outside of the airport (how in the world did we manage to land in dense fog condition anyway?) and the flourscent-light-lit area inside the terminal.

Suddenly a man appears outside, dressed in a thick red coat - it can't be - it isn't - but it sure looked like... Santa Claus. The way we were all surrounding the door, it sure felt like Christmas again.

We all got excited as the Northwest baggage agent (Santa Claus in disguise) gave us our snowboard/skis (presents).

... Oh yeah - with 106" of base snow, tomorrow should be quite a fun day - some of my friends will be jealous.