Snowbird Secrets: A Guide To Big Mountain Skiing, is written by Jackson Hogen through the mind of Dave Powers who many know as “Guru” Dave Powers. Dave, who is also known as “Goo” started his ski career in Utah as many of us have. With a pair of skis and a bag of cloths working whatever job allowed him to ski the most. Dave began washing laundry at the Cliff Lodge 35 years ago, and has averaged 130 days a season since then, possibly more than ANYONE else who has come to the Bird. With his nearly 5000 days of skiing he posses a vast quiver of knowledge and wisdom about the secrets both visible and invisible that Hidden Peak grants to those who open their minds and hearts to all she has to offer.
Now don’t start trademarking, copy writing, and fencing off your secret powder stashes quite yet, Snowbird Secrets isn’t so much as to where to go as it is how to go. How to go about connecting with the mountain through its snow, gravity, and energy that coarse through its quartzite veins. Dave does a spectacular job at explaining the mountain all the way down to its smallest facets of being and how to interact with it in harmony when she throws all she can at you. I personally could not even begin to place a number on the amount of times I found myself swaying left and right in my chair as if I was skiing along with each sentence. Truly mesmerizing is his literature.
“Wise skiers prevail by projecting just the smallest degree into the future. They have confidence in a line they cannot see, knowledge of a path that feels behind them before it’s here.” -Page 40
“Skiing is about discovering something about yourself that you wouldn’t otherwise learn. It’s about getting off the groomers and following the path into the trees. It’s about challenging your assumptions about what constitutes perfection. There are some skiers who will only dine on powder; others who dine only on groomage. Both are missing the point of why we ski in the first place. The path to self-discovery is not measured in the number of consecutive blue trams caught or the depth of the powder plumbed that day. To find what you’re really looking for requires a different relationship with the mountain, not an adversarial one, but a bond, a connection via passion, understanding, respect, and yes, love.” -Page 43
In addition to vast and deep amounts of wisdom that only years of bitterly cold winds can help sculpt, is the advice that will sit you right back up in your seat as you chuckle and reflect on the occasions you’ve done the same.
“Fear is like a lost puppy in a horror movie: you innocently start to feed it, soon it won’t leave you alone then it grows up to eat you alive. It’s very important you don’t feed the puppy.” -Page 95
Snowbird Secrets: A Guide To Big Mountain Skiing, 5 out of 5 stars. I could hardly at times put my copy down, even at 3am after working 12 hours at my job that lets me ski every day of the season. Even if you’ve only skied “The ‘Bird” once before and call any other mountain your home, this book is worth a read as many concepts can be universally applied.
The book is expected to launch in mid-September at all E-book outlets and on “Guru” Dave’s personal ski blog, www.GuruDavePowers.com. The book is also expected to be available in Snowbird gift shops around the resort.
Images and book, courtesy of “Guru” Dave Powers.