It’s been a few weeks now, but there is no expiration date on embarrassment…
During the hiring process prior to joining SOAR, I did what any good job-hunter does. I Google-stalked the people who were interviewing me.
Along with twitter feeds, press releases and official website bios, I found a gem: Our intrepid leader, Chip, caught in full YouTube glory going over the bars in Fruita, Colo.
Let me say this…Aside from the single endo incident, Chip is insanely fast through Fruita’s technical terrain. He is also, as I found out over the President’s Day holiday, a very good skier.
SOAR staff headed up the hill to Deer Valley Resort as a belated reward following January’s Outdoor Retailer Winter Market. The snow was excellent, the crowds thinned as the day went on and the sun even managed to poke through a few times.
However, Chip and I had chosen the day to test out some GoPro Hero cameras. My pitiful level of midwinter fitness was sure to trip me up, and as the day went on and my legs turned to noodles, the inevitable embarrassing wipeout occurred.
So in an effort to cancel out the bad karma I earned chuckling at Chip’s misfortune, here for the internet’s viewing pleasure is a crash of my own.
Photo credit: Steve Griffin, Salt Lake Tribune
The SOAR Blog didn’t give Real Salt Lake due attention and praise when the team won the Major League Soccer championship in the spring, but that doesn’t mean SOAR isn’t incredibly proud of its home team for bringing the State of Utah a professional sports championship title for the first time in 40 years.
It seems fitting that the influence of professional soccer in Utah, and in the United States, was recognized today by President Barak Obama in a brief ceremony honoring Real Salt Lake team at the White House. Joe Biden wasn’t there- he is heading up the contingency representing the U.S. at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa which is now less than a week away. One of Real Salt Lake’s players, Robbie Findley, will play with the U.S. team, which is a contender against Algeria, England and Slovenia.
Professional soccer is too often overlooked by North American spectators. World Cup engenders even more global enthusiasm than the Olympics in some regard- except in the United States. There are books, classes, experts, lectures galore on the global significance of “footy,” so I won’t belabor the topic here. We’re glad that with all of the other matters our presidency has to attend to that it would recognize the athletic power coming out of Salt Lake City and the importance of the World Cup.
Any chance Obama will vie for World Cup 2018 to be in the U.S. like he did for the Olympics? (2014 is already scheduled to be in Brazil).
See the Salt Lake Tribune article here
Our "Best Of Utah" Route
I was skeptical moving away from my California paradise to the arid and hot and cold Utah desert. But this red rock, Wasatch state has proven itself in the year that I have lived here. This past weekend Utah re-wowed me as I spent three days taking my parents up and down Eastern Utah for their first visit. You could call it a “best of trip,” starting with mole at Salt Lake’s Red Iguana (killer Mexican food, really). The folks had fun with the Utah altitude hiking up to the Timpanogos Caves, driving through Castle County to Arches National Park, seeing Delicate Arch that graces the Utah license plate, riding the chair lift at Sundance and poking around art galleries in Park City.
And there are several bests we didn’t have time to do, like float down the Provo River, make our way through slot canyons, eat Navajo Tacos, snow skiing or sleep under the stars.
So, I’m living proof that you can drive nearly 600 miles in one weekend with your parents and finish the trip happy…as long as you have a group of adventurous spirits and an amazing state like Utah to tour.
While attending the first annual Salt Lake Bicycle Summit this weekend, I had the chance to meet the fabulous Tara Mckee, organizer of the 2009 Cycle Style Show-Salt Lake City.
The Cycle Style Show is a local outdoor fashion show that will show off functional and fashionable commuter cycling clothing and accessories (see preview here), in action, on some really cool commuter-friendly bikes.
Whether attendees currently commute into town for work, to shop, to hang with friends or (gasp!) do not ride a bike at all, this show is sure to inspire folks to dust off the bikes in their garage and get out on a bike this summer.
The Cycle Style Show is Friday, May 15 at 7 p.m. at the Gallivan Center in SLC. Hope to see you there!
Courtney enjoys the signs of Spring on the Electra Amsterdam with the tulip design
