summer of love

I love summer time. Its ironic because Im currently in a place where its below freezing, howling winds, and snowing heavily. Im in Chile for 4 weeks with the hopes of skiing some deep powder. While im really looking forward to this trip, I must say, I was really enjoying the beautiful summer in Utah! I wanted to share some pictures from the last few weeks leading up to my departure. You see, I knew I was heading to the cold wintery environment of the Andes mountains so I had to seize every opportunity to get out and fish/camp/hike/climb/bike/etc....



^ Biking the Crest trail in the early morning hours with my brother. I haven't biked much in the last 5 years but thats all about to change.


^ The Crest trail follows the park city ridgeline with epic views of the central Wasatch.


^ The wildflowers were just starting to go OFF!!! Indian Paintbrush


^ Fishing the green drake hatch this summer yielded some outrageously epic days. For me, the pinnacle moment in fly fishing is casting big dry-flies to even bigger trout and thats exactly what the green drake hatch can provide.


^ This mayfly avoided the gaping mouths of the trout on the middle provo river to dry his wings on the grassy banks


^ The day before I left for south america, we made one last float down the green river.


^ A colorful Bonneville Cutthroat from the High Uinta mountains


^ Shooting time lapses of the milky way in the uintas. It was a magical evening to say the least.


^ I love how this photo turned out. Whats going on with my net?!?! (no photoshop)

couple senders...

summer in full effect. Climbing, biking, and fishing like mad.


^ Travalav on a 5.11 at the notch


^ Joost sends a 50 footer at the notch

Green River

^ The Soundtrack

The Green is a classic. The main attraction, behind flaming gorge dam in north eastern Utah, is the "A" section. This portion of the river runs gin clear as it courses its way through towering red rock cliffs. The scenery alone will keep me coming back for decades to come. But really, its the trout that brings me back everytime, 2000 fish per mile to be exact. The Green is no secret though. Its a world class river that receives an enormous amount of pressure from fishermen, particularly in the summer. That means the fish are smarter than a 5th grader, which is saying a lot for a fish. It can be pretty frustrating watching a large brown trout come up to your fly and inspect it thoroughly, then deny it and give you the finger as it returns to its spot. Instead of throwing huge terrestrial flies with lots of sparkle and flare as most people do, my brother and I typically fish with small beetles and ants. The fish don't seem to scrutinize those flies as much.


^ This ponderosa pine was growing straight out of the rock, and doing quite well for itself.


^ The A section of the river is literally green, and plumb full of big trout.


^ Our dog loves floating the green as much as we do. Being a mastiff, his bones are heavy and dense which is why he runs a life jacket, otherwise he would eventually sink to the bottom. Mastiffs arn't supposed to be swimmers, but don't tell that to dutch, he kills it!

Summer TIme....

In northern Utah, the late spring blizzards have finally ended, giving way to the classic summer weather we all love. For me, there's no better way to celebrate the arrival of summer than a camping trip. My pop and I packed our bags and headed to a remote creek that was sure to offer up some good fishing and nice scenery...




^ Whats a good camping trip without an insect infestation or two?


^ After a long day of fishing, I was relaxing back at camp when the sky erupted with color




^ Nothing like enjoying a nice sunset by the fire, cold beer in hand.


^ while most rivers around the state gushing with snow melt, this one was perfect.




^ This creek is a refuge for utah's native Bonneville cutthroat, my favorite species of trout.


^ Joyful times exploring unknown creeks in search for big cutthroat trout

Reids Peak

Reids Peak and Bald mountain are two monolithic mountains in the western uinta range. My pop refers to them as "the Tits" because, well, they resemble the beautiful breasts of a woman! I've driven past these peaks hundreds of times en route to fishing and climbing trips over the years and I've always thought they would make for some good skiing. I decided to give them a shot...


^ I made it to the summit of bald mountain just after sunrise where I shot this photo of reids peak. The southeast ridge was the ascent route, while I skied a choice line off the north face. I was expecting the snow to have been more consolidated like traditional spring corn, but there was still powder snow on the north faces. Go figure. This made the skiing and climbing more variable.


^ The topography of reids peak is really unique. Its like a volcanic cone. You could ski down every aspect for 1800' vertical.


^ 7 yrs ago when this photo was taken, skiing in the uintas was far from reality. now its an everyday thing.


^ definitely one of the premier peaks in the western uintas


^ another old photo from the archives.


^ I've seen many sunsets over the years with reids peak as the backdrop, and it never gets old.

a quick little video of the descent:

Reids Peak 5/16/10

7 feet in 4 days...

The title says it all. 7 feet of snow fell in the cottonwood canyons over the course of just 4 days. What's even more astonishing is that this occurred in the month of May! This was four days in a row of waist deep blower powder. When powder days like these come around this late in the season, you tend to smile a bit wider and cheer a lot louder because you know its icing on the cake. I'm definitely ready for summer, but I sure won't turn down a powder day in Utah, no matter the season.



^^^ Day one of the storm. Cars were already buried in little cottonwood canyon


^^^ You could have told me it was January and I would have believed you.


^^^ The snowbird snow cam documents the snowfall beyond its capacity. I went to snowbird for the first time in three years. Caught the first tram on day two of the storm after 46 inches had fallen. It was an amazing day.


^^^ Zach Siebert makes a chest deep backside slash. On May 2nd, Zach and I went out to catch the last day of the storm. Most times its hard to shoot a snowboarding picture that truly shows how deep the snow is, this was not a hard thing to do on may 2nd.




video:

Wasatch Spring Skiing in HD

Evolve Chile

Skiing in South America has been on my list of things to do for quite some time now. Im so stoked that this summer will give me the opportunity to make that happen. Chile and Argentina encompass almost the entire Andes mountain range, the longest mountain range in the world. As a skier from north America, these destinations provoke images of deep powder skiing in the summer months, something I have yet to experience. But it's also the culture of the region that makes Chile and Argentina such a desirable ski destination. I'm really looking forward to brushing up on my spanish skills, while skiing big mountain descents in the Andes range.

I'll be in Chile for about a month, working with the Evolve Chile freeride camp. Im really grateful that they've given me the opportunity to come down and help out. It should be a really good time! Their setup for the camp is SICK! check out the website for more info:

www.evolvechile.com

Ian Provo & Evolve Chile from daniel on Vimeo.