What’s a better way to celebrate Christmas than spending time with friends on the slopes of Snowbird, Utah? I can’t think of any. I haven’t been snowboarding since the 2012 season, and had never flown to a mountain to spend the entire weekend. Snowbird has consistently ranked the second best and most difficult ski area in North America (behind Jackson Hole or Whistler-Blackcomb, depends on where you look). The rewards are soaring as the mountain: the greatest, dry, powdered snow, a perfect blue bird day, and the most challenging terrains. In three days I managed to cover 39,000 ft of vertical drops and survived. Put together, that is higher than the cruising altitude of commercial airliners. Needless to say, I came back with spent legs, jolly heart, and a revived yearning for snow – Kilimanjaro next time maybe?