First things first, thank you so much for your kind words about the new look of PBF! I am obviously excited about it and am thrilled so many of you seem to like the cleaner look of the blog. Thank you again to Swoon Creative for making my vision come alive!
Now, let’s get back to the #OmniGames fun, shall we?
Just in case you are catching up, here’s my first recap that includes an explanation of the Columbia Sportswear #OmniGames and the #Omniten crew: The First #OmniGames
#OmniGames: Day One
When we last left off, I was paired with Rebecca and ready to compete in the first day of the #OmniGames!
Day one included the first five events of the #OmniGames. Each team rotated through the events over the course of a little more than four hours.
- Needle in an Avalanche
First up for our team was the Needle in an Avalanche event where we learned how to search for a beacon in the snow to try to locate a “person” who had been buried in an avalanche.
(Thank you to David Creech for the awesome photos featured above and below.)
Rebecca and I found our beacon in less than a minute and were told that we would’ve saved a life! Woop! (Apparently you have five minutes or less to find someone buried in an avalanche before they may not make it.)
- Dog Days of Winter
The next event for our group was Dog Days of Winter. This was the event I was most excited about going into the day because it involved dog sledding!
(Photo credit: David Creech)
The dogs were so sweet and friendly until they realized it was time to run. Once they saw our group pile into our respective sleds, they started to bark and jump around like crazy. They wanted to go!
(Photo credit: David Creech)
The Dog Days of Winter challenge was meant to test our intellect since we had to remember facts our musher told us as we were pulled along a beautiful, snowy course by some very enthusiastic dogs!
(Photo credit: David Creech)
The dogs were adorable and clearly loved running around outside. We did well on our quiz and remembered the commands for left and right (“Haw!” and “Gee!”), the name of the rope the dogs were tethered to (tug rope) and other various facts about dog sledding.
![dog sledding park city_thumb[1]](https://i2.wp.com/pbfingers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/dogsleddingparkcity_thumb1.jpg "dog sledding park city_thumb[1]")
Snowmobile Drive By
Dog sledding was quickly followed by the Snowmobile Drive By, one of my favorite events of the day!
I had never driven a snowmobile before and had the BEST time cruising through the snow at 30+ miles per hour.
(Photo credit: David Creech)
It snowed the entire time we were outside during the #OmniGames events and as I drove my snowmobile, I felt my mind wander a time or two as I looked around and soaked in the beautiful snow-covered scenery around me. I knew I was in the middle of experiencing something I’d never forget and I felt so grateful to be in stunning Park City in that moment.
(Photo credit: David Creech)
We drove our snowmobiles along a trail for about 10 minutes before arriving at a pair of targets and preparing for the competition part of the event.
After aiming at the targets and firing off one practice shot with a bow and arrow, we had to shoot at the target three times to try to accumulate points toward our team totals.
It was much harder than it looked and in our group of six, only two people hit the target one time. I need lessons from Katniss!
Once we collected our arrows that didn’t make it on the target, we had some free time to play around on the snowmobiles which was way too fun. I want to plan a vacation at some point in the future and spend a day riding around in the snow outside!
- Hot Chocolate Run
The Hot Chocolate Run event came next and proved to be the hardest event of the day. We were given 20 minutes to try to start a fire using a magnesium block, a knife and some newspaper.
(Photo credit: David Creech)
Additional points were rewarded if you could get water to boil on top of the flames and make a cup of hot chocolate. Rebecca and I tried our best to accumulate a pile of magnesium shavings and spark a flame with our knife, but the snow and wind made it very, very difficult because everything kept getting wet and the wind blew the magnesium shavings around. We tried to shield our station, but in the end we only saw sparks and no flames. Bummer!
- Our House
Our final event of the day was Our House. We were given a tarp, two aspen logs and some string and told to build a shelter that could withstand 30 mile per hour winds and cover two people through the night. Rebecca and I were on the same page with our game plan for this event and immediately got to work.
We found a leaning tree to use as the base of our structure and propped the two aspen logs up against tree, securing them in a natural notch in the tree. We then wrapped the tarp around and secured it to another tree using the string before packing the sides of the tarp with snow to keep it in place. We used another string to secure the front flaps of the tarp and dug out a bunch of the snow in the inside of our structure to make additional room. You’ll have to come back next year to check out our tarp house. We’re going to upgrade the kitchen!
World Cup Mogul Competition
With our first day of #OmniGames events under our belts, the #Omniten team boarded a big bus and headed back to our hotel to quickly turn right back around and drive to Deer Valley to check out the World Cup mogul competition.
Columbia is the official sponsor of the United States ski team and designed the team’s uniforms for the upcoming Olympics in Sochi. (I’ll definitely share pictures in an upcoming post!) Our group was treated to dinner and drinks as we watched the athletes compete for a chance to go to the Olympics.
The talent of the athletes was incredible and I think we were all blown away by their speed and the difficult tricks they demonstrated throughout the night. Watching the ridiculously high twists and flips brought me back to my high school diving days and I was completely captivated.
After the competition, our group couldn’t resist dancing around outside (Kriss Kross’ “Jump” came on – Can you blame us!?) but it soon became clear that it was time to make our way back down the mountain.
(Thanks to Gina for capturing this fun moment with Weston, Beth, Ed and Ann!)
Since the lift was closed, we had to walk down the mountain, but most of us opted to slide down the steep or slippery parts of the mountain.
(Shout out to Anne who is way too fun!)
Our group arrived back at the hotel around 10 p.m. The #Omniten team was split up into groups of four to share large suites at the hotel and a good number of us met back up in one of the suites to hang out for a few hours before crashing for the night. It was a long and incredibly fun day!
#OmniGames Day Two recap coming up soon!!!
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What an amazing first day!! I can’t wait to hear about how you do on your second day of competition!
That sounds like so much fun!
Awww! I’m so glad you had a fun time in my home state of Utah! I’m completely jealous right now! But aren’t the mountains beautiful!? They’re what I miss most. Definitely don’t miss the cold, oh wait, I live in New England now. Nevermind.
this whole day sounds fantastic! I am dying to try snowmobiling!
All of that in one day! That’s like a whole weekend’s worth of awesome adventures. I wish I could go see the snow – it is so hot here in California. Winter where are you?!
That looks like so, so much fun! What an AWESOME opportunity you had to do this. So jealous!! I always feel bad for the dogs pulling the dogsled… not exactly sure why! 😉
To be honest, I always did, too, until I met and spoke with the owner of the dogs. I asked him about a billion questions and walked away feeling really good about the experience. Many of the dogs that run with him are rescues (his wife owns a dog rescue) and they all sleep INSIDE their house! I can’t even imagine having that many big dogs sleeping with you inside your house (he said only three sleep on the bed), but it was very clear to me that these dogs are so loved. They were also totally AMPED at the thought of running – jumping up and down, barking, pawing each other – it was adorable and I truly believe the dogs enjoy it!
I’ve been dying to hear all about your trip! You must have been so exhausted after all that fun! The great thing about PC is the 2 hour time difference from FL. The two hours are more manageable than the three hour difference on the west coast.
What a fun first day!! I’d love to take a ride with a dog sled!
Sounds like a once in a lifetime trip, Julie. Only thing missing was Ryan and Sadie, of course!
I really wish Ryan could’ve come with me! He would’ve loved every minute. Sadie, on the other hand, is a bit of a baby in the cold weather. 🙂
oh my goodness, this looks like so much fun! probably the truest definition of playing in the snow.
Can’t believe you guys managed to fit all that in to one day!! Sounds like such an awesome trip!
It is so gorgeous up there! It makes me wish I lived somewhere that got snow regularly, but then when I think about it I really dont like it that much haha.
Omg this looks like a blast!
That looks like such a blast!!!
What an awesome day! It looks like you guys had a great time 🙂
This whole experience sounds amazing! That is a whole lot of fun in one day!
Oh my gosh that sounds seriously amazing. I have some friends who were in Park City/ Deer Valley at the same time, I hope I can make it up there with them next year!
WOW!!! And here I suggested a few things to check out… you got to experience above and beyond everything Park City!! What an amazing experience! I was just there a week and a half ago watching those aerialists practice- incredible!! Can’t wait to read more. And LOVE the blog update!
Great recap! love all the visuals to accompany it. I had a blast with all you folks and can’t wait til we all meet up again!
How cool was this trip? That’s such a cool opportunity and looks like a total blast! I can’t wait for the chance to ski and snowboard again. Until then I’ll just keep hoping a snow storm comes through Central Florida.
This looks so great! Excited to hear more.
This sounds like the most fun adventure, ever. I would love to do something like this. I’m guessing you stayed warm? What were the temps like? I’d love to hear about what you wore and how warm you were as that’s my biggest challenge during the winter! You were out in it all day so I’m anxious to hear 🙂
What coat are you wearing in those pictures (the white one!)? It looks like you had a freakin’ blast!!! #omnienvy is a REAL thing! 😉
What an awesome trip! I bet you were exhausted after all of that.
The sledding dogs are so cute. We saw a group of them on our last trip to Lake Tahoe and they get SO crazy excited to go sledding. They live for it!
Can’t wait to see the rest of your trip! Oh, and I adore the new design too. It’s so fresh and clean!
It looks like so much fun!!! I’ve done dog sledding before, and the first time I couldn’t stop asking questions about the dogs, because I was concerned about their safety. However, after seeing the enthusiasm of the dogs and how his owner treated them I knew they loved to do the sled!! Those that didn’t do it were barking so hard!! I’m already waiting for recap #2
I’ve enjoyed reading about your adventures. Also, really digging the new layout! The font is lovely too!
Um, how lucky are we?!
Holy cow, what a day– so many activities! Love the recap!
What an adventurous day! I love your recap! It sure looks like you are having the time of your life! 🙂 Can’t wait to read more…
Sounds like so much fun! Can’t wait to read more.
Can I just comment on how much you look like Kat on the Bachelor 🙂
For your future vacation, I recommend checking out the Jackson/Dubois area of Wyoming just east of Yellowstone– Brooks Lake Lodge (my past home and workplace) and Togwotee Mountain Lodge (fiance’s winter workplace); many of the same activities you just did and more! Glad you had such a fun trip.
that looks like so much more fun! Snow is the best!
This is so amazingly cool! But brrr… I was shivering just looking at all that now! 🙂
Wow, so many amazing experiences! Dog sledding sounds like so much fun 🙂
Amazing………….:)
Wow! Looks like an amazing time! I’ve always wanted to go dog sledding since I watched Iron Will when I was a kid!
Seriously, this is my dream day. I am so in love with skiing and all things related. I can’t wait to watch the winter olympics and watch all the pros 🙂
that sounds so fun!!!
What an amazing opportunity for you and the others!!!!
This looks amazing! I would love to do something like this. The new set-up looks amazing by the way!!!! Congrats Julie!
You have officially lived my DREAM winter vacation!! I can’t even imagine what you got to do on day two!! This all looked so amazing — glad you had an awesome time!
And I also love the new look 🙂
That is such an awesome experience! And you guys look so cute in your snow gear!
Wow what a day! The dog sledding looks like tons of fun! I probably would have just wanted to take a dog with me haha 🙂
Snow mobiling is my absolute favorite! I’m working on getting a weekend in the books to head to Tahoe with friends for a weekend that will definitely include snow mobiling!
I can’t get over how awesome this entire experience is.. and I can’t wait to read about the rest of it!
So glad you were able to make it to UT! And it was a blast frolicking in the snow with you! You and Rebecca did awesome, all things considered. I mean, you’re totally still in the running!