One thing about film festivals in ski towns is that whenever everyone's at the movies, the lines are to get into the theaters not to get on the slopes!  Can we say SWOOSH or what?!!  Since our condo was just up the hill from the ski resort, I had to pass by it every day pretty much to catch the shuttles to get around town,.  Needless to say to any slope shredder, by Thursday, I was really jonesing for some good runs.  And what a gorgeous day to ski!!  I had brought my boots with me from LA (having experienced top-of-the-line, will never do rentals again!!) but left my skis at home since I knew I'd probably only ski a day, maybe two.   And I knew that this was not the time to learn to board since all of my friends have told me to pretty much expect the first day to be brutal even though by the third day I'd get in for sure and be converted forever.  Not the thing to do when you know your butt is going to have to sit in a theater for the next few days..   Decided to demo a pair of SnoBlades instead.  Now what these are, are something between regular skis and the skate-skis like Sleddogs (which I have heard pretty much suck, and I think might even have gone under) or Lazerblades. Developed for use in trick skiing and jumps, the skis basically extend about a foot and a half past your foot in either direction.  They use step-in bindings that attach to regular ski boots, but are non-release.  Speed-wise, you can go about as fast as a decent skier on regular skis, but if you are a downhill racer you will not go as fast as you could on full length skis for obvious reasons.  Overall, I give them a huge thumbs up.  I took them on serious blue runs with moguls and was able to swish down and around no problem.  On black diamond runs, serious powder conditions, I'm not sure how they'd hold because in that case you'd want the extra length and friction I think.  But two things which have always annoyed me about skis were solved by using these.  First, when you take your skis off, and have to carry them, it's a hell of a lot easier to carry these little buggers--and you don't need poles, so that's even less stuff to have to carry and/or wonder about losing.  And second, when skating across flat terrain, you use about half the effort with these suckers as you do trying to skate with regular skis.  It's an in-liner skater/skiing enthusiast perfect combo and was just perfect for me!!  A perfect day....a funny LA moment when my cell phone rang while I was on the chair-lift... and a great refreshing dose of Utah with all of its natural beauty.

Finished off the runs at 4:30 or so, just as it was starting to darken and ice up a bit.  Went home to get some food, then made it back to the library for the 8:30 screening of Frank's film, Joe the King.  Frank is a friend of a friend, and that friend actually helped him along at various stages in his script with her advice, so he made me promise to tell her how amazing the film turned out to be etc etc.  I told him i was so happy that i wouldn't even have to lie when I told her that I liked it.  Even though the film wasn't all that original in terms of its story of a dysfunctional, alcoholic environment, it was obviously a story that was close to Frank's heart  and the characterizations read with that kind of personal intensity to the audience (his bro was there too--did the music--and you could totally see that the brothers in the film related in a similar way which was pretty funny since the two of them seem to have a fuck-with-each-other kind of relationship, all in fun, but hardcore nonetheless).  The kid who was the lead was really expressive, Val Kilmer did a good job although I personally would have liked to see his character have a bit more humanity (really only showed at the end, and I don't think it was in the script, so it's not all his fault) even if that wasn't in tune with what happened in real life.  Ethan Hawke was great as the sucky guidance counselor, although he was surprisingly fat compared to my memory of him.  (Frank said in his interview that Ethan's wife was pregnant during shooting so hopefully it was just sympathetic weight gain.  It's OK, happens to the best of us Ethan--enjoy what's really important!)  So, I liked the film and almost everyone else I know who saw it did also.  Frank won one of the screenwriting awards....all in all, he has a lot of reasons to be very happy right now......

Finished the night off with the blow-out party at the Filmmakers Alliance condo, which I bowed out of at around 2:30 AM when it was still over 50 people strong. I believe I later heard the last person left around 6 in the morning.....