Hello everyone, my name is Andrew Conover, however most my friends called me AJ, especially in the world that this Blog is going to be a part of. This Blog is called the uphill goat, and the purpose of this Blog is to share with you stories of my experiences and learnings in backcountry skiing and mountain bike racing. I hope that this can be a helpful tool for both me and for you in learning more about how we can explore the mountain safely, and more quickly.

I like the name uphill goat because I enjoy going uphill both on skis and on bikes and it’s where one of my strengths is. Goat is significant because mountain goats are incredibly skilled in navigating mountains, but G.O.A.T. also stands for “Greatest of all time.” Even thought I’m not the greatest of all time never will be, I’m hoping this blog can help both me and you to become the best versions of ourselves in outdoor sport. I’m good, but not the greatest of all time. In short this Blog is basically just going to be a short recording each day. Today I would like to do a brief introduction.

I’ve been racing mountain bikes for the past 8 years, since I was 14 and I’m recently getting more into backcountry skiing, and I’ll have my first ski mountaineering races here shortly. I ride for Spry Cycles which is a local company here in America Fork Utah and I am a private mountain bike coach. I help coach several athletes right now, mostly high school kids, helping them achieve their goals and accomplish the things that they’re hoping for. I’m also a student at Brigham Young University and racing mountain bikes independently for them. I raced in collegiate nationals this last year placing 9th in the Cross-Country race and 18th in the STXC. I’ve been able to have a successful career racing in the high school series and beyond. I was able to podium many races and win several. I got 3rd at varsity state my senior year and I love to race, it’s something that I look forward to and something that I’ve learned a lot from. If you have any questions about my focus or races, feel free to let me know. The reality is that there will probably be very few people who will read this blog post, but after I have hundreds of these people might start to catch on and it could be a good opportunity for people to learn and an opportunity to meet new people.

I was born in Orem Utah and have lived in Utah my entire life, other than a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Argentina and OH. I returned home just over a year ago and have been going to school, racing, and skiing in the mountains ever since. I have six siblings, three brothers and three sisters and I’m right in the middle. I like to think that I’m a full-time mountain adventurer (is that a word?) and racer and a part time student.

Check back everyday to learn something new about how to best explore the mountains.

You an also listen to a podcast version of this blog on Spotify or any other streaming platform.

Thank you for joining me on this new journey.