Day 32, Home again

Got back from Southern Colorado this afternoon. Went down to my Grandfathers cabin for X-mas with the family. Did alot of reading and sledding with the family. Went over to Wolf Creek on Monday and got to see my neice and nephew ski for the first time, that was pretty cool. It snowed most of the day on the slopes so the snow was great. They had a 74" base across the mountain and you could really tell the difference from the smaller bases in and around Summit County. All in all a good trip and a nice break from being on the mountain 5 times a week. Off to Copper Mountain tonight for fireworks and some NewYears Cheer. Stay safe everyone.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Day 31

Headed up to Keystone in the morning, suprised that there was not bigger crowds. Went tubing up on the mountian, pretty fun. went fast and got really dizzy. Had a blast, but it was really cold. Hanging out with the roomates tonight having a few adult beverages. Heading to the parental units tomorrow, cant wait to see the fam. and watch the little folks open the presents. X-mas is so fun. Hope all have a Merry X-mas.

Day 30

Vail, Went up with my roomate and friend today. Pretty good time on the mountain today, snow was fast and cat tracks didnt matter much. The roomate is really good on the skis , he spent most of the day waiting on me to catch up. Did about 4 hours on the mountain and spent the rest of the time walking the village and hanging out at the local pub. Weatherman is calling for snow the next couple of days so I'm crossing my fingers.

Creek at Vail

Vail snowman

Day 29

Keystone in the morning, got up to the hill early to beat the holiday rush. Cruised around a bit, then left after a few hours on the hill. It got pretty sporty on the hill trying to dodge all the vacationers and the Texans in jeans. Came home and went on a hike up on the mountains just behind m house with The Captin and Milo the dog. It was good to get up on the mountain and hike a bit. Heading up to Breck tonight for Happy Hour at Casa Mia. MMMMMM 1 dollar Tacos.

Trail Head

Beetle Kill

The Captain and Milo

Day 28

Went to Breckenridge today with the roomates and friends. We made laps for awhile and then watched a little bit of the slopeside competetion of the Dew tour. We checked out the tents and got alot of cool free stuff. Wanted to ride the mechenical bull, but the line was too long. Headed home for beer and pot roast tonight.

Day 27

Keystone, made laps for a couple of hours this morning. It looks as if the X-mas crowds have shown up in Summit. Got pretty crowded on the mountain at about 11:00. Looks like this will be my pattern of boarding until after the new year. Get up early make laps and get off of the mountain by noon. Not ideal, but tourism is what keeps the mountain going, so they can have the mountain till after the new year, then I will take it back.

Day 26

Keystone in the morning. Got about 2-3" of snow on the mountian this morning. I just went up for about 3 hours. Then went in to Denver to finish up the X-mas shopping and pic a good friend up from the airport. Im totally excited to have her up here. Looks like it is going to be a fun 3 weeks. The first of many friends to head up here. Think we are heading over to Breckenridge tomorrow to check out the Dew Tour. Well im beat.

Day 25

Keystone, went up and made laps for a few hours. All of the snow from the last storm was gone, so I just cruised the mountain and dipped in and out of some trees trying to get what was left of the powder. A fun day, but Im kinda addicted to the powder. I am officially 1/4th of the way to my goal of 100 days. Time is flying right now, wish I could slow it down a bit, but I am having a blast.

Day 24, More Snow.

Went over to Beaver Creek today with the roomates. We got 8 " of snow last night so this was the first true powder day. Right off the bat the roomates take me down a double black, which was really great in the powder. Never thought I would say that. I really like going out with the roomates cause they push me and it allows me to get better. Did alot of cruising around on blues and blacks the rest of the day and the snow was great. Took my share of falls today, but it was like landing on feathers so it wasn't bad. So yeah, this takes over the best day of the season so far.

Yeah I fell some.

Day 23, Snow

Went out to Keystone with my roomates and friends today. It snowed 4-5 inches on the mountain today, so the riding was pretty good. I developed alot more confidence on the board knowing that if I did crash that it would be a little bit softer of a landing with the snow. I started ducking in and out of trees on the side of the runs and hitting smaller jumps. All in all it was the best day of the season, with the snow, the friends, and the new found confidence. Hopefully we will get some more snow, but I'm not holding my breath. Looks like I have found the end of my cold as well, so things are getting better. Going to be a good week, with the first of many friends coming into town to hang out and do a little boarding.

Day 22

Keystone, Got back on my board today. It felt good after riding my roomates twin tip. Im still sick, so I only rode half a day. The last roomate comes in tonight, so that should be interesting. Think Im going to take the weekend off to do x-mas shopping and to try and get over this nagging cold.

Copper Grand Prix / Bums

Went over to Copper today to watch my roomates girlfriend Katie try and qualify for the Copper Grand Prix Super Pipe finals. It was pretty cool, they have 2 heats of around 25 girls. I just stayed for her heat, then headed home. Im fighting of the remains of my weekend sickness so today was an off day, but tomorrow Im heading to Keystone to board and hang out a little. More strange people showed up on the couch the last couple of days, Kinda keeps me on my toes not knowing who will be sleeping our couch when I wake up in the morning. Yes in fact there are bigger bums in the world than me, they are currently on my couch.

Day 21

Headed over to Vail today with rommate Boles, and his friend Ryan. I borrowed a smaller board from my other roomate. It was a twin 155 cm 2008 Arbor. I have never rode a twin, so it was interesting. Think I'm going back to my board tomorrow. It was bone chilling cold, and Vail has to many traverses for snowboarders this early in the season. Got 7" but we showed up late so we made laps for a couple of hours then called it a day.

Day 20

Keystone, just crusied around the mountain with my roomate Boles today. We were suppost to get some significant snowfall, but only got about 2". I really dont like the local weatherman. He is constantly toying with my emotions. I think if I were to see him on the streets I might have to tackle him, or sweep the leg. Other roomate Berto's b-day is today, so were off to eat sushi and celebrate his 37th year on the fair planet. Hopefully we will get some more snow.

Day 19

Keystone, woke up on Saturday morning and there were 4 strange people camped out in the living room. Couple of guys from Denver, and two more from South Dakota. Hung out with the South Dakota boys all weekend, They speak Canadian Lite. Kinda funny. Got sick this weekend as well, didn't board, but finally got up to Keystone today and made laps. I hate the weather man, he's been teasing us by saying its going to snow every night and we got nothin. But he's saying it again tonight, so maybe he will get it right tonight.

Copper Mountain Super Pipe

Took off today to go to Copper's super pipe. Right now alot of Olympic teams are training there. I went to hang out with my roomate and his girlfriend. She is trying out for the Canadian womens snowboard team, so she has been training at Copper for a couple of weeks now. I just went to get some video and hang out. They have the perfect setup to watch the pipe. The pipe is at the bottom of one of the main trails. Just below the pipe is a huge bar with a nice deck where you can sit out and enjoy a few adult beverages and watch the boarders in the pipe. So it was a pretty good day. My apologies for the quality of the video, but its the best I got.

Video from the Deck

Video from the base of the pipe

Video from the base of the pipe, Look closely on

the left side at 59 seconds Shawn White drops in

Day 18, Cold

Went to Keystone, Got in my car this morning and the outside temperature was -15 degrees. On the mountain it was only -3, so I tuffed it out for 3 hours, lost feeling in my nose, and feet, but I was out there doing it. I think Im done boarding for the week, Im heading to Copper tommorrow to watch the US snowboard team train on the halfpipe. Should have some cool pics and maybe a video.

Day 17, Snow

Yes, it snowed last night, Went to Keystone and they had about 4" of the fresh white stuff. I was one of the first up on the mountain. They opened up some terrain off of the backside and I made laps all morning. It got tracked out by about 11:00, so I hit up some easier trails and continued to work on my switch riding. I just about got the hang of switch. I think I will be able to get down the mountain riding 100% switch in about a week or so. Right now I just do smaller sections, mostly the flats, but I got my 360's down to both sides. After mastering switch I think I am going to start working on my jumping skills. That should be fun. I left the mountain about 12:30 to attend to some important buisness.

not me

Day 16, Sick

Breckenridge again. Got up on the mountain and my head started to throb. Gutted out a few runs then started to feel sick and achey. Booted in the john, went home.

Day 15

Breckenridge, spent the whole day on the mountain, its nice what 11 hrs of sleep will so for you. Breckenridge opened up alot of new terrain since my last visit. They have runs open on Peak 7,8,& 9. It was nice to spend the hole day on the mountain. There was no one around most runs that I took I would pass or be passed by maybe 15 people. Breck is definately growing on me. Worked more on riding switch and hitteing smaller jumps. After the mountain I came home and waxed my old board. Im taking it up to Breck tommorow so I hade to get it ready. Its a smaller board so I should have better control and I think it will help me with my riding switch. 

Breckenridge

Breckenridge again

Day 14

Keystone, got in about 4 funs before my body gave out on me. Its not goos boarding when you only got 4 hours of sleep the previous night then flew into town and drove up from Denver. I think my excitement to get back on the mountain was a bit to much. I'm toast right now. I think it will be an early night tonight. Think I am going to have to go over to Vail and Beaver Creek later this week. should be fun.

Back to the Mountain.

Thanksgiving was great, but now its back to the Mountain. I can't wait to get back, rumor has it that they had some more snow since I left and that Keystone has opened more terrain and that Vail has opened some more terrain.  Ive been loading up the music on my mp3 player all weekend, so I got some new tunes to rock out with on the mountain.I also have my first visitor comming to the mountain in mid Dec. I'm looking forward to showing her a fun time in the mountains. Well, off to bed got to get up early, wheels up at 6:10 in the morning.

Oh. Turkey Day

  Happy Thanksgiving.

Hope everyone is with friends and family.

Day 13

Keystone one more time, It snowed about 2-4 inches in the valley last night. Got up to Keystone early and got on one of the first gondolas up the mountain. There was just enought snowfall to consist of a small powder day, made about five runs then they shut down the gondola and the lift lines got crazy long. Best runs of the season so far. The little bit of snow was great and it reminded me why I came up here in the first place. So here is the total so far. 13 days on the mountain. 1 dog hit, 1 staircase built, 1 snowboard repainted. so far a pretty good first month. Off to Houston now. Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.

Cabin, again

Went to help the folks on their cabin this weekend. Spend Saturday helping build the staircase. It looks pretty cool now that it is up, but there was some tense moments more than a few curse words and alot of doubt about the structural integrity of the stairs, but it all turned out good. Sunday I sanded down my old snowboard and will paint it later this week. Also spent alot of time playing with Beau and Jake my folks silver labs. The dogs are pretty funny. Now Im silling on the couch with the roomates vegging and watching GI Joe. Only a couple of days on the mountain this next week before I head to Houston for Turkey Day. Hope everyone has a great holiday.

Day 12

Keystone again. No working on switch today, just took a day to cruise on the mountain. After boarding headed up to the folks cabin. Going to help the folks with the cabin this weekend. I'm realizing that I need to find something other than snowboarding to fill my time. I am looking at doing some volunteer work here to break up the week. Only 1 more day on the mountain till I leave for thanksgiving then a week off of the mountain. Its good to take a break, but every time I get back on the mountain It takes me a couple of days to get my legs back. Went by Vail on my way to the folks house, looks like they only have a few runs open, they need some more snow.

Day 11

Went to Breckenridge with my roomate and his friends today. They were shooting video for his website, so we spent alot of time in the park. I got tired of just rolling thru the park, so I went off on my own for awhile and continued to work on my riding switch. In the afternoon I started to mess with my stance a bit and discovered that it is alot easier to ride switch with the duck stance. I set up with 15 on my front and 15 on my back. I made a couple laps with that set up then I moved my back stance to 9. I think this is the stance that I am going to stay with. It feels right.

Day 10

Back on Keystone. Had a great day. Confidence is growing slowly, had to get my legs back under me after the long weekend in Atlanta. I imagine that this will happen again after Thanksgiving. Starting to feel like a local, I tend to look down at those that are just now learning, and are always in my way. I have to keep reminding myself that I was there once and to cut them some slack. My friends from Atlanta are slowly making plans to come up, one will be here for three weeks and the others for a week or two. Cant wait to get them up here.

Day 9

Finally went to Breckenridge today. That mountain is alot bigger that I remember it being. Made laps all morning then headed back to the house. Right now Keystone has better snow and better runs open, but once Breck starts to open up more terrain I think it will be better. Brought my other board back from Atlanta, got to strip it down this weekend and get it ready for the mountain. Looks like I am heading to Houston next week for Turkey day thanks to my big brother. Can't wait to fill the old stomach with triptiphane and pass out on the couch, until then I will be up at Keystone and heading to the folks house to help with the cabin.

'HOTLANTA'

Ventured down to Atlanta for the weekend to celebrate my friend Jeffs 30th birthday.  Things got a little out of hand on friday night at the pub craw. Missy, Jeffs wife did an awesome job getting everything organized.  We did the golf themed pub crawl. It got ugly pretty early. That will happen when you visit 9 bars in 3 hours. Did the family party with Jeff on Saturday. Then won the Atlanta cup on Sunday. So all in all a pretty productive weekend. It was a good break from the mountains and I am ready to hit the slopes again tomorrow.

The Guys

The Ladies

Jeff and Missy

Lance and Courtney

Dave and his Mom

He also took her to Prom

Carl Spackler made an appearance

Day 8

Keystone again, Took a few laps to warm up with then I was side swiped by a beginner snowboarder. Took a board to the chest. Yeah it hurt. Looks like the beginners are on the mountain again so heads up to all. Decided that this was all a sign from God and cut the day short. Off to Atlanta for a long weekend of bragging to friends who are still convinced that the 9-5 is the way to go.

Day 7

Keystone in the morning and A-Basin in the afternoon. I continue to work on riding switch, doing 360's in the flats from toe side and heel side, tried to hit some jumps today, failed spectacularly. Learned that the 3 beer lunch is not condusive to good snowboarding. Think I am going to dial down the consumption on the mountain. Got to board with both roomates today. Everyone is better that me, but I continue to push myself a little bit more each day and I am becoming more and more confident in my riding abilities. One more day on the mountain this week, then off to Atlanta for Jeffs 30th, can't wait, should be fun.

Day 6

Keystone, made laps all morning. Working on riding switch and trying to hit a few smaller jumps. All went well until the last run of the day when I caught an edge comming off of a simple 180 transfer to switch. Yep the snow is still cold. Meeting new people every day. The people are so cool and laid back, must be something in the water. Done, and Done.

The Cabin

So my folks are building in a cabin in Colorado for their retierment. Thay have been working on it for around 2-2.5 years so far and I don't think that they are ever going to get done. I spent the weekend helping them out, not sure I was that much help but it provided some time away from the mountains to rest the legs a bit. It was a good time none the less. Remember folks measure twice cut once. or in my case measure once, erase your cut lines cause you can't read a tape measure, then measure again, erase, cause its out of square, measure again, erase,cause your doing it backwards, then finally say screw it and cut. Those stairs should come out really good.

Day 5

Hit up Keystone again, this time with my roomate and some of his buddies. These guys are good, they would do just about anything on the mountain. I followed behind them most of the day with my jaw dropped to the snow. I started to work on riding switch today, so I got that going for me, which is nice. Taking a break over the weekend to go help the parental units build a staicase in their cabin. and to avoid the rush from all the Denver folks that will be up here this weekend.

Day 4

Keystone for a half day, my legs are starting to feel like jello. I pull up in the parking lot this morning and to my left is a circle of guys finishing off a bowl, to my right were two girls downing a bottle of wine. I just kind of shook my head and felt a little old. Keystone was open top to bottom with 2 trails but they were 2 miles long. Made laps until the jello sank in and then headed to the house. Took a couple of pics off of the top looking towards Hoosier Pass.

Day 3

A-basin again. Got my legs under me so thats good. Keystone opens tomorrow, so I will get off of the A-basin train. Hit a dog on the way home from the mountain this afternoon. I was driving thru town and this dog comes out an ally and runs in front of the family truckster. I drug he/she for about 20 feet and all I saw was a white flash and yelping. Fourtunately I didn't hit it with my tires, just drug it a bit. Got out and it had retreated to a liquor store. Went inside and the owners had the dog, it was just shaken up a little no broken bones or anything. So the lesson for today is Keep your dogs on a leash or I will hit them.

Day 2

Pretty much a copy of day 1, except I went over to the park and watched the locals. Maybe by the end of the season my confidence and skill on the board will allow me to do some of the things that I saw today, but for right now I am content just being on the mountain and freeriding. I'm well on my way to 100 days and loving every bit of it.  Remember If you want to come up for a little time on the mountains I have a few couches and floor space is plentiful. Start making you plans.

Day 1

Went to A-Basin today. Did laps on the 2 trails that they had open until about 2 then packed it in and headed over Breckenridge to see how the mountain was looking. A couple of observations so far. 1. I should have worked out my legs a bit more before heading up here. I'm a bit sore this evening. 2. There is quite a bit of snow on the upper slopes of Keystone and Breckenridge. 3. The pine beetles are winning. If I had to guess I would say about 35-45% of the native pines around here are dying or dead because of the beetles, kinda sucks. It feels great to get back on my board and fling myself wrecklessly down the white ribbon of death.

A-Basin

Breckenridge

Colorado "Home Sweet Home"

Just moved into my new home in Colorado. I will be here for 6 months. This 6 months will be comprised of hanging out, meeting new friends, snowboarding and just being your everyday good guy. You might be wondering how this is possible. Well, long story short I have been unemployed since May and have yet to find gainful employment so I just said screw it, I got the time and the money I'll go be a ski bum for a winter. So here I am "livin the dream." I have decided to set a couple of goals for this winter.

1. Keep up with this blog and post 4-5 times a week.
 2. Get 100 days on the snow. 
 Thats it.

 Well, I'm off to do a little bonding with the new roomates, so thats it for now. 1st day on the snow is tomorrow at A-Basin.