Day 12: 12/31/07

Conditions: 6+ inches of fresh powder and cold
Location: Breckenridge, CO

Highlights:

- Good: Waking up to a lot of new snow.
- Better: Finding out that all major roads – including I-70 – are closed.
- Best: Loading the chair on a virtually empty mountain at 8:15 (the lifts actually open at 8:30).
- Everyone had a different favorite
o Dirk: Trees off of E Chair
o Steph: T-Bar North
o Breanne: The Burn
o Craig: The trees under the Breckenridge Connect Lift

Lowlights:

- Hmm….it’s so hard to come up with lowlights on a day like today and it would seem fundamentally wrong to complain about anything after all the stashes we found.

Après Ski:

Steph made lasagna and everyone watched football.

Days to go: 38

Day 11: 12/30/07

Conditions: Snowy and windy
Location: Breckenridge, CO

Highlights:

- We woke up to 3+ inches of fresh snow on top of the few inches we received yesterday
- We had some great runs down The Burn, Little Johnny, and in some epic trees off of the Breckenridge Connect Lift
- It was warmer than yesterday…at least by 5-10 degrees

Lowlights:

- 6 Chair, Imperial Lift, and the T-Bar never opened because of the extreme wind
- Lift lines were atrocious because so many lifts were closed

Après Ski:

We left the hill at around 1pm because all the expert terrain was closed due to insanely high winds. The crowds were massive in the few open areas and it was just too much to take. Later, we ventured out on a fool’s errand to the closed liquor store and the grocery store. Treacherous conditions made the drive, well… interesting. Dirk made Mexican Feast Part II and once again we were in bed by 9:00.

Days to go: 39

Day 10: 12/29/07

Conditions: Snowy and windy
Location: Breckenridge, CO

Highlights:

- Runs that lasted longer than 30 seconds, which is what we are accustomed to in Michigan
- 2 fantastic runs down T-Bar North and T-Bar South (our names for the runs, they do not have actual names)
- Semi-fresh tracks on The Burn and in various trees

Lowlights:

- We were panting after the simplest tasks…like booting up. Three cheers for the altitude.
- It was very cold and windy (see pictures) - when we woke up it was zero degrees and there was significant wind-chill. We actually utilized a warming hut at one point.
- Breanne had an incident with a large stump in the trees, leaving a deep gash on her calf and forcing her to all it a day before noon.
- Imperial chair never opened and the T-bar closed for the afternoon
- The crowd in the lodge and cafeteria was unbelievable…bad enough to make us question whether or not Breckenridge is indeed the place we wanted to retire.
- The head repairman at Lone Star Sports refused to work on Dirk’s severely-damaged Burton Baron

Après Ski:

Craig made Bloody Mary’s that tasted eerily similar to gazpacho…but were tasty nonetheless; Breanne cooked a Mexican feast; Steph got her board tuned; the Patriots beat the Giants; and everyone was in bed by around 9:15pm

Days to go: 40

Day 9: 12/23/07

Conditions: Raining and slushy
Location: Mt. Bohemia, MI

Highlights:

- Spending some down time talking to the owners – Lonnie and Lindsey – about the mountain
- The moment when the rain finally stopped around 11:00am and we knew we would be able to get out and make some turns.
- For the four hours we were able to get out, we had a great time in the heavy slush, and got some nice video footage
- Getting hugs from Pattie the ski patroller
- Getting a tip for a “secret” line at Boyne from Brad, who is a ski patroller at both Boyne an Mt. Bohemia.

Lowlights:

- When we woke up in the morning, it was raining – not just sprinkling or drizzling…but raining. We took a drive around the area to kill time.
- We drove a total of 20 hours (round trip) for 4 hours of boarding.

Après Ski:

We cooked and watched a movie in the cabin. However, it was more of the same the following morning. The snow on the mountain had diminished significantly and the forecast was for more rain. We were also concerned about out ability to cross the Mackinac Bridge on the potentially arduous journey home. So, we decided to leave a day early, on Sunday instead of Monday, therefore sacrificing two days of boarding.

Days to go: 41

Day 8: 12/16/07

Conditions: 1 inch of powder on packed snow
Location: Boyne Mountain, MI

Highlights:

- Making fun of the “Michigan Terrain Park” (see photo...yes it consisted of 4 rails total).
- Finding a few untracked spots in the trees
- Dirk breaks out his Burton Elevators and carves it up
- Kevin at the Boyne repair shop works wonders on Steph’s old board













Lowlights:

- We are still at Boyne and in Michigan; we are starting to get restless
- The wonders that Kevin worked on Steph’s old board were with black P-Tex – the board is white… (see photo )

Après Ski:

The drive home; a stop at Sam’s; a pathetic Lions vs. Chargers game; burritos

Days to go: 42

Day 7: 12/15/07

Conditions: Hard
Location: Boyne Mountain, MI

Highlights:

- In a desperate attempt to find anything fresh, we make our way down a green run in an obscure section of the mountain. When we arrived at the lift chair, an old, bitter lift operator states “There ain’t shit here, we’ve been so busy and it hasn’t snowed.” Dirk’s reply: “Okay. Thank you.”
- Hiking above Broken Fence run to find fresh tracks in the trees
- Dirk’s turkey sandwhich

Lowlights:

- The snow was rock hard and there were no fresh tracks to be found
- Watching the news at the end of the day, and seeing that almost all of Michigan was under a snow advisory. The part not under a snow advisory…Boyne City.

Après Ski:

We stayed at the Water Street Inn in Boyne City for the second weekend in a row. Our room was entirely pink and included several doilies.

Days to go: 43

Day 6: 12/9/07

Conditions: Light powder on Groomed
Location: Boyne Mountain, MI

Highlights:

- Not having to drive in from Traverse City in the morning
- Dirk gets his old, noodle board back from the repair shop and realizes it’s not that bad after all.
- Fresh tracks in the trees

Lowlights:

- Checking out the trees off the Disciples II lift and realizing that there is absolutely nothing over there.
- Visiting the Boyne repair shop and realizing that the people who have been tuning our board at Modern Skate and Surf in Lansing are complete idiots

Après Ski:

After the long drive home, we watched the Lions lose to the Cowboys in the last 20 seconds of the game, all thanks to the miracle the miracle of DVR.

Days to go: 44

Day 5: 12/8/07

Conditions: Groomed
Location: Boyne Mountain, MI

Highlights:

- Disciples chair opens
- First runs of the year down Fallen Tree Run and Broken Fence Run
- Hiking up Superbowl to ski the trees
- Steph rides her new Burton Feel Good ES for the first time

Lowlights:

- Paying $45 per ticket to ski in Michigan
- Realizing that hiking up a hill in Michigan is a little pathetic
- Crowds
- Listening to Dirk try to befriend the new Disciples lift operator (Note: for Dirk, this was probably a highlight…)

Après Ski:

We stayed at the Water Street Inn in Boyne City. We were literally the only people staying there – apparently it’s more of a summer get-away. Nevertheless, the room was great.

Days to go: 45

Day 4: 12/2/07

Conditions: Powder and groomed powder
Location: Boyne Mountain, MI

Highlights:

- Experiencing the Pighead breakfast sandwich at La Crema.
- Poaching runs off nosedive and several other “unopened” (but not-exactly closed…) runs.
- Hearing Doug, a ski patroller, admit that he closed Nose dive and being completely unable to bullshit a reason why. The conversation ended with him stating, “Don’t get caught…”
- Hearing some idiot in the lift line enthusiastically exclaim, “That’s as good as Hemlock gets!”
- Watching the same skier fall four or five consecutive times – each fall included the loss of at least one ski.

Lowlights:

- Attempting to drive a Subaru Outback through 9 inches of fresh, wet snow on an unplowed road
- Driving home in the fog and rain
- Going to Meijer on the way home
- Steph falling on her way out of the woods and getting laughed at by a 5 year old on the chairlift

Après Ski:

Meijer, cleaning, and preparation for more of the daily grind

Days to go: 46

Day 3: 12/1/07

Conditions: Groomed powder on top of man-made
Location: Boyne Mountain, MI

Highlights:

- Forcing Dirk to skip his National City Christmas party
- Seeing the first ever jean-skiing, ski patroller.
- Getting into the trees for the first time this year
- Creating “industrial glades” by dodging snow machines on the un-groomed, edge of Hemlock

Lowlights:

- Waking up at 4:30 a.m.
- Dirk claiming he pulled his super-spinedias (sp?)

Après Ski:

- Dinner and lodging at Booth and Jana’s
- Eating Filet for dinner
- Falling asleep before the most intriguing college football games of the year got past half time.

Days to go: 47