12/31/09

Day 15

Conditions: More Epic Powder

Location: Snowbird, Utah

Today was a bluebird day at Snowbird, and the powder was plentiful. We got up early and picked up Craig at 7am to do the Canyon Crawl again. We had plenty of time to boot up and get in the Tram line – which was packed with locals and fatty skis.

We had run after run floating in sweet, fluffy powder. We started with a run down the front side to Peruvian Express. Then, we followed the rope openings to Mineral Basin, Baldy and Little Cloud. Every run was powder or powdery moguls.

Just like yesterday, we didn’t stop for lunch. We finished the day at Gad 2 and called it around 2:30.

Highlight:

Powder. It’s impossible to explain the awesomeness of riding in powder to someone who doesn’t snowboard or ski. It is complete freedom and absolute flow. Time doesn’t exist. Nothing else exists. Paul Newman use to say that he raced cars because it was the only time he ever felt any semblance of grace – that’s how I feel about snowboarding on a day like today.

Lowlights:

There really were none – but the lines were pretty long. The valet told us there were 6400 people on the mountain today. That’s a lot.

Après Ski:

It’s New Year’s Eve…so there’s only one thing to do: pack and go to bed early in preperation for one more day out tomorrow.

Days to go: 35

12/30/09

Day 14

Conditions: Epic Powder

Location: Snowbird, Utah

This morning, Snowbird reported two inches of snow. We suspected it might be more and we made the hour drive on slick roads to see what The Bird had to offer. When we got to the top and dropped into Mineral Basin we found feet (not inches) of fresh powder.

It snowed all day long…and I mean it was dumping snow. Visibility was an issue, but we still managed to make plenty of turns from 9am to 4pm – without stopping for lunch. It was a great, full day.

Highlight:

The highlight was simply the sheer number of fluffy powder turns we made today. It was literally never-ending.

Lowlights:

It took us around two hours to get out of Little Cottonwood Canyon…doing the canyon crawl all the way. But, it’s a small price to pay.

Après Ski:

We ate at the horrible Fuego Pizzeria. My pizza was raw in the middle and cold. But we were so starving that we just ate what was served and went home to go to bed.

Days to go: 36

12/29/09

Day 13

Conditions: Cloudy with light snow

Location: The Canyons, Utah

Today we headed back to The Canyons for more mediocre conditions and heavy crowds. All the exciting stuff was virtually unrideable (or closed by parole). We checked out the steeps off Ninety-Nine-Ninety and The Aspens to find the snow hard and limited. We kept to moguls and groomers most of the day because there weren’t many other options.

Highlight:

At this point, even millimeters of snow can soften up the conditions. So, the half-inch or so we received throughout the day made carving in the afternoon much better.

Lowlights:

Dirk either reinjured his arm or suffered a brand new injury when the rug came out from under him on a groomer. We ended up quitting around two in the afternoon because he was in so much pain. Here’s to lucky day 13.

Après Ski:

Days to go: 37

12/28/09

Day 12

Conditions: Gaperlicious: Sunny, blue skies, and icy

Location: Park City, UT

It was a blue bird day at Park City, so we walked the 100 feet from our condo to the Payday lift. Things were already crowded at 9am – the lift line was long and 7 out of the 8 electronic kiosks were broken.

We got on the hill and took a few groomers. We spent most of the morning on icy runs looking for some decent trees or moguls. Unfortunately, the Park City Ski Patrol had roped off anything with the potential to be fun. We were drooling over the trees left of Pioneer Lift…but it was all roped off.

We broke for lunch early and came back out to huge crowds everywhere. We hopped around in the afternoon and ended the day with a few groomers.

Highlight:

For me, the highlight was riding afternoon bumps. The moguls on Widowmaker and Nail Driver were the perfect size for boarding, and we were able to get a great rhythm.

Dirk’s highlight was probably doing something I like to refer to as “riding hard stuff in less than favorable conditions just to prove you can.” We rode the dirt/rocks/moguls of Jupiter chair in the afternoon, and somehow Dirk was having the time of his life.

Lowlights:

Crowds. By noon things were out of control on most of the high speed lifts. It was so crowded there were multiple traffic cops directing traffic before the lift lines.

Après Ski:

We went out to The Riverhorse with Craig and Breanne for a great meal. The highlight was definitely when Breanne forced Craig to request a song. Even better was Breanne's reaction when the acoustic, folk singer didn't know Country Roads by John Denver. We settled for Desperado - weak.

Days to go: 38

12/27/09

Day 11

Conditions: Crud, rocks, stumps and dirt

Location: Snowbird, UT

We picked up Craig this morning and headed to Little Cottonwood Canyon for a day at The Bird. The Canyon was beautiful as always, and we practically had the mountain to ourselves. We started at Mineral Basin and worked our way through Little Cloud and Gad 2.

Unfortunately, Snowbird hasn’t had much snow all year. To say we hit a few rocks would be an understatement. We were scraping dirt, hitting wood and riding on rocks. The coverage on Gad 2 was the worst I’ve ever seen it. Still, the packed snow was light and hadn’t been damaged by any warm-ups. The bumps were soft and nice all over the mountain.

Soon after lunch, Craig and I were tired. Dirk, on the other hand, was riding like a rock star and ready to go all day long. We took a nice, long run down the front side and had to call it early because of sheer exhaustion.

Highlight:

Remembering our April trip at Snowbird – days 48, 49 and 50. We had so many great turns and got to see all the runs again today.

Lowlights:

Snowbird is a great mountain. On a powder day, nothing beats it. But as Craig said, “It’s an angry mountain” when it doesn’t have enough snow.

Après Ski:

We watched Stanton start for the Lions on the computer, since it wasn’t televised out here. Yes, they lost. Then, we met up with Craig and Breanne for Italian in Park City. We also watched one of the most depressing movies ever: Wendy and Lucy - it made us miss Little Breck.

Days to go: 39

12/26/09

Day 10

Conditions: Packed powder, groomed snow, rocks

Location: Canyons, UT

After spending two days sitting in the car, we woke up this morning ready to get moving. We met Craig and Breanne at The Canyons for a day at the locals’ playground. We let them show us the mountain, which included some nice tree skiing off Peak 5 and a ton of great bumps. The snow was nice, but they definitely need more. We were hitting rocks everywhere, some of the worst trails being groomed ones near the bottom of the hill.

We took a few exploratory runs into areas that Dirk thought looked tasty. This led to stumps, rocks, tight trees, and crusty patches. But at least we were trying to find some new snow.

Highlight:

The best run of the day was in an area that was roped off in the morning for avalanche risk and then opened on our last run. It was rocky, but full of fluffy fresh snow. The only own side was the altercation (see Lowlights).

Lowlights:

No day is complete without some comment by some idiot. Today, it happened on our powder run. Four skiers were blocking the only path to the run and waiting around for no apparent reason.

Dirk rode by and joked “Why is everyone standing here…is someone hurt?”

Promptly, an overweight, middle-aged man barked back, “I’ll stand here if I want to stand here…got a problem with that?” It was aggressive, but we laughed and started down the hill. It was such a weird experience that I almost took out Breanne in an attempt to get away from the guy.

We stopped half way down the run and the four-pack caught up to us and skied by. (I noticed that the guy in question really sucked at skiing.) At that point, Breanne related the incident to Craig. Having been plagued by jerks lately, Craig was immediately moved to defend the honor of his snowboarding friend, Dirk. He yelled, “Where is that fucker?” and took off down the run.

The “fucker” was only about 20 yards away, and had heard Breanne’s description of the story and Craig’s battle cry. He was preparing for a confrontation.

Below is a summary of things I’m pretty sure were said during this incident. I do not remember all of them, but I did my best.

Craig: What the heck? Why do you have to harass people?

Fucker: I’m skiing with four people! I can do what I want.

(Lots of dialogue…things getting heated. Dirk enters and exits the scene.)

Craig: I’m just saying,  you don’t need to make a comment about someone.

(Breanne skis over)

Breanne: Let’s just calm down.

Fucker: Tell him to calm down. He’s the one who skied over here. (To Craig) You want to fight?

Breanne: Okay, let’s just stop.

Craig: I don’t want to fight you.

Fucker: I want to fight you. Get down here. I’ll shove this ski pole up your ass.

Craig: I’m not going to fight you.

Fucker: Fuck you, get down here.

Craig: Fuck you!

Breanne: Fuck you!

Fucker: I’m not trying to fight with you, just stop!

Breanne: You are starting a fight. You just told my husband you were going to shove a ski pole up his ass!

(More arguing…guy skis away)

Breanne: ASSHOLE!

The guy attempted to ski down the hill while we waited with heads shaking. Craig and I discussed The Constant But Not Inclusive Asshole Dilemma: There are assholes in every aspect of life, representing every race, religion, gender, hobby, etc. However, not all people in any category are assholes – and assuming anyone from a group is an asshole solely based on the fact that they are in a particular group is wrong.

As we continued down the run, a funny thing happened. The guy had wiped out, lost a ski, and was frantically searching for it in a huge mound of powder. Many people would have taken this opportunity to heckle him, spray snow on him or just run right into him. Did we? No. We calmly rode by, having a great run. See, karma brought him down…and if we participated further we would have fallen because karma would have turned on us.

Après Ski:

We went grocery shopping and spent the night relaxing. USC beat Boston college. Boo. 

Days to go: 40

12/24/09-12/25/09

Getting there is half the fun.

We spent Thursday and Friday involved in an escapade that could only be described as the drive from hell. We packed up the Tribeca and left early Thursday morning aware of storm warnings in the plains. We brought plenty of extra food and water, a shovel, warm clothes and everything we might need. Our first day of driving involved rain, snow, wind and ice. But it really wasn’t that bad. We stayed overnight in Kearney, Nebraska – the biggest leg of our drive was over and we planned to drive on Friday and arrive in Park City around six in the evening.

We woke up early on day two of the drive and started our drive through I-80 in Wyoming. This route saves about 3-4 hours compared to taking I-76 and I-70 through the rolling mountains of Colorado. The first five hours through Nebraska and Wyoming were tough: it was so windy that we were constantly steering against the wind. (We later found mounds of snow that had somehow blown into our car and our Thule rack in the high winds.) Still, it was drivable.

We got to Cheyenne, Wyoming to find that a huge stretch of I-80 and the neighboring state roads were closed. In the winter, the only options are to wait out the storm or to drive down to Denver and through Colorado. Dirk checked Map Quest and found that the drive from Cheyenne to Salt Lake was predicted to take 6 hours; the new route was predicated to take 10 hours.

We ended up deciding to make the drive. We knew it would be long and tiring, but we really underestimated just how horrible it would be. We passed Vail, CO around 4:00pm. We typically end our journey at Vail, but yesterday we drove by knowing that we had eight more hours of driving to go.

Our scenic tour of Colorado

We arrived at midnight (Utah time), and it was so late we had to call a random number to have a security guard check us in. The positive was that our condo is awesome: it’s by far the best RCI exchange we have ever locked in on. Walking into a condo with two flat screen TVs, a nice, clean bed, new carpet, and a full kitchen did somehow make the hellish drive worthwhile.

12/21/09

Day 9

Conditions: Powder and packed powder

Location: Mount Bohemia, MI

Today was our third and final day at Bohemia for months. We woke up to another healthy inch of snow. Conditions improved each day of our trip. Things were still a bit hard underneath, but they had softened up significantly.

We rode mostly on the front side because the double wasn’t running, but we did make a few bus runs. We got a chance to take some runs with Lindsey and Lonnie, which was a nice treat. We went through some of the short cuts we found yesterday and just had a good time on the hill that we know and love.

Highlight:

-       Finding good snow in Widowmaker and Jesse James, and busting through the trees without hesitation.

Lowlights:

-       Driving away, and not knowing for sure if we would be back in March with four healthy biceps between us. Bohemia is truly paradise. With all the talk of moving next year, it’s one of the few things about Michigan we will really miss if we leave.

Après Ski:

Time really flew by while riding with Lindsey and Lonnie, so we ended up a few hours behind schedule on the drive home. That made for a late night of driving, but definitely worth it.

Days to go: 41

12/20/09

Day 8

Conditions: Powder and packed powder

Location: Mount Bohemia, MI

We woke up to three inches of fresh, lake-effect powder. Sure, three inches isn’t that much, but it did wonders for the hard-packed conditions that developed by yesterday afternoon. We spent the morning on the front side, riding pretty much every run. We took another trip into the Outer Limits and had much better luck finding our way around. We passed up Jupiter and traversed to Uranus, which had some great chutes and completely untracked powder. By the time that was over, it was close to noon and we went in for more fabulous egg salad.

The double chair opened in the afternoon, and even more fluffy powder had fallen since then. We had some great runs down Roller Coaster and Lindsey’s run. We also ducked a rope into The North Pole and found some great snow. Late in the afternoon, we decided to explore a few paths off the Bear Den that we never took. Four runs later, we had discovered new paths to The Black Hole and Venus. Even better: neither path required unbuckling. Typically, it takes two to three episodes of unbuckling just to get to those areas, so we were really excited.

Haunted Valley in the snow. 

We quit around 4:00pm after a full day of riding. It wasn’t epic, but it was a lot of fun. I’m really going to miss this place in January and February. 

Highlight:

-       Hearing Muse’s “Uprising” while getting ready to go back out after lunch. It’s just such a great pump up song. We had a great morning, ate yummy food, and knew the double would be open when we got back out. Everything was in harmony, and that song just fit perfectly with the moment.

Lowlight:

-       The Lions lost (and they actually had a chance against the Cardinals). It’s pretty messed up when I’m excited about the fact that the game was at least close. I’ve given up hoping for a win.

Après Ski:

We ate homemade chili and watched Raging Bull. We also got our Bohemia allotment of ten hours of sleep.

Days to go: 42

12/19/09

Day 7

Conditions: Powder and packed powder
Location: Mount Bohemia, MI

Every day now is a stolen day. A great day.

Mount Bohemia opened Friday with 300 powder hounds taking every stash on the front side of the mountain while we were both at work. A little freezing drizzle Friday night turned that packed powder into something that was not very fun to ride on. Luckily, there were still some untracked places and we were able to have a pretty good day.

We went to Outer Limits before the crowds got there. Usually this is a good thing, but today it meant a paucity of tracks that normally guide us through the ups and downs of the galaxy. We (okay, I) made several wrong turns. This wouldn’t have been so bad had the hiking not been so damn hard. No one had forged a trail, so we were waist high in powder trying to hike every which way. Meanwhile, Brian was waiting by the road in a truck to take us back to main camp. We were really trying to haul ass on the hike, and falling all over the place in the process. By the time we got to Venus, we were overheated and tired. Still, the run itself was great. Fresh, deep tracks: totally worth it.

Who knows how long we were in the Outer Limits, but by the time we got in it was time for lunch. We whipped up some homemade egg salad and tried to cool down from the hike.

Conditions went from decent to great in the afternoon. They opened the double chair and plenty of runs with plenty of powder. We rode the back most of the afternoon, taking about three passes down Lindsey’s run. It was a really great afternoon with lots of solid turns. The best part was that Dirk’s bicep didn’t really bother his at all.

Dirk and his bicep both rode like champs. And it even snowed!

Highlight:

- Just being back up here at Mt. Bohemia. Cabin 8, the familiar smell of the air freshener, the predictable turns in the entrance to the backcountry…it all feels like home.

Lowlight:

- The sad realization that we will not be back here until March. If we’re lucky…

Après Ski:

We went with Lindsey to the Bear Belly Lodge in Lac La Belle.

Days to go: 43

12/16/09

Dirk’s surgical consult was this morning. In preparation, we did some research about the procedure last night. The more sites we looked at, the worse things looked. The bottom line was this: unless Dirk gets the bicep fixed within a month of injury, it may look like a fruit rollup forevermore.

I woke up this morning to a world where the season was over. It was not a good feeling.

Dirk called me at school several hours later. After seeing two specialists, he was booked for surgery…one week after our trip. Yes, we will make Bohemia and Utah. I’ve never been so excited for two trips. I had written off the season, but part of it was somehow saved.

After surgery, Dirk will need weeks and weeks of rest, but the April trip is still good possibility. We haven’t even officially canceled Tahoe in February; we’re going to see how things go. So, the season is not a total loss.

Another bonus is that knowing Dirk was out of commission from January to February motivated me to finally give in to all the kids begging me to start a ski/snowboard club at our school. Each Tuesday during January and February 35-50 students will get to experience the awesomeness of riding – some for the first time. Plus, I’ll get to make a few turns myself.

12/14/09

The waiting game.

As quickly as the season began, it may be ending. The incident from Saturday was indeed a torn bicep to Dirk’s left arm. We still have no idea how or why Dirk’s bicep chose to randomly rip away from his elbow on fallen tree run, but it happened. Dirk saw his doctor this morning and was immediately referred to a specialist.

Here’s the good news:
- Dirk is not in incredible pain and was able to ride Sunday
- Dirk still has plenty of movement in his arm, and decent strength
- Bret Favre played through a similar injury…and he’s an NFL quarterback
- Some people don’t even get surgery for an injury like this

Here’s the bad news:
- If Dirk wants surgery, his doctor stated that sooner is better than later because the longer he waits the harder it will be to repair
- The rehab time for surgery is four months

Dirk sees the specialist on Thursday. That’s three days of the world absolutely standing still while our season hangs in balance. To many people this probably sounds crazy. I mean, it’s a snowboarding season…what’s the big deal? All I can say is that we live for this time of year. All the slugging away at meaningless jobs melts away in the sheer flow of a powder day. Snowboarding is happiness; without it a Michigan winter is simply an exercise in seasonal affective disorder.

All we can do right now is sit around and try not to check snow reports, because that epic base that’s building up out west might not do us any good during the February doldrums.

12/13/09

Day 6

Conditions: Chewy and groomed
Location: Boyne Mountain, MI

We woke up to 36 degree weather in Boyne city and had a feeling that the trees would be soggy and difficult to turn in. Assuming that we’d be carving on the groomers most of the day, Dirk put on his elevators and I brought out my brand new Lipstick. It’s a rocker board with an EST binding system – very different from anything I’ve ever ridden.


The maiden voyage of the Lipstick

We spent most of the day just carving around the mountain on the chewy snow. The rocker board was great: it had amazing pop, made ground spins seamless, simplified fakie and positively floated in the powder during our Superbowl hike. I don’t want to make any sweeping generalizations about rocker vs. camber yet, but so far I have been really impressed with the way this board rode.

Highlight:

- We hiked up Superbowl – one of the last untouched places on the mountain. When we got to the top, we thought we were busted because a groomer was working on one side of the mountain. Thankfully, he drove away and we had one, fantastic run down the right side of Superbowl. It was virtually untouched powder with a nice pitch. We almost never get to ride Superbowl during the season because it is littered with race courses, so this was a real treat for us. The bonus was that when we drove by a few hours later, we saw that the entire run had been groomed (read: ruined) since we rode it.


Superbowl hike out. Two words: worth it.

Lowlight:

- Another altercation with boarder-haters. After accidently stepping on a guy’s ski while boarding the chairlift (and apologizing immediately), I was treated to an enlightening lecture that began with “the problem with snowboarders…” He’s obviously practiced it in his head many times and was just waiting to find the perfect, captive audience.

Après Ski:

We ate our weekly lunch at Pearsons and listened to the Lions vs. the Ravens while we drove home.

Days to go: 44

12/12/09

Day 5

Conditions: 20 inches in the past three days
Location: Boyne Mountain, MI

Opening weekend at Boyne always illuminates one great truth: Boyne cannot do anything in a timely manner. The first weekend of the year always includes the following: a broken change machine near the lockers; empty Kleenex boxes still not refilled from last year; a half-running cafeteria. To top it all off, patrol still has not upgraded their 1979, brown uniforms to the modern, red and black patrol uniforms.

But all of this ineptitude, procrastination and slow motion actually translates into one, blissful truth: the first weekend of Boyne always has the best riding of the year. When we arrived today, two feet of snow blanketed the entire mountain. Were most of the trails groomed? No - only Victor and the bunny hills were groomed ready at 9 am. But the more important question is: Did patrol rope anything off? Of course not! The entire mountain was our playground – a playground filled with luscious powder that the masses are too dumb to try and ride.


Opening weekend was full of snow and snow guns.

We started with the trees under Hemlock chair. The coverage was great. In fact, the snow was better than the snow we had almost a month ago in Colorado. We moved on to Nose Dive, then Meadows, then to all our secret spots off Victor chair: Brad’s run, Fallen Tree, and the Soup Bowl.

We ended up plugging in a solid day of riding: 9am-3pm. Normally, we’re bored at Boyne before noon. It was nice to have that feeling that there were so many runs we wanted to take and just not enough time.

So I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Boyne management – not for exceeding our expectations, but for their total lack of service on the hill. Thank you for not fucking everything up before we had a chance to get in some epic turns!


Dirk coming out of the Soup Bowl after an epic run.

Highlight:

- We never ride the terrain park run, which normally includes many features and a half pipe. Because nothing was set up, we took a run there today. We were rewarded with a great run parallel to the half pipe. I guess with the park rats gone, no one thought to venture in there.

Lowlights:

- We had a great first lap through Fallen Tree run, so we decided to take another run. Dirk let me have dibs, so I hit it hard and waited for him at the bottom. Time accumulated and it was clear something happened to Dirk. Eventually he came out holding his bicep and writhing in pain. Apparently something very hard struck his bicep then inexplicably dematerialized…so he’s really not sure what it was. I was tempted not to believe him, but then we examined the bicep. The bicep in question is now half the size of the other, normal one – it is extremely strange. We’ve tossed around several theories from a rabid animal that jumped from the foliage and bit him to a ghost defending the run from intruders. There is no actual wound, just a seriously deformed arm. My real theory is that his bicep muscle has separated from his joint and is all rolled up in his arm. Dirk’s not willing to accept that idea.

Après Ski:

The Red Mesa, as usual. Then we watched The Woodsman with Kevin Bacon. I would not recommend that movie to anyone.

Days to go: 45

11/28/09

Day 4

Conditions: Michigan conditions: man-made and icy
Location: Keystone, CO

We packed our bags and checked out of the Christie Lodge early in the morning to make it to Keystone by open. We had a few great runs on the killer groom before the crowds and ice picked up. We hung around for a few hours, and I finally felt like I really had my legs back for the season.


Ye Ol' Keystone Parking Lot.

Overall, the trip was great despite the relatively lame conditions. At least we were making turn, which is more than most Michiganders can say.


Sometimes, even the Sharp Shooter needs a rest...

Highlight:

- Getting out early before the crowds.

Lowlight:

- Driving out of the mountains on our way to Denver. It’s always sad to see them fade in the rearview mirror.

Après Ski:

We drove to the Courtyard Marriott in Denver, CO in preparation for our 6:00am flight Sunday morning (only the busiest travel day of the year - no big deal). We ate good food and watched lots of football, including Stanford’s glorious victory over Notre Dame. There was just one bad thing: all that talk of the Heisman and LeFevor was not even mentioned. Even I can see that’s weak.

Days to go: 46

11/27/09

Day 3

Conditions: Michigan conditions: man-made and icy
Location: Breckenridge, CO

By day three, we’d hit all three Summit County Resorts. To our surprise, the typically wind-blown and icy Breckenridge had the best grooming and the best snow around. The groom was almost chewy and very soft. We had some great runs until the crods showed up. Pretty soon, there were hundreds of people weaving through the runs: everyone from falling-leaf beginners to racer-x bombers. It became pretty dangerous and we decided to call it.



Highlight:

- The killer groom – who knew!?

Lowlight:

- There was prodigious, poachable terrain under every chair we rode. We would have done it; really, we would have. But we were afraid that Big Brother would track our Peaks Pass and blacklist us.

Après Ski:

We walked the streets of Breck and did some shopping before going home and relaxing for a while. By day three, we were pretty sore. Well, at least I was.


Dirk tried on the pink version of a black jacket he already ordered via backcountry.com

Days to go: 47

11/26/09

Day 2

Conditions: Michigan conditions: man-made and icy
Location: Vail, CO

Happy Thanksgiving! We hit Vail early anticipating bigger crowds than yesterday. We got there early enough to hit some killer groomers, but it got crowded fast.

We rode up the gondola with a pretentious skier who articulated his hope that Alta never allows snowboarders. When Dirk asked him why, the skier claimed that Taos allowed boarders, and the mountain changed. Dirk pressed him further, asking how the mountain changed – we were sure he would mention park punks or something. To our amazement he went through an elaborate theory about how snowboarders have the (magical) power to change the fall line of an entire mountain so that it’s wavy versus straight up-and-down. We sat there in puzzled silence. I would like to take this opportunity to put forth several, logical rebuttals to this ridiculous theory. (No, I didn’t bring these up at the time.)

1. If riders or skiiers had the power to change the fall line of a mountain in one year (erode it significantly), we would not be allowed to have ski resorts in National Forests. Many resorts are in National Parks or State Forests.
2. Since the mountain itself isn’t eroding, the snow distribution must be making different fall lines. Likely, the snow making crew is to blame for uneven areas or wavy patterns made during the early season, snow making push.
3. Allowing boarders brought more families back to Taos. Families tend to stop a lot, especially in main areas. If anything is changing the fall line, it’s probably these large groups repeatedly stopping in certain spots of the hill. This has little to do with snowboarders.
4. Finally, do people of other races, genders, ethnicities, and sexual orientations also have the power to change a fall line…or is this discriminatory theory specific to us one-plankers?

Highlight:

- Getting out early before the crowds.

Lowlight:

- When the crowds came, it was like bumper cars out there as everyone was funneled into the same death traverse back to the bottom of Lion’s Head: the only section of the mountain that was open.

Après Ski:

We watched the fourth quarter of the Lion’s annual Thanksgiving Day loss. Then we grabbed a few beers and headed to the hot tub for some relaxation. We capped off the night with a great Thanksgiving dinner at Vin 48 in Avon, CO.


Coming back from the hot tub. Yes, it was that warm.

Days to go: 48

11/25/09

Day 1

Conditions: Michigan conditions: man-made and icy
Location: Keystone, CO

Day one started off rough. We arrived so late the night before that we took our time getting to Keystone. By the time we drove to the mountain and put on all our gear, it was already 10:30. To make matters worse it was a busy day on the hill, and the first day out for many people.

Even though we paid for our tickets online, we had to wait in a horrendous season ticket line to get our new Peaks Passes (which serve no purpose other than to let the resort track a person’s every move). By the time we got our passes and boarded the gondola to the top, it was passed noon.


The season pass line.

For the past few months, we have seen a trainer to get our bodies ready for the season. When I stepped off that gondola, I was feeling good. I mean, I was ready to lay down some deep carves with my new core muscles and freshly tuned board. We headed over to School Marm (one of the easiest hills in all of Keystone, and the Slow-Skiing-Trail-of-the-Day). I strapped on my board, did a few hops and was off. I started with a wide heelside turn. Man, was I feeling good. Then I transitioned to my toe side…when I caught an edge and fell really hard right there on the beginner hill. I was a deep, dark moment of clarity as I lay there feeling like an ass. As a bonus, I reinjured my shoulder that never fully healed from last year (see day 34). So much for being ready to rock.


Day 1

The rest of the day was crowded and icy, but it still felt good to make turns and get some confidence back on our boards. Keystone had several long hills open, and we had a pretty good time. We rode until the crowds drove us out around 3:30.

Highlight:

- Snow!

Lowlight:

- Conditions were just like Boyne Mountain, but with longer runs.

Après Ski:

We hit Pazzo’s in Avon for pizza and started watching Idiocracy. But, we were so tired that we both just ended up falling asleep.

Days to go: 49

The countdown begins

It's still July here in Michigan, and the snow seems impossibly far away. However, this past weekend three important things signaled the beginning of the countdown to winter.

1. I finally finished 50 Days, Volume 3.

2. We built a snowboard rack in the basement. Well, Dirk built it while I stood around and hypothesized why his architectural plans wouldn't work. In the end, it did work perfectly.



3. The Big Ten Network was rerunning the MSU vs. U of M game from 2008 - a game we attended. It was the first time we beat U of M in the Big House since the 1990's! The best thing about football season is that it really makes time fly between summer and winter.

Summer Musings: 50 Reasons for 50 Days

It's warm in Michigan today, and July is almost here. It seems so long ago that we were hitting fresh snow on our last day in Utah. Back then, we were tired and weary from a long season. The quest for 2 Michiganders to get 50 days of riding seemed like a suicide mission. Now that our bodies are repaired, all we can do is sit around and dream of winter. With that sentiment, here are 50 reasons we do what we do every winter.

Knowing the football season is great, but really it's only a prelude to winter
The first snowfall of the year
The K.G.
Being there when parole pulls the rope (and fighting our way down the hill dogem style)
White rooms
Sticking unexpected rock hucks
The view from the top on a sunny day
Face shots (no, not that...these involve snow)
Cranky lift ops on a powder day
Chair lift conversations that unexpectedly mean something
Powder day hoots
November: riding and watching football on the same day
Freshies
Egg McMuffins in Gaylord, MI
Busting under a chair
Corn snow
Baby parks
End of the day beer
Getting the "local discount" out of state
Rock star moments
Out-of-state season passes
First chairs
Putting on powder hunting pants
Knowing our Bohemia lines – down to each individual tree
Gettin’ epic
Weatherbands
Yurts
Rock-hard energy bars
Looking back and seeing the line carved in the powder
Rocking Spartan apparel on warm days during March Madness
Boarder-cross courses
Local mosh pits in the lift lines (and the crazy skis on display)
Cornices
Hinting at (but not calling) last run
Winter Weather Advisories
Organic, California food
Trail map shirts
Duane from Boyne Mountain, and his Sunday, Jesus messages
Gates with skulls and crossbones
Freshly tuned boards
Parking lot tunes
Sierra cement
Lakechutes. Lakechutes. Lakechutes.
5am Boyne drives
Hike-outs
The smell of fresh snow
April dumps
Dirk’s “Ski Boyne Mountain” song
Seeing really old couples still skiing together, and having some hope
Last run, day 50, knowing we did it

4/26/09

Day 50

Conditions: 8+ inches of the best snow on earth
Location: Snowbird, UT

If I had a million dollars, I would buy a powder day in Utah for our last day of the year. I don’t have a million dollars, but somehow we got just that. We woke up and it was snowing hard, but there was still decent visibility. We snatched first tram and headed up for three non-stop hours of powder run after powder run.


First Tram

The conditions were excellent. Sure, there was no sun and it was windy, but everything was covered with fluffy powder. And the best part was that there was no one else around.


And to think, some people don't like weather like this. Weird.

Skier Andrea Mead Lawrence once said “There are few times in our lives when we become the thing we are doing.” This quote made me think of today – and all the other days this season – when we were doing more than just snowboarding: we became snowboarding. In the powder there are moments of complete and utter flow. There is no time or space, just floating turn after floating turn. No neurosis, anxiety, or any of those other things that I strive to escape from everyday. Often in powder, I tell myself to savor it, to enjoy every second. But it is still an ungraspable moment. It slips away in an instant and leaves you wanting more. Yet it is still somehow so satisfying. There were many of those moments this season, and we are eternally grateful for them.

Highlights:

- Every run was full of fresh tracks all morning long.
- Wide open powder fields. The kind where you come over a ridge and look at the snow and think no way am I the first person in here...wait, I am...woohoo!
- Logging day 50 for the first time together.

Lowlights:

- Well…we did have to leave in the midst of an epic Spring dump.

Après Ski:

We flew back to Detroit, and back to Spring. We got in after 11pm and it was over 80 degrees.

Days to go: 0

4/25/09

Day 49

Conditions: 5-8 inches, with more snow all day
Location: Snowbird, UT

If you asked us two months ago what day 49 would be like, we probably would have said Spring conditions. We assumed that by this point in the season we would just be punching the clock and trying to rack up a few extra days. Today was one of the top days of the year, and it was completely unexpected.


Great turns in Mineral Basin

We woke up to a snow report of five inches. We soon discovered that there was much more than that in most places on the mountain. We spent two solid hours in Mineral Basin getting fresh tracks on every single run. There were a few chunks below the powder, but not much. We also did some hiking in Mineral, at an area where apparently no snowboarders hike since it’s a very sketchy traverse. Some nice old skier gave us props for being up there while we held on for dear life.


Rounding the peak of the Mineral Basin Hike.


Dirk makes some turns after the hike.

After a few more hours on Little Cloud, we decided to go in for a snack. By that time, conditions had significantly worsened into all but Arctic conditions. There was zero visibility at the top, so it was the perfect time to go it.


Conditions take a turn for the worse, and Dirk puts on the facemask.

After our break the snow was even heavier. We decided to take the tram up and see how things were. The top of the mountain was the kind of thing you read about in John Krauker books – there was no visibility and the wind was violent. We thought about taking the tram down, but we knew that the last half of the mountain would have great snow. So we decided to ride down. The run that ensued was epic. We found crazy-deep stashes everywhere – in the trees, in the steeps, even on runs that were previously bumpy.

When we got to the bottom it was already 2:45, and we had planned to call it. But, we decided to take one more ride up the tram, even if the conditions at the top were arctic. It was the same: sketchy at the top and dreamy on the bottom. That run will matter in July.

Highlights:

- Finding fresh tracks all day long. It seems that most people in Utah have given up on riding for the year, so we had the mountain to ourselves.
- It was the kind of day where we ended every run with a smile or a comment about how surreal the conditions were. Those are the good days.

Lowlights:

- Dirk noticed the nametag of the Tram operator: Rich Duckworth. Apparently, Dirk read an article about him in a ski magazine. Dirk proceded to strike up a conversation with Rich about the article. Rich was not interested at all, but he did get several spars from some locals that overheard Dirk’s question. According to Dirk, “never in my life have I felt like such a gaper.”

Après Ski:


Days to go: 1

4/24/09

Day 48

Conditions: Mild and mushy
Location: Snowbird, UT

We flew in last night after school and work. When we sat down, I immediately snatched the window seat, leaving Dirk with the middle. I need the window seat for several reasons. First, it guarantees that the only person touching me will be Dirk – when people spill over into my seat or use the armrest (with their clothing touching my arm) it really bothers me. Second, when I’m feeling particularly claustrophobic I can lean into the window, clothes my eyes, and try to escape the current reality.

So, I noticed that the guy sitting in the aisle seat – and therefore next to Dirk – extended his hand and introduced himself to Dirk. Dirk hates conversations almost as much as I do, and was taken aback. This was my cue to start pretending that I didn’t know Dirk at all, lest I be pulled into some awkward conversation. The aisle guy went back to reading his book, which I later determined was a bible-study text. As the flight went on, aisle guy pulled book after book out of his bag and stacked them on his tray. They were all religious, with a prized, leather bible stacked on the top. I just waited. I knew this guy was going to find a way to talk to Dirk about religion. I kept my headphones on the entire flight, even when my iPod was off, just to stay out of it.

At the end of the flight, the guy handed Dirk a fake “million dollar” bill. All Dirk could do was mutter an awkward thanks - it was clearly propoganda meant to break the ice. Then the guy starts pointing out the features of the bill, including the colors. Finally, he got in his pitch. “There’s a million-dollar message on the back of the bill,” aisle guy said. At this point, most people would turn over the bill. From the corner of my eye I proudly watched as Dirk refused to turn over the bill and read the message. The back of the bill was no doubt a Jesus message. (I wonder if the guy was bothered by the fact that I was reading Harry Potter?)

To return to boarding…We expected hard conditions and slept in a bit after arriving late last night. Surprisingly, the snow was already soft with perfect Spring conditions when we got onto the hill. We found great, soft conditions all day – both on and off the groomers. Since we had such a huge breakfast, we ended up riding all day with no break. The snow was very deep mush. It was slow, but sometimes the turns felt as smooth as riding on powder.

Highlights:

- Great spring conditions and even better scenery.
- It was warm. So warm that we had to shed some layers in a locker mid-day.

Lowlights:

- End-over-ends. We both performed a few in the slow mush. Luckily, that stuff is really soft.
- 3.2 beer. It’s all they have where we are staying. We would have to drive miles into Salt Lake City to get to a state liquor store that sells real beer. Weak.

Après Ski:

We walked around and ate dinner at the delicious and pretentious Aerie. The food was great. The only downer was that the waiter seemed to fancy Dirk. He specifically asked to take Dirk's order first, and spent the entire evening talking exclusively to Dirk. Hm.

Days to go: 2

4/18/09

Day 47

Conditions: 72 degrees and slushy
Location: Boyne Mountain, MI

We had a lot of things to do this weekend, but we still got up before sunrise to drive up to Boyne Mountain to slide down the few, remaining strips of snow. The fact that Boyne was even open today was nothing short of a miracle.







There were three runs and one chairlift open on the otherwise brown hill. With our discount card, lift tickets were only $5. We went up and down for a few hours before complete boredom set in. We also caught up with Duane and thanked him for a great season. It felt like a good end to our Boyne days for the season.

Highlights:

- Dirk found another good thing about his stone-ground tune: his board completely glides over slush. This left me playing catch-up most of the day.
- The temperature. It was the warmest day either of us had been out.

Lowlights:

- While booting up in the parking lot we heard a loud pop and noticed that Dirk’s entire lace busted out of his boot. He still managed to ride for the day, but it was one of many boot issues we have encountered this year.

Après Ski:

We ate at Pearson’s and drove home. Once home, we got ready for a surprise party, which took place on a Riverboat and lasted until 11:00. No one seemed to believe we were snowboarding earlier in the day.

Days to go: 3

4/10/09

Day 46

Conditions: Firm
Location: Breckenridge, CO

Today we surpassed our total days from last year (45). So, even if we don’t get to 50 at least we made some progress. At this point we’re on par to get only 49 days, unless Boyne Mountain miraculously stays open next weekend. Dirk argued that 49 was a better number anyway because people would know that was the real number, while people might think that the number 50 was rounded. But to me it’s more about getting to the goal of 50 than having a number that people take seriously.

We ended out fourth trip out west with a few hours at Breckenridge. The snow was pretty hard and things were icy at times, but we still made it count. After Dirk’s speed-racer tune he had insane edges and was euro-carving all over the hill at top speed. My board wasn’t cutting through the ice like his, but we got in some good runs.

Highlights:

- Dirk’s edges

Lowlights:

- We checked out Horseshoe Bowl just for fun, and it was dust on crust. After that, we stayed on the groomers.

Après Ski:

We changed and packed up the car in the parking lot. Then we headed to the good old Fairfield Inn in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Days to go: 4

4/9/09

Day 45

Conditions: Rock hard and cold
Location: Vail, CO

Ugh. Not all days are created equal.

Temps got up to 45 yesterday, and it was only 20 degrees when we left the condo this morning. That means one thing: the soft, mashed potato snow from yesterday was now a hard crust of virtually unrideable snow.

We went to Vail on the chance that we would hook up with my cousin Lindsey. The forcast predicted 40 degrees, but it didn’t get even close to that, which meant we were both miserably cold. Dirk seemed to deal with it well; I just whined until Dirk gave me his facemask.

All we found at Vail was hard snow. Even the groomers were icy. To make things worse, Dirk just got his board “ground down” making traverses very difficult. We stuck it out as long as we could, but we still called it pretty early.

Highlights:

- Warning up at the Two Elks Lodge at the top of China Bowl
- Calling it at 12:30

Lowlights:

- Last night the news predicted 4-8 inches for this morning. Way to get our hopes up. We got zero inches, and even a few could have really softened things up.

Après Ski:

We shopped in Vail for a while, and Dirk found a few things. We ate lunch at a restaurant that was right out of a theme park. It was German themed and the poor waitresses had to wear ridiculous costumes. It was something out of Chef Ramsay's kitchen nightmares.

Back in Breck, we ate pizza for dinner and started packing.

Days to go: 5

4/8/09

Day 44

Conditions: Mashed potatoes and gravy
Location: Breckenridge, CO

Conditions looked to be pretty hard this morning, so we slept in a bit later than usual and got on the hill around 9:30. By then things were softening up into sunny, spring conditions. We spent a lot of the day riding mushy bumps, and we got more of a workout today than the past few days.


The view from the top of Imperial Chair at Breckenridge.


The day was pretty uneventful, except for one incident at the T-Bar. I was determined to get a picture of Dirk on the T-Bar. To do this, I had to take off my gloves, get the camera out of my pocket turn around and take the picture – all while balancing on my board and being towed uphill with nothing but a bar between my legs. Amazingly, it worked. Unfortunately, as I was struggling to put the camera back in my pocket (and therefore not looking where I was going), I hit a padded post at full speed and ate it off the T-bar. As I sat there covered in snow (and concerned about the state of the camera) people continued up the T-bar shouting things at me as they passed. So that was cool.


The picture that caused me to run into a padded pole on the T-Bar.


Highlights:

- Soft bumps off 6 Chair
- While stopped on E chair, an old guy (around 50) with a baseball cap skied below us. He shouted to the mass of us on the chairlift: “What are you guys doing, just sittin’ around? Ha Ha! Spring Break ’09, yeah!” We were almost embarrassed for him, but evidently he thought he was cool.

Lowlights:

- That whole T-bar thing.

Après Ski:

We went home and relaxed before going to dinner at the South Ridge Seafood Grill. We came home and I expected to watch American Idol. I though it was on Wednesday, but the results show was on Wednesday. I was pissed, and planned to catch-up on the performances online. So we watched Twilight and Dirk made fun of me for reading the series.

Days to go: 6

4/7/09

Day 43

Conditions: Warm, sunny and slushy
Location: Keystone, CO

Maybe it was State losing the NCAA Finals last night. Or maybe it was the five microbrews at the Breckenridge Brewery. It could have even been my awful fall yesterday. Whatever the reason, today was rough on the hill.

The conditions started off rock hard in the morning, so we took the Keystone Cat up to the top of Outback Bowl. The snow was crusty and almost unrideable. So, we found some decent trees and played around. Even though there were some nice spots on the hill, I was just dead tired and sore.




The snow cat at Keystone


We took lunch around noon and enjoyed a virtually empty cafeteria. Actually, the whole resort was pretty dead all day. After lunch we tried to get it together, but we were whipped after a few marathon mogul runs. We called it early, but we still got in four solid hours of riding – which is pretty good.

Highlights:

- Lunch! The fact that lunch is even a highlight illustrated just how awful the cafeterias usually are. On a typical day they are a territorial battle for space and table room. We’ve even eaten standing up in the past. Today, we had a table for ten all to ourselves, with room to stretch our legs. It was wonderful.

Lowlights:

- Failing to get jiggy with it. The groove just wasn’t in the cards for us today. Dirk seemed to be having more fun, but he didn’t exactly put up a fuss when we decided to stop at two.

Après Ski:

We went shopping and Dirk picked out a pair of jeans for me to try on. Shopping with Dirk is like having a fashion adviser. A women in the store came up to me and made the following comment: “A man who likes to shop!” Then, she whispered just to me, “Cherish him.” It was pretty funny.

Days to go: 7

4/6/09

Day 42

Conditions: A true blue-bird day
Location: Breckenridge, CO

We got up early, put on our powder hunting pants and hopped on the Blue Bus for the Breckenridge gondola. We took some groomers, which were surprisingly fun because of the great snow conditions. When the T-Bar opened, we headed there for some runs through the trees. The great thing about Breck is that there is always fresh snow on the top half because of the high winds. Yesterday’s tracks are always covered up and soft by the next morning.

Once our legs were aching from riding the T-Bar, we hiked Lakechutes for the second day in a row. The Lakechutes hike is like purgatory: it doesn’t last forever, but it really sucks while you’re there. The hike is straight up; for a girl like me with shorter legs, the boot pack is always too far apart. The top half of Lakechutes was pretty crusty, but the second half was awesome: very deep, very dreamy. The only problem is that I was having so much fun I started powering into my turns instead of leaning back. You know what happens next: end-over-end white-washer with a nice in-air somersault. It was a true “oh shit” moment. I was thinking: well, here it is…the season ending injury; I guess I’ve dodged a lot of these, so I have it coming. Good thing the snow was soft. There didn’t seem to be any damage, just a few chucks of snow in the helmet and goggles.


Post Lakechutes, with our tracks in the background.


We spent the afternoon on E Chair in the trees. Then, we decided to hike to the outer chutes of Windows. Dirk described the hike as “just an easy, ½ mile walk. Thirty minutes and five pounds of sweat later, we were done with the uphill hike. We did reach some true, fresh tracks; the only bummer was that it was pretty flat. After that our legs were beat and so were we.


Hiking Windows.



I guess we are lucky we didn't hit any abandoned mine shafts.


Highlights:

- Doing two hikes in one day.
- Fluffy snow in the trees off of E Chair.
- We had a $25 coupon for lunch, so it only cost us forty cents.

Lowlights:

- During the glory of getting first chair, Dirk dished it – I mean really dished it – in the lift line in front of everyone.

Après Ski:

We went to the Breckenridge Brewery to eat and watch the first half of the game. The good news was that everyone in the bar was rooting for State; the bad news was that we were down by twenty points at half. We watched the rest of the loss in the solace of our condo. I cried through One Shining Moment...

Days to go: 8

4/5/09

Day 41

Conditions: Snowy and cold
Location: Breckenridge, CO

We arrived into town yesterday afternoon with a plan: we would watch the State game and then go night skiing at Keystone for a few hours. The night skiing was imperative because it would give us the one extra day we need to get to fifty. Everything was going as planned; the Spartans even managed to win. Then, we found out that Keystone doesn’t have night skiing in April, they close it in March. Now we are left wondering if we will end up with the unforgivable forty nine days.

Today promised to be better. We woke up to a reported snow fall of seven inches. Unfortunately, when we reached the hill we found out that the seven inches was a 24 hour total, most of that snow came yesterday morning. We rolled our eyes and prepared for another day of disappointment.


Dirk waits for the Rocky Mountain super chair to open. The mountain waits in the background.


Luckily, there was plenty of snow left. Most of Breck was not even open yesterday, so the T-bar and Imperial chair were great. We hiked Lakechutes early in the day, and also made some great turns on George’s Thumb. All our morning runs were powder runs. We had an early lunch and hit the trees in the afternoon. By 3:00 our legs were toast and we called it a very good day.

Highlights:

- Despite yesterday’s frustrations, we were lucky to even get into Colorado. A crazy storm moved into the Colorado and Nebraska plains on Saturday afternoon closing the only two interstate highways into Colorado from the East. As of this morning (Sunday) they were still closed.
- Snow. For the past month we have ridden on ice, dirt, slush, corn snow, and a variety of other things that don’t really count as snow. It felt so good to make turns on soft corduroy. It’s easy to be good on real snow.


Our car after the drive through Nebraska. That's not snow; it's ice.


Lowlights:

- Lazy legs in the trees turned a fall into a backwards somersault which was stopped only by the trunk of a tree against my back leg. Luckily things weren’t too serious. As I told Dirk, I’ve hit trees harder than that before.

Après Ski:

We watched reality TV on VH1 and went to bed early.

Days to go: 9