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