Saturday, December 31, 2005

hidden


There was once this girl who I really liked. In my eye she was the cutest girl in Male Valley even though she denies all compliments. Such a rad chick with her pink slippers, Billabong hoodie that I tried to wear, icicle swords, sweet old chillin dog, screwed up past, and a love for Casa Bonita that won't quit. Unfortunately, she decides to hide behind anything she can so that she doesn't have to face life. She doesn't even want to experience the good times because she is so terrified of the bad times. I hope, for her sake, that someday she can stop hiding and realize that some people can treat her like she is worthy of being treated. If anyone knows who this girl is tell her that.

Another day alone

Rode alone again today and hit some more excellent powder lines. WFO was sick and I lapped it three times. Hit Riva Ridge to Christmas trees a few times as well. Found some sweet rainbow rails in the woods off Riva...

Tonight I am gonna head out to a party with Nick. Should be fun night.

Sun came out a little:


Last run of the day I saw 9 groomers in a line heading up Lodgepole:

Friday, December 30, 2005

Riding alone

Rode alone today. I haven't done that in a little while and it was a blast. Hit Sun Down Bowl, Sun Up Bowl, China Bowl, Blue Sky Basin (5 runs or so), and Northwoods before noon. Met up with Adam for one run in Blue Sky's waist deep powder... The bowls were so good today after being closed all day yesterday.

Meg called and she isn't coming up this weekend. She forgot that her pass is blacked out right now. Oh well... I will ride tomorrow anyway.

Vail Village and the Gore Range:

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Tried to ride

Sean and I went to the lift this morning about 8:40 and it wasn't open due to high winds. The entire mountain was closed. Lame. We waited around until 9:30... Did some shopping and stuff in the meantime. By then the line was crazy so we took off. We wanted to go to Arrowhead, but the roads suck so we flagged that. I just came home and waxed my boards. Working tonight at 4pm. Should be a great time...

Meghan called again today and she is planning to come up tomorrow night and spend the night then ride in the morning. So damn stoked is me.

Riding is gonna be my only life from now until the end of the season with the occaisional trip to Denver to see shows. Jonah is playing tonight and I am bummed as that I can't make it. I was gonna try to switch shifts with someone at work, but figured with all this snow I should just stay here. Don't feel like driving in this crap. It was a hard decision though. It is Jonah...

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Dog stealing

I stole Tasha today and went snowshoeing on the North Trail near Sandstone. I ended up coming directly down the face which probably wasn't smart but it was a good time anyway...

Ah, the view is nice up here:


Snowshoe picture for Rachel:


Tasha eats trees:


Need more tree:


Tasha cowers from the approaching storm in the west:


Long day leads to big dingleberries:

Tasha

Hulsey and I went into the village to get some dinner tonight and ran into some friends. Then we went back to his place and played with Tasha in the snow for a little while. She loves the deep pow and getting tossed into it...







It's kinda like this summer when she was begging to be thrown in Lake Dillon:

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Powder day!

Sean and I got up early this morning and went out for some powder turns. We hit up China Bowl and Blue Sky Basin first thing and got deep freshies back there then came up to the front side and hit some trees and cliffs for more...

Video of Sean in Sun Down Bowl: video

At the end of the day I dropped a sweet one like it was hot coming out of the woods:


We were in line behind this lady who was fully decked out in leopard... She had a leopard backpack on but took it off just before I took this pic... also there was a leopard neckwarmer...

Sunday, December 25, 2005

Christmas ridings... not Christmas tidings

This morning I went out early and took some solo runs then met up with Eric and Brent (friends of Hulsey). So tired... Worked all afternoon and I have to be back in at 6am tomorrow.

View from the Orient Express today:

Saturday, December 24, 2005

Snow, work, drive, sleep, snow, work...

Went out early this morning and took a solo run down from the Vista Bahn Express. Giant Steps and Pepi's Face were groomed for the first time this year and it was a blast. Met up with a bunch of the characters and went out for a few more runs before heading to work at 11... Got out of work early, but I have to drive to the Eagle airport to pick up a guest for the hotel at 8 then after that it is party time at Nicole's house!

Nicole and I on Chair 2:

Thursday, December 22, 2005

work mornings == no riding

Had to work this morning. Must work tomorrow morning. I guess it is ok because my favorite girl in Vail is back in Vail and everybody is going out tomorrow night... Right now, must go buy tape to wrap Christmas (birthday) gifts for random people.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Dumped on once again

Whoa. We have so much snow. We got another 13" at Mid-Vail last night on top of the 6" the night before. Sean and I went out and ripped some today...

Me dropping it like its hot: video

Sunday, December 18, 2005

Busted AGAIN!

Hit up the mountain with Sean and Patrick (aka Fatty) today. Fatty was meant to take pics of Sean and I in the Bawana park, but they didn't come out well... So instead I snapped this walking home from the bus:


I got busted again taking a picture of this sweet family one-piece party:

Saturday, December 17, 2005

Busted

Hit up the mountain late today, but still managed to get super busted taking this shot:


Got called in to work. Doh. At least it will be money-making tonight...

Casa Bonita

Last night Misti (the coolest, cutest, and all around best girl in Colorado) and I went to Denver to do some Christmas shopping, but more importantly to go to Casa Bonita (the Mexican Disneyland). This place was amazing. Of course I forgot my camera, but Misti got a pic... Everyone must go there.

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Powder day!

Hit the slopes early this morning and shred it up by myself for a few runs in the deep pow. Hulsey and Nick showed up, then we met Spencer and Sean a little later on. Too bad I had to go to work at 2pm.

Waiting patiently... getting tired.

We built a jump on Simba that goes up onto (or over) the top of the kiddie tunnel thing:

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

James leaves tomorrow. There goes New Zealand

James and I went out late this morning and hit the slopes. It was snowing heavily and by the late day we had some seriously deep pow! We are expecting 4-8" tonight in the valley and possibly more up top. Yeah baby.

Me jumping off a cliff in North Rim: video

Stalking the one-piece of the day: video

James in Two Elk Lodge next to a lady in a sweet one-piece:


One-piece of the day:

Sunday, December 11, 2005

James finally made it

So the past few days have been sweet. James has been here since Wednesday night and we have been shredding the mountain the past two days. Besides that I got to hang out with a really amazing girl the other night... This week is so much better than last.

Yesterday was rad. We got heaps of freshies and a few good cliff drops:


We have seen a few sweet one piece suits the past two days:


Monday, December 05, 2005

Working far too much

Yesterday I threw down a solid day of riding with a good break to eat at Vendetta's with Hulsey. After that I worked 4pm until midnight and then I had to be in again at 7am this morning. Kill me... At least we were a little bit busier today.

One piece suits rule my existance and are taking over Vail:

Saturday, December 03, 2005

Back to one-pieces

Met up with the crew this morning... Hulsey, Nick, and Spencer and dropped some sick pow lines. There was easily waist deep pow everywhere. After a few runs we got stuck at Chair 5 and waited in line for about 40 minutes. All of my body heat was gone at that point and my knee was stiffening up. We hit a few cliffs in North Rim and South Rim then Hulsey and I took off for the day.

Video of me dropping a 12-15 footer into some previously tracked out pow

Back my popular request... One-piece of the day:

Friday, December 02, 2005

Pow today. Ice tonight. Pow tomorrow.

There is so much pow up there and it is still so early in the season!

Jeff dropping a small cliff off South Rim:


Jeff with a backside 360 off a North Rim cliff:


Nick dropping it like it's hot in the North Rim area:

This week just keeps getting worse

Went riding with the guys this morning... Spencer, Jeff, and Nick. Oh my god. The pow is so sick out there. So many fresh turns. I thought I could ride my cares away, but no chance of that. Ended up running into a rock I was trying to jump off... Don't ask. Then tumbled down the 10-15 foot drop that I wanted to land. By the time I reached the bottom my leg was bleeding and I was in a ravine.

Took a few more runs, but we were all having technical issues with our goggles. I was getting miserable so I took off and headed home. Pics from some cliff drops coming soon.

I forgave once, but it was for something way more minor than what I did. Maybe someday I will be forgiven and I can go back to attacking the fortress. I know I can get through it, but I have am lost and need a map back there.

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Nonny

Well, my grandma isn't doing very well. My dad just called and he said that he will fly Sean and I down there during the week of Christmas and New Year's. I don't know if we can really do it during that time, but we are gonna work on it I guess. Cancer sucks. This week sucks (except for the exceptional amount of powder we are getting).

Powder day

Dan and I went out early this morning with Kim and Jamie. We lost them the second run when we headed into Sundown Bowl and Dan and I got suck in a waistdeep flat pow field. The rest of the day we rocked the trees. We got fresh tracks everywhere. All over Sundown, Sunup, and then on the frontside all over the place.

These are they days I moved here for. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera, but the weather is so windy and snowy it would have been hard to get any good pictures anyway. The forecast for the next few days is looking key. More snow, more snow, more snow.

Sorry. Didn't mean to push it.

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Frostbite - day 2

Well, this morning the blisters were back. I went to work and told them what was up then went to the medical center. I have this Bag Balm I have to put on it now. I guess it is normally used to keep cows udders from getting chapped and cracking. They sent me home from work early in hopes it will heal a bit by tomorrow.

Frostbite day one:


Frostbite day two:

Monday, November 28, 2005

Frostbite is bad times

Went out riding today with Dan and Jamie. Somehow I lost them in the woods, but it was cool because I already had gotten mild frostbite on my left cheek below my goggles and needed to shorten up my stance. It was the first day I rocked the new board which Jamie has nicknamed the Rocket.

Went down to Christy Sports and bought a balaclava to keep my head, neck, and face warm and fixed my stance and met up with Hulsey. We headed back up the mountain and took some more turns with the other guys. So random, Jamie and I ran into my brother and his buddy Patrick in the woods in Game Creek...

After riding we got some lunch at Red Lion where there were teletubbies drinking coffee:

Sunday, November 27, 2005

Most uneventful day

Probably gonna go to bed soon. I really love sleeping lately. Hulsey called me to ride tomorrow. Dan, Jamie and I are gonna head up early and Hulsey will meet us up there shortly after. Tomorrow will be my first day on my new setup. I hope there is finally enough snow up there to rock that thing without hitting rocks. Just finished waxing and dialing in my new bindings. Ready to rip... TRS style.

New setup = 05' Nitro Naturals 161, Solomon SPX4 bindings, and Solomon F22 boots. I have already been rocking the boots, but the board and bindings...no. Old pic of new stuff:

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Fun day except for the working part

Got some turns in the morning before heading down valley to hang out with a darling girl. Then I had to go to work. Boo on that...

There was so much fresh corduroy on the mountain this morning:

Thursday, November 24, 2005

Happy Thanksgiving from Vail

Hulsey, Nick, and I met up at the French Deli in Lionshead this morning for some chow. We wanted to go to McCadam's, but they were closed. Took some runs then Nick needed to fix his board so he ran home and Hulsey and I sat at the Red Lion on the sun deck and had drinks with two cute girls Jeff knows.... By drinks I mean water and coffee of course. Nick came back with a completely different setup... Not even the same board. So funny...

Working tonight. We will probably have turkey in the cafeteria. Ha, Hulsey and I ate lunch at La Cantina... Mexican on Thanksgiving.

I'm still kinda bummed.

View of the Gore Range on this lovely Thanksgiving Day:

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Beaver Creek's opening day

Not a bad day with the bluebird skies and all. Met up with Hulsey, Jamie, and Spencer and took a few runs. I had to leave early to get to work, but that's ok because the pow got played early. We need another storm.

View of the Gore Range from Beaver Creek:

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Fixed.

Feeling so good now. I like this whole working in the arvo dealy. I get to rip in the mornings and pull down bling in the evenings. Hulsey and I went out for a solid half day on the fast fast morning groomers:

Sunday, November 20, 2005

Mustard?

Sean and I met Ryan at the lift this morning to take some early runs. Sean and I are a bit haggard from several full days of riding in a row, but we got up there for 4 runs or so today.

Sean and Ryan will never learn will they?


Me charging through the trees at a small cliff band:

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Vail Mountain Day 2

So... just finished day 2 at Vail and day 4 of the season. Meghan came up from Denver with Gregg . Gregg went to Copper today, but Meg rode with us. They are staying at my house tonight and hitting up the hot tub. Oh, that is gonna feel good. Still finding plenty of powder stashed in the trees. We have our secrets... Eh, just ask and we will tell you though.

Meg and I heading up chair 3: (looks like I must have just taken a pow dive judging by the snow on the gogs)


One-piece couple of the day:


Update: I was informed that it is not snow on my goggles but just glare. In other words I am a ripper who never falls off my snowboard.

Friday, November 18, 2005

opening day suckas

Yesterday was a sweet day. My first day actually doing my real job instead of training and not doing anything but sitting in a room. Went over to a super cute girl's house at night. ;)

Today was opening day for Vail Mountain and of course I had to work 6am to 2pm. Dave and I got out early and went up on the mountain to rip with some of his buddies. I took a few good diggers which is to be expected on opening day I guess. Apparently, people are saying this was the best opening day in many years. 48" of pow in the past week and bluebird skies today...

Meghan is coming up from Denver tomorrow and I am stoked to ride with her. Hulsey and I are gonna hit it up early then meet up with Meg and maybe Spencer later on... Call if you feel like an easy day tomorrow.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Rip this

So, Vail Mtn is claiming 42" at Mid-Vail in the past week. When I got outta work today Sean and I snowshoed up about 3/4 of the way to Mid-Vail and dropped it like it was hot. There was at least 2 feet of freshies all the way to the bottom. We even saw Santa Claus up there. Watch the Vail Trail for more Santa pics... He was on a photo shoot.

Sean got warm on the way up and shed some layers:


I didn't know Santa was a ripper:


Sean battling some pow:


Me playing in over two feet of fresh chowder:

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Casolar Mountain Lab (part 2)

So the rail in my backyard is totally dialed. We received 29" of snow so far this storm according to the news channel and we are expecting 4-8 over the night. My plans fell through for the night because of the snow and I am bummed. Managed to turn the night around and have fun though. Hit the rail, then took Nick's Jeep through the snow and treachery to Altitude to get some wings, play some pool, and watch the football game.

Jeff and Nick hanging out in the Casolar Mountain Lab:


Predator view of the CML:


Am I actually dancing on the rail?:


Jeff getting a little crunked up at Altitude: