Denver

Hulsey and I went on a little roadtrip to see the Appleseed Cast to play in Denver last night. We managed to eat at Benny's with Meghan, meet up with Ryan and Elena at the show, play some disc golf, do some shopping, get my car washed by too many dudes, and even see a sweet mullet. Overall, good trip.

Hulsey playing some disc in Highlands Ranch:


Hulsey and I loving the 76F weather:


Mullets of Denver:

Riding... and healthy

Sean and I rode a few days ago despite my injured back that I pulled at work. After that I decided to take a few more days off. I am recovered now and back on my board. Today I rode some park and pipe in the morning before work at 11.

Yesterday I got a call from One Track Mind. My replacement snowboard from Nitro came in! I went to get it and they sent me the '06 model. I had broken an '05, so I am stoked. Not riding it yet though. I will wait for the powder.

Sean eating some sausages at Belle's Camp at the top of Blue Sky Basin:

Buried

After taking a few days off of snowboarding due to illness I was back out there today with a seriously low shred-o-meter reading. After taking a few excellent powder runs with Dan my shred level is back to normal...

Our house is so buried! We live on the sun-baked side of the valley and there is usually no snow over here or very little. Not this year:

Funky

Just not feeling it on the mountain today. Did a few runs in Cascade trees and some other stuff, but nothing felt good...

Spencer and the powder turn in Cascade:

Back to the slopes

Dan, Sean, and I went out today to shred the newly fallen powder. There was a decent amount, but there is never enough. Had to work at 11am so my day was cut short...

Dan's rooster tail:

Back to the valley

I'm back. Rochester was sad, fun, and overall a good trip. Hung out with Ryan and Elena the night before I left and Ryan and I drove around Denver a little bit looking at some houses.

When I was in Rochester I got to see my grandma and she seems to be in good spirits despite her condition continuing to deteriorate. She is so skinny and weak, but it was good to talk to her and see her again.

Kris came to visit from Buffalo and we went over to the Guck's house for a little while and met Michaela then hit Java's with Chris and Jennie. So awesome to hang out with the two of them! Too bad Monique couldn't make it. Hopefully I will be heading that direction in April for a week and we can hang out then.

Last night it took me over 3 hours to drive in the snow back to Vail from DIA. Ugh. I made it here about 4am... I was gonna go snowboarding today, but decided to just chill and clean up around the house and ride tomorrow when it is powder day!

Salty decks

Got home from work about an hour ago and Sean and I hit the deck. There was over 5 feet of snow on it and it was time to clear it off... Took us an hour, but not so bad. There is a little ice left, but I just salted the hell out of it and I'm gonna head back on to it in an hour or so and shovel more. It's almost clean!

Sunny groomer cruising day

Went out early this morning and took a few runs with a former bellhop from the Lodge at Vail, then met up with Jeff and Nick for some groomer cruising action. Hulsey broke a toe strap on his binding and that pretty much put an end to the day, but we decided to chill at Eagle's Nest for a while...

Last night at Rosie's in Leadville:


Hulsey napping in the sun at Eagle's Nest:


Jeff and I living it up:

East Vail (part 2)

Hulsey and I went over to East Vail again to ride the chutes. Oh... the powder. I got some new snowboard pants after riding today then we got a posse together and went to Leadville to eat dinner at Rosie's where Gary manages the place. Great dinner plus a stop at Melanzana. I spend too much money there.

Hulsey at the top of Benchmark Mountain:


Hulsey with the method-air off a stump in Watertower chute:

Unexpected powder day

There was a really slight dusting on the driveway this morning so we didn't expect a powder day, but when Dan, Sean, and I got on top of the mountain we realized what was going on. There was excellent snow. Did two laps on Ptarmigan Ridge (one with Jamie and his boys from Denver) and hit up the field goal kicker before heading home...

View from the top of Ptarmigan Ridge (and my new desktop background):


Sean and Dan gaping at the view:


Sean hucking of Ptarmigan Ridge's perfect cornice:


Dan kicking a field goal:

YAPD

Yet another powder day... Jeff, Sean, and I ripped some snow in Blue Sky Basin for a while then Jeff and I hit up Pazzo's. Now time to head to work. Ugh.

Yesterday's view from the top of Blue Sky Basin:


Too much snow to even open the door:

Finally some time, but not really

Been busy lately... Since I last posted I went riding with Jamie, then I have been working everyday. Last night Jeff and I went to the Bully Ranch for dinner and ran into some awesome friends. My two favorite girls in Vail... even though one is leaving, but she is moving to Denver so we can still play there.

There is just so much snow:


Crew at the Bully Ranch:


Hulsey on a car:


Hulsey hopping from snowy car to snowy car:


Hulsey needs a helmet just to walk around town: