No channels and nothing’s on. ~ me
Heading up again this morning. Yesterday was awesome. Hit Solitude for
a half day of pow. Loads of fun. First true powder skiing of the year.
Today we are going back into Wolverine Cirque (I think) to spin some
BC laps. We may go to the show this afternoon but are playing that by
ear. Our shooting plans seem to have fallen thru but that is okay.
Good to just go make turns at this point.
More later.
~stubert.
______________________
via mobile
If everything seems under control, you’re not going fast enough. ~ Mario Andretti
Headed up to the Rock late morning today to get in a few turns. Hoping to build on the successes of yesterday. It was cold but relatively calm today but conditions were far worse than yesterday’s dreaminess.
I made a few runs back in Salto and was feeling fairly well… not as great as yesterday but definitely getting the flow of things and skiing relaxed. Pretty much what I need to be doing. On my third or fourth trip down through the glades, I stopped to help some poor monkey who was in WAY over his head retrieve his ski. This was shortly after watching him nearly take a header through the woods at an alarming rate of speed. Did I mention he was on one ski? Seems like I did. After he came to a stop, I skied down to him and gave him his missing stick, then made a couple of turns and proceeded to tweak my right knee a little. Nothing major but a definite set-back to my plans for world domination.
So now I am rockin’ the ice shuffle, vitamin I, Arnica (which Pete doesn’t believe in, kinda like gmail) and rest. We’ll see how it feels Wednesday but I definitely am looking out for Thursday when we are planning to shoot in Utah. I’ll keep you posted.
~stubert.
Tenzing Norgay – Summit of Everest May 29, 1953
Lose a glove… lose a hand. ~ Russel Bryce
Spent some time with the family this week in snowy Gunnison. I haven’t seen it like that for many years. There is a solid 2 feet at my parents’ place and piles of the stuff everywhere. Gotta love that.
I drove over on Thursday morning and rolled into the ‘Sack about 10:30 or so. My brother was there with his critter, Fisher, so it was fun to see them. Fisher (real name, Christian – but Rach and I call him Fisher because he looks like a Fisher Price person) will be 1 in a couple of weeks and learned how to climb the stairs while at my parents’ place, which was pretty fun. I guess his mom may not be too thrilled with that new skill but I figure, he has to learn some time, right? He crawls like a champ but looks like a bulldog while doing so. Good stuff.
So I hung out in Gunnison for a couple of days. I was planning to ski at the Butte on Friday but it was bitch-ass cold, I got a late start and there were things to be done around the house so I bailed and got some work done instead. Jammed back home on Saturday to my lovely sweetie, Rach-tastic. We just hung out last night and did a whole lotta nuthin’.
I went up the hill to Eldora today and am really glad I did. I was skiing like a champ and the snow was actually a lot better than I expected. I am finally starting to put everything together and the results are quite satisfying, I must say. I charged Salto three times and each one was better than the last. Really can’t say enough how pleased this makes me.
I met Pete and Edy up at the Rock and they were both doing well also. I got Pete to drop off one of the rocks at the bottom of Westridge, which was just awesome. Good to see him going for it. He is really starting to kill it out there.
Luke and I are off to Salt Lake on Thursday. Hoping to get a couple of days in skiing and shooting while there and hit the OR show. I am also hoping to get in a couple more days on the slopes before heading out and will keep you posted on that.
I watched Everest: Beyond the Limit – Season Two over the last few days. Really hammers home how much people rely on the Sherpa to get them up and down that mountain. Fitting that I watched it the same week that Sir Edmund Hillary passed away. Hillary summited with Tenzing Norgay and I really wonder if Norgay let Hillary summit first. Just askin’. Those Sherpa are machines. Not to take anything away from those that summit but the whole Everest thing seems to have become a high-priced commodity where rich people just pay to get on top and check another “adventure” off their list. Almost like a ride at an amusement park. Fork over your $50K and we’ll set everything up so that you get your sorry ass to the top and back down. Just not sure how I feel about it. All the work that the Sherpa do to get the equipment up there, fix lines, shuttle people up and down… seems like a lot less of an accomplishment than it used to be. But what the hell do I know?
That is about it. Skipper had surgery on Thursday and seems to be doing really well. We also have a new bunny staying with us, Thor. He is…. um… feisty? But really cute.
Ok. Homework for today. Get outside and go to a place you have never been before. Doesn’t have to be far, just go experience something new.
Take it sleazy.
~stubert.
Can you use my rap name? Rhymenoceros. ~ Bret
Yesterday I hit the Beav again for a quick run. Felt great on the way down but a bit slower on the way back up. To be expected… Uphill with a head-wind is a bit more difficult than the opposite. I am definitely not ready to run any super-long distances but will keep plugging away with the goal of doing a couple of marathons (or at least marathon distance) runs in the coming months and perhaps a 50-mile ultra in July. There are a couple I am looking at right now and will probably opt for the new Leadville 50. We’ll see how things go.
It is definitely more difficult running up here during the winter. Last year, I was commuting down to Boulder every day so running at lunch or after work was a snap. Now that I am working from home, I don’t have the necessity to be in Boulder on a daily basis and really don’t have plans to commute down for runs. Still trying to figure it all out. Apparently Jess is planning to run a marathon in the Spring so perhaps I’ll just roll down on a regular schedule to tag along on her long runs.
I was planning to go skiing today but my legs are pretty spent so I am going to just take it easy, get some work done and try to get my tax stuff organized. Um… Good times? Tomorrow I have meetings scheduled then on to Larry’s on Wednesday and then drive over to Gunnison on Thursday.
Pete hooked us up with Flight of the Conchords. Check it out if you get a shot. Pretty amusing stuff.
~stubert.
Get up, get, get, get down. ~ Public Enemy
So I jammed up to Eldora on Friday prior to a 12:00 meeting in Broomfield. I wasn’t expecting much but when I got to the base was pleased to see that they had received 8 inches or so of fresh stuff. The steeper trees saw about a foot of really tasty pow. As I only had a few hours to spare, I headed straight to Salto and spun laps. Let me tell you, it was really hard to make it to my meeting. Needless to say, I was late.
On Saturday, Pete and I headed up to the Basin for some turns (shots above courtesy of Pete). The conditions were a bit odd on the Spine but tasty patches were sought out and skied with a vengeance. I was skiing fairly well. One thing that is common sense but nonetheless an interesting phenomenon is what I like to call the “Follow-Luke-down-ridiculous-shit factor” or the “Push me Pull you effect”. (I don’t really like to call it either of those things, actually. I just made that up to look smart.) Essentially, this is how it goes and I find it to be applicable to many things in life, not just tearing ass down snow-covered mountains…
Step One: Get to the point where you are frustrated on something that is at your ability limits.
Step Two: Get in over your head. Go somewhere else and get into some bidness that really pushes your confidence and skills. To the point that you completely flail but not to the point where you die.
Step Three: Move back to the point experienced in step one and feel the Gs, baby.
Step Four: Repeat.
That is about it. We are heading to Gunnison on Thursday this week. Nighthawks starts on Wednesday at the Rock. I am pretty much booked every day. Good times.
~stubert.