Author: admin

It’s the bloody Beatles White Album! ~ George Harrison

Speaking of white… Damn today was cold at The Basin. Maybe 5 degrees with a sporadic wind, sometimes quite brisk. I was skiing very sloppily for some reason. Fairly inspired at times but mostly like a spaz. But hey. It was still an awesome time. We all experienced some frost-nip and had to take breaks when the white spots appeared on cheeks and noses but it was worth it to get some turns in. Plus no one was out on the slopes. The warming house was seriously as full as I have ever seen it. Pretty funny.

The crüe consisted of Luke, Obie, and two of Obie’s friends from Highschool — one of whom I knew from way back in our earliest Boulder days. Small world.

We jammed up the hill early to avoid the weekend traffic mania and were quickly spinning laps on Pali. The Spine was simply dreamy — wind buffed and creamy. Can’t complain about that at all. I finally dropped the upper rocks with only a hint of hesitation and launched off of a good drop on the bottom portion of the hill with ease. Generally hesitant but feeling pretty good for what is still early season. Most of the really hard stuff is still closed but we’re keeping our fingers crossed for some cycles to line up and really hammer things home. All in all, however, they have decent coverage and times are good.

We have been watching a ton of movies of late. Good way to pass the short days and cold temps when not out on the slopes. Here is a run-down:

• Ratatouille: Great Pixar movie. The animation is amazing and the story is fun and engaging. If you haven’t seen it, get busy.
• The Shawshank Redemption: Another classic. Just a well put-together film.
• Lone Star: Terrific Sayles. A must see.
• Breach: Not super but entertaining at least. Again, Chris Cooper puts in a pretty solid effort and though the movie wasn’t awesome, it was still watchable.
• Silver City: Another Sayles/Cooper partnership. This one is just a mess. Really, really boring movie that just didn’t seem to go anywhere. It was shot in Colorado, so that made it a little bit interesting being that I was able to pick out locations but other than that, just bad.
• Notes on a Scandal: Actually, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one and was pleasantly surprised. Well worth the time.

So we were discussing fuel efficiency during today’s festivities. Seems that two of us are proud (or not so) owners of gigantic SUV things. I currently drive a 2000 Yukon XL. I have thought about selling it to get something more environmentally friendly but since starting up the new biz, haven’t really been putting many miles on it. When I do, I usually cram as many people as possible (and all our gear) into the beast so that we only have to take one car up the hill. This makes me feel a little less guilty about driving the behemoth. Actually, I did get 19.5 mpg when I fueled up this afternoon, so that is pretty sweet. If you count the fact that 5 of us were able to get transport to the area using Holmsey, that is actually really good. We would have had to take at least two normal cars so all in all, we came out on top. So I guess my point is: Carpooling good, giant SUV not always bad. Say it with your Frankenstein voice and it is even more fun.

Play hard.

~stubert.

The waiting is the hardest part. ~ Tom Petty (coincidentally heard while on hold with Apple)

I am still over in Gunnison. Might be heading back to the Front Range today but we’re playing that by ear at this point.

I am a little banged up from yesterday’s adventures. Nothing bad, I just took one squirrelly fall during which I somehow managed to bang my left elbow on something and I kicked my right shin right in-between the top of my boot and the bottom of my kneepad. Perfect placement. Seems like that happens a lot, actually. Which probably means my pads are working fine, they just don’t cover enough! Part of the game. I do have a nice contusion on my shin however that goes nicely with the scar I got while hopping a fence on my October snow run. Good stuff.

No skiing today and I really need to get some work completed as well. Just too many things going on right now.

I am super excited to get back home to see Rach. She has been awesome — staying at home and taking care of all the monsters while I am away. As always, I’ll keep you posted.

~stubert.

No quote. Too lazy. ~stubert.

Hit the Butte today for some steeps (finally). Almost the whole
mountain is open already which is amazing. Headed straight to Teocali
Bowl then jammed out to Third Bowl. I spent the whole day spinning
laps in Spellbound, Phoenix, The Glades, etc. Awesome to finally get on
something that challenged my limits. I actually had to back out of a
skinny chute on Staircase as the sluff I kicked in took out the rest
of the snow severely limiting my options. All in a good day’s fun at
my hometown resort.

Skied all day with Zach from San Diego. It was his first time at CB so
I gave him the ultimate locals’ tour-o’rama. Even met up with a guy I
haven’t seen in several years at the top of Third Bowl. Bret is a
photographer who has moved to Boulder recently and was doing a bad job
of trying to not kill his girlfriend, Ann (?? Crap, I forgot her
name). Small world.

Planning to head back over to the Front Range tomorrow but we’ll see
what happens. I hate to leave the Butte while it is skiing so
incredibly well but I miss my sweetie who is home taking care of the
menagerie.

I’ll keep you posted.

~stubert.

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He’s gone. He just… got away from us. ~ Dr. Wordsmith

Man, stressful just doesn’t do justice to these last few days. Can’t really go into it right now but damn. Here is a brief list events (some of these were not my doing):

• The Winter Solstice: I really like the solstice as it marks the time when days start to get longer. Plus, as celestial events go, shortest/longest days of the year are unique, at least.
• Sweeny Todd: One of several movies on my list. This was a great adaptation, even if you don’t like musicals.
• Blustery day at The Rock: Pete, Luke and I went up for some Eldora turns. Corona was spinning, the wind was howling, the thermometer was dropping… We only lasted a couple of hours as it was bitterly cold and I had to get over to Gunnison but two hours of frigid skiing is better than two hours of not skiing.
• Drive to Gunnison: Headed over to Gunnison to visit my parents. I will be over here probably until Tuesday or Wednesday. Playing that by ear a little bit.

~stubert.

The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. ~ Robert Burns

Today, Luke, Pete and I were planning to spend some time helping out our buddy, Larry at his shop. Larry is one of the best boot-fitters in the area, if not the country and his talents are in high demand. So high, in fact, that during ski season, he often works 18 hour days, 7 days a week.

Pete, Luke and I think this is bunk so we volunteered to help him get some things straightened out around the shop on the one day a week when it is actually closed. Either we got our wires crossed or something came up but we missed each other today. So I went to the Goat to get some work done. And here I am updating my blog.

So there you go. Back to work, then haircut, then home.

~stubert.