Eiffel Tower High

Snodgrass

I feel sadness that I don't have better photo documentation of the past week. It's been dumping - 1-2 feet, some sunshine, 1-2 feet more. I've been too busy getting knee deep turns and digging out the cabin and cars to pull out the camera. I finally put my camera case on my backpack shoulder strap and intended to snap some shots of Mark and Janelle making nice arcs through knee deep snow on Snodgrass this afternoon - but those two are way too fast to catch on film.

This afternoon we skinned up Snodgrass, taking a turn off of the snowcat path onto a nice skin-track through the aspens. It's my second winter trip up Snodgrass. If you don't live here on the West Side you may not know the current controversy. CBMR wants to put lifts on Snodgrass and develop the base of the mountain. I understand CBMR's drive to do this as Mount Crested Butte doesn't have a lot of terrain to offer to beginners....it's not an easy mountain to learn to ski, or to ski period. Snodgrass lives across the valley from CBMR and offers some beautiful low-angle gladed skiing at the top and mellow turns toward the bottom. The base is wide open and the views are nuts. It's a gem. I've been opposed to lifts on Snodgrass, but only from a theoretical standpoint. Wild places are disappearing and I feel like we need to be protective of what's left. I grew up in Fort Collins and I remember when Harmony and Timberline roads had unpaved sections. I also remember when the only thing between Boulder and Broomfield was Storage Tech tucked behind a hill off of US 36, and a gas station at the McCaslin exit (McCaslin was dirt south of US 36 and we used to target shoot where cookie cutter developments, condos, and malls now sit). Old Timers talk about forearm-length trout choking the streams above Denver before WWII. I've witnessed things go in a bad direction all over this state. The Western Slope is not immune. Anyway, my Snodgrass opposition was, as I stated, theoretical; a matter of personal policy. Then I got up on that mountain. I've been up there in the summer to ride and it's incredible - but winter, my friends, winter. Silent. Deep. Vibrant. It's place that brings deep peace. Sure, there are a lot of places in the valley that are equally amazing, but isn't the preservation of them all at least worth a shot? Am I expecting this blog to change opinions? You know what will? Skin up Snodgrass in the late afternoon under peaks pink with alpenglow, watch ermin pop out of the snow and run by, smile with your friends or enjoy the beautiful melancholy of solitude, rip those skins and float down through the aspens, pat some dogs on the head on the access road, make some new friends in the parking lot. Minds might get changed.

Full Moon

I've been cruising the same strip of hard packed, man made snow at CBMR for the last week in the name of getting my legs under me and getting used to new equipment. Bad skiing is usually better than no skiing at all (with the exception of windy days at Eldorko); but lapping 900 vertical feet shoulder to shoulder with a bunch of park rats and jibbers isn't ideal. We need snow. So, take that same length of styrofoam, add friends with big smiles on their faces, a full moon, and a pair of climbing skins...well, those runs are transformed into little bliss nuggets.

The moon was so bright that what I thought was a big rock poking through the snow was the shadow of the silent chair lift above me. The snowmaking crew and snowcat drivers would occasionally cruise by and give a quiet nod and a wide berth, neither surprised nor bothered.

Random Stuff

It's dry and cold in the Butte right now. There's enough snow to play on and hold my interest but I sure would dig a a little snow to freshen things up.

Thanksgiving was pretty sweet. Martin and Lisa came up for a weekend that we all agreed may have been too relaxing.

Martin and I found some snow on Ohio Pass below the Anthracites and made an attempt at a pre-emptive strike on the holiday gluttony.


More food than you can shake a fork at.


The Nordic Center opened up for the Thanksgiving Training Camp. The clinics were amazing. I took a classic clinic as well as skate. They did video analysis; it's amazing to see yourself ski. I learned a ton. The rest of the weekend was filled with friends, sweet potato pie, more skiing, and cherry wine. J-rod got out for his first time ever on the hill. It's fun to watch someone discover the joy of winter although it physically hurts to watch people fall when they are learning to snowboard. You'll be shredding in no time, brah.

Pie!

I've never made pie before. I called my mom, consulted three websites and gathered about 5 recipes. I was told by a couple of folks that it's hard to pull off. Like my mom says, it's not that tough, it's just time consuming. A nice exercise in patience. It turned out well and I'm really glad that I did a little practice before trying to pull it off for Thanksgiving.

I got up on Kebler Pass today for my first day of the season on the Nordic trails. It was great to get out and do a little kick-and-glide, especially after all the pie. There's not quite enough snow in town and in the valley to set tracks yet so the Nordic Center did a little early season grooming with snow mobiles up high on the pass. I've never seen grooming that good with a snow mobile - nice tracks and full width skate lane.

The mountain opens in the morning!

Skis!

Had my first day of the season on skis yesterday. Nothing special at all and just enough snow to glide on, but pretty cool to finally be out there.

Assumption of Risk

I spent the day in self-imposed house arrest: downloading and learning new software, trying to find a factory that can produce an unnecessarily overly engineered part, and watching the Broncos (I know, WTF?). I finally made it farther than the end of the porch into a clear, cold, starry night. Elk Ave. is quiet. Even some of the bars are shut down for off season. I picked up a copy of Mountain Gazette from the news bins in front of the post office. I just finished reading Dick Dorworth's article "Of Troglodytes and Technology". It resonated not with the frequency of a bell or chime, but with the vibration that I feel from rivers and swaying trees...foundational. I'd like to post the whole text of the article here but it hasn't been published on-line yet. Here are a few quotes:

"Spatial variability in the snowpack is as real as the differences between every snowflake that has ever fallen or ever will."

"The security of wearing a transceiver in an avalanche is insurance that one's companions will be able to find and dig out that tranceiver, but it does not mean that what the transceiver is attached to will survive."

"In my view the only attitude and intention to take into the backcountry is that if you are caught in an avalanche you are completely f*****. F*****. F******. F*****."

I don't think he's ranting against technology. It's important to have backcountry tools and to know how to use them. A breathing apparatus is a great thing to have, but it's even greater to avoid having to use it. Digging a pit yields valuable information, but the snow pack will vary from where you dig the pit to where you drop into your line. You have to be able to feel it. You have to be able to say "no".

Last season at the request of my parents I bought an Avalung. I finally purchased a digital beacon after some soul searching over whether I could really find the people I love with an analog beacon on a grid search. And, after one of my most frequent ski partners questioned the true functionality of my ski poles that convert, in a geologic timeframe, to an inadequately short probe, I plunked down some cash for a Quickdraw probe. Do these things make me feel any safer in the backcountry? No. I imagine that they garner a bit more confidence from my ski partners, but they haven't changed my habits; they haven't caused me to charge harder, ski steeper, or let my guard down. Have I missed some really sick lines in the backcountry? Has it caused me to be left behind by the harder charging skiers in my social circle? Yes. But we all have our own ideas of what is an acceptable level of risk. I know smart, experienced people - people who I ultimately respect and have a lot of trust in - who will ski stuff in the BC that I won't even touch; and they feel safe doing it; and they probably are. I've been blessed to find a handful of people who ski a little harder than I do, who can lay uphill track like human snowcats, and who are completely satisfied skiing mellow -30 degree lines in widely spaced trees.

What's my point? I'm not really sure other than to encourage us all to carry the best gear we can afford; to practice using it; to learn everything we can about traveling on snow; to talk to each other about what makes us feel comfortable and uncomfortable; to feel ok with saying "no"; and to enjoy the process of traveling on snow as much as the accomplishment and elation of skiing something challenging.

Get Ready....

it's coming! Opening Day for the mountain is Nov. 25. Nordic Center is TBD but we're hoping for Thanksgiving weekend. This pic was taken today after 2 days of 50+ temps. Saw some snowboard tracks today above Emerald/below Schofield Pass. Looked like a recipe for core shots but at least they got some turns.

Fall Foliage Tour 2009

Teocalli Ridge and Strand Hill. Good weekend.

Vegas, Baby

How to get to Vegas? Pay the up charge to fly from Gunni to Denver and deal with multiple connections? Drive to Denver and get on a plane? Get in the car and drive across the desert, have your radiator freak out and find out your engine is burning oil? No good choices. CB is a tough place to do business and travel from but it's also a pretty great place to live so it all works out in the end. I loaded up the Subi and made a very quick trip to Interbike. Next year I'm going to work it out where I have a week to get out there and back. It was heart breaking to pass up the exits for Moab, Zion, Arches, Canyonlands, Great Basin, Capital Reef, Escalante, et al, but I was on a mission. Good trip. Hard trip. My car was overheating most of the way out so I had to drive with the heat on to keep from cooking the engine. Got to Vegas and there was a shop right across the street from the hotel. I thought it would be the thermostat or the water pump but in the end the fan was unplugged. The guy at the shop said that less reputable oil change outfits will do that to make your car overheat so you'll bring it back to get the cooling system worked on. Hmmm. This guy could have taken me for a ride but he didn't. In a town that is designed to take advantage of you here is this guy showing the love and making sure folks get taken care of. If you're in Vegas and need your car fixed go to One Stop Auto. They are honest, fast, and really nice.

More guys in man-pris with shaved legs than you can shake a carbon seat-post at. The coolest stuff at the show? Gyroscopic wheels for kids bikes (gives an advantage when weening off of training wheels), Boo Bikes bamboo/carbon frames, Clif Rocs, www.extremesportsid.com, and the Bianchi Dolomiti with hand cut, chromed lugs. Looks just like the classic late 70's/early 80's frames.

Nice sunsets out there in the desert.

Cross Vegas! There's an amazing cyclocross race that happens in conjunction with the show. Great course with a field of heavy hitters. Met up with Matt and Sean from bIKE cLUB to shake some cowbells. Moots made cowbells out of the cutting scrap from their top tubes...the most expensive cowbell you'll ever rattle. Had fun catching up with the PI guys and watching people ride bikes really fast.

More Snow

I'm getting these up after the fact, but we finally had snow in town on Monday.





Kelly and Michah braved the storm to come over from BV and Taylor Park for the Notorious F.I.G. and to walk around in snow flurries.

Snow

I'm getting these up a little late. First snow of the season on Sunday. It looked like it was above 13,000 feet and was just a very light dusting. I was driving from CB to Denver and snapped a few pics along the way. CB was socked in when I left, so no official report from there since I couldn't see much above 9,500 feet. Last Sat/Sun the Aspens in CB were full on gold on north and west facing slopes and are still fairly green on east and south facing aspects. I just rolled into Denver from Portland after being away for a few days. l'll be able to snap some more pics and give a full autumnal assessment after the drive home to CB tomorrow.



My South Park geography isn't strong...I think this is between the Buffalo Peaks and Weston Pass


Antero and Shavano? You can barely see snow on the ridge top.


I think this is the south side of Shavano from the top of Monarch Pass

Labor Day

Labor Day brought a trip to the glitzier side of the Elk Range for Jazz Aspen Snowmass. What the Drive-By Truckers, Doobie Brothers, and Allman Brothers have to do with a jazz fest...well, who cares, it was awesome. I've wanted to see DBT for a long time and have heard legendary tales of their shows. Solid, fun, heartfelt. It's easy to connect with them. They make me want to get up and yell "hell yeah". The Doobie Bro's were flawless. The Doobies have always been imprinted on my subconcsious; seeing them though bought to light that they have more recognizable songs than almost anyone else - and the tightest vocals you'll ever hear live. Their stage presence can be described as joyful. The Allman Brothers had that look that you see on accountants who've sat in the same cubicle for years plugging away at a job that they are confident and competent at but brings them little joy.





We headed into Aspen for some quality shopping...and went straight to the thrift store. I scored an awesome "extreme" one-piece suit, circa 1991; why Johnny didn't get this one - well, he had a momentary lapse in reason.


Off to P-towne for the first visit since my lay-off from the shoe mine. I got to pick 15 pounds of the last peach crop. Rode on the super-secret trails...it was like being on a horse that knew its way home without any input from the reigns. My bike just went and I was along for the ride, in and out of arroyos, flying down ridge lines, and swooping through tight pinyon tree lines. I forgot how much I was in love with those trails and how much they saved me during exile there. Some of the best riding anywhere.

Alpine Tunnel

I had an awesome trip to Buena Vista to ride the old Denver and South Park Railroad grade up to the Alpine Tunnel. The tracks have been removed and the tunnel has collapsed, but some of the ties are still there as well as other remnants of the old narrow gauge. Dave came over from P-towne; we camped out on Cottonwood Pass and then drove up to the start of the ride near the ghost town of St. Elmo. The ride is mostly double track under massive 14,000 ft. peaks and scarp ridges. The rail grade provides a gentle but steady climb. One weird thing about riding rail grade up to a pass is that there are very few flat spots....it's not particularly difficult climbing but it keeps going without a break. The trip felt like a mini vacation; being above 10,000 feet seems to eliminate stress. Soaking at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs helps too.

It Has Begun

More Gold

8/28 At the entrance to Lower Loop. A few yellow leaves on a baby aspen.