waiting for the snow to fall

yep, we're waiting for the snow to fall

2011-12-20T10:36:00.002-07:00

Dear Ullr-

I’m writing to you from my stuffy office on another dry December morning. I have like 10 unused punches on my Powder Clause card and I’d like to get to using it before it expires in April. Waiting for the snow to fall has become as anticlimactic as waiting for a package to arrive from The Clymb. At least it has been sunny. That way I can see the rocks and ice that I’m skiing over. Après on a sunny deck in December. Yahoo. Yellow snow is. everywhere. Brown too. The conversation at the water cooler has become, “Wow, they are doing a great job making snow this year. And the grooming, wow, I mean it’s like, as good as it could be.” Do you see what you’ve reduced us to, ULLR? Here’s a recent text exchange between myself and a friend: Friend- “Going skiing today?” Me- “Heading up for some late turns, you?” Friend- “No. my ER nurse friend said to stay away from the mountain.”

Here’s the gist: we are skiers and we love skiing and even when the snow is rotten, icy, thin, and bullet proof, we’re still going to ski. We’re still going to find a thrill in the little dips, whoops, and the threads of smooth corduroy that the crowds haven’t shaved off yet. We’re going to skin in the morning for turns because we know the groomers are out then to keep it from setting up overnight. We’re going to hike to find fresh snow that has fallen up high and we’re going to reminisce about record seasons and the biggest dumps of yesteryear over yet another pitcher. Our unconditional love of snow and skiing is unwavering, sir. So in case, ULLR, this dismal start to the season is simply just a test to make sure you didn’t spoil us last year and turn us into snow snobs, we get it, we’re humbled and we’re now groveling for the goods.

Sincerely,

WFTSTF

Tis the Early Season...

2011-11-30T11:23:00.001-07:00

Tis the season…for man-made snow, fast furious groomers, and rock skis. Let’s be honest, the snow is thin right now. We’ve all gotten a bit spoiled by the last couple years’ epic amounts of deep, fluffy, sick, glorious, blower, record breaking, copious powder and the early season expectations are off the charts. We MUST ski. But it also MUST snow. And it will, we have to be patient. So here are 10 tips for surviving early season skiing:

1. Remember: the snow is not deep, nor soft.

2. Do not ski the trees.

3. In the morning, ski the edge of the white ribbon where the swooshers and sliders in the middle have sprayed an extra “powder” coating. In the afternoon, ski the middle because the swooshers caught on to how smart you were in the morning and have all herded to the sides.

4. If you stop half way down a run, don’t forget to look up and wait for ~~the straighlining gapers~~ a gap in the chaos before merging back into traffic.

5. If you see someone screaming down the mountain without making a turn, do not attempt to keep up with this person even though you are most likely a faster and better skier. They will self-destruct and that’s when you can ski around them and ~~point and laugh~~ make sure they don't need ski patrol. See tip #4.

6. If you see a “caution” sign at the top of a blind roll over, assume that means the run is completely bare below. As in No Snow, you will be skiing on rocks. Stop. Go around.

7. Careful walking back to your skis after stopping for a mid-mountain beverage. The deck that you typically have to step up and out of mid-winter is actually about 12 feet off the ground now. That first step could be a doozy.

8. You might start feeling a little swell of confidence build up after crushing groomers all day. Even so, this is not the time to try a back flip in the park. See tip #1.

9. You can successfully ski over weeds that are sticking up out of the snow, but do not attempt to ski thru bushes. Especially if you are trying to look good. It’s impossible to look cool navigating your way out of a bush. See tip #2.

10. When all else fails just breathe deeply, have patience, and soak up some vitamin D because you’ll be up in the bowls and chutes and trees and pow stashes with your bros soon enough. See tip #7.

Keep praying to the snow gods and have a great season!

the last race of 2011, thank god!

2011-11-08T10:30:00.001-07:00

hello. i am writing to you from the comfort of my indoor office. my cozy lil corner in point6 HQ. a far cry from the blustery sandstone canyon i found myself in mid-morning this past saturday; cold, drizzly, muddy, treacherous. i signed up for the moab trail half marathon just a week or so after i completed the vasque golden leaf half marthon in aspen/snowmass at the end of september. you know, the high you get after you complete a race sometimes leads you to believe that running is the greatest sport on earth and that you are an incredible athlete; damn you endorphins and pbr. but hey, fall mud season isn't good for anything other than running because the weather lends itself well to it and to not much else right? ok fine, i signed up and actually enjoyed running a few runs in october with crunchy dead leaves under my feet, a nip of winter on my nose, and the fear of mountain lion and bear sightings in steamboat keeping me moving at a quick pace up otherwise daunting hills. the moab trail marathon and half marathon's website promises a scenic adventure through canyons and rocky valleys. they aren't kidding.
when we arrived in moab on friday night to pick up our race bags you could see the storm front looming to the west as the skies darkened and the wind picked up. but it's moab, and it's the desert and how bad can it get? we rented a house and filled it with bodies, food, and drinks for the weekend. we stuffed our faces with pre-race carbs and protein, drank some wine, and joked about how "slick" slickrock could actually be if the ominous weather forecast came through.
careful what you joke about...middle of the night woke up to a downpour...early morning downpour...freezing temperatures, low clouds, it was cold. it was race morning. were they going to call it off? surely the creek were supposed to run through was swollen and scary and there were flash flooding creek beds everywhere, was it safe to be out there for 2, 4, 6 hours?

never forget trail runners are hard core! we slipped out of the house and it was still the dark of morning with hot coffee and large amounts of gear in tow. it was drizzly and muddy when we arrived at the start. the race was ON! after seeing our marathon racer Gregg off (marathon started at 8:40) my sister Amy and i continued the seat heater party in her subaru commiserating about the cold, the drizzle, the mud, the water, the creek, the misery! and then it was our turn, we stuffed our pockets with honeystinger, pulled on our point6 extra light mini crews, laced up and headed to the start. a couple hundred people milling about in what looked more like the line to get on a ski lift than the start of a half marathon. beanies, gloves, gore-tex, soft shells, tights...no joke. we headed toward the front, switched on the i-pod and we were off. this is where i usually see my sister in a race, right at the beginning when the gun goes off, yep, 30 seconds later i look up and she's outta sight. she's fast. i won't go into crazy detail about the race because i'm not very good at remembering usually BUT i will give you an account of what i do recall.
the first 4 miles for the most part follow a gnarly jeep road. within the first 100 feet my shoes were wet. it was a gentle and steady climb through a beautiful canyon, i even looked up long enough to admire the view of an arch. after 4 miles the trail crested and a nice 2 mile descent followed to the first aid station (mile 6). it was pouring rain. we had to forge a blown out creek just to get past the aid station. the next 3 or so miles were absolutely stunning as we made our way onto the rim of hunter canyon and the clouds briefly parted to allow for the view. this part was really fun as i had freed myself from a big group of runners and managed to run this singletrack section on my own. i love when that happens and you can enjoy the course at your own pace. the rock was slippery and there were definitely sections where you literally had to scrape down rocks and ledges on your butt. for the most part i was able to keep a decent pace. the second aid station was around mile 9.5 i think. shortly after this was the crazy part, we took a turn off the dirt road and headed down into the kane creek drainage. and by into, i mean into a knee to thigh deep creek raging with freezing cold water. brrrrrrr! for the first 10 seconds it actually felt refreshing, my feet and calves were aching a bit and i thought, oh good, this will numb them up. and it did. and then my calves totally seized up in super tight knots and stayed that way for the duration of the mile long trudge through this creek. my shoes even froze up and felt like bricks under my feet.
when we finally hit the road again to the finish i was having trouble just putting one leg in front of the other. my calves slowly began to loosen up as my body temperature went back up but i have never had that kind of pain in a race. but i pushed on, knowing the finish was only another mile or so up ahead. thank god. and thank god for merino wool socks. seriously, after exiting the creek my feet were warm again within a couple minutes. that was such a comforting feeling. so i eventually waddled into the finish with a cramped calf and a cramped foot. but after the ridiculous amounts of water, mud, slick rocks, canyon walls, creeks, boulders, and cramps, i felt pretty lucky that i wasn't bloody or that i hadn't fallen in the creek and been completely submerged (which i heard reports of people doing).

thankful to have ran such an adventurous race and have had such a good time. needless to say, my sister finished very well, 4th woman overall, and our marathoner Gregg finsihed his first marathon like a rock star! lots of hot tub time ensued. and some beer, thai food, and sleep. endorphins are still kicking, what's the next race?

Long Live the Long Fall

2011-10-28T14:46:00.000-06:00

I decided that this afternoon was an opportune time to write a fall mud season blog post. I am having trouble finding mud season blog inspiration because it’s sunny and in the 60’s in Steamboat. I was all set to write a post on dealing with the muck, mud, dirt, leaves, rain, sleet, pumpkin flavoring and depressing blah of mud season and now I’ve changed my mind. It is so hard to be annoyed with the muck of mud season when there is no muck to muck things up. It’s so hard to complain about not getting outside enough because the weather is super miserable when you’ve been running and biking every day for the past week under clear skies and perfect mild temps. We’re spoiled, you get the idea. So, here are some positives on mud season because it will turn and it will be soup season and pumpkin flavored everything season soon enough so let’s talk about how fabulous Indian summer is, eh?

For starters…the few cold and miserable days we have had have contributed to keeping the mountain bike trails nice and damp and tacky. Yay Indian summer! If you decide to chance fate on the white ribbon of death at one of the early opened ski areas you can still ski in a t-shirt and trucker hat. Yay Indian summer! Bike commuting is still possible without being labeled “crazy”. Yay Indian summer! The rooftop bars and al fresco dining patios are still open for business. Yay Indian summer! I have had to do only one fall workout on the dreadmill so far due to inclement weather. Yay Indian summer! Without a bunch of wind and heavy rain the pretty leaves stay on the trees longer. Yay Indian summer! And let’s not forget that with the nice temps during the day, you can wear your point6 socks with your sneaks to work in the morning and then switch out for flip flops later in the day! Yay Indian summer! (or rock the sock/flop look all day if you work from home or have been labeled “crazy” by your coworkers)

Maybe I’m just making myself feel better for not booking a trip to the beach this mud season but hey, who needs the beach when you’ve got all this? The snow will come, the pow will be deep, but long live the long fall.

It's the Little Things

2011-08-23T12:34:00.001-06:00

As seen on the Point6.com blog:

Waking up really early is difficult. And now it’s staying darker longer and so waking up really early is even harder to do. And now that it’s not only darker but also colder, waking up is really hard to do when you are trying to get out of a warm bed to run 8 miles, on a Tuesday. So this is a thank you to all the little things that helped me through this rise and shine run today. Thank you to myself, of course, for setting the coffee timer last night so that the smell of fresh hot dripping coffee wafted through the house at 5:45am, motivating me not to hit the snooze button again. Thank you to my husband for being supportive of these early morning runs and not complaining too much because my early alarm means that he’s woken up as well, even though I swear I’m quiet as a church mouse. Thank you to mother nature for keeping the mornings so incredibly cool, even quite chilly, before the sun comes up because I am the biggest cry baby and wuss about running in the heat, hence why I am up with the stars to crank out this run. Thank you to the bears in the neighborhood for steering clear of the trail I ran on this morning, although all of the strategic coughing and hacking I do trying to alert them of my presence probably scares them more than they scare me. Thank you to the little fox I did encounter on, of all places, Fox Lane, cute huh?

Thank you to the other runners I finally crossed paths with once the hour became somewhat reasonable for people to be up and out exercising. The waves and courteous nods, the “mornin’s” and the comfort of knowing that other people got up early to train or just to perform their morning ritual gave me a little extra boost of energy. Thank you to the little dirt trail that runs parallel to the bike path, you save my knees and ankles a lot of pain on every single run. But I am NOT going to thank the tall grass that drapes over the trail for giving me itchy bumps all over my legs. Thank you to Honey Stinger for making the best chew on the market. It’s just the right little something to power up the unavoidable steep hill towards the end of EVERY run. Why did I buy a house on a hill again?

Thank you to the beautiful sun rays that I happened to catch shining through green leaves and shimmering on the trail as I peeked out from under the brim of my hat for a few seconds just to smile and appreciate the mere fact that I can run, I am running, and it’s a beautiful day to be running. Thank you to my I-pod shuffle and thank you to all of those ridiculous pop songs that at any other time during my day would deem an automatic skip, but that seem to be the most brilliant and energizing music ever written while I’m running. Thank you to my Point6 Ultra-Light Micro running socks, they truly are a little slice of heaven on my otherwise rough and worn feet. Thank you to the Vasque Golden Leaf half marathon coming up in September for keeping me motivated with your promises of yellow-leaf lined trails, fresh Aspen air, and beer at the end of the race. Sometimes it helps to remember and be grateful for the little things that keep us all going. What are some of the “little things” that help keep you going?

Andy Schleck Road Ride: From the Back of the Peloton

2011-08-15T15:23:00.003-06:00

Cyclists in Steamboat Springs were treated to a road ride on our home turf this morning with second place Tour de France winner Andy Schleck. And it ruled. I must confess that I had to google "Andy Schleck" when I found out he was in town to find out what all this excitement was about, I felt better when the first few people I told about this ride were like, “who?” I quickly turned into a groupie when I discovered that this guy is legit in the cycling world and decided that I had to see what a “Le Tour” cyclist looks like in real life. And I’ll tell you, he doesn’t have much body hair. Andy is thin, lean, young, cute, and hairless. And it’s a killer combo. He’s fast. I only caught glimpses of this kid all morning, he was swarmed by ~~real~~ faster cyclists than I, needless to say I was near the back of our rocky mountain peloton. But a peloton it was and it was quite an experience to ride bikes with nearly 200 people down a 2 lane road with normal Monday morning traffic (thank you drivers for not plowing 200 cyclists down). I was nervous to ride in such a big group. We’ve all seen those nasty spills on TV, the kind where spandex literally burns into skin and skin literally burns into road. And my wheels tend to wobble, especially on some of the brutal chip and seal we encountered. I had horrific images in my head of tomorrow’s Steamboat Today headline “Andy Schleck road ride ends in a blood bath when some girl in a pink jersey causes major pile up.” So I hung back with a group of friends who had some of the same ~~ridiculous~~ fears. The peloton cruised along and I quickly felt the energy of the group, the sun poked out behind thick morning clouds, and I had a fantastic time chasing this skinny kid in a blue helmet at the head of the pack up and down hills, through Steamboat ranch land, and up to the little red school house where he departed the group to head out on a “real ride.”

I would definitely call myself a recreational cyclist, I do not set my alarm for 2:00am so that I can watch the start of each day on the Tour with a live feed from France, I don't regularly eat breakfast in a chamois, shave my legs as a strategy or refer to my bike seat as a "saddle". It’s a great sport that offers an excellent cross training option when you’re training for a running event and it’s also a nice way to get out and enjoy some local scenery wherever you are. I do have tremendous respect for what amazing athletes these pros are and I’m glad Andy Schleck got a bunch of us out of the office and away from the new donut shop in town for a new experience in riding with a big group this morning. It was kind of like a powder day in the middle of August. But with much more spandex and less body hair.

staycation

2011-07-12T11:06:00.003-06:00

When you live and work in a resort town where travelers flock to spend their vacation time every year it can lead to a gradual “taking it for granted” attitude by the locals. Yes we live at the base of one of colorado’s most popular ski resorts in a lush, green valley with radiant blue skies and an abundance of activities to enjoy underneath it. Yet even when you live in “paradise” you still need a break now and again to gain some perspective, eat a variety of foods, shop at target, and get back to appreciating small town life where rush hour traffic might bump your commute to a whole gosh dang 10 minutes. I digress, because what I’m trying to write about is the weekend that I just spent down the road from steamboat, about an hour but far enough to feel like a little slice of pie away from home. Not an escape to the big city but an escape out of the town that after a few weeks of warm weather has started to feel like a stifling studio apartment full of houseguests that won’t leave and are eating all of your food and stinking up your bathroom. So we packed up the raft, the truck, the coolers, and the dog and took off for an adventure and some much much needed river time. We left at 8:30 on Saturday morning…in the rain. Rain. Low soggy clouds. This does not equate to warm, sunny, relaxing river time. This is me being moody, pissy, and second guessing this little staycation we dreamt up last night after drinking wine in an absolute downpour. But I kept a keen eye on the sky and low and behold as we crested the east summit of rabbit ears, there were blue patches. And they got bigger, until we arrived at the pumphouse put-in and would you believe it was sunny!

We prepped the boat, ran the shuttle, cracked our first cold, limey tecate and were off. Our good friend Edward had a boatful to join us and together we ~~cruised~~ hauled ass down the swollen upper Colorado. Running at just over 8000 cfs (more than double the highest flow we have ran it previously) we floated through rolling waves that are typically calm slow water, dodged a couple massive holes that are usually big rocks and easily avoided, and we floated out faster than we have ever ran that stretch. Good thing too because it seemed like there were dark gray thunderheads lurking in the sky around every corner and at the end of each little canyon and the hot springs were totally blown out so there was not going to be a warm-up stop. We are somewhat paranoid of the weather on this stretch because 2 years ago we were caught in a wicked hailstorm that left an inch of white ice in the bottom of our boat and many red welts on our bare arms and legs. That sucked. But not this day, no this day was an oasis from the soaking monsoon season we have been experiencing lately in Colorado.

As we pulled the boat out of the water the biggest decision of the day loomed ahead: should we stay and camp and risk the rain or head home for showers, a roof, and probably a huge burrito from fiesta Jalisco? Maybe it was the beer buzz, maybe it was the glimpses of sunshine, but we didn’t get up early to pack our entire camping fleet of chairs, double wide bag, and grill for nothing; camping it is! As an added incentive, we knew Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe was booked to play at state bridge that night so we headed to the box office, got some tix, and found a great camp site just up the road (see amazing sandwich below). In fact, we could hike up to the ridge above and see and hear the music being played. Pretty sweet spot. We had a great night, by the time karl came on stage we the skies had cleared, the stars were out and we were 2 little happy campers. After a night of dancing and drinking we headed to camp, fired up the JetBoil (which by the way is the most awesomest and coolest camp gadget ever!) drank some tea and called it a night.

After waking up to a cool crisp morning with the Colorado blue sky and finishing out the weekend with some very tacky steamboat singletrack, it's obvious that living here every day is such a privilege. It’s not to be taken for granted that I live an hour from this kind of weekend. And truth be told, my house is about 10 minutes from this exact scenario but with a float on the yampa, a free concert at howelsen, and a quick car camp up buff pass. Lucky. I know it, everyone who lives in steamboat or any other mountain town knows it. Sometimes it takes a quick little staycation to remember it. Cheers to the rest of this summer!

hell has officially frozen over

2011-06-20T10:05:00.002-06:00

just when you think your husband of nearly 6 years can't really throw you for a loop and surprise you anymore...he goes and signs up for a half marathon! and not just any "easy" flat-lander half, but the Vasque Golden Leaf half marathon in a little town called Assssspen. now you have to understand, this is a man whose favorite thing to say when asked if he runs is "only when i'm being chased." this is a man who has a facebook quote about himself stating "reading and exercise are for losers." now let me preface this by saying my husband has the metabolism most of us would kill for. he is 6'2" and about 155lbs soaking wet. he has been given the gift of long, lean muscle and long lean legs. he kicks ass at whatever he attempts; skiing, mountain biking, kayaking, rafting...but what do these all have in common? gravity. he loves him some gravity. and i can't say i blame him, the speed, the adrenaline, the hoots and hollars.
and although he is tremendously active and stays in shape by earning his descents on the mountain, he's never fallen in love with running. running can be a tough sport to love. what with all the heavy breathing, burning quads, and...exercise. he has run before, in fact off the couch with no training at all he can keep pace with me (average 9:00/mile) in a 10k (which by the way annoys the hell out of me). so i have all the faith in the world that he will run this half well and enjoy it. the views alone are worth the climb up snowmass ski area and running on a trail through aspen trees in the fall in Aspen, CO is about as perfect of a trail running scenerio as one can have. i'm looking forward to having a new running buddy this summer and everyone knows the real reason you sign up for these races is the free beer at the finish line. i haven't dangled that carrot yet, i'm holding out until late august when he's cursing our 8 mile runs.

Re-Treeing Steamboat

2011-06-17T10:02:00.000-06:00

as written on the point6 blog:

1 tree at a time a group of 160 volunteers planted 3,000 trees in the steamboat area on this past Saturday. The second annual Retree Steamboat event (organized by Yampa Valley Sustainability Council)was very well attended and a couple members of the point6 tribe got our hands dirty, got a few mosquito bites, and were rewarded with a super fast ride down the Howler alpine slide for our hard morning’s work. The sun was shining on this beautiful Saturday morning as groups of locals, kids, boy scouts, students, visitors, and earth lovers united on Emerald Mountain with shovels in hand and snacks in their pockets.

The main goal of this project is to replant some of the trees lost to the mitigation of lodge pole pines killed by those dang pine beetles. Last year’s efforts proved successful but as more logging has been needed and because some trees don’t survive the hot and dry summer months, there’s plenty more space for new little blue spruces and douglas firs to spread their roots and grow some new life. Since our point6 office is located directly across the river from Emerald mountain we not only mountain bike, hike, and ski on this hill but we also enjoy the beautiful and lush green hillsides every time we step out the office door. It’s nice to know there is some fresh growth happening up there as you read this and that so many people in our community are ready to give up there Saturday morning to help keep Emerald Mountain a vibrant green. After all, it wouldn’t sound nearly as cool if we were going for a bike ride on Drab Brown mountain.

the morning commute

2011-06-02T09:05:00.000-06:00

as seen on the point6.com blog:

after months of soggy weather and muddy trails we have finally had a glimpse of the spring we missed out on and the summer we look forward to with a few days of pure, blissful sunshine here in the 'boat. crisp mornings and bluebird afternoons have lead to calm, warm evenings; the kind where you want to get out with the dog for a leisurely walk before firing up the grill for a summer BBQ on the deck. ahhhh, summer. summer in steamboat. it's secretly the reason we all live here and endure the epic winters (i know, we have it so rough). the emerald green colors this valley displays are almost too vibrant, you must wear sunglasses when staring directly at the neon glowing grasses and aspen leaves. this morning was one such morning, with bright sun creating a soft green glow, i decided to take it slow and walk my commute today. one of the best perks of working at point6 (besides wearing the BEST WOOL SOCKS EVER!) is that my walking commute is all of 6 minutes, by bike it's about 2, and on the rare occassions (blinding snow storm) that i drive, it takes me 3. since we are at the start of the Steamboat Commuter Challenge i thought i'd share what my commute looked like this morning. enjoy!

waiting for the snow to stop falling

2011-05-16T09:14:00.000-06:00

i wrote this blog on point6.com last week and thought i'd share:

it happens every year. spring mud season. and every year we swear it's worse than the year before; more clouds, more snow, more rain, and more...mud. but seriously, this year takes the cake as being the longest and wettest off-season in recent memory. it doesn't help that the ski area is still stacked deep with snow and only now showing a few brown scabs on the lower half, spots that are typically visible by closing day in a less-snowy season. and as the puddles grow deeper and the pot holes grow fiercer, you might start to think that you are one reality show re-run, one facebook chat session, or one garage organizing afternoon away from going absolutely stir crazy indoors! so GET OUTSIDE! stop rearranging furniture and enjoy the wind in your hair, don’t be afraid of a little rain, breathe some fresh air and get your feet wet! actually, get your feet wet but keep them warm. I mean let’s not go totally crazy, you gotta have warm, dry feet or even the nicest of spring days will go downhill faster than a 5 year old on a birthday cake sugar crash.

last weekend amidst one of our rare perfect spring days, I ventured up the spring creek trail, one of steamboat’s most popular trails. it’s accessible right out of downtown, it’s a shady and gentle grade, and parallels spring creek for most of the way up so it makes an excellent dog run. on this particular day in early may, I found my shoes totally water-logged within the first 5 minutes. the creek is raging and in some of the lower spots it has covered the trail in a few inches of water and lots of unavoidable muck. as I climbed in elevation I soon discovered that much of the trail was still covered in a rotten pack of snow that either made for some grandma running or lead to post-holing knee deep. so let’s review, I have water-logged, snow packed shoes, and a thick layer of mud covering the outside of my soles. sounds like a good time to turn around right? even if my feet had been cold I would not have given up on this adventure, but thankfully I was totally comfortable and my feet felt great. they even felt warm! I was wearing point6 ultra light micro running sock. it truly amazes me what this merino wool is capable of. instead of my feet feeling wet and cold, with every step they seemed to be warming up and by the time I made it back to the car they were actually starting to feel dry. the tightly spun fibers were actually creating air pockets of insulation against the freezing cold moisture as it was absorbed and evaporated out of the sock. i'm so glad i didn't turn around and head down early because i was rewarded with not only a great workout and a good dose of vitamin D but I spotted some rather large and fresh moose tracks, at which point I promptly did turn around.

there’s no way to predict if we are still going to be skinning for fresh turns in july or if we’ll be riding single track by then, but the weather shouldn’t stop us from getting some fresh air. so get the right gear so that you have no excuses to turn around and miss out on a great adventure this mud season!

"life is good" and all that stuff

2011-03-22T10:52:00.001-06:00

you've heard and seen clichés all over the place: cheezy t-shirts and bumper stickers mostly. well it occurred to me yesterday while i was sitting on my deck drinking a fat tire in the afternoon sun and contemplating life's deep thoughts, that steamboat is literally a mountain of clichés and stereotypes; where we drive subaru outbacks with a rocket box full of skis and a golden retriever and/or yellow lab in the back. we drink dark beer, eat lots of whole wheat tortillas and peanut butter, and we've been mountain biking porcupine rim trail since we were 7. we flyfish, tele ski, and ride our cruiser bikes to lunch all in the same day. no matter the occasion we are wearing smartwool on some part of our body and have a handy honey stinger snack in our camelbak as we head to a free concert on the mountain. but you know what, clichés are clichés for a reason: they rock. i mean what's wrong with saying life is good or driving a very practical and efficient car?

here's my point (and i am trying to make one): a lot of popular things become cliché in our society because they are the norm, they have lost their uniqueness and everyone does it. but i think the uniqueness of steamboat, although much of our lifestyle is a mountain-town stereotype, is that these things we do/wear/eat/drink actually make us all very happy. so if my golden retriever and my smith shades and my patagonia hoodie make me just another local, then bring it on, cuz "if loving them is wrong, i don't want to be right."

dawn patrol

2011-03-11T10:45:00.004-07:00

the quiet peacefulness of dawn has been coaxing me out of bed for early morning runs and skis since the days i delivered bagels at sunrise in college. even back then, with eyes half closed and aching from 3 or 4 hours of sleep and a 5:00am alarm clock, i loved being out on the streets of boulder, coffee in hand, the pink horizon in the distance...i felt like each morning i was witnessing the earth waking up and coming back to life. i can say that now, back then i'm pretty sure i cursed those early mornings, but the important thing is that they got me in the habit of rising early and enjoying the first crisp rays of sun on what was surely to be a great day.

i woke up early this morning and skinned on the ski area for a quick and refreshing workout. one of the best parts of dawn patrol on the ski area is the chance to ski on the fresh buttery corduroy the snow cats laid down overnight. spring skiing is great and all but the warm days and cold nights tend to add up to some serious crusty conditions early in the morning, so making sure you are skinning up and skiing down the "roy" is crucial. the pink sky on the way up, the sun rays kissing the flat tops in the distance, and the chance to watch steamboat wake up from the top of a mountain is absolutely stunning and i am grateful to wake up each morning with the chance to witness this. and it all started with a car full of smelly bagels...

Why Urbanism Matters- South Main & Sustainability Part 2 » New Urbanism » Sprawl » Sustainability » Urban Design » Live from South Main

2011-03-02T10:02:00.000-07:00

i love this post.

Why Urbanism Matters- South Main & Sustainability Part 2 » New Urbanism » Sprawl » Sustainability » Urban Design » Live from South Main

cabin fever

2011-02-24T10:58:00.000-07:00

i've got the mid-winter itch. the end of february fever. spring subtly reminds us that winter won't last forever but i would rather it be rude and shove it down our throats with some blue skies and low 40's. taking advantage of the sporadic warm-ups in between our heavy dumps is the only way to survive the long dark months of these long dark winters. i love snow! am i convincing anyone? ok, i really do, and i really do love being able to get out as the days grow longer on late afternoon skins on the mountain. tuesday was such a day, after skiing fast groomers all morning i took Taj up for a hike and ski (isn't he handsome?). the pink and orange alpenglow was incredible, the sun was warm, and it felt like a the taste of spring i needed. yep, it's right around the corner.

another spring right of passage is my annual sign up for the durango triathlon. this will be my third year in a row doing it. it's a nice little race, very low key, lots of beginners...just right if you want to be able to party a little out in durango the night before ;) the race is held the weekend after steamboat closes for the season. so it's a great excuse to keep up the glacier running, the spin classing, and even bust out the cap and swim some laps. so with that training to focus on and the imminent free concerts and mid-mountain deck happy hours, there's lots to be excited about, change is in the air!

30!

2011-02-22T14:35:00.000-07:00

today is the big 3-0. it's taken a little longer to get here than i hoped of course, and there have been a few skin/ski days in there that i didn't count, but today is number 30 in lift served ski days. and it was a bright and clear bluebird to boot! powder days are awesome but there is something to be said for sun on your face, great visibility and fast, firm groomers. woo! and the reason the snow was so fabulous...

yesterday morning i woke up to some snow on the ground and figured i'd call the report and just see how things were shaping up. snuggled up in my cozy marshmallow fleece sheets i was looking for a reason to stay. they reported 5" overnight. it was just enough to get me out of bed and to the gondola just after 9:00, it was a holiday afterall. i am sooo glad i got up there when i did. it was a GREAT day. 5" was the mid-mountain report at 5am and there was easily a foot in places up top where the gentle wind delicately stacked flake after flake in those early and later morning hours. there was no wind blown crust, it was light and smooth and velvety splendor. i love snow!

the late 20's have been good, no great

2011-02-18T15:37:00.000-07:00

late 20's as in days skied this season. and age too, my late 20's were great, but that's not really the point. the point is, the skiing for the last couple weeks has been awesome. we had a huge random storm hit us the first week of february and it dumped 4 feet in 4 days. it topped out on tuesday the 8th with a deep pillowy day, one to write home about...or blog about. for some reason whenever there's a "powder day in the boat" i get kinda stressed out. if you live here you know what i mean, the gondola line is a crazy scramble of bodies, poles, passes, and boards and i have literally taken an elbow from an old lady who pushed me out of a gondola car when we started loading. people take their powder turns seriously. and apparently so do i. am i up early enough? will i get a parking spot in the knoll? will i see anyone in line that i know? should i try to meet up with anyone? no friends on a powder day i remind myself. do i have time for coffee? should i go singles or the main line? should i go to 4 points or wait at storm? you get the idea. every decision is based on making sure you are skiing as many fresh lines as possible before you have to put on the ball and chain yourself to your desk for the rest of the day.
the powder here in steamboat is so amazingly fantastic that you don't want to f%#k up your day by making a wrong decision early in the morning that leaves you choking on some homey's smoke as he steals your freshies. know what i'm sayin? so the morning of the 8th, i told myself not to stress, remember, this is for fun. smile. and so i got in the main gondola line, it was right about 8:00am and the line was looking pretty manageable whereas the singles line was already winding through the long metal maze. good decision, the singles line was sluggin'. i got off the gondi and about half way down rudy's trees i decided to hit 4 points instead of storm. casually, it was good decsion number 2. no stress, there are fresh lines to be had all over the mountain, where is everyone? now i'm not going to go any further into detail because i don't want to give away my secret go-to powder day turns but let me just say, i had one of the best powder days of the year. and it wasn't just the upper-knee/nearly-waist deep powder (yes it was) but it was my laid back approach and attitude that if someone cuts me off, no big deal. but for some reason that morning, no one cut me off, no one poached my lines, each turn was better than the turn before. i was so happy. but still there are no friends on a powder day.

snowbirds

2011-01-26T15:09:00.001-07:00

ahhhh. the warm sun on my face, sand gently rising through my toes, a slight breeze keeping me cool and a cold beer in my hand. it wasn't a dream, it was a long weekend on the coast of southern california that we took last weekend as a break and a warm up from this cold, gray, snowy winter we are having. NOW don't get me wrong. i love winter. i love skiing and big snowflakes and deep powder but being a colorado native, i have now lived through 30 of these winters and sometimes i need a well deserved break to make sure the sun hasn't burned out and still does exist.

this was also a great opportunity to get some SUP time in on the ocean. i love surfing but have never spent enough time in the waves to reallly get a good grip on the sport. but we've been able to SUP on the river for the last couple summers so it was a great afternoon spent playing in the waves of the cool pacific.

and it happened to be my sister's birthday so what better way to spend one's 26th than running 13.1 miles up and around and back down the hills of catalina island. it was a beautiful warm day and my sister Amy, her boyfriend Gregg, and i all ran. my husband was support crew and the margarita and beer provider. amy and gregg finished ahead of me and she managed to win her age group and get second female overall. rock star! the course was seriously tough and way more of a climb than any of us anticipated. coming from elevation my lungs felt great but pushing up 5 straight miles on dirt followed by a steep downhill section and then another few miles of climbing was tough and the final 4 mile steep descent wrecked my quads and ankles. hurts so good! oh well, with the tunes cranking, the honey stinger chews flowing like candy and the incredible views from the top of the island, i was able to muscle it out and finished 3rd in my age group (seriously, not a lot of competition from the 30 year olds this year).

alas, our time in the sun had to end and we reluctantly packed up and headed back to denver in our flip flops and back up to steamboat to -8 degrees. the january thaw is a must-do for me every year because too much of a good thing (snow) can turn you into a snob and there's nothing better than a little sand and sun to make next weekends turns feel brand new again.

Free Refills

2011-01-19T14:21:00.000-07:00

when the snow report at 5am says 1.5" and it continues to dump huge stacking flakes all morning, you better go skiing. today was a big flake day. it snowed 7" between 5am and 9am. i was lucky enough to sneak away for the morning and found a very quiet, post-holiday lull at the ski area. the gondi was a ghost town. trackless tunnels through the trees lead me to luscious lines and secret stashes :) every turn was deeper than the next, every run fresh the next time around.

i skied alone for the most part, which hasn't happened a lot this season. for some reason we've been skiing more consistently in bigger groups this year. so i was kind of excited to make some turns on my own, enjoy the solitude and stillness of the untracked lines. i used to ski a lot on my own. back in breck i worked split shifts at the ski shop and had a routine down pat for going off on a lunch break to lap a few runs on the t-bar. sometimes with music, or sometimes the mountain would be so busy you couldn't listen to music because you had to be in tune with all the crazy people skiing around you. it was nice to have the peace of a lift ride today to just think. to just observe the falling snow. the silence. the beauty. tomorrow it's off to the sun and warmth of CA. what a week!

turn turn turn, to everything there is a season

2011-01-11T15:31:00.000-07:00

hello there. i was really on a roll there before the holidays skiing 6 fantastically snowy and fluffy days in a row...and then my roll came to a screeching halt. after 97 glorious years, my Nana, Ellen M. Quigley, passed away on Christmas day. and without a doubt, skiing was the last thing on my mind for a few days. i spent all of christmas eve and christmas day bedside, as we moved Nana from the hospital to her home so that she could be surrounded by familiar sounds and smells, and the view from her bedroom window which she had looked out of for the past 30 years. she was still sharp as a tack and witty as ever as her body slowly began shutting down. bittersweet: watching someone who is fully aware of their surroundings, telling you they love you, and slowly slipping away from you. brings tears to my eyes thinking about it now :)
Nana was born in 1913. 1913! the life she lead, the things she saw and lived through, the coming and going of her own friends, family, husband are all part of the circle of life and at the end of the day, our only choice is to celebrate it. her life was a remarkable journey and one that no one in my family will soon forget.

but as life goes on, so do the seasons, and this winter is marching on full steam ahead. day 16 was great fun, but day 17 was EPIC! we woke up to 8" of fresh cold snow that had all fallen since closing on saturday. and it was still dumping at 5am...still dumping at 8:30...still dumping at 11am, in fact it dumped another 9" between 5 and 11am! so yes, sunday was one of those days: the mountain was littered with "woots!" and "yeehaws" and even though there were a lot of texans in town, it was mostly locals doing the squealing. we ate it up! Steamboat ski area has now stacked up over 200" this season. in comparison, it took us until march to get to the 200" mark last season. so cheers to snow, to powder, to living the good life and to Nana.

winter wonderland

2010-12-21T13:22:00.000-07:00

days 9 - 13
last night i was driving home from work in one of the gnarliest snow storms i have ever seen. it was dumping at a rate of 100 FSI (flakes per square inch). it was dense and intense! this pineapple express (name for the storm) has been warm and wet and generous. i am thanking ullr, daver, and any other snow god that might be smiling down on us this season. we are diving in head first and aren't coming up for air until the sun comes out. i've been skiing hard the past 5 days, smiling ear to ear, whooping and hollaring with friends and family and having the time of my life. feeling like a ski bum again. eat, sleep, ski. what a life. hoping to make it 8 days in a row this week and it's looking good. the snow is still falling at a steady pace as i type and we are forecast to get more significant snow through thursday. happy skiing, merry christmas, happy holidays!

7 & 8

2010-12-13T11:23:00.005-07:00

i'm determined to keep track of my skis days this year. the last time i did was back in college when i kept a journal that counted the days skied and also holds so many wonderful memories, old lift tickets from across the west, doodles, drawings, and notes from one of the most adventurous seasons thus far. it's so fun to look back in that journal to the places i visited that season, the people i made turns with and the copious amounts of snow that fell and the copious amounts of beer we celebrated with. so this season i'm going to use this blog as my ski journal and see what kind of snow memories i make this year.

days 7 and 8 were at steamboat. blustery, blurry, windy, cloudy, SNOWY! i escaped the office on friday afternoon and met up with my husband, and our friends mike and joe. they had all been skiing most of the day and with fatigue setting in they showed me a few stashes they had been skiing thus far. we hiked from storm to the top of morning side and ducked into the no name chutes for some excellent wind loaded fluff. it was not an easy hike as the wind gusts bellowed up to 50 mph. the lifts were closed shortly after we decided that was the last run.

saturday was my first day alpining this season and i busted out my much coveted S7's. i am in love with these skis. if it weren't for their sharp edges we would be sharing our bed with these skis. the ski area only reported a few inches but with a little wind blown assistance there were some pockets of fresh powder that felt like puffs of airy frosting under my feet. no names were going off again today and at times were riding in a posse 15 deep. the stoke was high today!

day 6

2010-12-03T10:17:00.005-07:00

it's december 6th and i have skied 6 days so far this season. 2 backcountry, 3 resort, and 1 fantastically fluffy powder day. i am loving this season. yes we have been blessed with a snowy start to the season, but i shall not take that for granted and fall into complacency, expecting it to be a record year all around. no. that is risky and naive. as quickly as the flakes have stacked, the flakes can melt. it is still really early in the season and so i am going to take it one day at a time, one turn at a time, one apres at a time and count my blessings that i even get to ski at all. to all of you out there grinning from ear to ear as you rip turns, try not to forget how special this sport really is. last monday on the first "powder day in the boat" it was audible. yelping, whooping, fist pumping, and high fives...snow does something to our deepest inner child and brings out the good clean fun in us all. i like to remind myself of that sometimes, when it's cold, when i'm grumpy, when my boot hurts, when my fingers are numb...dammit, i am alive and i am skiing, LIFE IS GOOD!

no more waiting, the snow is falling!

2010-11-16T14:29:00.003-07:00

the snow has been falling for a solid week in the boat. it is so beautiful in steamboat today and the vibe around town is nothing short of exhilarating. everyone is pining for the mountain to open and those of us that can't wait are enjoying renegade turns in the virgin snow all over this blanketed valley. it's pretty amazing how much stoke comes to an entire town when partially frozen white water particles start falling from the sky. it's why we call steamboat home, it's what keeps us here year after year, it puts smiles on our faces, makes us weak in the knees, and has a tendency to cause grown men to squeal like little girls. the talk has turned from bikes and mud to camber and wax. soon enough alarms will be sounding at 5am for the first snow report call-in, happy hour will be considered "going out" because you gotta get to bed to rise early for dawn patrol, all the men will start to resemble lumber jacks as they grow their protective seasonal beards, and ski pants and beanies are already a workplace norm. enjoy the winter, whoop it up, don't hold back, ski fast, feel the burn, hike, skin, jump, ride, shred, skate, park, pipe, tour, just get out and enjoy the SNOW! winter is back baby!!

yep, it's snowing in steamboat

2010-11-09T15:05:00.004-07:00

woo hoo! winter storm warning, fresh blanket of snow and all seems right with the world. on another note, i made the best friggin' baked tater fries last night. crunchy on the outside, a little seasoning and warm and chewy on the inside. here's the way to do it:

grab some potatoes from the garage, about 3 or 4 big ones or a big handful of fingerling. i had some Rockey Family Farms potatoes on hand, lucky me.
slice them to look like french fries, as long and skinny or short and fat as you like.
put 'em in a big ziplock bag with about 1 T vegetable oil, salt, pepper, dash of onion powder and garlic powder. toss around to coat all the lil taters.
lay 'em flat on a cookie sheet (i prefer to lay down foil and spray it with just a bit of organic olive oil cooking spray) and toss it in the oven which has been pre-heated to 425. keep an eye on these, you'll want to turn them after about 15 minutes, then again in another 15 minutes. total cooking time is going to be roughly 30 minutes. if your tater fries aren't suitable to your crunch factor in this time, then crank up the heat to 450 and let 'em really bake up for about 5 more minutes. so good.
in fact, i had some left over and chopped 'em up and tossed 'em in my salad at lunch. yeah that's right, tater fries in my salad. today is a good day.

the 3rd annual halloween river trip that turned into a bike trip

2010-11-03T10:20:00.007-06:00

happy november one and all! it really seems impossible that it is already november...time flies so fast all the time, not just when you're having fun i have come to realize. mud season has officially begun, for reals this time with actual mud on the ground and therefore in my house. generally the first significant snowfall of the year dictates the official opening of mud season because with the subsequent warming that occurs afterwards, you are doomed for muddy shoes, pants, socks, pets, paws, floors, carpets, cars, mittens, and bikes. so as we typically find ourselves in mud season in steamboat around the halloween holiday, and for the past few years we have demonstrated our rebellious nature and lack of common sense, and loaded up the raft for one final voyage down the colorado through one beautiful utah canyon or another. HOLD UP! not this year pal, no, this year we had some significant snow fall the week before halloween which lead to a less than eager attitude towards sitting on a raft and getting splashed with near freezing water (aka, the boys refused to pull up their skirts). and so thus began our 3rd annual halloween river trip that turned into a bike trip. moab style. and for the occasion i demoed a yeti 575 that i fell in love with, it's in the picture above.

if i baked for a living i would be fat

2010-10-21T13:47:00.004-06:00

seriously. we're talking squishy on all edges. so i guess it's a good thing that when i do bake, i'm trying to "lighten" up the recipe where possible. so yesterday i mentioned that i baked a banana-peanut butter-chocolate chip bread and it turned out really delicious...not pretty but delicious. i think that people are scared away from baked goods that claim to be "lightened" up because they think their favorite sweet treats will taste like cardboard, no way! this bread was sweet and rich, super moist, and very satisfying. and there was no added butter or oil, 1 egg, and 1 cup of sugar total. here's the recipe:

2 cups flour ( i used whole wheat)

1 1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

2 medium very ripe bananas

1/2 c peanut butter (i prefer crunchy, and i am going to experiment with adding a bit more to give it a stronger pb taste in the future)

1/3 c unsweetened applesauce

1/2 c white sugar

1/2 c brown sugar, packed loosely

1 egg

1 T ground flax and 3 T water (this is the equivalent of 1 egg)

1 1/2 t vanilla extract

1/2 c milk

3/4 c chocolate chips (i probably added more like 1 cup b/c i love chocolate so much and i chose a mix of semi-sweet and bitter sweet chips)

walnuts or whatever nut you want for a topper

Preheat oven to 350 and gernerously butter a bread pan or 2 (this makes enough for 2 loaves or 1 big, overflowing loaf in which case you will want a cookie sheet under the bread pan)

In a medium bowl mix flour, baking powder and soda, and salt and set aside. In a larger bowl or mixer combine bananas, peanut butter, applesauce, and sugars until somewhat creamy (if you are not using a mixer, you'll want to mash up your bananas first). Stir in egg, flax and water, and vanilla. Finally mix in milk and slowly add the flour mix, blend until combined and then stir in the chips. Pour into loaf pan(s) and top with chopped up nuts. Bake for about 50-60 minutes until the top is brown and an inserted knife comes out clean (this may take a little temp adjustment toward the end to avoid over browning on top while the middle gets done, maybe reduce to 325 at 45 minutes).

Take it out and let it cool about 5 minutes before trying to remove from the pan...enjoy!!

taking a 'bite' out of something new

2010-10-20T15:13:00.004-06:00

ha ha! pun intended in that title because i am going to start writing a little bit about my adventures in the cooking/baking world...so get it? taking a 'bite'...

my main interest lies in trying to makeover some classic and new recipes to include healthier foods/eliminate some of the unhealthy ingredients while still upholding the deliciousness of the dish. i am really enjoying incorporating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etc. into my cooking, using more homemade ingredients (such as my own marinara in a lasagna instead of a store bought sauce), and alternatives to fat, oil, sugar, and all that crap when and if possible. now i am not here to dish out 30 minute miracle meals, although quick and easy is always part of the goal, but i'm more into finding what works whether that takes 1 try or 3, 30 minutes or 3 hours. and not everything i make belongs in the Zone Diet or should even be considered healthy, but hopefully i can give you a tip or 2 or a recipe or 4that you might take and tweak to your own liking or try it my way. it's all about what works for you and having fun with it. my husband and my sister are my main taste testers so i'll be sure to include their reviews of what i've forced, i mean cheerfully offered them to eat :)

so my first food driven post will be tomorrow about the banana-chocolate chip-peanut butter bread i made last night. it's almost gone but i'm going to take a quick picture before it's just crumbs on the floor...it was REALLY good.

it's 'waiting for the snow to fall' season

2010-10-13T12:17:00.009-06:00

fall is here. goodbye summer.

you were swell while you lasted. i haven't posted in a while and part of the reason (my excuses can get long and elaborate) is that i was really busy at the end of the summer. like really busy. i think that we had something going on for 9 straight weekends or something like that. while it is great to be home and somewhat more settled for a few weekends of domestic bliss and responsibilities this fall (i will organize that putrid shoe closet), the past couple months and their adventures were quite epic times.

we've been to UT riding waves on the colorado river, north to the downhill trails of whistler, BC, and back to the silent walls of a meditative yoga retreat in the golden hills of steamboat.

in the past couple months i've been to 2 weddings, drank a lot of wine, met my new nephew, aided ultra-marathoners in a 50 mile race, caught a fat 21" rainbow (and quite a few more but that one was a hog), made out at a waterfall, ran the CO relay (174 mile race, my portion being 18.5 of it), saw a rowdy concert at red rocks (shake it franti!), floated and fished the green river at flaming gorge, sea kayaked in the puget sound, met a dog wearing a leisure suit, and hiked and biked through the most gorgeous indian summer i can ever remember. ever.

i am incredibly grateful for all of the opportunities i have had in the past summer. it's been crazy at times, a little hectic, but amazing, and i definitely feel lucky for all of the memorable experiences i have had. so in between all this activity i've been trying to w, w, wo, wo, wor, worrr, work. right, that word is tough, gets in the way of life sometimes huh? totally overrated but it's a must in order to support these habits and all the gear to go along with it. the raft is not put away for the season just yet, we have our annual westwater halloween float to look forward to. and then it's really time to get hunkered down and wait for the snow to fall.

the highest i've ever been

2010-07-19T16:16:00.006-06:00

is 14,197 feet, on the top of mt. belford and i was there on sunday. we headed to the arkansas river valley on friday night, us and about 10,000 of our closest CO friends. it was busy, the flood gates were opened on the front range for sure. however, once we made it to our campsite where my father-in-law had staked out a quiet shady spot near a creek way up the clear creek reservoir valley, mother nature took over and we had a brilliant night sky, a big crackling fire, and felt miles away from everyone else. we fished the little creek all day saturday and never saw another soul, it was refreshing to actually catch fish while fishing; we each caught around 30 brookies and even a few more sizable cut throats.

sunday morning we were up super early, stuffed with oatmeal, and ready to hit the trail by 7:45. ok that's not super early for hiking 14ers standards but we were moving pretty slow because i think i drank too much wine after fishing and i had one of the worst night's sleep camping than i've had in a really long time. the trail started off steep and kinda mean and i needed advil immediately. there was no warm-up grade or easy path to the trailhead, it was up and up and back and forth across steep switchbacks through beautiful aspens with the sound of rushing water all around. we had a really nice cloud cover for most of this part and it was well received because even with the cooler temps we were sweating buckets. the trail finally flattened out a bit and we crossed a really pretty stream where the dog got a nice cool down and a big drink.

the trail steepens again as you climb from about 10,000 feet up to 11,000 and into a nice tundra meadow. gorgeous green bushes dotted the landscape from here up through the windy trail where it forks and you can choose the longer, gentler way around or the more severe, steep, rocky, makes-you-want-to-kill-yourself route to the top, we choose the latter. from here it really is pretty brutal, but then again it's a 14er and not a stroll down the bike path in town. switchbacks are mixed in for fun between brutal straightaways with big step-ups and slick gravel. i kept talking to the dog and telling him we were almost there, just a little further, you can do it...but then i realized i was really coaching myself and my husband along, one step after another, slow and steady. we made great time to the top, summited in about 3 hours, that's a 4,500 vertical foot climb, damn. the views were so incredible, it makes me so happy to live in this state and have the opportunity to view the world from this elevation. we didn't stay long though, it was cold and some clouds were rolling in that looked a bit ominous. so we headed back down the trail and quickly discovered that it was not going to be easy. suddenly i was wishing i had some of those nerdy hiking poles that all the old ladies use, something to take the weight and pressure off my knees and quads on such a steep descent would have been great. alas, we had no such tools, so we braced ourselves gritted our teeth and took the punishment like real troopers. it helped to talk most of the way down about how cold the beers in car were going to be.

what a great day! it felt so good to make it to the top. i am so proud of our dog, when we adopted him around 5 months ago he was 12 pounds heavier and barely able to hike the trails around our house. now he's a lean, mean, hiking machine, not really mean though, he just has a big bark.

done.

2010-07-09T10:11:00.006-06:00

day 3. after a rough night in which i booted up a bowl of salad i decided i deserved to sleep in a bit and not workout in the morning. so i got up and actually felt pretty darn good. whatever wrecked my stomach the night before was out and i felt well rested and ready to go.

up at 7:00 breakfast: smoothie w/ fresh mango, freshly frozen blueberries, ground flaxseed, protein powder, almond milk, delish!

lunch: a salad w/ steamed broccoli, quinoa, garbonzo beans, cucumber, salt/pepper, olive oil

snack: apple, sample size lara bar (apple pie, delish)

dinner: corn on the cob w/ fresh lime and salt/pepper, roasted sweet tater, roasted carrots, roasted beet salad w/ quinoa

detox tea before bed

i woke up this morning starving! i had a serious rumble in my stomach, the cleanse is over!! i think my body knows this and was wanting some good old fashioned carbs. i can honestly say i felt better, lighter, energized. i hit the trail for a nice run and other than my allergies (they make me all snotty and my lungs super tight), i felt great. i think not drinking alcohol and not eating processed sugar alone is a great cleanse for your body. but add in no dairy or wheat or meat or coffee and by the third day your cravings for those things diminishes a lot and you realize that you can actually survive without those foods and drinks. and i think i eat pretty healthy anyways, so it wasn't like i was starving myself by any means, but it made me realize how much i do rely on certain foods more than i should.

i would recommend to anyone doing a longer cleanse than 3 days, that you make your spouse or house mate do it with you. there are just too many temptations around when someone else is eating "normal." over the course of my 3 day cleanse, my husband ate bagels, drank coffee, ate pizza, drank beer, ate chips, ate ice cream...but i swear he wasn't trying to be mean. luckily my sister is living with us for the summer and she was my cleanse buddy, probably couldn't have done it without her although i now know i can't do her famous kale salad.

it's actually refreshing for me to know that i do actually have enough willpower to sustain a 3 day cleanse, i was skeptical. i learned something too about not needing certain foods like carbs or meat protein to feel full and energized, a light lunch of veggies and a whole grain like quinoa and you're good to go. i don't need sugary snacks in the afternoon, a cup of tea and a piece of fruit is enough.

so all in all i would say this was a success. now i'm off to the pool for some laps and then i'm getting a soft serve ice cream cone, then happy hour, yeah! i know i can live without this stuff but it doesn't mean i want to.

day 2: both better and worse

2010-07-08T10:26:00.006-06:00

day 2 was interesting. i woke up extremely tired, not sure if it had to do with the allergy pill i took or not sleeping well but i was hurting! i got up early for yoga and it took every bit of strength i had to just stay awake and not curl up on my mat and take a nap. here's a recap:

up at 6:15 for yoga. breakfast was oats with a banana, flaxseed, almond milk

snack: 1/2 grapefruit, detox tea

lunch: amy's famous kale salad w/ quinoa, pickle spear

snack: pumpkin seeds, raw cashews, dried fruit

workout: 5 mile trail run

dinner: amy's famous kale salad with garbonzo beans and avocado, lemon water

here's the kicker: i puked up my dinner. i started to feel really nauseas and waited about an hour, trying to just lay down and relax but there was no relief, so i got sick. i felt immediately better. i think it's too much kale salad for my body. rejected! so today i will be trying something else obviously, perhaps roasted beets w/ quinoa. in other news, my sugar cravings seem to have subsided quite a bit. today i feel way more alert and in some sense i feel lighter.

i felt pretty good on my trail run last night, i wouldn't say i noticed a lot more energy but i felt good. i didn't run with the i-pod because the spring creek trail is kinda busy with bikers and runners so it's nice to be able to hear someone coming, especially when i run with Taj. without the headphones i found myself thinking a little more than usual and in particular i was thinking about running, weird i know. i am not a natural runner. i am not a graceful gazelle with long lean legs and incredible stamina. running for me is a juxtaposition of sorts: the pain and struggle of the uphill with the relief and energy of a downhill, the heavy legs and mind at the beginning of a run with the free flowing blood and clarity of mind at the end. running is in some ways an addiction. you crave the euphoria of reaching the summit or just reaching the end of the road, accomplishing something. when i was younger i absolutely loathed running. i never ran on my own, only when needed at soccer practice or gym class. i think i hated it so much because mentally i couldn't let myself get passed the struggles to realize the benefits. now i run because it keeps me in shape, it feels good, it's ME time, it's fresh air, it's cool breezes, it's watching my dog frolic in the ditch next to the trail, it's reaching the summit and it's blasting back down to the bottom. i heart running.

day 1 recap

2010-07-07T10:18:00.002-06:00

here's how day 1 of the cleanse went:

up: 6:30 to pool for a hot springs soak and mini water tread workout
breakfast: oats w/ fresh strawberries, almond milk, ground flaxseed, and detox tea
off to work
snack: pear, water
lunch: amy's famous kale salad w/ quinoa
snack: carrot stix, dried fruit/raw nut mix, fresh cherries
workout: mountain bike ride up spring creek
dinner: pickle spear, amy's famous kale salad w/ quinoa and garbonzo beans, detox tea

so there you have it. i am actually really tired this morning but i believe that's due to an allergy pill i had to take last night. otherwise, i feel great. got up this morning and went to yoga at 6:30, which i really enjoyed other than having super heavy eyes. i'll give you a recap of today's success tomorrow. ciao!

out with old

2010-07-06T14:20:00.002-06:00

i am participating in a 3 day cleanse. it's day 1. this isn't a crazy cleanse like you hear about where people drink maple syrup and lemon juice and eat whole jalapenos. no, nothing that irrational. my goal is to clean out my system in 3 days of toxins and sugars and built up alcohol resin in my liver. my sister is willingly joining me. it's only 3 days right? the goal is to drink only water and herbal/detox tea. and we will basically eat a vegan diet. only fruits, veggies, grains, unsalted nuts. pretty exciting. so i'ts 2:25 in the afternoon and usually it's about this time that my mind starts wandering and daydreaming about chocolate. not today. dammit not today! it helps to distract myself with work, or this blog. i really don't have much willpower and 3 days will be a test. no booze either. but i'm hoping after 3 days i feel lighter, less sugar dependent, cleaner, healthier, and ready to get drunk. ha! i'll keep ya posted.

Built To Last

2010-07-01T10:24:00.000-06:00

solstice so soon?

2010-06-21T11:45:00.008-06:00

it's always nice to run into old friends and acquaintances to catch up, meet their kids, talk small talk, and spill beer on their feet. this weekend we headed back to the old stompin' grounds in glenwood for the over 100 year old strawberry days festival. how would i describe the vibe at this event?...kind of a preppy high school reunion meets a children's petting zoo at a rob zombie concert somewhere in mexico. as strange as the crowd is, it's a tradition and one that has brought people back to the valley for years and it is a great excuse to get our raft down to glenwood and take advantage of the nice flows the colorado and the roaring fork have been experiencing. another great reason to get down there was father's day. come to find out the weekend before that my dad wouldn't even be in town. oh well, we went through all the motions, even ate father's day brunch and saluted our dad who is currently visiting his ailing father in IL.

i also took the opportunity to ride the sweet rio grande trail that has been paved all the way from glenwood to aspen on the abandoned railroad track (wish they could do that from steamboat to craig). it is so smooth and my new road bike kicked some ass. we rode from glenwood to Carbondale and back, not too long of a ride, but after spending all day drinking on the river the day before I needed a good workout to sweat it out but not one to make me yak. mission accomplished. above is a picture of my nana who turns 97 in july with my sister, brother, his wife, and jeremiah and i (note the bike shorts, taken post-ride and for the record i asked for this to be an above-the-waist shot). she was the grand marshall of the parade they had on Saturday. she is so amazing, lives by herself and is sharp as a tack. she even busts out a fresh peach pie every once in a while. she has her first great-grandchild coming around the end of this year (not mine). you’d think at 97 she’d have lots of great grandchildren running around but my family does not reproduce rapidly, or young apparently, hmmmm and we're catholic. anyways, can’t believe it’s already the solstice, seems like summer just got going, i better get out on the mountain bike and enjoy this looooooong day. peace.

walk the walk

2010-06-14T09:11:00.003-06:00

slacking. the only word i could really come up with for why i haven't posted in well over a month. it's not for lack of content...no. i've been on the river, been mountain biking, my sister moved to town, gotten sunburned, gotten drunk, seen some reggae, eaten lunch on a patio, and spent a weekend watching it rain cats and dogs while sitting on my couch watching the first couple seasons of weeds streaming on netflix. there's plenty to talk about. it's just a strange phenomenon when you realize that you avoid doing something that you really enjoy, something that brings happiness to you and sanity, and you can't quite figure out why you avoid it. this blog is just such a phenomenon (spelling that word is tough). i love sharing my thoughts, ideas, and mostly my adventures in written word. it's the only form of communication that i feel i can get my point across efficiently. so when i tell a story in this forum i don't stumble or get interrupted or forget what i was going to say. it's a blank canvas that i can just fill in.

so anyways, the summer has been great so far. we were fortunate enough to get 2 last minute spots on a yampa canyon raft trip (pics are on facebook). this canyon is spectacular. the colors of the rock, the endless cliff walls that rise a couple thousand straight vertical feet above, the still water silence followed by the roar of rapids, the birds, the remoteness, 6 days on the river...it makes you feel human. one thing that i love about overnight raft trips is the adventure of it. you pack and arrange and strap and tighten your gear to a boat, float, unload all of your gear onto a remote beach, camp, do it all over the next day. and the next...things are bound to go wrong, you either forget something, or break something and the coolest part is you automatically become this macgiver type character and make do. you rig something up from an extra strap, a bucket, and a match, and voila! dinner is served. your down time is usually spent napping, reading, hiking, macgiver-ing, fishing, drinking, or any combo of what i just mentioned. after a 6 day river float you will feel very dirty, a little hungover, itchy, and happier than a fat kid eating cake.

as the summer continues and the adventures ensue, i'll be sure to update with some posts, i mean it does make me happy after all. and i need to take my own advice.

Never Summer

2010-05-02T18:35:00.005-06:00

while mother nature struggles to gain her composure and act like a lady, i'm trying my hardest to appreciate her sense of humor and vulgar outbursts. these on-again, off-again snow storms are getting about as tolerable as sitting through brunch with your mom on mother's day with a raging tequila hangover. as with most things in life, if you sit back and succumb to the misery, you will be miserable. so i'm making lemonade. really sweet, not too tart, delicious and refreshing lemonade. may day and the few days that preceded brought several decent snowfalls to the yampa valley, covering the newly green grass and sprouting tulips in a lovely wet blanket of white. but higher up, like up on the ski area or the pass, it was dumping huge dumps of fluffy snow that with the right motivation and the willingness to search for your long underwear and skins, would prove to be a remedy to these mud season blues. now let me preface this by saying that i gave my husband the stink eye all morning on saturday because of his insistence on going skiing. i wanted to sleep in, i wanted to go to yoga, i wanted to eat a big fat breakfast and nap on the couch in the sun with my kitty,...i did not want to go skiing. i dragged my feet looking for my socks, my favorite skinning hat, my camelbak, my skins...where the F are my skins?...well who the hell put them there?...i was not stoked.

we met up with our friend mike at the parking lot and walked through the thick mud to the snow, put our skis on, i plugged in my iPod and we were off. luckily for us, there were some dedicated folks (crazies) up at sunrise who cut a nice slick skin track for us to follow, straight up. as we climbed up the first steep ascent, i started to realize, hey, i'm getting a great workout this morning. the next pitch i realized, hey, it's actually beautiful out here right now, and by the midway point i was...wait for it...wait for it...enjoying myself. normally in the "winter" achieving enjoyment on a long skin on a saturday morning to fresh turns is not so hard to come by, but on may day, a day when bike riding, kayaking, and drinking margaritas on an outdoor deck are typically the activities of choice, it takes a little longer to find the groove. we met up with our friend tom (one of the crazies) who is a dedicated backcountry enthusiast, and seeing his shit-eating grin and hearing of the sweet turns that were waiting for us above, gave us the motivation needed to power through the wind and snow with smiles. we skinned and skied and skinned and skied and laughed with joy as the snow hit our thighs and our sprays glistened in the few brilliant moments of sunshine. it's weird how you can go from loathing something like a snow storm in may to absolutely having the time of your life in 3 hours. my legs are cashed today. the skins are once again put away. and mother nature, that dirty skank, is no doubt brewing up something fierce to hit us with in the coming days, but damn her, i'm going to the river this weekend, rain or shine or snow or wind or...please be nice.

Steamboat Today: Armstrong partners with Steamboat's Honey Stinger

2010-04-29T11:49:00.000-06:00

This is so great!!

Steamboat Today: Armstrong partners with Steamboat's Honey Stinger

one more in the books

2010-04-20T15:16:00.007-06:00

well April sure has hauled ass huh? i feel like i was 29 just yesterday. actually it's been 9 days but i swear i am not counting. my birthday challenge post was a wee bit optimistic, ok, parts of it were down right idiotic. let's just say that for me, planning isn't always the best way to approach a weekend, period, and especially not my birthday weekend, and especially not my 30th birthday weekend, which does things to people similar to what a full moon does to cats, you can't explain it but you just go a little crazy. add a surprise party in there and...i digress...sort of...birthday challenge, right...so i crushed the skiing challenge no problem in 30 hours, had lots of great company to ski along with, not to mention the conditions were superb. i crushed the swimming and soaking, in fact got in some quality sister time in the process, and crushed the sun salutations, actually they crushed me (haven't done yoga in a few months and i was sore for 4 days), killed it on the drinking beer and champagne and mandarin vodka sprites, the margs got pushed aside, ate lots of dark chocolate pb cups, did not eat sushi, did not do the cartwheels, did not technically do the push-ups (see sun salutations above), and the 3 mile run did not happen...but i excuse that because i was out til 3AM! so there was an extra 3 in there somewhere and i partied with approximately 30 friends, said the F word at least 30 times, and knocked the pinata off it's rope 3 times (note to self, do not wear a low cut shirt to smack at a pinata) and it took nearly 3 days to recover from the surprise party mayhem! i'm claiming success!

post-recovery involved sleeping a lot but i still had a few days of training before the durango triathlon my sister and i were signed up for again, our second annual. i got the dog out for a few good runs, hit up another spin class, and then felt satisfied to make the 6 hour trek to southwest colorado. another great weekend. we met up with some old steamboat folks who have relocated south and it was great to see them doing so well. durango is a great town with very positive energy. the triathlon mimics that exactly because the volunteers and participants are all just out there having a great time. sure there's the die hards in the tri-suits and aero dynamic helmets, but for every one of them, there's 10 of me, just looking to put another race in the books and earn some post race beer. my swim went well, i got out of the pool in the time i was hoping and then my first transition went to shit when i find my sister at our transition area and i stopped to have a quick chat about what to wear on the bike, rule #1, no chatting in transition. so then i was off on the bike, felt great on my new specialized dolce (b-day present from the husband) and managed not to crash. had a much smoother 2nd transition, thankfully my sister was out on her bike ride so as not to distract me from my bizness. i'm not going to lie, the run hurt. it hurt bad. my legs felt like tree trunks. one foot in front of the other is all i could manage, but i did keep it going and managed a few honey stinger chews that gave me a much needed boost on the trail portion while i hallucinated that i was sitting at zia drinking pacificos. so turns out that my efforts were good enough for 3rd place in the, cringe, 30-39 age group. and my super fast and gorgeous sister who is still youthful and spry came in 3rd in her age group which is much faster and their boobs don't sag yet. i am soooooo proud of her but we skipped out before our huge cash prizes could be awarded to us...

and then all of a sudden there i was...sitting on a park bench with my family and friends, eating spicy mexican food and drinking cold pacificos. i gotta tell ya, at 30, my life does not suck.

1 gray hair

2010-04-09T10:59:00.003-06:00

and i found it on tuesday morning. cute little thing really, growing on the top of my head, glistening white in my reflection in the mirror. maybe some natural white highlights will look nice in my otherwise boring locks of young, under 30 brown hair. under 30. only til sunday. i'm really not that worried about it, honestly, everyone in their 30's tells me that life begins at 30, that i'll finally be a woman at 30...but what other choice do they have? to admit that life sucks after 30, that you begin to not only find gray hairs but your boobs sag (even more), you develop saddle bags (even more), wrinkles, age spots, and worst of all: you have kids! but hey, i'm ok with it, really i am. aging is inevitable and i must admit that my 20's were rad but they got better as i got older. i had my college years, mistakes were made, beer was consumed, not usually in that order. i had my post college years as a ski bum in breck, more beer was consumed but i had less of a beer gut and made a few less mistakes. got married, obviously fantastic because i am still married and it was not a mistake. but we still drink beer. it's been a great decade and i am looking forward to all the adventures of the 30's because i still have those amazing friendships that i had in my 20's only now we are talking babies and life instead of parties and pipes. SO...to get the year of 3-0 started off, i am partaking in a birthday challenge with events/challenges that correlate with the number 30 or the number 3. here's my b-day challenge:

starting at 7:30 Saturday morning and ending at 1:30 Sunday afternoon (30 hours)

30 sun salutations

30 minute lap swim

30 minute hot springs soak

ski 30 runs (sat and sun)

3.0 mile run

30 cartwheels

30 push-ups

3 reese's peanut butter cups (or more)

3 beers (more of course)

3 margs

3 sushi rolls

wish me luck!

2010-04-06T10:58:00.003-06:00

recently saw this bit of advice on copyblogger :

10 Steps to Becoming a Better Writer:

1. Write

2. Write More

3. Write Even More

4. Write Even More Than That

5. Write When You Don't Want To

6. Write When You Do

7. Write When You Have Something To Say

8. Write When You Don't

9. Write Everyday

10. Keep Writing

i remember being given similar advice in my creative writing classes in college. it truly works. yet for whatever reason, as i've drifted away from creative writing and writing in general, it has become harder and harder to write everyday, even every week, even every month. and guess what? my writing since college has sucked. go figure. and you know what else? writing makes me happy, even if it does suck, so i'm going to try to write more...more blog posts, more tweets, on bathroom walls, in the snow, on my hand, on my kitten's white paw, or wherever creativity strikes me or doesnt. because it really just comes down to being happy and not wanting to suck.

tit bits and odds and ends

2010-03-31T10:40:00.010-06:00

well march has shaped up to be a pretty sweet month after all. i have to admit that the lack of nipple deep powder days here in the boat has had me and anyone else with a pulse a little bummed and blah about the season. so going into march i was feeling less than thrilled at the thought of another month of this crud. well, the big dumps never came but on the flip side, we did get a few storms to roll through and replenish the stock we had lost to warm spring days in between. the spring corn has been plentiful and conditions have been surprisingly sweet. and the warm sun of a bluebird day just seems to melt away any disappointment from the previous months.
we took the dry roads as an opportunity to brave the gauntlet of I-80 and head up to jackson for a weekend to visit friends a couple weeks ago. it was a nice long weekend getaway from the "same-old" of the boat. the dramatic mountains in jackson make me feel good. i could just sit and stare for days at the tetons and never look away. we skied some great spring conditions, the pbr flowed like a fine wine, our private fireworks show oohed and ahhed, and the brain toniq and smoothies at food town kept us alive and well. we opted to stay out of the backcountry because of the conditions so it was an all alpine weekend for us because that vert is large and i prefer to ski mashed taters with my heels locked, especially after cool, frothy refreshments.

so march has rolled on and there is one other adventure worth noting. we recently became the parents of a 5 year old golden retriever. we adopted Taj last weekend, he was brought to steamboat by a woman who rescues dogs out of desperate shelter situations. he's an import from western UT and we don't know to much more about him. he's fitting in well with our other boy, a 5 month old kitten, jasper. they are instant buddies. well, jasper thinks so. the way that taj just sort of fell into our lives is pretty sweet, we didn't have time to over analyze and write a list of pros and cons, we just fell in love at first sight and knew right away that this animal deserved to be in a loving home. can't wait to get him on the river and running on the trails this summer. well just wanted to get an update out there, the next post is bound to be doom and gloom as april starts tomorrow which means i have 11 more days in my 20's, OMG! oh and my second ever triathlon is coming up in april too, so right about now i'm regretting the vat of beer i drank in jackson.

12 hours is a really long time

2010-03-05T15:58:00.004-07:00

last weekend i participated in the 12 Hours of Sunlight Endurance Race. this is a great event hosted by my favorite little hometown ski area, sunlight. this mountain holds a treasure trove of memories for me; this is where i learned to ski, where i learned to race and chase boys, where i ate a bazillion packages of ramen noodles, where i learned the fine art of apres, and really where the love of skiing and the mountains was instilled in me, i also peed my ski pants there once when i was learning to ski and couldn't get down the mountain fast enough to make it to the bathroom. sunlight is great. this endurance event was really fun and i participated on a team with my husband, sister, and our friend jeremy from durango. we did well, completed 22 total laps between 8am and 8pm, which equates to 33,000 total vertical feet climbed! the final lap done under the full moon, pretty cool. 2 blisters, 8 sore hips, 12 pbr, a case of brain toniq, 3 packs of honey stinger chews, countless strips of duck tape, 1 jar of peanut butter, a couple nips of whiskey under the full moon, and 2 boxes of girl scout cookies later...we were done, proud, and already talking about next year.

now: if not now, when?

2010-02-18T15:50:00.006-07:00

what a week. you know how you just cruise along in life with the ups and the downs, you take what comes, you try to be a good person, you laugh, you cry, you drink beer, you eat chocolate, you get mad at yourself because you eat too much chocolate so you eat even more chocolate...thus is life. life is short. all too often, it's too short. we lost another friend to a car accident last saturday night. jenna gruben's life was tragically taken at 32. so short. yet so full. jenna was an amazing athlete, incredibly sweet and good natured, and had the biggest and brightest smile. she touched many lives through running, through her work as a speech pathologist, and through her generous friendly nature. she lived a very full life in those 32 years, lots of energy, bubbly, funny, witty, and loving. we'll miss jenna but certainly won't forget her spirit and will forever allow her to inspire us to be better friends, have kinder words, and run faster and longer, and still eat chocolate.
so as life comes and goes and we bounce from one joy to one sorrow, it's tragedies like this that serve as reminders that life is short, life is precious, live it. now.

STEAMBOAT-SKI TOWN U.S.A.® SENDS 17 ATHLETES TO 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS - Steamboat

2010-02-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to all the athletes! This is a really exciting time for them, for Steamboat, and for the USA. Can't wait for the sendoff tomorrow night downtown, should be a great turnout from the community and lots of visitors. It's snowing today in the 'Boat, hopefully all this Olympic spirit has ULLR in a good mood!

STEAMBOAT-SKI TOWN U.S.A.® SENDS 17 ATHLETES TO 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS - Steamboat

sledneckin'

2010-01-28T15:25:00.002-07:00

so we mixed it up a bit the other weekend and headed up to SLO in north routt which sits right at the base of hahn's peak. normally we head up to this area with the intention of a nice long ski tour up hahn's peak in the quiet serenity of mother nature, this time we were full throttled on sleds, nothing quiet or serene about it. the views are still lovely though. we met our friends pax and susie who were staying at a cabin on the SLO property, which by the way has great lunch and a great bar and a great happy hour. i digress, so anyways we headed out on sleds for a nice tour of the trail system up there, wound through columbine which is a tiny tiny old mining town which is occupied by a few old timers in the summer and a few rental cabins year round. the trails up here are great, if you are a beginner or a true sledneck you will be satisfied with the terrain up here. i am in between beginner and scared shitless most of the time on a sled and i managed to have a really good time. after our fabulous lunch back at HQ we cruised over to steamboat lake and road around the lake to some other trails that go up to the base of sand mountain. again, great trails for any ability. i got super sketched riding over the lake because in my mind i have a really good chance of somehow crashing through the ice, getting trapped under the ice and dying a cold, hypothermic death. the chances of this are unlikely i've been told but none the less i kept up with the group for that section in case i needed a quick rescue. long story short, sort of, is that if you're bored with the usual repetoire of winter sports, mix it up, go sledneck, be redneck, smell like oil and gas for a day, it's super fun and feels pretty damn good to haul ass sometimes. http://www.steamboatoutfitters.com/

Steamboat Today: Steamboat Springs' Fletcher lands Olympic spot

2010-01-21T13:43:00.000-07:00

So great for Taylor and his family, congratulations, can't wait to watch!

Steamboat Today: Steamboat Springs' Fletcher lands Olympic spot

Steamboat Today: Pair of avalanches were human-caused at Rabbit Ears

2010-01-12T11:34:00.000-07:00

Sketchy reports, keep a close eye on CAIC if you're going out.

Steamboat Today: Pair of avalanches were human-caused at Rabbit Ears

dear 2010, don't suck

2010-01-05T09:27:00.002-07:00

so far so good, but's it's only been 5 days of this new year. actually it's been really good, Ullr is smiling on us up here in steamboat and the snow is shaping up quite nicely. we finished out 2009 with a fluffy 15 inches and the sky was gray and snowy all the way through the weekend. we did experience a clear sky on new years eve, with a big and bright blue moon, so we opted out of the frenzy downtown for the quiet simplicity of a skin up mount werner. it was so worth it! not only was the light of the moon exceptionally bright and clear, but we caught a fresh cat track up and a very fresh one back down, if you've ever skied at night you know that a soft corduroy track down is a little slice of heaven. i think that a new year can be celebrated loudly and softly, it just depends on your mood and how you want to remember the beginning of your new year, or perhaps you don't want to remember and thus you may opt for the loud celebration. i avoided the january 1 hangover, only to be slammed to the ground by one on january 2, i hope that wasn't an omen for the new year and i'm going to be late all the time. anyways, we're off to sunny AZ for a long weekend in the 70's, woohoo! i hope it dumps while we're gone!

2009 was cool

2009-12-31T12:23:00.002-07:00

every year has its ups and downs and 2009 was no exception. some of the highlights for me included skiing some amazing deep snow in steamboat and some great backcountry turns in jackson, rafting the dolores river and the colorado through CO and UT, telluride bluegrass festival, lyle lovett at red rocks, catching lots of fish, spending 3 weeks in italy with my husband, and finishing out the year with a 15" powder day, ahhhh, life is good. lowlights for me would include 'the one that got away', RIP Pocket, and this damn recession! all in all i had a great year. my good friend katie and her boyfriend jamie came up to the boat last week to watch the olympic trial events so here's a couple photos from that. i don't really like making new years resolutions but i do hope to just have a great year, take what comes, don't dwell, eat my leafy greens, and have a great time!! cheers-

Rare New Year's Eve 'blue moon' to ring in 2010

2009-12-29T16:59:00.000-07:00

skinning the mountain sounds like the best way to celebrate this year!

Rare New Year's Eve 'blue moon' to ring in 2010

Steamboat Today: Avalanche danger could last all winter

2009-12-17T09:26:00.001-07:00

Be Careful Out There, Always Check the Report!!

Steamboat Today: Avalanche danger could last all winter

it's good not great.

2009-12-14T14:22:00.002-07:00

hi there. writing to you from my desk here at work where i just scarfed some cashews, drank some coffee and then proceeded to chew 6 pieces of gum, one right after the other as soon as they ran out of flavor like some feening smoker having a nic fit. i think i'm just a little, tiny bit frustrated with my ski season so far, or maybe not frustrated as much as jealous that our friends and family in southern colorado got absolutely hammered on over the past 5 days and our snow situation is, meh, at best. "it's coming" "it's on the way" "you have to be patient"...well i want it now! (in my best veruca salt hissy fit voice) we wait and wait for winter and then it arrives and you bet your sweet ass we want our cake and we want huge dumps of snow too! not to say i didn't enjoy the skiing this weekend or the weak "powder day in da boat" snow report this morning, i love getting to work at 11:30 with a little cold burn still on my cheeks. i'm just saying that it's more satisfying when you can't get the shit eating grin off your face all day until you drift blissfully off to sleep at night after a deep, light, champagne powder morning. it's coming, i know, but patience has never been one of my great virtues.

keep the ball rolling

2009-12-09T13:50:00.001-07:00

Metro Denver housing sales surge 23 percent in November By Margaret Jackson The Denver Post
Posted: 12/09/2009 01:00:00 AM MST

Up 23% Over Nov. 2008

Metro Denver's housing market showed its first year-over-year improvement in 11 months, as the number of homes sold in November surged 23 percent over the same month in 2008, data released Tuesday showed.

At least part of the increase was attributed to a rush by buyers to take advantage of the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers, originally set to expire at the end of November but later extended through the spring.

But it wasn't just first-time buyers who returned to the market. The median sales price for condos and single-family homes increased, a sign that more-expensive properties were also selling well.

"An increase of 23 percent versus a year ago suggests that confidence levels of potential buyers are higher," said Jeff Thredgold, an economist for Vectra Bank Colorado. "Part of that is based on better economic news, and part is based on the most attractive mortgage interest rates in 40 years.

"We were all in this massive state of flux a year ago. The sky was falling, for all we knew."

Last month, 3,599 homes sold, compared with 2,920 in November 2008. Sales last month were down 9.1 percent compared with the previous month, when 3,958 homes sold.

The data covers previously owned homes and not new construction purchased directly from builders.

"We're not out of it by any means, but even in a bad month where things slow down, there are still a lot of positives," said David Simonson of Re/Max Professionals Inc. "This time last year, we were looking at a market that had an absolute free-fall feel to it. We've definitely made some strides forward."

The median price for a single-family home was $218,000, up 11.8 percent from the November 2008 price of $195,000 but down 1.8 percent from the October 2009 price of $222,000.

The median price for condos increased to $135,900, up 4.5 percent from last year's $130,000. The price also was up 0.7 percent from October, when it was $135,000.

"As far as pricing, we're very close to the traditional mix of homes selling," said Gary Bauer, an independent real estate analyst. "Through the majority of this year, we've had a larger percentage of first-time buyers. Now we have first-time and move buyers. Move buyers definitely bring the average up."

Move buyers are owners moving from one home to another.

For the first time in nearly three years, sales in the $1 million-plus market increased 30 percent year-over-year, said Chris Mygatt, president and chief operating officer for Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage.

"This is possibly the beginning of the recovery of the million-dollar market," he said. "You wouldn't have thought the tax credit would have an effect on the million-plus market, but the renewed energy and renewed confidence has spilled over into the upper-end market."

During November, six homes priced at $2 million or more sold; 23 homes priced between $1 million and $2 million sold; and 150 priced from $600,000 to $1 million sold, according to Bauer's analysis.

"There are pockets that are thriving regardless of their price range," said Mike Burns of Re/Max Professionals. "But overall, the market above $500,000 is not as healthy as below, and below is very, very good."

Margaret Jackson: 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com

my 29th december

2009-12-01T11:18:00.003-07:00

well stuffed and still suffering from my thanksgiving hangover with some sniffles. what an outstanding weekend, lots of food, drinks, and skiing! no new snow to report unfortunately but hey, when the sun is shining and the man made snow is softening, there is nothing better to do with your turkey stuffed ass than rip the strip. that's right, put that ski pass to use and start putting notches in the bed post for the 09/10 season. in celebration of the snow to come we hosted a beacon dig party at the house on saturday night. i use the word dig loosely since we had about 2 inches of crusty icesnow on the ground but the combination of waiting until it was really dark and thus most of the boilo had been drank, kept things interesting. but hey, this is a reminder that now is the time to get out and practice with your beacon, shovel, probe, blow the dust off the backcountry equipment and make sure everything is still functioning and the batteries are fresh. cuz the big dumps are inevitable and you want to be ready! but leave the boilo at home, there is no room for that in your pack, maybe just a pbr or 2. be safe!!

Steamboat Today: Copper Mountain to sell

2009-11-17T13:21:00.000-07:00

Steamboat Today: Copper Mountain to sell

this is interesting news. sounds like the rocky mountain ultimate pass and others will still be honored this year. better be, or else!

she's crafty

2009-11-09T16:46:00.002-07:00

first friday artwalk in steamboat is definitely catching on as THE thing to do on the first friday evening of each month. i prefer to start the evening at happy hour, to grab some cocktails, some apps, and gather a group of pseudo-art loving friends. you don't want any uber-art loving friends because they use fancy words when describing art and they make you sound stupid, kinda like wine tasting with wine geeks. anyways, gather your friends and your buzz (i prefer riggio's as my starting point) and then head out into the night and check out some really sweet local art. my favorite artist in steamboat right now is susan schiesser . wherever her work is being displayed is a necessary stop on my artwalk, even if there isn't wine being served, that is how much i dig her work. you'll find much more than wall art on these friday night events, for instance last week i stumbled upon some great jewelry being sold by ten thousand villages which offers fair trade arts and crafts with 10% of proceeds going to help women in kenya get ahead. so i got some really cute earrings, felt good buying them, and they were serving wine, bonus. long story short: we live in a small town and should jump at the opportunities we are given to experience some art and culture. just don't drink too much cheap wine or you might end up going home with an expensive piece of art and culture. doh!

i refuse to get political but...

2009-10-30T10:10:00.001-06:00

GET OUT AND VOTE!
if you live in steamboat you know there is an important city council election coming up and there are no polls to report to on november 5th. that' s right, this time it is an all mailout ballot race so you either got a ballot in your mail box or you didn't. if you didn't then you need to go down to the courthouse on 5th and lincoln, march up 3 flights of stairs, follow the neon orange signs that say "ELECTION OFFICE" and grab one. you can even fill it out right there and turn it back in. done. the scary thing is that as of wednesday, only 17% of votes tallied came from the under 40 crowd. where is everyone? put down your morning PBR and get your ass down to the courthouse, it's not even windy anymore.

pissing in the wind

2009-10-29T10:36:00.004-06:00

so up here in steamboat we totally got hosed on this "epic" storm that "blasted" colorado. it blasted us alright, with 60 mph winds that blew deck furniture, roof shingles, and small dogs across backyards all through town and what little dusting of snow actually fell is now wreaking havoc on I-70 drivers across kansas 300 miles away. if there is any hope for me actually embracing this winter it is going to have to come in the form of real actual snow fall, an accumulating dump that covers up all the dead brown leaves, all the frozen dog poop, and makes 20 degrees somehow bareable because it means that we'll be skiing soon. but this cold ass wind blowing 0 degree wind chill has got to stop because i'm starting to seriously browse the real estate websites in much warmer climates and there are some deals to be had! good luck to all those classy ladies that are planning to dress like mermaids, britney spears, slutty vampires, and just regular hookers this saturday night, all of a sudden dressing up like tina fey will seem like a good idea not only because you get to wear a sweater and underwear, but you're also less likely to wake up with frankenstein's green face paint smeared across certain parts of your body. i'm staying in this year.

9NEWS.com | Colorado's Online News Leader | Major winter storm on Wednesday, Thursday

2009-10-27T15:26:00.000-06:00

9NEWS.com Colorado's Online News Leader Major winter storm on Wednesday, Thursday

if it's gonna be cold it might as well snow.

The Steamboat Pilot & Today: Winning Powerball ticket sold in Steamboat

2009-10-22T13:13:00.000-06:00

The Steamboat Pilot & Today: Winning Powerball ticket sold in Steamboat

not me, dammit!

the one that got away...

2009-10-19T14:13:00.003-06:00

happy fall! we had what can only be described as the most beautiful fall weekend ever! blue skies, crisp mornings, warm sun, the smell of rotting plants and decaying leaves, i loved it! the river was calling us yesterday and we came out looking for some BIG fish. i managed to land a nice sized rainbow and a pretty little brown. but i hooked a monster rainbow, probably the biggest fish i've ever had on line, and i struggled with that bitch for a good 10 minutes. i was so excited by the weight and force on the other end of my line that i barely noticed the burning and stinging in my forearm as that fatty wrestled her way up and down the current, not letting me bring her out of the swift water and everytime i started to get some ground, jeremiah's shadow with the net would cause her to take off again. as she crested towards the surface to take off for the last time, we were able to see her beautiful full red belly, she was going to be my prize winner! but alas, i held just a little too much tension on her last tug and the line let loose and she was gone, back down to the dark hole where her fat friends were waiting, possibly with matching hooks rusting in their mouths. oh well, it was a great experience and i know my way back to that hole, but i think i'll give her a few days off before i go back and try to woo her back out.

The Steamboat Pilot & Today: Council annexes Steamboat 700

2009-10-14T09:20:00.001-06:00

The Steamboat Pilot & Today: Council annexes Steamboat 700

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it's coming!

2009-10-12T16:24:00.002-06:00

so the cold blast we've had since i got back from europe was not welcomed with open arms to say the least, it was welcomed with flannel sheets, a higher gas bill, and cold and flu season. anyways, it definitely got me thinking about skiing and more specifically how good it will feel when we get our first big dump of the season. so with that in mind, here is a clip from last year's dump right before christmas, it was a doozy!

9NEWS.com | Colorado's Online News Leader | Broncos, McDaniels go 5-0 with win over Patriots

2009-10-12T10:23:00.001-06:00

9NEWS.com | Colorado's Online News Leader | Broncos, McDaniels go 5-0 with win over Patriots

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9NEWS.com | Colorado's Online News Leader | Ski season kicks off at Loveland

2009-10-07T14:36:00.001-06:00

9NEWS.com | Colorado's Online News Leader | Ski season kicks off at Loveland

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back to life, back to reality

2009-10-05T14:26:00.000-06:00

i dont' have pictures to post yet but we just returned from 3 weeks in Europe. we spent the majority of our time in itlay and then just a few days in paris to end the trip. the original purpose of traveling to italy was for our friends phil and vanessa's wedding. so it seemed like a great excuse to plan an extended trip and really make it worth our while (9 hour redeye flights need to be made worth their while).
we began our journey in rome. what a cool city. it had been about 12 years since i had been there and the sites are still very impressive. upon arrival at 10:30am we decided to put our travel skills to the test and ride tram, train, and bus to find our apartment near piazza navona where our friends were already sleeping soundly after their long travel day the day before. we were successful and navigated our way through the streets of roma like seasoned pros. pros with one very large suitcase that moved around as nimbly as a dead body. but we saved some serious cash in the process! anyways, long story short about roma: don't pay to go in the coliseum, not impressive enough or maybe it was the jet lag but i just wanted to get the F out of there. the vatican, st peter's basilicca are super dope, gelato may be the only thing to get you and your aching heals through a day of walking the street that wraps around the vatican walls, that and several bottles of wine that may last until dawn. the food is fantastic as long as you stay away from the touristy places that seem to bust out a can of chef boyardee per every order, yuk. but opt for the places where other italians have been sitting and lingering for hours, several nights in a row in a dark alley, you won't be disappointed with the food or the service. ok well that's it for now, part 2, the wedding week in umbria is next, and i'll bring pictures to that party.

2009-07-17T15:43:00.000-06:00

another fabulous weekend on the river. we are so lucky to live so close to such a beautiful river, the CO.

this is near moab on a pretty mellow stretch, 2 nights on the river with a layover day to just chill, soak up some of the very hot sun, and drink beer of course!

2009-07-06T14:34:00.000-06:00

rafted the Upper C this weekend with a great group of friends and even my parents showed up! the day started off rough with the effects of july 4 libations pretty hard to kick but we rallied and were actually early picking up my friends laurie and jason. anyways, the weather was beautiful for running the shuttle and for the first 30 minutes of flat water and then it got a little challenging. a serious downpour lead to pea sized hail and some super frightening lightning. again, we rallied and other than a few welts on exposed skin, some shivering, and a seriously disfigured straw hat, we were having a great time.

hail in the boat

the disfigured hat, soggy

my friend clint running eye of the needle in his ducky

the muddy float out (wicked flash flood caused some serious mud issues)

to-hell-u-ride

2009-06-24T09:37:00.001-06:00

telluride bluegrass went down last week and we participated for our first time of many more to come. the music was fantastic from sam bush to yonder, zac brown band to crooked still and of course, david byrne. telluride is one of colorado's quintessential mountain towns with towering horizons, lush green hillsides dotted with wildflowers, an adorable main street, and a laid back vibe, although i'm sure it gets a little stuffy when tom cruise rolls through town. 4 days of partying at any music festival will leave your brain a little mushy so i aplogize for not being more descriptive, i am in recovery mode. peace.

waterfall near town
dancing fools

pano of the venue

strolling through the real estate

dawn and i in front of our crib

2009-02-10T16:42:00.001-07:00

this past sunday we took to the backcountry again and it was so worth it. we met friends dave, katherine, mark, and dog sadie on buff pass and began our tour of bear tree ridge. the sun was out and the tour started as a pretty mild and mellow venture until we got to the ridge and started climbing. dave, jeremiah, and myself were climbing the sugary skin track just fine but mark and katherine didn't have as much luck with their skinny skins. i gotta tell you, it is such a pet peeve of mine when you are skinning and you can't get traction, it's simply infuriating and causes me to dive deep into one of those moody funks. you are putting out this humungous gut wrenching effort to keep from sliding back down the steep slope you just left buckets of sweat on and you are clinging to the snow with every possible effort, take a step, and woof! you are now 3 steps back, for the love of god!

anyways, katherine took it like a champ and muscled her way up the skin track and we enjoyed some cold beverages and snax as rewards. once on top of the ridge we traversed a little way east and found some nice shots on a relatively open face that we had to dog leg left on several times before bottoming out in the trees. the snow on this north facing slope was delicious!

the second skin up took us on a skin track that was much less steep and easier for everyone to get up, except for sadie, she may have worn herself out by running up and down the first skin track 3 times. but we still had to reward our efforts with cold beverages at the top. the next line was further east and fricken fantastic! we started down in some trees in some super soft snow and it opened up into a giant 30 degree meadow full of pillow rock drops and great contours. it was heavenly. we had a such a great day, can't wait to get back up there for some spring skiing.

what january blues?

2009-01-19T14:28:00.000-07:00

the sun finally came out! yeah! after weeks of either snow and wind, just snow, just wind, lots of clouds, lots more clounds that don't move, and more snow, we have caught a break in the cycle and are experiencing day 4 of straight bluebirds. it is glorious! so needless to say we broke out our mirror lenses and played in the snow all weekend. saturday we spent the morning riding snowmobiles on rabbit ears with our search and rescue team and in the afternoon we skinned into harrison creek with my sister and some friends to enjoy some fresh turns and some beautiful scenery. awesome!!

to top off a great weekend we saw Sam Bush play on friday night. dancing to some bluegrass, skiing in the sunshine and drinking good beer, life is good!

my how the time flies

2009-01-12T14:47:00.000-07:00

here we are in 2009. this year i will turn 29, it's only a few months away now. i feel like it wasn't that long ago that 18 sounded really old and mature. when i was 13 i thought for sure that the second i turned 18 i would stop getting zits. didn't happen, i actually think they got worse.
anyways, i'm sort of on this unofficial mission to slow down time. i want to look back on this year and not say "wow it just flew by, i can't even remember what happened" but rather "i got done what needed to be done and the rest of the time i was just having fun." didn't mean for that to rhyme. i have a picture on my desk from my wedding which happenedd 3 1/2 years ago and it just seems impossible that we'll all be 4 years older this year. my grandma will be 96 this year! she was kicking up her heals at 92 at my wedding! i'm not sure where i'm going with all this, i just think that with all the crazy things in this world, with war, poverty, recession, disease, etc., maybe now is the time to stop and smell the roses and kick up your heals. if not now, when?
so here is a video clip to remind us to stay young, it's my 2 1/2 year old niece Gisella sledding on January 2. we visited my husband's brother for new years and had a ball with them.

goodbye 2008, 2009 better bring on the snow!

2008-12-30T15:55:00.000-07:00

Here's my husband skiing the 24" dump Steamboat got on the 23rd. 2008 is going out with a big white bang!! Happy New Year!

Woo-hoo!

2008-12-19T13:54:00.000-07:00

It's been snowing in the 'Boat!!

So far winter has been pretty good to us. Staying healthy is tops on the list so we've been enjoying some mellow skinning and alpining the mountain. There was a mountain lion encounter last week on the mountain during a moonlight skin which has everyone a little sketched but we won't let it keep us away, hopefully that kitty cat has been keeping his belly full with elk morsels. Another storm is due in from the NW tonight so we'll be ringing in yet another holiday party with big fluffy flakes falling outside, it's just magical. Everybody be careful out there, make sure you check the avalanche report before doing anything in the backcountry, it's been a little sketchy here and there. ENJOY!

it's Ski Porn season!

2008-11-19T16:22:00.001-07:00

that's right, it's time to curl up with an ice cold PBR and watch the newest and greatest pro skiers huck, loop, and toss their meat down monstrous mountains around the globe. i love it! random soundtracks (although they will never best sick sense ever!), big POW shots, the token sucker that gets swept down an avalanche, and of course the latest fashion to hit the slopes which this year is looking like hobo chic, brilliant.

ski movie season usually hits around mid-october and lasts through thanksgiving when most resorts tend to dust off the cobwebs, put the mice in the wheel and start turning chairs again. this season we NEED these movies to keep us focused on the inevitable winter to come, even though today was a bluebird and balmy 60 degrees in the 'boat. brilliant.

the snow will come and these movies are the motivation we need to keep dancing the snow dance, praying to the snow gods, sacrificing the first sip of a beer to the homies, or whatever Ulluresque ritual you partake in. and even when the mountain opens and we're all straddling the white ribbon of death, we'll continue to watch these movies and the over-the-head powder shots, soft pillow landings, and rugged alaska heli trips, and we'll know that our epic storm is planted firmly in the upper northwest and will be dropping into our jet stream shortly. until then we'll drink enough PBR to make the snow soft.

viva las vegas

2008-10-23T09:06:00.001-06:00

oh my. vegas. nuff said. no other place on earth is quite like it. we recently spent 3 nights in sin city and it was 3 too many. i learned a few new lessons this time around: like the Hard Rock will suck the money right out of your pocket with a hoover, my favorite dealer is sabina at TI, if you're hungover from drinking all afternoon just slam a coke, and when you're tired because it's 2:30am just start drinking cocktails with coke in them, a private cabana poolside is the way to go so that you can shake your ass in your bikini and not expose the entire strip to it, when your friend can barely walk before you go in a club you can probably assume she shouldn't go in, when another friend tells you they have to throw up and

your cabby doesn't speak english you'r gonna regret

the sake bombs you had at Nobu.

anyways, vegas is fun and crazy and brings the wild side out of you that you thought had gone to sleep for a long winters nap. no trip is ever the same and you are likely not the same after that trip either. i can't say that i'll want to go back anytime soon but i must admit that just a little part of me, mainly in my alcoholic bone, really really likes it there.

first snow on the mountain

2008-10-06T09:32:00.000-06:00

this weekend brought some chilling temps to steamboat. brrrrr! it was that damp chill in the air that we've all come to know as the hint of snow to come. in honor of that we spent sunday afternoon whipping up a hot batch of white chicken chili, watching the broncos and drinking corona (a piece of me is still hanging on to summer). my husband even bought himself a new pair of skis on sunday, we had winter fever pretty bad. last night we watched the new powder whore movie 'the pact.' it was pretty good, defnintely some deep snow shots and a lot of really nice open bowl lines, japan is inching up the list on places to ski for sure. hands down the best part was the last segment where EJ Poplawski, an above the knee amputee, rips tele turns with a prosthetic knee, it's super badass. he's not just ripping turns but dropping some rocks and hauling ass on alpines. props to the video editors for putting that at the end, it made the movie!

my new favorite skit

2008-10-06T09:01:00.001-06:00

2008-10-01T09:17:00.000-06:00

i just got back from a 4 day river trip in utah. no news, no tv, no crisis, no bailout (except for water maybe), shoot i don't think we even mentioned the word politics. that's my kind of weekend. it was so relaxing and the weather was perfect. the first couple days were just floating on quiet water, all the rafts hooked together like one big party barge. the beer goes down so quickly when you realize that all you have to do that day is get your tent set up and not fall in the fire. both easier said than done. we had a great group of friends with us, a couple new faces which was nice. running westwater is a little more intense. this is a class 3 run, but a big class 3 with 2 of the rapids being quite intimidating, skull and sock-it-to-me. all 3 of our rafts got through skull which is this really constricted point in the canyon with a huge hole/wave on the right that you have to skirt on the left but getting set up for that can be tricky and if you don't make it over you are likely to be crushed. then comes sock-it-to-me which is just a humungous straight forward wave. you square up and crash through it with as much momentum as you can muster. the first 2 boats got through without too much incident although my boat definitnely went for a ride, but the third boat, the smalles of the 3 didn't have the weight or power to get through, got knocked sideways and flipped. luckily we had a bunch of kayakers with us who plucked the swimmers and brought the boat to shore. it was a wild ending to an otherwise peaceful weekend.
a good part of the weekend was spent reflecting on the good times we have had on this particular stretch of river with a dear friend of ours who passed away last winter in a car accident. having dave's spirit with us through the canyons and running the rapids made it so much more special. friends, sunshine, river floating, life is good!

i love fall except for the smell of rotting leaves and dog shit

2008-09-24T13:23:00.000-06:00

well it is officially fall and today i froze my ass off riding my scooter to work. here's the clothing dilemma: it's 37 f-ing degrees in the morning at 8am when i need to leave and 78 glorious ones when i parade home after work. i am not ready to give up my capris and sandals so i totally over bundle on top to compensate. gloves, scarf, windstopper jacket zipped up to my nose, beanie underneath pink flamed helmet and go for it. if no one is on my ass in a huge suv then i putt along at about 20 to avoid the tear-inducing wind chill. and if someone is behind then i haul ass and get it over with quickly. scooter season is winding down and as soon as the hills turn dead and barren as winter approaches i'll have to eventually garage my little buddy for the winter. but i'm not ready to give in yet. i figure that if i can handle 37 degrees in capris and sandals then imagine what i can do when i give in to wearing jeans and closed toed shoes! i will draw the line at snowfall. or any precipitation for that matter.

on a totally other matter, i heard a funny joke the other day: so this guy and his wife are in the middle of sex and suddenly the guy looks over at the bedroom door and sees his son standing in the doorway. the dad awkwardly giggles and the son runs off. as soon as the dad is finished he goes to the son's room and opens the door to find his son having sex with his grandma. The son looks over, smiles and says "not so funny when it's your mom is it?"

sick and wrong but funny.

dont' want to flurge no more

2008-09-18T15:45:00.000-06:00

so here is my commitment to this blog. i have been using other outlets lately for my thoughts and not this blog and i am here now to say that while i will still use these other outlets, i will make a serious effort to get on here and spew my thoughts more regularly. it's healthy for my brain. i get stuck in these ruts sometimes when i don't write for a while and i feel like my brain is turning to sludge. and then i feel like ass and am more inclined to drink heavily and then let it all out in a verbal onslaught on some poor fool who i happen to corner at the table at happy hour and then about 30 minutes into my flurge (thank you hillary, again, not sure if i'm using it in the correct context) i realize that i'm going to regret saying everything i just said. and then i feel even more like crap and so i have to torture my hungover self the next day with a military style workout so that i can sweat out all the patheticness. and so there you have it. i'd like to avoid all of that and if i can do that by writing on this blog more often then i think that's a sacrifice worth making. mainly because i am terrible at being hungover. truly, i suck at it. i am a pathetic, lifeless, nauseated mass of flurge (new favorite word).

waiting for the snow to fall

2008-09-18T15:43:00.001-06:00

tina fey for president!

2008-09-18T15:18:00.001-06:00

i love this!! i have to of course give props to tina "bitch is the new black" fey for her absolutely fabulous portrayal of sarah palin, i love it love it love it! hilarious! but you have to give huge props to amy poehler for always nailing hillary. she is so good with the facial expressions and capturing some of the frustration of hillary with super subtle remarks especially perfect with the lipstick snippets. i just think these two bitches are freaking fabulous entertainers and i can't wait to see what they do next. they are smart and funny and i think i have girl crushes on both. i don't care if you're red or blue in this campaign, you have to appreciate a good laugh like that.

Green Green Green

2008-07-22T14:03:00.001-06:00

Everywhere you turn these days it's talk about green. Green cars, green homes, green clothes, green paint, green food, green paper, you get the idea. So what does green actually mean? And how do you know something is truly green or is just greenwash trying to convince you to buy a product claiming to be eco-friendly or sustainable? I recently attended the EcoBroker conference held in Denver and learned that there are a lot of companies out there producing truly green products for nearly every aspect of daily life from the sheets on your bed to the soap in your tub to the paint on your walls. It's truly an amazing revolution that we are in the midst of right now. So why is green becoming such a catch? It has a lot to do with our changing environment and the need to make our living spaces, towns, cities, and whole environments more comfortable, healthy, and cost effective. While the EcoBroker conference focused on trends in the Real Estate industry, that actually includes things from green mortgage programs, green building certifications, websites to find more information on, synthetic lawns, solar power, energy efficient windows, clean burning fireplaces, and even some great tips on what you can be doing at home right now to reduce the amount of energy you waste and the amount of trash you produce (I hope everyone is at least recycling already!!)
Anyways, the point is that we as humans are on the cusp of actually seeing significant environmental changes within our lifetimes! It's not just the Al Gore-global-warming-marketing-machine, it's more than that, it's dwindling amounts of fresh water in the world, higher levels of pollution in the air we breathe, heavier and lasting pressure on our natural resources and protected environments. There is so much more to this than politics and trends, it's the health and viability of our environments. Take the time to learn more about what you can do to make a difference in your own little eco-system. If everyone does something then no one can point the finger at you when the world explodes!

2008-05-28T14:20:00.000-06:00

the river season is upon us. yippee! life on the river is good, really good. warm sun, cool water (or sometimes damn cold ice water), camping, quiet, fires, lite beer, jack daniels, the stars, floating through the canyons of colorado and utah. good times. we recently took a trip on the dolores river in southwest colorado. it was spectacular! gorgeous canyon with the coolest little river winding its way through the sandstone cliffs with snow capped mountains in the distance. river life is a little dirty and gritty to say the least, but by day 3 you are just getting warmed up and never want to travel on dry land again. we just picked up our new raft and took its maiden voyage last sunday on the mighty yampa. just a short float but it's pretty exciting with a lot of water trying to squeeze through this town. hoping to get out to yampa canyon on a 5 day trip in june. get some of the new raft smell warn off and broken in. until then we'll just have to keep dreaming of floats as we try to sqeeze around the big yellow boat that now occupies 98% of our garage space.

2008-04-17T11:42:00.000-06:00

we have been so blessed by a few days, seriously 3, of sunshine. so we took advantage of the soft and slushy snow that crazy phenomenon creates. Spring Skiing! we're headed back to the old stomping grounds of breck this weekend for the imperial challenge. i'm on a team, the el camino queens, and my husband is doing it solo. he's really not the competitive type, not at all, he's almost 30 and this is his first competitive race ever. i found that hard to believe but it's true. so needless to say this is a big day for him. i think he's nervous. but i'm very proud of him and the hard work he's put into training for it. signing up for the race was kinda important to him since he's on the verge of the big 3-0 and for guys i think they need to have some sort of accomplishment to accompany such a milestone. for some it might be drinking 30 beers in one sitting, or buying a new truck, or watching a dirty girl climb up and down a stripper pole, but i have to say that i think it's pretty cool that my man wants to prove to himself that at 30 he's better physically and mentally than he was before. at least before he drinks his 30 beers. happy spring!

time to whine

2008-04-04T10:46:00.000-06:00

is it just me or is everything becoming more and more complicated? granted i live in a resort town where inflation and sales tax is the name of the game, but is it the times a-changin' or is it me a-growin' up? it just feels like everyday actions and decisions are now based on hundreds of factors that used to not exist. for example: you drive to the grocery store (with your cloth bags of course or else you'll get stared at by the hippie bagger), that just cost you a bucket of change in gas and you would have ridden your bike but it's a) a big shop, and b)snowing at a rate of 2" an hour. you notice all the food has new labels underneath, new and more expensive prices because the truck that brought the food to your store just paid an even larger bucket of change in diesel gas to get the food there. you fork over a third of your weekly pay for the groceries because you bought some 'natural' food or some 'wild caught' fish of some sort and being healthy is gonna cost you. great. then your cell phone rings and it's your husband, but do you answer it because his new work phone is on a different cell carrier than yours and it's 5:00pm which is when your time to chat is not free! so you answer it and tell him to be quick because the minute meter is running. he tells you that the gym memberships are doubling this year because of some fancy remodel the board voted on to take place in the next ten years and by the way, the cost of our season ski pass is increasing as well. super. do you want to just order a pizza tonight because i am feeling stressed and don't want to cook? sure, so you call the local pizza joint that makes the most unbelievable pesto pizza and the total is $27.50. for a f-ing pizza! are you kidding me? nevermind, but what's up with the price increase? well the cost of flour has gone through the roof along with delivery costs because of gas.
now...i understand that our economy is feeling the turbulence of a rough cycle, the housing market blah blah blah, but doesn't it just feel like EVERYTHING is so freakin' complicated now? i'm not sure where we're headed, but don't be surprised to one day find me on the fast track to living in a van down by the river.

2008-03-14T10:35:00.000-06:00

we have been so blessed by the snow gods this season and spring skiing is no exception. it just keeps coming. we are about 3 inches of fluff away from setting the record for all time snow fall! pretty exciting in our little world. it also means some great anticipation for the water that will flow through the mighty yampa this spring. what is up with the world's climate? it's hard to believe all the dooom and gloom talk about rising global temperatures when we record such a banger year of snow. enjoy everyday while you can, enjoy every flake of snow and every drop of water now, you just don't know when it will be the last!!

bitch is the new black

2008-02-26T10:42:00.001-07:00

so i had posted tina fey's hilarious boost for hillary clinton yesterday only to come on today to find that "this video is no longer available." WTF? so i went to youtube and sure enough it's gone on there as well. this video did not push my political agenda, frankly i do not have one nor care to, but i thought it was great. maybe all those obama lovers were freaked out that tina fey made a really good point about there being two minds in the white house instead of just one (oh the humanity) and most importantly that "BITCHES GET STUFF DONE!" i love it. i went to catholic school and guess what? i do know the capitol of VT. Tina Fey for President!

I'm F***ing Ben Affleck on Jimmy Kimmel

2008-02-25T09:24:00.001-07:00

Sarah Silverman

2008-02-01T12:44:00.001-07:00

2008-01-25T11:20:00.000-07:00

i was waiting to write until i had some pictures to post from my trip to costa rica earlier this month, but it's looking like it'll be a little while still. see, we hiked to this waterfall that is super cool because it drops down this cliff and pours directly into the ocean, so it's very beautiful and we really wanted to capture the image from ocean level. so we scale down the rocks and are admiring the beauty when, it happened, like a slow motion replay, my husband grabs for the camera from his pocket and the little lanyard thingy that's supposed to keep things like this from happening, gets caught up on his pocket and rips the camera from his hands...two bounces and it's gone. over the rocks and into the water just as a big wave comes crashing in. i was like "Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" but no sooner had i screamed my overexagerated no, my husband had courageously leapt down the rocks just as another wave came crashing in, i thought it was gone forever, and he reaches in the water and pulls it out.
anyways, the camera is shot (thank god we got the insurance, knowing that stupid shit like this happens to us all the time) but the pictures (all 415 of them) are ok!!! so, we are waiting on the camera company to give us a new camera and then we can get everything downloaded and i will post some pics from our adventures down south.
on an opposite weather note, steamboat is having a spectacular winter. we are getting so much snow and it's staying cold so conditions are ripe for the picking. we skinned up the ski area twice this week and i must say that the freshly groomed turns we had last night coming down were quite nice. and not to rub it in too much but i was able to enforce the oh so sweet powder clause this week when we got a foot overnight on wednesday. delicious!! but we could use a little sunshine, it's been gray and snowy here everyday but 2 since we got back and that's enough to give the happiest of clowns the blues. 61 days til Mexico!!

2007-12-27T16:27:00.000-07:00

WE'RE GETTING HAMMERED!!

2007-12-27T16:25:00.000-07:00

2007-12-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

My husband lost one of his best friends last week in a fatal car accident. Dave was such a great guy, new father, devoted husband, and awesome partier. This was the guy that was up for anything no matter what time of the day it was or how many laws he might be breaking. He knew how to have a good time but at the end of the day he knew what really mattered. He lived every day like it might have been his last, enjoying the simplest things, but understanding that they might be the most important. His little baby girl will not remember her adoring daddy but his friends and family will make sure she knows how much he loved her and her mommy. Things like this seem so senseless, why is such a good guy taken while pieces of shit child molesters walk the earth into old age? It never makes sense but we have to accept it as life.

Holidy Tips To Keep You Green

2007-12-04T09:05:00.000-07:00

Here are some tips coutesy of www.Treehugger.com to keep you from being a planet slob this season:

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans, on average, increase their garbage amount by 25% between Thanksgiving and Christmas. That's an awful lot of garbage considering it's only a few weeks period of time. Below are some tips that we pulled from TreeHugger & Slate Magazine's "Green Challenge" that will help you in greening your holidays a bit more. Also, check out our "How to Green Your Gifts" guide for even more pointers.
When shopping online or by mail order, consolidate your orders into as few shipments as possible.

Consider the benefits of buying locally made goods, which aren't transported over long distances to get to you. Or could you buy antiques as presents? They're all about recycling and reuse.

Could you reduce the number of holiday shopping trips you make, to save on gas? Could you bring reusable shopping bags? Most paper bags are made from virgin paper. Plastic ones are less CO2 intensive to make, but they're still made with petroleum and take hundreds of years to decompose in the landfill.

If you're sending gifts by mail, choose small, light packages, which take up less space and fuel than big, heavy ones.

Wrapping paper—usually made from virgin materials—is a large part of the holiday-waste stream. And if it's shiny or sparkly, it can't even be recycled. If every household wrapped three gifts in recycled materials (reused maps or cloth make great trimmings), we'd save reams and reams of paper. (Here's one calculation.) Other alternatives include buying gift-wrap made from recycled paper or hemp and flax. While you're at it, try Sellotape, which is made from biodegradable plant cellulose.

Every year, 2.65 billion holiday cards are sold in the United States. If you're buying, choose cards made from recycled paper and avoid the shiny can't-recycle kind. Even better is to send e-cards. And recycle the non-shiny cards you receive.

A deluge of catalogs has probably already descended upon your mailbox. It takes 14 million trees to produce the mail-order books we receive annually. And along with direct mailings, catalogs account for more than 4 million tons of CO2-emitting landfill mass. Encourage the catalogs you like to use recycled paper and get off the mailing lists of those you don't want.

Christmas trees are a topic of much environmentalist debate. Fake trees are reusable but are made from petroleum-derived sources and often shipped from abroad. Real trees, for their part, are typically sprayed with lots of pesticides. And new research shows that pine-tree farms capture less CO2 than the hardwood species they're displacing in some parts of the country. Organic Christmas trees are tough to come by. Plus, of the 33 million real Christmas trees sold in North America every year, many end up in a landfill, emitting carbon dioxide as they rot. If you opt for a real tree, be sure to bring it to a local recycling center, where it can be chipped for mulch or used whole to stabilize wetlands. A better choice may be to purchase a live, potted tree, which can be planted outside after the holidays. Evergreen varieties such as pine, spruce, and fir work well in many regions.

Replace conventional incandescent holiday string lights with their light-emitting diode counterparts. These energy-efficient strings use up to 95 percent less electricity, last up to 10 times longer, and are safer since they produce very little heat. LED lights are more expensive, but you'll shave a few dollars off your electricity bill and pounds off your carbon weight. And unlike conventional light strings, if one bulb goes bad on an LED string, the rest will still work. No matter what type of lights you use, limit yourself to keeping them on for four or five hours a day, and turn them off at night.

Skip the tinsel and other decorations made from fossil-fuel-intensive plastics.
If you're decorating with candles, choose the ones made from soy wax or beeswax. Both are renewable resources, as opposed to regular paraffin candles, which are made from petroleum.

For holiday parties, rent real plates, glasses, and silverware (or use your own) instead of using the disposable kind.

Consider staying close to home rather than blowing your CO2 budget on high-emissions travel to faraway places.

durtbagz: trippin' ain't easy

2007-11-29T10:56:00.001-07:00

2007-11-29T10:49:00.001-07:00

i'm really stoked for a good friend of mine whose website is up and running after months of hard work. www.durtbagz.com is officially live and open for business. the biz, ran out of the scottsdale area, was started by my friend erin who is about as cool a chick as they come and this product is creative and fresh. functional tote bagz and messenger bagz are the product line but the creative part is the designs on the bagz, street signs with jacked up depicitons of stick figures and sayings that any true durtbag would be honored to sport. so check it out!