Sore Toes

I have spent the last two weeks jammin my own toes. Busy working. Hallelujah. But it still makes me sore and tired. Wears me out in the right way. The heavy snow doesn't hurt, while not helping. It is just so good right now, and amazing to be locking in heal. Just cant ski as well without it. Luke has been getting the neglection treatment for a bit. Make him appreciate the runs we go on every day. Sorry dude, we cany hang out all day every day. But still I feel bad. All I can hope is that the nail will fall off soon, to make a bit of room.

The only control we have over a situation once the unseen trap is sprung is our reaction. The ultimate test of our free-will is smiling when something bad happens to you. Try it, it is hard. Can we stay cool, collected, thinking for a solution, laughing it off or do we have a meltdown? Can I save this persons life or will I seize up? Can I land on my feet running and be back in the sky like it never happened? Sure. A number of great people have had there shit really together. It is special when you see people of this caliber, and sad when they are taken from us at any age. The one constant of our own heroes is that they are motivating, inspirational, we can relate to them, and aspire to be like them in some way. It is even more impactful to be a part of that persons life and call them a friend. We are attracted to them, we feel the energy and want to build on it. We learn how to best our teachers, so we can pass it on. So here's to our heroes, and trying to make ourselves a better lander.

Let By A Gons be Bygones

A funny thing to think about, all the people doing a flip. For some reason we get a kick out of getting twisted upside down above the ground and then letting go. Just to see how it might come out. Double back lay-outs, a couple hundred thousand gymnasts. Backflips off a 20 foot cliff, more than a handful of people at Squaw. Doing a back-untilIrunoutofair at the pool, everyone. Being born properly depends on us sitting upside down when the shit really starts to go down. The very first real physical experience in our life and we go, "Whoo Hoo. Its time, head first!" We are addicted to the thrill of setting ourselves up in akward high-consequence situations. You cant get around it, we like playing with the possibilities. In the end we know that we will land eventually. Some on your head, some on your feet; you just never really know which way it will turn out until you land. Got to play the game or regret its passing, and the more riding on each hand the more alive we feel. Adrenline junkie, swinger, business man, golddigger, abusive lover, youth, whatever you want to call it in yourself. Do your self a favor, look for it until you find it. Both the sweetest rides and the darkest pits live in that part of us, becuase it is the part that will take a chance. And there is always a chance of getting burned. But still we all leap, and leap, and leap again to test if we have wings this time. To truly fly is the dream that we all share.

Production

Yesterday i spent the morning going through the Sugar Bowl new employee orientation. My goodness, I understand why they do it, but it is a painful process. No way around it.

In the afternoon, I made a dog house for Luke. It is nothing fancy but I also did not pay a dime for any materials. Thanks Kevin!! Yeah, it did cost me a six pack of beer, but cheap. Now i just need to figure out some insulation, and squeeze his big blanket in there and we are set of the winter. Well, I need to do some winterizing of my room with a blanket over teh sliding door and a sand sack to block the escaping air. But no biggy.

A couple of warm days is supposed to be followed by a big storm, and then another. Might be skiing for Turkey day.

Wouldn't You Know

Well, it is now cold. We are getting frost almost every night and the days hardly make it above 40. Frozen ground holds snow better.
Got my pass today from Sugar Bowl. Another stupid looking picture. I have a nack for it. Dont ever try to take pictures of me by telling me first. It will end up stupid. Looking at the terrain of the mountain with the first glimpses of snow, I am pretty excited. Should be an epic year.

Less exciting- I got laid off from Tuff Beanz. Yes, true. Took me three weeks to find that shitty job and they let me go after two and half months. Sucks to be scheduled for the hours when the shop is closed for the slow season. So now the money for job searching and a beacon have now been converted to rent money. Thank god for that, but now I am even further behind the eight ball. I didnt like the job much so it is a nice opportunity, but still, headaches I dont want or need. With unemployment at 15%, even a shitty job is nice.

Winter Stoke

Mountain waves are a good sign that the weather is coming on strong. They occur when high level winds are pushed up by orthographic obstructions (mountains) and go through a rebounding cycle. They push back down on the opposite side of the range as they are out of equilibrium, but go too far and are forced back up. Looks kind of like an ocean wave. Anyway, when the winds push up, moist air rises into a cooler region, thus a cloud forms. The clouds look like pancakes and stay in the same place.

El Nino SST Anamolies are curretly at +1deg C. Good news!! Also Tahoe area is predicted to have avergae to below average temps over the next couple months and above average precipitation. WOOO HOOO!!

But these are just scientific models and we have to wait to see what really happens. Anyway, there is a big low coming down from the Gulf of Alaska, with snow later this week. A couple inches but more exciting is snowlevel around 6000 feet. Bring it on.

Quick CO Break

This post is to mark the start of a new direction for the blog. Enough moopy tears on the shoulder. Lets talk about teh stuff that matters. Adventure.

I am in Colorado for a week to watch some football and breath the thin air I love so much. Now that I have been living in the Tahoe area for a summer, I really miss the big mountains. You just cant really get the same views and dreams of "one days" anywhere else. The Sawatch are just so beautiful. But with the size comes much more serious consequences.

I am happy to be in a coastal snowpack while I am still getting my BC feet under me. And there is talk of a lot of snow falling. So it wont be all bad. I just neeed to get some good partners, and also find some personal motivation. I have a big interia problem when I am doing stuff solo.

So the plan: 1)be a ski bum working at Sugar Bowl 2) ski 100+ days 3) shovel the driveway... alot! 4) save money 5) keep looking for more permanent work


And now teh yearly list of goals. So while these goals over lap with the above plan (a good thing) they deserve some of ther own space.

2009/10 winter goals:

1) No injuries.
2)100+ days total, 20+ days in sidecountry, 20+ days in the true backcountry.
3) Learn a back-flip.
4) Train Luke to be a damn good snow dog.
5) Get my Avy 1 and hopefully Avy 2 certs.
6) Learn some trade tricks with Patrol.
7) Make a good decision to not ski that tempting avy slope.
8) Save money in everyway possible.
9) Face Shots!!!
10) Take some deep breaths and enjoy what I am given.



Alright, so that is a bunch to do, but it can be done. For now teh fall season is beggin me to go out and do something. Cold, crisp, and empty. A wonderful time of year.

Back to the grind.

So it has been some time. Lots of catching up is possible in these pages, but I know no one reads them, save for my mother and she might not even be getting the notifications anymore. So why do I write this? As a exercise in venting, or just to leave a mark on the world wide web, or just maybe so I can come back twenty years later and try to get in touch with what I was. In any case, here I sit, with my scotch, writing.

So what to write about. I have spent most of the 2009 summer unemployed and sleeping under the stars. I had plans to be a raft guide in CO and sleep under the stars, but Santa Clara County had different thoughts on the matter, and actually I am not sure it would have turned out better with my plans. The noose is still around my neck but by now the callouses are so thick, I just consider the whole thing a colonial style choker. Stylish, oh yeah, Baby. (That was bad, and I am sorry.) But I now have the chance to live a dream. Of being a ski bum! and not even by choice! I am forced to work at a resort for a season pass so I can at least have an outlet. So much for paying off bills or loans. I am just making enough to sleep under a roof with heat. Quite literally, I am a Stanford graduate working for $8/hr (plus tips mind you!) 20/hrs a week as a coffee barista in Truckee, California. That lets me pay rent, eat, put some gas in my car (occansionally) and make monthly payments on my outstanding credit bill. PATIENTCE!!! I need some more. I am just waiting for the snow to stick so I can drill holes in snow for gates and bend over to highschool racers, or even better yet pick up incompetent rich people off their asses and say "good try" in my sleep.

My story is not uncommon or sad or even unfortunate. It is just another story. But for now this is what is laid out in front of me and it has been a great (repeat) lesson in humility. One of those lessons that you actually can get enough of, and I am about to that point.

ah yes

near end long strange trep
O thank god O aver living
tender blocks of stability

follow moon
house of blue leaves
say goodnight

taken Desolation
small rough lines
salubrious

pale pink visage
demanding attention
tends to leave

forgetful of ends
joyful hearts
marvel

first tram dues paid full
wisdom shared the goods fine taste
powder topped crepe