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Monday, December 29, 2008

Jackson Hole

Avalanche, possibly from control work took out part of the Bridger restaurant today, only two days after another in-bound avalanche claimed the life of a skier.  Early reports said 2 people, employees of the resort, had been caught in the slide.  Later reports conclude that all have been found and accounted for.  Thoughts and prayers go out to all those involved.

Stuff is sliding all over the place, so be safe out there everyone.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Supprise Pow at Loveland

We woke to a sub par ski report this am. It came in the form of 2" of new
snow with very high winds. We arrived at the parking lot to find that most
of the snow in Summit County had blown into Loveland Basin, making for a nice
little supprise Pow Wow!



Cyn is getting her groove in the pow this winter. There have been a lot
of smiles the last couple of weeks, as it looks like making turns in real
snow has clicked for her.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

More Pic's from the Weekend.....

E of Lee&E Company, and a dork ruining a perfectly good picture in the background....

L to R~ Cyn, Me, PV, and E of the Lee&E Company

Midget Wrestling errrrr.... Male Bonding, um, well, you get the point....


Lee of Lee&E Company, and Cindy Lou

Lee and the worlds biggest Tangerine

You will never lose these two, never!
I absolutely love this picture!

The Little's

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Always Wear Protection

Scuba Cyn says, "Always wear your beacon in the bowls!"

Old School!

Some peeps from the college years made a little trip to Ski Country USA for some early season turns. I was a little concerned about the snow pack on thanksgiving, but mother nature cooperated and dumped a whole bunch of the white stuff for their arrival. We hit the Land of Love on Friday, afterwards they headed up to their abode for the weekend located in the Evil Empire, no not the Yankees, the other Evil Empire (Vail Resorts). Cyn, PV and I made the venture up to the EE on Saturday.  After signing away the rights to our first born, we found some nice pow to play in.  There was plenty of fun, and male bonding in various inappropriate manners through out the weekend.

Lee, one of the nicest guys in the world, and one of the biggest clowns!
Y'all know the little in pink....

Our knuckle draggers for the weekend....
Mrs Core, and PV.  Its always awesome to get out on the mountain with Cyn and PV, you will never lose them unless they are buried by a couple feet of snow.  I like to refer to them as the lolly pop kids. (FYI PV is a little too).  The camera wouldn't take a picture with a bright orange, and bright pink coat in the lens.


Back Bowls at vail...... 

Monday, December 15, 2008

Exhibit B

Report Courtsey of The Aspen Times:

VAIL, Colo. — A skier was caught in an in-bounds avalanche in Vail Mountain’s Blue Sky Basin on Sunday.

The skier was buried to his waist but was unhurt, said Scott Toepfer of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

The slide occurred Sunday morning on the Lover’s Leap trail, which drops from a cornice below the Skyline Express Lift. The avalanche ran for 150 vertical feet and was 100 to 150 feet wide. It was about 3 feet deep and slid to the ground, Toepfer said.

Vail had reported 12 inches of new snow Sunday morning, and snow continued to fall on the mountain during the day. 

Blue Sky Basin opened for the season Saturday, and patrollers had been conducting avalanche control with explosives there for the last four days, Toepfer said.

“At about 9 a.m., they shot that same slope that failed,” he said. 

The slide was reported at 10:51 a.m. Vail Mountain closed Blue Sky Basin for the remainder of the day after the slide. 

“Vail Ski Patrol will continue to conduct avalanche reduction in the area and throughout Vail Mountain and expects to reopen Blue Sky Basin on Monday, Dec. 15,” Vail Resorts said in a statement.

The Forest Service, which owns Vail Mountain, will review the incident, said Snow Ranger Don Dressler.

There’s always a risk of avalanche on steep slopes, even if the snow has been compacted by skiers and ski patrol has thrown explosives at it, Toepfer said. Colorado’s snowpack also has several weak layers in it now that make it prone to avalanches, he said.

“When I look at this particular incident, what I see is that anything over 30 degrees has the potential to slide, no matter what’s been going on in the past,” Toepfer said.
The black-diamond Lover’s Leap is 35 degrees at its steepest.

Toepfer, a longtime former Vail ski patroller who has skied Vail since its first season in 1962, said he can only recall one other time when a skier was caught in an avalanche in-bounds on Vail Mountain. A skier was caught on Rasputin’s Revenge in Siberia Bowl two or three years after the terrain opened in 1988, Toepfer said.

In Utah on Sunday, a woman died after getting caught in an avalanche at Snowbird ski resort.

In Bounds- Out of Danger?

This weekend Cyn and I played in the snow at Vail, and Loveland. With a ton of new snow an extremely sensitive snow pack any venture up to the top of Loveland Pass for some side country skiing would have been foolish. With 11 inches of new snow Sunday morning we donned our transceivers in bounds at Loveland, as we normally do. Even though the ski patrols at resorts in Colorado do an incredible job at avalanche control work, and rescue preparation it never hurts to help them find you if and accident does occur on their turf. We typically do ski on the terrain that would have the potential of sliding if the conditions were perfect like what happened at Snow Bird on Sunday of this past weekend. The reports say an inbounds skier was caught in an avalanche on hike to terrain known as the eye of the needle on Mt. Baldy. Apparently the woman was buried for an hour before being rescued alive, however she later died of complications. There is no guarantee that if this person would have lived through the avalanche even if she had been wearing a transceiver, but it may not have taken responders an hour to locate her. This tragic event just reinforces my decision to wear my transceiver in bounds.

See the full article here:
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11232264

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Road Trip?

A couple of peeps threw out the idea of hitting Big Sky in Febuary. Since most of the guys are coming out from the east coast, and we are already just down the street Cyn and I are thinking about making a little road trip out of it. Given the gas prices these days, we thought about doing a little somthing like this...


View Larger Map

Poing A: Home
Point B: Big Sky Montana
Point C: Jackson Wyoming
Point D: Home

Round trip distance 1440 miles
Average miles per tank in the Jetta 350
Cost of a tank of gas at $1.50/gal $20

This would have been totaly out of the question last year......

Monday, December 08, 2008

Like Attracts Like


If any of you have ever questioned this theory, here is your proof.....



Weekend Shenanigans

Decided to goof around with my phone video recorder this weekend, the resolution on the video isn't that great, but you can get the point.



As you can see the little lady is getting into a groove, and her comfort level is rising every time she heads out. Before you know it she will be shredding up the super steep terrain like the pro's.



I only wish the phone had more than 15 seconds of record time.



Smoooooooth, like buttah baby.....



Thank god the ski manufacturers have been turning the tips of the ski tails up. This would never have happened on the old straight planks we used to ski on.

Man if we ever purchased a higher quality video camera this would be dangerously fun.

Monday, December 01, 2008

POWWOW!

Well the snow gods had spoke, and we were listening! Loveland ski area got pounded with 51" of snow over the holiday weekend, and it looks like its just starting to taper out this morning. Cyn and I made it up and back both days this weekend, and by noon on Sunday I was out of turns, completely spent. I guess knee to waist deep pow will do that to ya.

Ironically we were totally out of the "snow know" on Saturday morning.  We helped some friends out in the morning, and mosied up to the ski are in the afternoon to find this:
By late Saturday afternoon the storm was still going strong really piling up.

The pass was closed all weekend, with no immediate opening in sight.  We were putting together our Sunday game plan on our drive home.  CAIC was predicting another 12" overnight into Sunday.
We hit the road super early Sunday morning, as to avoid the ensuing mayhem known as the I-70 rush hour.   We accomplished our objective and avoided the total ciaos that did inevitably occur.  We were not the only peeps with the foresight to get ahead of the traffic.  Big bird (cyn's yellow focus) was the last car in the front row at the ski area.
After a stress free drive, and leisurely breakfast we headed out to the lift line to wait for first chair.  With 20" of new stuff overnight the mood was excellent all around, and the cattle call at the drop of the rope was fairly mellow.  People have been know to be trampled to death while traveling through the maze of disaster in an attempt to get to the first chair on a pow day.  With the occasional cow moooo, and goat call, we made it through with out any incident, and all the acres of freshies awaited us at the top.
By the end of the day it was double dimple smiles all around.  Cyn is really starting to rip up the deep stuff with a year of Colorado pow under her belt, I think the days of the pink poof might be a thing of the past ;)  What a truly amazing Thanksgiving weekend.




Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, hope your holiday was a great one.  Cyn and I spent our T-day with my bud PV from CT, another transplant from the east coast.  We hit up <3 land for some turns in the morning and chow'd down in the evening to some football.....what a day!  I truly am grateful for all that has been going on in my life, for all the wonderful people, and places I am surrounded by, it has been quite a ride.  Thank you!

Monday, November 17, 2008

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Deuling Banjos

Loveland opens @ 8:30am





A-Basin opens @ 8:30am

Who will pull the trigger first?

Wicked Cool

Monday, October 13, 2008

Avalanche Awareness....

Or unawareness in this case!


That will make you think....

Oh man!



On a pucker scale of 1 to 10, that would have probably been an 8....

Here's a montage of face plants for your enjoyment!

I couldn't just bag on the boarder crowd.......



Natural selection at its best!!!!!

Boom! Time to get pumped for snow!

The first guy doing his impersonation of a lawn dart is awesome!



Something about watching snow boarders eat it is entertaining to me. Sorry Guys!

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

ZEUS '08

Well, after watching the first two presidential debates I have decided I am going to vote for the dog for president.  He has many of the same qualities as our presidential candidates, and some which separate him from the pack ;)  The following are some of the qualities that I think add to his appeal. 

I should mention first and foremost that he has spots!

He would be a wise leader.  Having 10 yrs of progressive experience in life.

He wont just say anything for votes, he will follow through with his promises.

It is physically impossible not to smile at a dalmatian.

He speaks his mind, and doesn't go potty in the house.

He doesn't take crap from anyone! (did I mention he is potty trained)

And finally, he has chose Gus as his running mate.
I dont know who Im gonna vote for this year. In my honest opinion they are both clowns.  This totaly cracked me up though.  You'll get it if you watched the debate last night, or heard about it in the media.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Home Opener! Go Donks!

We were treated to a high scoring, exciting game from start to finish!  The crowd was super loud, and man what a way to end the home opener.  A long lost bud from the Bean Town area joined Cyn and I for the fun.  The Bronco's keep it up and this could make for an exciting season.

Prior to the game we figured we'd need disguises if we were to fool everyone into thinking we were 100 % loyal Broncos fans.

I still wore my red, white, and I know there was some blue somewhere somewhere on my person... for the Patriots

I did my best imitation of a pom pom girl!

Friday, September 12, 2008

Oh man!

If that doesnt get you excited for winter.......

Where do you fit in?

The following is an excerpt from Legally Speaking found on Velonews, the topic is road rage, vehicular and cycling:

• Passive-Aggressive road rage: “A passive form of resistance that is expressed by ignoring others or refusing to respond appropriately. The intent of passive-aggressive road rage is to be obstructionist and oppositional.” An example of passive-aggressive road rage would be the driver who steadfastly observes the speed limit in the “fast lane,” despite the speeding drivers immediately behind who are signaling their desire to go faster by tailgating and flashing their lights. In the road rage incidents we witnessed this summer, the Critical Mass riders who refused to let the Seattle driver named “Mark” reverse direction and leave were exhibiting the passive-aggressive form of road rage behavior

• Verbal road rage: “The habit of constantly complaining about the traffic, keeping up a stream of mental or spoken attacks against all drivers, passengers, law enforcement officials, road workers, pedestrians, speed limits, and road signs. Undoubtedly the most common form of road rage, the purpose of verbal road rage is to denounce, ridicule, condemn, or castigate a rule, an engineer, or another driver.”

• Epic road rage: “The habit of fantasizing comic-book roles and extreme punitive measures against another driver, such as chasing, beating up, ramming, dragging, shooting, and killing, sometimes to the point of acting on it.” What most of us think of when we hear the words “road rage,” and thus, what was publicized as road rage in the incidents this summer.

Related to these three types of road rage, Dr. James identifies several types of road rage personality-types:

• Automotive vigilante: “This automotive bully aggresses against other motorists, chosen at random or for some specific reason, with a constant stream of verbal abuse, offensive gestures, and threatening maneuvers with the vehicle, sometimes going to [the] extreme of physical violence. When engaged in a dispute or when confronted by the law, the vigilante motorist will typically deny responsibility and counterattack, feigning victimhood to evade accountability, often with success.” This is the type of road rage many, perhaps most, cyclists have experienced, well before Newsweek discovered “a new type of road rage.” And as we saw this summer, the epic road rage incidents in Brentwood and Kamas both began with the motorist berating the cyclists for being on the road.

• Rushing maniac: “This dysfunctional driving style has two complementary elements. One is an extraordinary need to avoid slowing down. The other is the consequent anger against anyone who causes a slowdown.”

• Aggressive competitor: “Some drivers are so competitive that they need to be in the lead at all times, and feel a sense of loss and rising anxiety if another car passes them.” Now imagine that the “other car” is a bicycle…

• Scofflaw: “A notable feature of the culture of cynicism on the highways is the tendency we have to automatically disregard certain traffic laws, regulations, and signs. We act as if we’re entitled to break regulations whenever we feel like it. Some drivers are compulsively rebellious—for them a stop sign means reduce speed slightly, yield means grab the opportunity when you can, slow means reduce speed only if cops are around, yellow means hurry up and try to make it through, do not pass s for the really weak-hearted, and of course, 35 MPH means 55. We assume we are above the law.” As we can see on any road, this type of road-rager comes in both two-wheel and four-wheel models, and each is the first to point out that the other is a scofflaw.

Find the full article here:

Ha, I think I might be a Rushing Maniac?!?!

Raise Your Hand If Your Excited For Winter!!!

Loveland Pass had the chain law in effect, and Trail Ridge Road was closed this morning.


A-Basin received a little of the white stuff

As for our cave in the highlands, we just got a good ol soaking rain last night and this morning.....

Friday, August 29, 2008

Be Informed

Find out where the money supporting your presidential candidates campaign is coming from at www.opensecrets.org

TAX THIS

Yo all you skiers and boarders out there, Eagle County Commissioners want to tax you like the government. Whoa, they are the government! They want to get ya with a sales tax on lift tickets. I have no problem with this as long as it is on one day tickets and not season passes. I say make the bubba family from tehas on Christmas vacation flip the bill ;) Actually no one should flip the bill, what are they doing up there with all of the tax revenue they are already raking in from property taxes, and the tourist industry? The days of $120 lift tickets are just around the corner, so start getting in shape, and be prepared to find another mode of transport up the mountain. Cyn and I hope to be riding the lifts less this year (as long as the snow pack cooperates).

Thursday, August 28, 2008

True or False?


Damn, No Global Cooling!?!?

Just as my hopes are raised for Global Cooling, they stomped out by another article on Global Warming. So which is it? Does anyone know?

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Global Cooling!?!

What more could a ski bum ask for!
I typically don't rant about a politically sensitive subjects like this, but rumor has it the Arctic Ice Cap doesn't want to melt away like some are saying it will. So the question posed; is global warming... A) Sound scientific analysis based on good data, B) Typical temperature cycle of our global environment (which we have limited data on), C) propaganda used for political gain, or D) a combination of some or all? I guess only time will tell, but for now I just hope that this year we get half as many powder days as we had last year. Why half? Cuz any more would just be greedy, and more people would probably want to move here ;)

Colorado Wildlife

The infamous Croc-o-rosebud!
This fine specimen is rarely seen in this part of the country.

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Get Ya Bronco's Tickets He'yah

If anyone is interested in Denver Broncos Tickets for their game against the Green Bay Packers August 22nd at Invesco Field let me know. I have 3 tickets for this game I would like to sell.....

Monday, August 04, 2008

James Peak~ 13,294'

St. Mary's Glacier is on the route I traveled to James Peak

This made the first 1000' of vertical very easy.

Mt. Evans in the background

Top of the Glacier. Anyone know why most of the glaciers in Colorado are on east aspects?

The road to James Peak

Can you see the Ptarmigan?

Mt. Bancroft, and Loc Lomond

Another view of Mt. Bancroft and Loc Lomond

From the top of James~ Winter Park in the background.

Great views and beat the heat of D-Town, not a bad way to spend a Sunday

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Broken Critters

Yesterday was a good and bad day for critters in the Littles house hold. Good in that we did our part in helping control the pet population, and bad in that everyone took a trip to the Vet to get spay and neutered...
So why didn't I get them spay and neutered sooner? Well Zeus the dog was from a good breed of ranch dogs in Sedalia, and I thought about studding him out for a while. Ike the cat was a stray kitten I found in a bush in front of my old house in Castle Rock, and I just never did. Why now? Cyn and I will most likely be staying in her place in Denver for the next couple months. Her landlords have a couple of cats that are all "outdoor cats" and a cat door installed for them to roam about, so Ike had to get the spay for the move. Zeus was a bonus, I basically got a 2 for one deal in that I took them to Planned Pethood Plus, a local spay and neuter clinic in Denver. Most vets would have charged in the neighborhood of $400 just for the dog neuter, PPP charged around $240 for both when all was said and done.

So now the dog gets to sport the ultra sleek dish look while I am at work for the next 2 weeks. Absolutely no licking! With this rig on his head he can hear Cyn all the way in DC, which explains some of the random stuff he does.

Still not totally with it this morning

Poor dude slept all afternoon, evening and night. He still tried to follow me around the apartment though, I would find him laying in strange spots where he probably just crashed out.

The cat was the quietest she has ever been in the car. I haven't seen her since we got home from the vet, for all I know she may have run away for good after her first trip to the vet.

Check out the Clinic at: http://www.plannedpethoodplus.com/