Zaskoda

You know you’re snowboarding late in the season when, on the way up to the slopes, you pass a van with kayaks on top and see people river rafting along the road side. This was the case when I went up yesterday for what is, decidedly, my last day for this season.

I still can’t believe I went snowboarding in June. The conditions were really wet. I rode my longer board (the Burton Custom) and moved my bindings back before I went up. It felt as much like wake boarding as it did snowboarding. Much to my surprise, the runs were actually rather fast – so long as you didn’t hit a puddle. The sloppy slush was chopped up and proved to be very bouncy. I actually had a rather rough time of it.

I wore very little clothing and still managed to break a sweat at times. With just a shirt on, I was rather concerned about falling. I didn’t want to end up wet. In some places, the water flowing under the snow broke through and made little rivers and waterfalls right in the main runs. Temperatures were running somewhere in the 70′s.

I’m looking forward to summer activities. Today, I finally got out my mountain bike. Wow, it kicked my butt. A 30 minute ride in the mountains reminded me just how long it’s been since I’ve ridden. I’m also hoping to do some outdoor rock climbing, kayaking, and backpacking. I’ll probably mention some of these adventures here on the blog. I would also like to post reviews for all of the equipment and resorts I experienced this past season.

As I mentioned, I decided to let yesterday stand as my final day for the season. I fell short of 100 days by a long margin. I’ve already renamed the blog category from “100 Days in 07/08″ to “56 Days in 07/08″. It was surprisingly challenging to get that many days in! I had so much fun this season, I’ve decided that I want to stay in Colorado for at least one more winter.

I want to cover my riding day count one last time. Previous to this season, I rode 36 days. This season, I rode 56. My grand, life long total is 92 days. I’m telling myself to stop counting – we’ll see if I do. I met my base goal of doubling my days. I was 8 days shy of my secondary goal of bringing my grant total to 100. However, I’ll probably cross that line well before the end of 2008. I fell 44 days short of my ultimate goal – 100 days this season. Maybe that’s just the universe’s way of telling me I need to stay around and get the last 44 days in next season!

To be honest, I feel a little bummed I didn’t get my 100 days in. However, the attempt taught me that riding 100 days in a single season is not an easy task. You have to be seriously dedicated. Keep in mind, 100 days is nearly 1/3 of a year – and the season only runs for about 1/2 of the year. I have a lot more respect for professional riders and the amount of work and dedication they put into developing their abilities.

Speaking of developing abilities, I am proud of the progress I’ve made as a rider this season. I hit a wall in my development before moving to Colorado. I feel like I’ve broken through that wall. This season brought me cleaner and bigger jumps. I’m still a bit wobbly, but I can land cleaner and more consistently than ever before. The season also brought me my first rotations. I’ve cleanly landed 180′s both on the ground and off of kickers and jumps. I’ve advanced my ability to ride switch. I still get nervous, but can carve through blue runs riding switch without much trouble. I even started taking my first little kickers while riding switch.

I’m also stoked at all of the new resorts I’ve experienced this season. The list includes: A-Basin, Keystone, Breckenridge, Vail, Beaver Creek, Echo Mountain Park, and Copper Mountain.

Here to the end of a terrific season, the start of a beautiful summer, and to looking forward to the many seasons yet to come.

44 days left for another season…

56 Days in 07/08

I got a few turns in yesterday. Velzy and I headed up to A-Basin. The previous night only brought an inch of fresh snow and things were turning so slushy it didn’t matter much. The riding conditions were spring typical. The back bowls are closed and sections of the front are starting to get roped off. Still, it was decent with a lot of area left to play on.

Velzy got lucky on the way in and snagged a free lift ticket from a skier who was on the way out. Even now, with so little of the mountain open, a half day ticket still runs $42. That’s a lot of money to play on a handful of slushy runs. Still, I suppose they need to charge that much to warrant being open during such thin times. I am appreciative that there is a lift open this late in the season.

45 days left… (why am I still bothering to count?)

56 Days in 07/08

I was supposed to be in Mexico today, but my flight got delayed until Wednesday. Thank goodness! The A-Basin website is reporting only 5 inches of fresh powder, but it sure seemed like a lot more to me. The snow conditions today were fabulous. They’re expecting even more snow tonight. I simply can’t believe that it’s May. Everyone was talking about how the conditions seemed more like mid-season. I pushed powder until my thighs were burning.

I wish I could enjoy the next few days, but I’m off to Sayulita tomorrow to do some surfing. I’ll be back in Colorado in a week.

46 days left…

56 Days in 07/08

Well, even though it’s halfway through May, the snow continues to fall. Velzy and I rode A-Basin yesterday. We had a little more than 5 fresh inches of snow overnight and a bit more than 3 fresh inches from the day before. The snow was wet and heavy and a tad sticky. I prefer fluffy dry powder, but I’ll definitely smile about any freshies this time of year. In fact, there was something kinda fun about the sticky snow. On the really steep slopes, your terminal velocity is much lower – meaning you can bomb steeper stuff while feeling more in control.

The weather was great. It was bright and sunny. Occasionally the wind would blow, but for the most part the day was calm. I thought I was leaving for Mexico this morning, but our flight got bumped until Wednesday. I almost ran out to A-Basin again this morning to meet Jayne and Jay, but I got up a little too late. I may have to head out for some runs tomorrow instead.

As a side note, yesterday’s riding brings the total number of days I’ve snowboarded – ever – to 89. Hitting 100 days ever was my ‘second’ goal of the season and I’m 11 days short. With the Basin closing in early June, I could make this goal – but with a trip to Mexico this week, it would be tight. As for 100 days this season? Haa haa haa… maybe next! But I’ll keep posting about each day until the bitter end.

47 days left…

56 Days in 07/08

Yesterday I headed up to Echo mountain with Velzy. I was hopeful since 4 fresh inches of snow had fallen the night before. We showed up to the slope to find that the 20mph wind had swept every bit of powder off of the run, leaving a nice icy surface behind. We didn’t even bother going out. After that disappointment, I just allllllmost passed on heading out today. I’m very happy I went ahead and drove up to A-Basin today; the conditions were great.

According to the snow report, only 3 inches fell last night. It sure seemed like more. I went a little out of bounds and found piles of snow about a foot deep. I have to admit, it was rather heavy/wet powder… However, given that it’s May, I’m pretty happy about it. I played hard and stayed until the lifts were closing. I wonder how much more snow we’re going to see this season.

Strange thing about this spring skiing thing – the parking lots are packed! The parking lots were so crowded today that they asked people to park at Keystone and ride the bus in. That doesn’t mean the mountain is actually crowded. In fact, the mountain wasn’t crowded at all today. It seems that a lot of people spend most of their time drinking at the beach parties.

48 days left…

56 Days in 07/08

Unless I can swing 49 riding days over the next 39 days (you do the math), I’m not going to reach my ultimate goal of 100 days for 07/08. Of course, I knew this months ago. Still, it will be interesting to see how many days I do end up getting. I’ve been taking it rather easy. Yesterday was my first riding day in a week.

The conditions were mediocre with ice in the morning and slush in the evening. The transitional period in the middle, when the snow first starts to get soft, is excellent fun. That means there’s just a few hours of good riding each day. In my current financial status (living on savings), it’s hard to justify the money it takes to travel out to the mountain for just a few hours or good ride time.

Spring is in full spring here in Colorado. Bugs are coming out. Plants are blooming and trees and turning green. I saw a fox with her pups the other night. The attached photo was of the mother (I think) the next morning in the same location. She seemed surprisingly tame. Colorado really is a unique place. There’s so much to see and do here beyond just snowboarding.

The last year of my life really has centered around this snowboarding mission of mine. I’m really torn between sticking it out another year so I can try to reach my goal, or moving on to surfing and trying to make my way to a beach.

Meanwhile, work is trying to pull me away from the mountains as well as the beach. There are opportunities for me growing in Austin, TX. I used to like living in Texas for travel reasons. I was in Dallas and the DFW airport was one cheap flight to all kinds of destinations. However, with the rising cost of travel, the world is becoming a much larger place. That same argument for living in Texas is starting to fade.

The time for change is coming. Meanwhile, I’ll keep riding while I can. In fact, maybe I’ll check out Echo Mountain tomorrow evening.

49 days left…

56 Days in 07/08

Friday I took off with Sui and hit Echo Mountain for some park work. The snow was a little hard, but with the sun out it softened up a bit. The conditions were surprisingly fast and it was easy to overshoot jumps. Sui and I had a great time. It was the first time I’ve been to Echo with anyone else. It was nice having someone to play with.

We raced back to town in time to watch Battlestar Galactica. Then Velzy and I packed up and headed out to A-Basin. We crashed in a friend’s RV in the last chance lot where things were a little bit on the wild side. Once the music went off and people put their clothes back on, we crashed for a few hours. At 6am we had to move down to the lower lot and help get breakfast started. We managed to get the RV stuck and had to get some help to pull it out and properly park it. Later we lost the keys and had to go on a quest for a “small girl” to squeeze through one of the unlocked windows. Good fun.

The event was the Ski Jam IV. I have a huge batch of photos to post to flickr soon. For $30 we had open bar and open grill. A huge crowd of costumed freaks showed up and partied down. Everyone was there, from Captain America to a giant Banana. It was one of the many “Beach Parties” they have at A-Basin in the spring. They call the strip of parking lot that runs along the edge of the ski area “The Beach”.

So the Ski Jam also happened to be my 50th day of riding. I think it was a swell way of celebrating. I might only be half way to my ultimate goal, but I’ve done well. I’ve gone far beyond my base goal of 36 days (matching the total number of days I’ve ridden previous to moving to Colorado). I’m also 14 days from hitting my secondary goal of 64 days (brining my total number of days ever to 100). Not bad for a guy who’s been employed full time in Broomfield for most of the season.

50 days left…

56 Days in 07/08

When the snow started falling last night, I knew I’d done the right thing. I spent the past few days trying to get ahead. This morning, Breckenridge was reporting 10 inches of new snow and I was caught up enough to go out and enjoy it. It continued to snow the entire time I was there today. It was an excellent snow day.

On the way to the mountain, I pulled up behind a Nissan Murano and noticed the two snowboards strapped to the top. I stared at them until I suddenly realized that I’ve seen that pattern before – that’s Jayne’s board! Turns out, I’d pulled up behind Jason and Jayne. I thought I would get to ride with them for the day, but I was wrong. They were coming back from the doctor. Jason managed to dislocated his elbow on a jump. He showed me the x-rays. It must have hurt… a lot.

While Jason was down for the count, Jayne came out for a few runs. It was a rather uneventful day. We played in the snow until close. This is the last week for Breck and the base is the thickest it’s been all year. Too bad everything is shutting down when the conditions are so good.

52 days left…

56 Days in 07/08

Well, as luck would have it, my first day at Vail was the last day of the season. It got pretty crazy. Folks were shuck’n clothes and drinking heavy. They told us that everyone rides lift 4 up at 4:00 for the big end of season party. We skipped out on the drunken fest. I’m sure it would have made for a lot of great pictures, but we had to get back to the cabin for some chores before the drive home.

I have to say, I’m not very impressed with Vail. The mountain was huge with lots of runs. However, there are a number of long catwalks which really blow for boarders. The parking situation kind of sucks as well. We did find a free spot along the road with a short hike to the lifts. I suppose once you know the area, it’s not that bad. Anyway, while the runs were fun, I didn’t find anything that really stood out above and beyond the other resorts in the area. In fact, the only thing that really struck me about Vail was the overall size.

There were a lot of costumes on the slopes. I wish I’d taken more pictures. What I did take, I’ve posted on flickr. I think that next year I’ll have to come out and get into character myself.

53 days left… (I’m soooo not getting in 100 days…)

56 Days in 07/08

Sometimes I realize that I live a rather fortunate life. This weekend is a shining example of exactly that. Velzy invited me up to a cabin near Vail and Beaver Creek for the weekend. I really had no idea what to expect. I was blown away by this absolutely amazing three story cabin. The master bedroom is more than half the upstairs with an unobstructed view of the creek, mountains, and forest. The entire west wall of the bedroom is really one big window! The rest of the cabin is breath taking, but I won’t drone on about it.

Today we went up to check out Beaver Creek. We had about 6 fresh inches of snow fall. The conditions were great. The day ranged between 30 and 40 degrees F with very little wind. I wore the least amount of gear thus far this season. Velzy continues to impress me with her quick progression for having spent so few days on the mountain. She did compliment me on my development as a rider; however, with as many days as I’ve gotten in this season, I better be improving a little bit!

At the very top of the mountain, we found a snow carving of old man winter, so we had to stop for some quick photos. We probably only explored a tiny fraction of the mountain. I didn’t spend much time looking at maps. The one thing that did trip me out about Beaver Creek was the escalators. This is the first resort I’ve been to with escalators. We’re supposed to hit Vail tomorrow. I hear it’s fairly upscale; so after riding escalators today, I can’t imagine what Vail is going to be like. Here’s hoping we get a little more snow tonight!

54 days left…

56 Days in 07/08