Doing what comes naturally

I don't know what it is a about skiing at Vail, but I always get a high from skiing there. Several factors could come into play. One is I usually rest a day before I go there. Second, we choose a day we know will be bright and sunny. And maybe, just maybe the lower altitude makes a difference. But there is some thing else ... and I think it has to do with Vail's size. When I am at Vail I feel as though I am skiing TO somewhere. "Let's ski over to mid Vail for lunch" ... "Let's ski over to China bowl and enjoy the sunshine." On other mountains I feel as though I am just skiing runs. Moreover, Vail is well designed enough that the moving across the mountain does not always involve the boring catwalks that other mountains employ.

So we arrived early this morning ... me with fresh legs, and the sun was shining ... It was just spectacular ... AGAIN. We were in China Bowl in bright sun ... and on our second run went into the trees and did some glade skiing. It was all pretty wonderful ... until ...

... the clouds came in and the wind blew up ... but the first part was really pretty wonderful. And I noticed something new out there today. This is going to be a little hard to describe, so bear with me. But I had this feeling on my skis today that I wasn't so much skiing as I was engaging in a natural form of locomotion. I am no longer working at skiing ... I am simply moving around on skis. Does that make sense? It is maybe like the way a bird feels when it naturally turns its body to take advantage of the wind circling at high levels ... only instead of the wind I am turning my body to take advantage of gravity in a natural way without really thinking about it.

So maybe this feeling is what I came here for?

Midway

So we have passed the midway point in this odyssey ... a few observations. First there are the rhythms of daily life. We have been pretty lazy in our mornings. We are usually skiing between 11 and 12. It is nice to spend at least part of each day in the out of doors looking at some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. My day on the slopes usually though not always ends before Hunter's, and I either go home and he takes the bus or I wait at the bottom for him to get those last few runs out of his system. Whenever it ends for me, I get home and immediately hop in a hot shower and take a nap while Hunter does his work. The time between 4 & 6 has been very productive for him. Then it's dinner by 7 and in bed before 9. We have been sleeping 9 -10 hours a night.

Then there is our skiing. We took a lesson mid-week last week and have another one scheduled tomorrow. The sticker price on these lessons was pretty much shock and awe. We mentioned this to a waitress in Dillon one night and she grinned and said she was a ski instructor at A-Basin and would happily take us on. A-Basin chargers a quarter the price for a private lesson than the other areas. So we had an excellent two hour lesson together last week on fundamentals. We then worked out that we would meet her privately at a different mountain on her day off and each work with her privately for 2 hours.

I must say this work on fundamentals has done me tremendous good. Much of the work I needed to do was in upper body work ... all about staying pointed downhill. She gave us a few simple images that really made a difference. We even did a little work in the bumps and the translation of the fundamentals into the bumps made a real difference ... but by then my legs were rubber bands.

Here is a short clip of Hunter.

Epic Proportions Update

Here is an update on the ever increasing value of our Epic Pass.

Column1	DAYS	RUNS	Cost per day	Cost per run
Hunter	9	71	$ 64.33	$ 8.15
Leslie	9	43	$ 64.33	$ 13.47

Downtown Frisco

Main Street Frisco, CO today

Main Street Frisco 1890

We took a day off from skiing last Saturday and puttered around the town of Frisco. There is a little historical park off Main Street that has become a collection site for some of the town's historic properties. First thing that strikes a New Englander is how YOUNG this town is. Folks were showing up here just about the time the Civil War was heating up. Here are some pictures of the old town Jail.But I was intrigued by this little cottage built in 1931 by the Niemoth family from Denver. It seems that as the area began losing population in post WWI era, the local dairy farmer out at Bill's Ranch came up with a scheme to lure population back to Frisco from the big cities like Denver. He offered families free land on which to build their summer cottages if they would in turn buy milk from his dairy cows. Apparently his plan to bring the market to the milk instead of the milk to the market worked ... for awhile anyway.And I do not wish to be a history geek here, but I was really taken with this ballot from 1896. It seems EVERY party wanted a piece of William Jennings Bryan that year. I guess if you wanted to know the power of free silver in the politics of the day, Frisco, CO was as good a perch as any to view it from.(Note: 6 of the parties on this ballot claimed William Jennings Bryan as their candidate in 1896.)

Spectacular Day Skiing

Yesterday was simply majestic. We started out a little after 8:30 under a bright sunny sky. The views along Vail Pass were in themselves breathtaking.

We had a little trouble negotiating the free parking at Vail. Instead of being one big lot on the outskirts of town it is a warren of little 6 or 18 space spots sprinkled along the frontage road very vaguely marked. So after wasting 30 minutes trying to find one that had space we surrendered to the pay parking ($25/day OUCH!) at Lionshead.

But it is the best $25 for a day of entertainment that I have ever spent. Vail takes alot of grief out here (especially in Summit County) for being too big too crowded just too too. But all that said, it is still ... on a sunny day ... the most fun place to ski I can imagine. With 5,000+ acres of skiable terrain and 193 runs there is little reason to spend any time complaining.

I will let the pictures speak for themselves. Suffice it to say it was a PERFECT day of skiing.

looking up Showboat from the bottom of Game Creek BowlAnd some panoramic pics too!!Mid Vail at lunch time (click to enlarge)

Top of Wildwood looking over BluSky Basin

A little hint about panoramics. If you have not tried it yet, go to Autostitch and download their free tool. It is amazing.

Snow Dance

Statement as of 4:30 AM MST on February 12, 2009

... Winter Weather Advisory in effect from 6 PM this evening to
noon MST Friday...

The National Weather Service in Grand Junction has issued a
Winter Weather Advisory for snow... which is in effect from 6 PM
this evening to noon MST Friday.

A strong... fast moving Pacific storm will sweep across the region
tonight bringing widespread snow. Moisture wrapped around the
systems center will continue to bring snowfall into Friday. Total
accumulations from this storm are expected to range from 5 to 10
inches by midday Friday... with locally higher amounts on exposed
west and northwest facing slopes.

So with this in mind we are making a quick dash over Vail Pass this morning to get some skiing in before they close the pass. Whooo Whooo.

Skier's Stew

I owe this recipe to my friend Wynell from whose cookbook I copied it one morning. I am renaming it Skier's Stew because it is a slow cooking stew that can be popped in the oven as you go out the door and will slow cook for as long as six hours (even longer I suspect) without drying out.Now I know a crockpot might also seem like a good alternative, but I have to tell you, it is just not the same in flavor or texture. Sadly our condo has neither a crockpot nor a heavy duty casserole suitable for the task. So we found this nice oval cast iron pot at a nearby Walmart.There are three unusual ingredients in this dish that I did not want to have to buy while I was here. So I packed a little bag of tapioca and bottled some of my own Worcestershire and brought it with me. The sugar I purloined form a nearby Starbucks.Next I prepared the vegetables and set them aside.

Then to the bottom of the cast iron casserole I added 2 1/2 pounds of stew beef. No flouring, no browning ... just the raw stew meat, and I tossed it with generous amounts of salt and pepper. Over that I placed the veggies. Over that I poured the canned chopped tomatoes. Then I filled the can with water and added some of that water to the sugar, tapioca and Worcestershire mixture and mixed it up. I added this slurry to the sides of the casserole so that it would mingle with the juices deeper in the stew (as opposed to just pouring it on top).Next I covered it with a piece of aluminum foil and then secured the lid tightly over the seal.

Put it in the oven and set the oven for 275 degrees. It will be done in 5 hours but can stay in longer. If you think your day on the slopes is going to be longer than six hours you might add an extra 1/2 can of water and set the oven to 250 or 225.

The BEST part is coming in the door and smelling this divine creation filling your nostrils.

SKIER'S STEW

2 ½ lbs stew beef
1 cup chopped celery
2 cups carrots
2 onions chopped
4 medium potatoes
1 14 oz can seasoned tomatoes + 1 can of water
1 TBS Worcestershire
1 TBS sugar
2 TBS Tapioca

Meat in bottom of Creuset or similar cast iron pot. Salt and Pepper toss. Cover with vegetables. Make a paste of W, S, and T with water and drip along the edges. Add the water. Cover tightly with foil then put on lid. Bake at 275 for 5+ hours. Do not lift lid.

The morning commute

Schoolbus

What you see when you look down