Two for Two: a Highlands Photo TR (12/8/07)
DATE: 12/8/07
LOCATION: Aspen Highlands, California (Beautiful!)
CREW: skiracer_00, Squatch, jon_turner, grskier, Dside11-11, SydVicious, Greguar, Raps, and a happy Roaring Fork Valley
SYNOPSIS: We skied pow. Lots of it. It was fun. Then I slept 'til 4 pm today...
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
First of all, I'd like to thank Mr. Stephan Drake and Mr. Rob Liberman (and I suppose, Mr. Marshal Olson) for making yesterday possible. Without my "cheater skis" (as Squatch rather accurately termed them), I'm quite sure my legs would have fallen completely off at the hip, and I would literally be much less of a man.
Second of all, I'd like to thank those who joined me in this endeavor. Jerdan and Squatchy, you guys made this trip fun (and we will let bygones be bygones about the additional driving. ;)), and I probably wouldn't have made it to Aspen alive without you.
THEME: Smiling. It's the new hot thing to do. Being covered in snow was also determined to be fashionable. Dside shows us both at once, for double style points.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...OOD/dside2.jpg
THE REPORT:
I title this thread "Two for Two", as that's my ratio for successful stormchasing missions. Last weekend was great, and so was this one...
Milton, the logistics officer of my Student EMS group, was kind enough to get me out of working as an EMT at a fraternity event last weekend so that I could go ski pow in Crested Butte (I was then one for one). So I had to repay the favor and fill in for someone this weekend by signing up to work from 9 45 pm to 2 am Friday night.
I ditched class Friday to partake in some Loveland fun and nonsense and spent the entire evening leading up to volunteering tuning Lotuses, packing, eating, and particularly caffeinating in preparation for the upcoming hours, which would almost certainly be long. They were, but not the first. Luckily, some yahoo at the party pulled the fire alarm at 1 am, so I was able to get out a half hour early after the fire dept. showed up, so I picked up skiracer and some pizza, and it was off to Squatch's for gearing up, and then off to I-70 for a slip-slidey, but otherwise uneventful, 4-hour drive. Note: Giant slices of thin crust pizza are difficult to eat while driving a manual-transmission vehicle.
We turned into the RFTA park-n-ride on Brush Creek Road at 6 AM and called a sleepy grskier to try to start coordinating plans. After zero sleep, I was open to his suggestion of a nap at his place in Snowmass until 7 am and then subsequent formulation of a game plan. The caffeine (and probably also the thoughts of some of the deepest pow I've ever skied) allowed only about 20 minutes of sleep upon our arrival. And then 30 minutes of deliberation ensued. Jon turner, who was also a guest at GR's, helped us decide Highlands as the call, and we busted ass to get out the door in time to catch the first of three buses (busses?) through the valley. Admittedly, I was aggro and irritable due to the caffeine and the prospect of missing first chair, but the first run off Loge Peak took care of that...
I haven't skied cut-up powder like yesterday's at all indeed until yesterday. My legs were burning like crazy, and I had to keep reminding myself, "YOU'RE NOT ON FIRE, RICKY BOBBY!" A groove was soon found, and so were Dside, SydVicious, and Greguar whom I did not know to be planning the same attack as we. Being the antsy Gosey I am, I quickly lost the Squatch et al, but I took on a new and even social challenge: chasing Dside and his companions down Deep Temerity, which is WAAAAY longer than the 1000-ft. lines I'm used to at Loveland. It was, however, a fun and even pleasant challenge.
After several laps, my new temporary crew and I ran into Raps, who informed us that Temerity, a fantastic gladed run skier's left of the bottom of Highland Bowl, was about to open. He was more patient than we, and he reaped the rewards, as evidenced by his "Dudes! You just missed it!" after we decided not to wait for the rope drop. But we reaped some, too. :biggrin:
Here's the evidence, during the "beating the hell out of the gully" phase. Betcha can't guess which one of these skiing wizards is Dside: ;)
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...h_MVI_8966.jpg
SydVicious was there, too!!! And she had pretty aquamarine pants on!!!
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...h_MVI_8967.jpg
We took another couple laps before finally submitting to the collective rumble in our tummies, and Syd and Dside were kind enough to pose for a few photos under Temerity. Unfortunately, not many of them turned out, as there was all this dang SNOW that kept getting on the lens! :nonono2: Here are a few that did:
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...OOD/dside3.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...OOD/dside4.jpg
The skiing wizard, a kind fellow.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...ydvicious2.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...ydvicious3.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...ydvicious4.jpg
His skiing... sorceress? companion. She is also quite the friendly and good-spirited one.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...D/greguar1.jpg
Sir Greguar, one of the Basalt noblemen (took this shot from the chair...)
Then it was time for snacks. And by snacks, I mean a few sips of water inside and about four minutes of rest before punishing myself for hedonism. And by punishing myself, I mean hiking Highland Bowl because it opened. I mean... ya gotta... right? I chased (as I usually do) Dside and Syd out the door and met with Greguar at the bottom of a cold hike, the top of which was nowhere near visible in the blowing snow.
The kindness and good-spiritedness just described came through ever so apparently when I discovered that Dside and Syd had both waited at the top for Greguar and me, who were slowly trudging up the long, frigid ascent to happiness. My hands were totally gone, and my lungs were just barely hanging on by the time I reached the top, but I soon forgot about all this, as the run that followed was far and away the best of my life. Kindness yet again surfaced as Dside and friends gave me the honors to a completely untracked line at the bottom of 800 feet of rolling deepness through about another 500 feet of 40-degree, chest-deep cotton candy. FINALLY one could get out of the backseat and gleefully watch the fluff EXPLODE over the top of one's head every time his tips blasted through the apex of the turn. It was simply phenomenal. Dazed from no sleep and breathless and sweaty and cold and exhausted and happy and confused, I just stood at the bottom of the run and looked up in total disbelief. Dside and I faced each other: "Did that really just happen? I'm not sure that really just happened."
It did. It was neither an illusion nor bad. In fact, it was absolutely fantastic, as was the whole day.
Yesterday will, as my 12th grade history teacher said of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, live "in infinity". Except the infinity makes sense in this context, as this day will be infinitely remembered--as "quite stellar". One of the top 5 ski days of all time for sure, thanks to a good crew, good snow, great terrain, and many, MANY good turns. Cheers to all of you, and please do continue to have a great season.
