Killington Payoff. Mid November 2012 to mid April 2013.

After two years of investing in Killington Express Cards and not getting to use them more than twice each year, 2012/13 provides a return on the investment. 

Total knee replacements one year and shoulder repair the next wiped out my snowboarding. This season the weather and my body cooperated. Lots of snow early and deep into spring allowed me to get rides into late April. I could have done more but I needed to train for the Battenkill so cut it off. The final day was fantastic top to bottom K1 over to Cascade and Lower East Fall and Canyon. Chute and mouse trap were also good ways down. 

So, for the season, the Killington riding along with the Tahoe Trip and a day at Stowe with Jon T that was on fresh Ten Inches of powder, riding snowboard was best yet.

 Pretty sweet after two disappointing seasons. 

Reno Rides. March 3&4, 2013

Tale of two experiences. 

Northstar. Solo, wet, trees.   

Heavenly. With two friends. Bluebird. Fresh pow. 

Northstar. Started off morning at McD and almost called it off. Fifty degrees and pouring rain. Decided to make the drive up at least. Listened to a radio doc talk about heart issues with diet and exercise - foreshadowing?  Kept going despite no change in conditions. Parked car and got dressed and on the shuttle bus. About half way up the gondola from the village to the base rain turned to large globs of snow. Up the first lift and snow was coming down hard and wet. First run on front side EXCELLENT.  Deep carveable snow that wasn't too sluggish. Did several runs over by the black diamond chutes before moving to the backside. BACKSIDE!!!  Better than the last time I was there. No people, steep black runs, great deep floaty but heavy snow. Third time down I decided to venture into the trees. Best tree experience I have ever had!! Got into the groove of not thinking about turns just picking lines through the trees. Dropped off an eight foot ledge onto a crossover which scared me at first but excited me after!  Legs finally gave in before I was ready to, but needed to save something for Heavenly tomorrow. Changed and dried off at car. Drove down to Truckee and had a spinach avocado omelette.

Heavenly. Yesterday's wet snow on the north side of Tahoe turned out to be a powder dump on the south side. Met up with Ian and Bennet and dropped my car at the airport. Another McD breakfast on drive down. Never been on this side of the lake and marveled at the scenery. Long wait to get first gondola up out of the village. At mid-station, walk to second lift at altitude took its toll. Elevation yielded powder but took lots of oxygen out of the air. We spread ourselves all over the place on each side of the state line so wound up doing lots of traversing instead of shreading. Mostly blues too which is what happens when ridin with others so enjoyed the benefits, which were lots of laughs and shared experiences. After a lunch break I got my board locked but not unlocked. After getting them cut free joined up with the guys again. Ian's legs were done so just Bennet and I for the rest of the day. We ventured up to the 10k peak and did some blacks and trees. As the sun got lower the powder froze up, but we did find areas where it stayed soft. Another great day on the board. 

Hard to return and attend conference for next three days.  Killington would have lots to live up to now. And turns out it did and then some!

Up and Ridn

Back was pretty well healed soon after Donato visit, so riding resumed when work and traveling allowed.

At least 5 to 7 high quality stationary bike rides in the cellar help to keep the heart, lungs and muscles from wasting away too badly during the time since my last post.  Traveling to Minnesota and Arizona one week and Austin, TX another week certainly put a cramp on the quantity of workouts.  I did manage to bring the Sufferfest videos on my IPad so got some of those in at motels.

Have been to Killington three times since the last post so it is shaping up to be a good year on the board.  Conditions have been good, with lots of loose snow on top of hard pack.  Weather has not been too cold.  Last Sunday was a challenge to see in the fog, but good practice to adjust by feel.  Got a couple more snowshoe hikes up Murdock Mtn in the backyard as well.

Will be leaving this Saturday for a conference in Reno, but arriving a couple of days ahead of it to snowboard at Northstar and Heavenly.  Should be a good time! 

Temporary SetBACK

Cold, really COLD temperatures dominate and a setBACK occurs.

Single digits were to be heading our way and the wood supply on the back porch was getting to be minimal. No worries, while Donna was away Sunday I would cut up a stack of firewood we had for the old outdoor wood furnace. I have to take each split log and cut it in half, then haul them by wheel barrel to the back porch and dump them to be taken up and stacked later. Each wheel barrel load represents a full day of heat for the house on a really cold day.

I started off well, but soon my right lower lumbar and tight IT band where barking. Ignoring the pain and pushing through is often my downfall when it comes to my body. I wanted to complete at least the one stack, which turned out to be 12 wheel barrels, or 12 really cold days, worth. I pressed on as the pain got worse. Having had this before and recovered I was not too worried.

As it turns out I did not recover well. A trip to Donato was needed along with a forced period of inactivity that is why I am writing in the blog instead of riding the snowboard this Sunday. As a side benefit the inactivity allowed me to buy and play with my new iPad mini which is a great way to post now, so I may be more apt to keep posting now.

Hopefully I will soon be BACK to riding snow or bikes soon as this morning the back is feeling much better. Enough that i am very tempted to ride or hike something today since the sun is shinning and it has warmed up to 11 degrees!