Closing Day

The final day of the ski season is always a memorable event. Though some of the traditions have changed over the years, some things are always the same: Wake up late--force the new hires to work, meet the crew in the locker room, dress up in the craziest gear you can find, hit the hill for a few hours, dodge a few snowballs at the top of Chair 4, take heaps of photos, wait for the avalanche bombs to go off, and then ride back down (pants, optional) to the after-party at Mezzaluna.

This year was all of that and more.

FRESH TRACKS
The morning started at the crack of dawn; I was up by 5am--I had a show to do! It was the last episode of Fresh Tracks for the 2007-2008 season; the last look at the Honda Sessions and the Bon Appetit Culinary and Wine Focus segments, the last five-day forecast, the last sponsored snow report. Yes, Vail Mountain would be closing today, with 3 inches of fresh snow overnight and three feet in the past week! Everyday is a powder day here in Vail, Colorado, it seems. Who could believe Vail would stop turning the lifts with a 79 inch mid-mountain base! Ridiculous, I tell you, ridiculous. That's what happens when you get one hundred inches more snow than average; a whopping 463 inches of snow this entire season. Luckily though, today, on this final day, Vail finally had a taste of Spring, with sunshine and blue skies in the forecast.

The last show was a colorful one; one with doughnuts and costumes galore. We signed off triumphantly, in Saturday Night Live style. We sang Wyclef's Fresh Tracks theme song in unison, "Everyday is a holiday..."


SUNDAY BRUNCH
After the show, I joined twenty of my closest friends for a Sunday morning brunch at the Austrian-styled Sonnenalp--all you can eat Brekkie for twenty bucks. We dined in style, dressed to the nines in the latest 80's Gaper Gear: spandex stretch pants, leopard print, neon, one-pieces, it was a trip to say the least.


We celebrated Jayne's annual thirtieth birthday and watched her dance to Madonna's Like a Virgin.

SHORT BOARDS
From there, we were off to the children's center at the top of Eagle's Nest, where we screwed bindings to miniature snowboards. There would be ninety centimeters of fun today (compared to my normal 143). We scorched our everyday stomping grounds, spinning 1's, 3's and 5's while lapping the beginners on Chair 15.



The gang then ventured to Chair 2, pulling a few more tricks out of their back pockets...

It was quite a show to see--so many big people on such little boards and skis.

So many complete and utter wipeouts underneath the chairlift.

But, that's all part of the fun--it's the last day of the season!!!


CHAIR 4 @ 4:00
By 3:42 we were in line to ride up Chair four. We stood among dozens of fellow party people outside the ropes at the bottom of chair 4, ready to join the masses of civilians, gapers and goofballs up top.

A final celebration, before the lifts would turn no more.



TROU(SERS)-DOWN
As the sun began to fall and shadows lengthened across the mountain; after the last avalanche bombs went off and after all our ammo was consumed, it was time to strap in our snowboards and shred Vail Mountain for the very last time.

Some people found more creative ways to get down the mountain,

but the majority of the pack screamed down Ramshorn. At Mid-Vail, the tradition lived on...

We shred so hard, our pants fell down!


Pants fell down along Cub's Way, along lower Columbine, and even Born Free.

Pants fell down and stayed down until the Lionshead skier bridge.

After crossing the finish line, we were then able to reclaim our dignity and celebrate a fantastic season at our favorite local hangout, Mezzaluna.

A tribute to three trou-dropping friends who were unable to be here this year: John Evans, Chiara Krusi, and Dive Burton---WE MISSED YOU!

Lemons

Maybe I'm a little bit accident prone.

I got a blister while furiously trying to twist off the apple juice lid, I burned a finger on the stove top and another finger on the heating element in the dishwasher.

Maybe I hit a streak of bad luck.

After having a raspy voice and sore throats for nearly three months with no solutions from my doctor, a specialist told me I should be using a notepad and a pencil to communicate outside of work. She put a camera down my nose and into my throat and took pictures of my larynx. She deduced that I was guilty of "vocal abuse," and I was developing a nodule on my vocal cords. Luckily, after cutting down my "talk time" for a period (a.k.a. reducing my social life to nil so I could practice being quiet in my room), I was able to prevent a biopsy in my larynx.

Maybe I'm just out of luck.

One month after purchase, my new external hard drive failed. Of course, I had already copied the 250 gigabytes of precious data onto the device, including my entire and only collection of electronic music, imovie files, and journals. Prices for this kind of data recovery begin at $2,000. Bum-mer.

I injured my knee while snowboarding at work with a client. I had to give up weeks of request private lessons and tips, and do modified duties instead. I also began using a day planner to keep track of all of my physical therapy and doctors appointments. When my employer's insurance company decided to deny the entire claim just before my MRI, suggesting I appeal this decision in court, I had to wonder, why does God hate me?

After stressing about footing a $2,400 dollar bill for a knee MRI--paying a whopping $550 out of pocket even with insurance--I was relieved to hear a few days later my company had decided to approve the test after all. Ok, God doesn't hate me.

In perfect timing, a girls night out and a hilarious romantic comedy like Forgetting Sarah Marshall sure upped my spirits. It was a welcomed escape to laugh at people with more problems than I do. "When life hands you lemons, I say fuck the lemons and bail!" said Chuck, the stoner surfie. I chuckled at his hilarious point of view.

I'd rather make lemonade. And, I have plenty of sugar to make it sweet.

With time, my throat will heal, the hard drive, still fucked, but my knee is feeling better! It turned out that what my physical therapists and doctors thought was a meniscus tear, turned out to be a sprained ACL. That's great news, really; No surgery, and I can go snowboarding as soon as it feels pain-free! ;) Time to celebrate over a tall glass of lemonade.

Interview with Wildlife Photographer Tony Newlin

Host Juliana Broste sits down with wildlife photographer and Wildlife Wonders galleries owner Tony Newlin to discuss how he got his start, where he takes his pictures, and his unique approach to wildlife photography. Newlin travels the world in search of wildlife in their natural environment and uses non-intrusive techniques to get close to the animals.

Copy and paste this link to see full interview:
http://vail.plumtv.com/videos/wildlife_photographer_tony_newlin

The Best Game Ever

Traveler IQ: 124
Highest score: 489,819

What's your Traveler IQ?

The E.R.

I’ve had my share of powder days and seconds in the white room; knee deep pow, slashes, face shots, and fleeting moments of snowy bliss.

Today, I went to another white room, staring at my feet wrapped in an ivory blanket ontop of sterile, bleached bed sheets in a room partitioned with cream colored curtains.

It was like a bad dream, letting a man in blue scrubs secure the bed rails and wheel me down the hospital hallway.

Luckily, the process was more of a mental fake out than a dramatic E.R. episode. I managed to limp out of the E.R. with a pair of crutches to use at my discretion, and a date to return in a few days.

It was my left knee. Ironically, the incident was nearly as mysterious as the result. I must have strained it at work yesterday while snowboarding with my advanced intermediate client, though I'm not sure how it happened (because I did not fall or feel pain at any specific moment). I did, however, increase my stance width one inch that morning, which might have tweaked my knee is a strange way; or, maybe I twisted it while helping my client's friend step back into her skis mid-mountain any number of times. That's not something I usually do everyday. Either way, I knew I was in trouble when I woke up at 4am this morning in serious pain when flexing and extending my knee.

The doctor had a hard time pinpointing an exact injury. He said the main ligaments, muscles and bones are fine. Maybe I strained some cartilage or a smaller ligament, maybe my meniscus, or something, "I don't know," he said. It's always great when your doctor admits he or she doesn't know.

Unfortunately, I had to cancel my private lesson today and also clear my schedule for the next two days, before my reevaluation with occupational health. If I feel better then, I'll be cleared for work, and able to continue teaching snowboarding lessons during the busiest week of the year (hello Spring and Easter breakers). If not, I'll be bummed for missing out and not riding with three of my favorite clients from last year. Hopefully, I'll be back out there in no time!

Silverton Mountain, Colorado

SILVERTON--WOOOOOOOO!!!

PART ONE
We arrived late to our third and final destination, Silverton, after driving through one of Colorado's scariest roads in the dark. Red Mountain Pass was a scary road in the summer, and doubly frightening in the midst of winter. Countless squiggly markings on road signs warned drivers about hairpin turns with no guardrails, panning hundred-foot cliffs below. Our high beams spotlighted multiple layers of snowpack--cut better than Vail's halfpipe--which lined the roads like an ice luge; avalanche debris piled on the side.


(The drive was even more impressive in daylight on the way home.)

Around 9pm, we finally arrived in the sleepy town of Silverton, a Victorian mining town in San Juan county, Colorado. There was only one restaurant was open tonight, The Pickel Barrel. It was quaint and charming, with an old fashioned cash register and worn wooden walls. We kindly asked our waitress if she'd heard anything about the weather for tomorrow and if it was going to snow. "Not much," she said, "just a foot."

We awoke the next morning and Gergz and I ran to the living room like children at Christmas. How much snow fell overnight? "This much" we gestured with two hands spread wide apart like we always do. It was going to be a powder day after all!

It was puking all day, and Mansey, Gergz, Kylie, Stu, Chris, Baden and I couldn't be more excited.

Despite the freezing temperatures and high winds, we were able to enjoy six hardcore runs on this backcountry mountain: Every run was different; Every run was pow (minus a few wind blown icy sections at top). Silverton is unique because it's 100% advanced terrain, which means there's no easy way down. The easiest run here is similar to the steepest run at most resorts, measuring in at a 35-30 degree angle. And, the place begins at an elevation as high as Eagle's Nest (10,400)! Cheers to that! But, don't be fooled, there's a price to pay for fresh lines every time. Hikes and traverses are to be expected. So is avie gear--probes, beacons, and shovels!

There was no time for lunch. No time for potty breaks. No coco breaks. No chance to unfog the goggles. Just riding.


We shredded the gnar and the gnar was good. Knee to waist deep in pow, we tore up some open fields, frozen waterfalls, tree runs, and rock drops, making our way back to the one chairlift via foot, van, and ex-UPS truck.



For a place with only one chairlift, no running water, and a red zip tie for a lift ticket, I was very impressed.

The snow was incredible.

Too bad it wasn't a bluebird day...NOT.

PART TWO

The next morning, we realized the sketchy twisty twervy topsy turny road we drove in on was now closed for avalanche control.

We refused to take a four hour detour through Durango to get home to Vail in time for tomorrow's bookings. So, we waited it out, hoping the pass would open shortly.

We wandered around the town, which was like a ghost town; very little was open, and many storefronts on the side streets were completely baracaded with snow.


So, what do you expect a bunch of snowboard instructors on a snowboard trip to do?
Go SNOWBOARDING, of course! Well, we missed our only opportunity to ride Silverton again under bluebird conditions. So, we looked for urban signs and rails to jib or places to build a kicker. But, Silverton is a town without stairs. After listening to a few insane ideas, we decided to humor this one: jumping off the roof of an old mining building.


Only one was ballsy enough to do it: Gergz!



You're gonna see him in a snowboard video one day.

,

Telluride, Colorado

We couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather while visiting Telluride for two days in Feburary.

The mountain would have been better to ride with a bit of fresh snow on top of it's abundance of steep black runs, but the bluebird skies and picturesque views were a worthy trade.

Though only a third as big as Vail, Telluride had much to offer--including a wonderful little town with no chain restaurants and hotels, a chondola (part chairlift, part gondola), and PlumTV Telluride!

Some of us spent the majority of our first day around Chair 14 Gold Hill, hiking outside the ropes to make fresh tracks below some awesome cliffs,



while others climbed Palmyra Peak (open for the first time in many years).


The next day, Bade and Gergz strapped on their beacons and disappeared for a big backcountry experience, while Kylie and I hooted and hollered racing down hairbag alley-style East and West drains by Chair 9 (thanks Supergirl & Maverick). Mansfield, Chris and Stu spent the afternoon in the terrain park.


We had so much fun, we forgot to eat, though we did stop at Giuseppe's, Colorado's highest restaurant at 11,850 feet in elevation, minutes after closing.


Apres beers and nachos never tasted so good!

Powderhorn Mountain, Colorado

With high hopes for another amazing road trip--with places like Telluride and Silverton up ahead--we all seemed to have the same idea in mind when we rocked up to Powderhorn Mountain: "Who's idea was this?"

With only fifteen cars in the parking lot at 10:30am, we wondered if this could be Colorado's best kept secret or a total flop. The map previewed three two-seater chairlifts and an overwhelming number of blue groomers. We hesitated to begin the day with low expectations--sometimes it's these little podunk local places that turn out to be one hell of a time...

It was far from the familiar family resort scene of Vail and Beaver Creek. There were no on-mountain dining facilities, no sharpshooters, no "back bowls." Rather, it was a place that was to be admired for it's quaint, authentic, "get down to business and just ski" kind of place; The kind of place where, as Kylie put it, we'd just have to make our own fun.








Near the ticket counter, a simple black and white computer print out announced that the Travel Channel was here and may use our images. Amazing news to my ears, but why were they here? Obviously not for the terrain park. Perhaps for the hilarious chairlift loading shows. ;) We'd heard Powderhorn was a surprisingly wonderful hidden gem, known for it's boulder fields and also fun tree runs. Maybe the Travel Channel was here to document the place before it booms...

This was obviously not a place many advanced riders head to at first go, so, there was actually a lot of good pow left several days after the last storm. And, once we found the boulder fields, we were golden. Four feet piled ontop of one particular boulder became the perfect feature to begin sessioning. We built a kicker and then ollied, gapped and tapped the mushroom, landing in two feet of soft pow.





The day ended at a respectable hour. We apres-ed over beers, modeling for B roll footage for the Travel Channel cam. Perhaps you'll see us on YouTube.

Tim Cochrane Talks Avalanche Danger on Fresh Tracks

Tim Cochrane, Director of Vail Mountain Rescue Team, sat down with Plum's Juliana Broste to discuss the ten year snow-pack cycle, avalanche danger and incidents we've already seen this season. Tim also provided tips you can use to protect yourself and others in the backcountry.



Copy and paste this link to see full interview:
http://vail.plumtv.com/videos/tim_cochrane_talks_avalanche_danger_fresh_tracks