50's and Sunny

Wow - spring is here in Colorado. It's been in the 50's and I've been skiing in only a fleece. Can't say I've ever skiied in only a fleece before. Tomorrow we're off to Vail - hopefully the good weather continues.

Ahhh, Vacation

So nice to be on vacation again! Last year I only took one week off and a few days here and there. So to take two weeks off so far this year is just amazing. That being said, I'm spending far too much time working while I'm on vacation. Guess that's just in the job description for us laywers. Too bad no one really appreciates us or our hard work which benefits others.

Anway, back to the vacation! Yes, I'm here in Silverthorne Colorado getting in some final ski days. Conditions are ok - spring skiing mush. Not ideal, but good enough. Planning on getting some biking in too - hopefully biking at altitude is better than swimming or running. It's impossible to work out at all here, the altitude kills me. Guess I must have below average Vo2 max. I'm so out of shape anyway - haven't bike, run or swum since Jan 15th - wow - that's crazy. So much for improving my fitness this winter. It's been nice though - despite the initial exercise withdrawal, it's amazing to get up late and do other stuff after work, like sleep. Now that it's actually light out for more than 5 hrs a day, I think I'll get back into the swing of things soon - I hope.

Ok, back to the vacation. Ahhhh.

The Saying Goes

your true friends are the ones beside you in a time of crisis.

I'm so fortunate to have made the most amazing friends, whether through school, work, or my hobbies - I'm so lucky to be able to count my co-workers, former clients & collegues, and other lawyers as my friends, advisors, work family, and confidants. These are the people that believe in you and stand by your side when times are tough and self doubt creeps in. I'm always amazed at the generosity and goodness of people - true friends are hard to come by, but it seems like I've come by so many! So, this post is really a tribute & a thank you to everyone who has given me advice, lent an ear (or three), reminded me of who I am and what's important, and just generally been there for me. I've relied on you a lot recently and appreciate everything you've done for me. I hope everyone is as lucky as I am to have such truly great friends.

Mountain Views

make me happy! After another week of dealing with the lunatics I work with, it was so refreshing to work ski patrol at Killington, depsite the manual labor involved. Hopping off the gondola at 7:45 am, skis in hand, I turned to ski down to the patrol room and was confronted with the most amazing view of the mountains slowly being lit by the sun through the morning mist - I could almost see Mt. Washington. Just beautiful! Almost made me forget that I would have to go back to the real job on Monday.

The rest of the day was just as wonderful. I had another fun day shadowing a rookie - it's so nice to go out on calls, but not have to do any heavy lifting - just oversee. I'm lucky that the rookie I've been shadowing is a great guy - amazing skiier and super strong at first aid and running sleds. I'm also lucky he knows how to use a drill - our bamboo fence project would never have been completed in time for us to get in some skiing if he hadn't noticed I had the drill in reverse - there I was, under the lift, drilling away, but not making much progress - and not quite understanding why - hmmm, is it me, or is the drill just not working well today, maybe it's too cold, or umm warm, what's wrong here - good thing he noticed I had it in reverse. I guess I wouldn't make a good construction worker (for more reasons than that one probably). After the drill escapade, we spent the morning skiing bumps before settling in at the ski patrol hut to wait for calls to come in. Another exciting day on the slopes.

So Much for the Snow

So, as quickly as it comes, it also goes. After another stellar ski day on Saturday, the light rain on Saturday night resulted in a nice crusty, iced-up mountain. I was so looking forward to another great day in the moguls and trees, but it was not meant to be. After scraping my way down the hill all morning, it finally started to soften up, but by that point I was bored and decided to switch gears and hit the cross country area to do some skate skiing. Unfortunately, the cross country place hadn't groomed at all, and it was impossible to get in any good skate skiing. All in all, a disappointing ski day. Here's hoping for at least another storm or two to take us through April.

Vermont Fun

Wow, can't believe it's been well over a month since I last posted. I have a newmuch more portable lap top courtesy of work, so hopefully I'll be able to post more often.

So, Vermont. What more can I say - the skiing has been phenomonal over the past few weeks. The best skiing in a couple of years at least. And far better than the conditions out in CO the few times I've been. Every weekend I find myself saying - wow, best day this year, won't get better than this...but it does!

Today I skied with my best snowboarding friend Jill (aka Slydog), fellow patroller Hal, and snowboarding phenom Keith. We started out at Bear, headed over to Needles (Vertigo was amazing) and then headed toward the Canon for some fun runs down Big Dipper, Double Dipper, & Cascade, then back to Bear for a rather crusty run down Devil's Fiddle (should have skiied the trees instead!). The afternoon was a tree skiing dream - it snowed all afternoon and the trees were already filled with fluffy snow. Skiied so many trails haven't been skiiable for a couple of years. Skiing Ovation was like skiing on pillows - so amazing. So sad to have to come home and go back to the box tomorrow - I know it will be another dreamy day on the mountain again tomorrow. Ahh, there just isn't enough time in the day to ski every single one of my favorite trails, but, all in all, phenomonal day.

Hoping to get in some skate skiing at Weston Ski Track this week - that will require leaving work early, or actually just "on time". Also need to get in some trainer time - will need to dust the bike off - last time on the trainer (or doing anything other than ski) was Jan 9th. So much for improving my power/endurance on the bike. Oh well, there's always next winter.

Happy skiing everyone!