Quickie - Day 44...

Oh-man-I'm-really-wired. This-was-a-bad-idea. ~ Homer Simpson

Just a quick update...

Wednesday, I headed up to Eldora early to get some turns in with Luke and Jonny Copp and to shoot some stills. Jonny, in addition to being a world-class climber, is a great photographer. We have been wanting to hook up to get some shots for a long time and finally made it happen.

We went out the gate at the top of Corona to hit the chutes above Lost Lake and ended up skiing Right Chute. I was skiing like a chump so am not sure what Jonny was able to salvage out of the deal but Luke was skiing, as usual, like a champ. Shooting is tough... you get out to something pretty steep and have to perform on your first turns. Tough to get a groove going for sure when you haven't even given yourself any time to warm up. Oh well. I did ski the last pitch really well which made up for my turdy skiing up top. Well, maybe not completely...

Yesterday was spent in meetings and working and whacking down more coffee in a single sitting than in the past 6 years combined. So that was interesting. Good meeting though. And I did manage to get some work done.

I also buried our bunny, Yoda, who died last week. What a great little guy. He will be missed but I found him a great spot up the hill near his buddies, Rockshot and Schmoodini. R.I.P. Yoda-butt.

Today is going to be an action-packed day of work and play. Luke and I are heading up to the Basin to get some Enduro training in. I'll let you know how that goes.

Wear your helmet.

~stubert.

Day 43...

Luke tearing it up in the Cages. View full album. More shots from Luke.

You're wrong if you don't question your government. ~ NOFX

Today we did a big backcountry assault on the Rabbit Cages to the South of Brainard Lake. So much fun. Luke, Pete and I headed out around 9 and lapped the Cages three times doing Chutes 1-3 (proposed names from right to left: Flemish Giant, Rockshot, Carpet Shark). Good snow and a lot of fun. I made good turns in 1 and 3 (Giant and Shark) but wobbled a bit in Rockshot and had to point it. Still pretty cool to just straight-run the thing.

The Brainard Lake road is actually really clear for this time of year but there is still lots of snow up there. We skinned in, then made a full-frontal assault on the Cages (unlike last year when we meandered around the woods for an hour or so). I'd say we were at the top of the Giant in a couple of hours but none of us had a watch. Go figure. We dug a pit at the start of the major skin up to check the conditions (solid) and dropped the goods without any problems.

Rockshot was a little hard to find from the top but we finally managed to get in the right spot and blasted down that cool little feature. Then back up for round three in the Shark. This was a more mellow, wide open pitch that was just begging to be worked. Pete went first and tore it up. Great stuff.

I am a bit whooped right now, having skied the last 4 days but am planning to head up to Eldora tomorrow if the conditions are good. We are supposed to get some snow tonight so if it dumps, I'll go out for some turns. Not a lot though.

Yesterday, I skied Monarch for a few hours on my way home from Gunnison. Lots of snow but without knowing where to go, it was a little uninspired. They have some fairly easy access extreme stuff on which I spun a few laps. Good terrain. I'd like to go there sometime with someone who knows the mountain (but that is really the case pretty much anywhere you go). Otherwise, I'll probably skip it unless I have a free day like this year.

Other than that, just getting some work done and looking to have a good week. Hope you do the same. The good week part, not necessarily the working.

Go nuts with donuts.

~stubert.

Earn 'em and burn 'em...

The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure. ~ Sven Goran Eriksson

Well, the past two days I have had the distinct pleasure of skiing Crested Butte. I grew up skiing the Butte and man... it is skiing off the hook right now. CB has been absolutely HAMMERED this year with snow. The whole mountain was open before Christmas this year courtesy of several multi-foot storms and it has just kept on dumping. Not sure what they are claiming their base is right now but it is as filled in as I have seen it in a very long time. Great stuff.

Yesterday, I hiked the peak and stood atop CB's unique visage. Unfortunately, I left my camera at home but it was fairly cloudy so the shots wouldn't have been too great anyway. It was a sweet view, still... looking down on the town of Crested Butte from 12000+ feet. The skiing from the summit is pretty uninspired but getting to the top was really cool.

Some sick skier. View the full album.

The Alpine Extremes are going on this week at CB so I skied down to the bottom of Headwall to check them out for a bit then headed out to spin laps on the North Face. Everything was skiing really well and I hit Third Bowl, Spellbound, Phoenix and many laps in the Glades. I wasn't skiing super well but had a blast.

Today, I headed back up to the Butte and headed immediately out to Teocalli Bowl for some fresh tracks. They called in an inch overnight but at the top it was closer to five. I was the first person all the way out Teo and was able to drop a couple of fairly large rock bands into fresh snow. On the way up, I had a bit of an epiphany and put it to practice to strong results. I realized that standing atop something one is considering dropping and looking for long periods of time isn't really worth it. Either you are going to drop the thing or not, so stop gawking and get on with it. Seemed to work for me today as I found numerous fun rocks to huck myself off. I stuck every landing today too which is like a quintuple bonus.

I spun down to watch the comps again today which was being run on the Third Bowl/Spellbound cliffs. Competitors were allowed to use the entire span of the two bowls and these guys were getting into the serious bidness. I watched for a bit in the morning and then went out to grab some freshies in Phoenix Steps and whatever run is to the skier's right of Phoenix Bowl. Anyway, it was awesome. I think that today may have been the best I have ever skied. So that is a plus.

Not the slopeside office.

I just skied a bunch - pretty much the whole mountain then went back to the comps for a bit. Then I did an hour of power and called it a day. I am tempted to go back tomorrow but think I may hit Monarch on my way home instead. We'll see. I still have three days on my pass so will probably just save those for mid-March and come back with Pete and Luke.

Yoda. Being squashed by Rockshot.

On a significantly less excellent note - our bunny, Yoda, died on Wednesday night. He was an awesome little bowling ball of a bunny who got along with everyone. He was very hard of hearing and sight so that made him a little twitchy when he could smell food. He would just lunge randomly in the direction he perceived the victuals to be! Really cute. He was quite old and had out-lived several buddies (Lea. He was always happy to take on a new friend and most recently had buddied-up with Skipper. Skips isn't taking the loss very well (bunnies get very attached to one another) so we are going to try to find him a new friend ASAP. Also, Rach tripped and broke her toe while on the phone with me earlier today. Total bummer. Stupid pinky toes.

Do stuff.

~stubert.

What a difference...

I need to come up with a quote and I just don't have it in me. ~ me

...six months makes. About this time six months ago, I was in the midst of a colossal melt-down somewhere between Twin Lakes and Half Moon. Not sure I really have still fully recovered. I know I still have three toenails that haven't come completely back to normal. The Leadville 100 is the gift that keeps on giving. I am still thinking about doing the new 50-mile race this summer but really haven't been on the right training schedule. We'll see what happens.

Today I jammed up the hill to the Basin (day 39 - skied my age again this year) and spun no-stoppers on the Enduro circuit. Essentially started on Gauthier and worked my way East. The Spine was absolutely buffed but the rest of the front side was in less-than-stellar shape. There was no one there today (weird), but clearly the area got some traffic over the weekend. Lots-o-bumps. I rolled a lap or two down Slalom and Powder Keg and then hit 'Zuma Bowl to check that action out. Not sure if I should be honest here or not but really, I am not that impressed. The crowds seem to love it; however, so what the hell do I know? I didn't ski very well but had a good time and was able to turn ~12 minute laps fairly consistently without really trying. So that is encouraging.

I am planning to head over to Gunnison on Wednesday. Going to visit the parents and try to get in a couple of days at the Butte. I'll keep you posted on that.

Movies:
The Good Sheppard
Beavis and Butthead Do America
Dog Town and Z Boys
Indulgence
Riding Giants

Ok. Rocketh on.

~stubert.

Day 38...

I'm trying to work on my karma. Do you know what karma means? It means that she owes me one. ~ Richard Swersey

Quick and dirty. Today, I slept in. I think there may be a carbon monoxide leak in my house as I just couldn't get my sorry ass out of bed. I finally managed to attain a vertical position and then did some work around the house and headed out to the Rock late.

I got to Eldora in time to spin a few non-stop laps on Salto before Ski Patrol shut it down. I missed the gate going up by mere seconds. Oh well. The snow was good and I was skiing fairly well so I certainly am not going to go around complaining. Tomorrow, I am hoping to actually get moving a lot earlier and head up to the Basin. Missing that place a lot right now. I may head to the Butte on Wednesday. Will have to play that one by ear.

So Rach and I finally got out to see There Will Be Blood yesterday. Great movie. Definitely a bit of a toss-up for me between that and No Country for Old Men but I think I will have to give my nod to Country. Just a different style of movie. More subtle. You should see both if you haven't already.

We also watched It Happened One Night which holds up surprisingly well given that it was made in '34 or something. It is definitely not modern but I usually find movies of that era particularly annoying and actually quite enjoyed it. We also watched Me and You and Everyone We Know which was good but a little disturbing. Really a lonely film.

That's all I have for today, boys and girls. More to come.

Shake your booty. ~stubert.

My 39th year...

You are only as old as you act. ~ me

So I managed to log yet another milestone this week... I turned 39. Whee! Not sure exactly what to say about that except that it is divisible by 1, 3, 13 and 39 which um.... is better than say, 37 which isn't divisible by shit which somehow makes it "Prime" which reminds me of the crap movie, "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" which you should avoid at all costs because it was dreadful and is further evidence that the Academy wouldn't know a good movie if one came up and bitch-slapped it with a week-dead halibut. But I digress.

So this year had its ups and downs but I must say that overall, I am going to slot 39 in the plus column. One shouldn't dwell on the bad stuff but take it in stride and get on with things. At least that is what a fortune cookie told me once. Or maybe it was an episode of Oprah. Nah... couldn't have been Oprah. I wouldn't be caught dead watching that show.

I remember back when I was a kid and how impossibly old 40 sounded. Well, things have changed a lot - even this past week Pete and I were talking about how 40 really isn't that old anymore. Perhaps this comes from an altered perspective of being on the cusp of the big four-oh, but I don't know. I think that people these days just don't stop doing stuff like in days past. I know more 40+ people who still get out and rip it up in any number of disciplines and I am not sure that was the case back in the 70s. But maybe I just run with a bit less restrained crowd.

I know that in the past year, I have had the opportunity to push myself physically and mentally well beyond anything I have ever before accomplished. I am skiing like a champ. Almost keeping up with Luke, even. Every time I go out, I experience something new and different and exciting. I ran 73 miles at Leadville - well short of the 100-mile goal, but damn. 73 friggin' miles! And I am planning to do it again.

This year I started a design and development business with Luke (Forty105 - don't go checking for it online because we have been too busy to actually create an actual site). We have been going strong since August (but would welcome referrals if you know someone who needs web-work or other advertising/marketing items).

I have also had the pleasure of working with bunnies on a regular basis over the past year. Rach co-manages the Colorado House Rabbit Society (coloradohrs.com) and I help out on a regular basis. The work she does is just awesome. Not sure how many bunnies she placed in permanent homes this past year but I know it was a lot. Really cool.

There were some losses this year as well. My grandmother passed away in February and we lost two of our beloved kitties (Oliver and Samantha) and two bunnies (Rockshot and Houdinni). We also gained a crazy kitten (BZ) and have a house full of bunnies to help us cope with our losses.

All in all, it was a very full year. I was able to travel to Barcelona for business and stay a few extra days to tour the city. Pete's uncle, Tom, showed me around and I got to really get a good perspective on an amazing city. You should put it on your list of places to visit.

So don't sweat the years. As Thundercleese once said, "Time is an abstract concept, created by carbon-based life-forms to monitor their ongoing decay."

Do stuff. ~stubert.

Helluva day...

Speed is your friend. ~ Common saying among gofasternators

Today, Luke and I headed up to the Basin (against my mother's recommendations, I might add). See, she has a thing for staying indoors when the guys on the weather channel start spouting nonsense about high-wind advisories, winter storm watches and the like. I happen to believe proclamations of this ilk are calls to get off that couch and get out there. So, accordingly, I did.

Loveland Pass was closed so we had to go through Eisenhower and through Silverthorne to get up there, but man... it was SO worth it. Great snow conditions, coupled with no one on the mountain made for mass chaos.

Luke and I are planning to do the Enduro - A Basin's yearly charity event in which teams of two compete to see which team can complete the most laps on Pali in a 10-hour period. Teams ski the North side of the mountain and are required to do each and every run in a specified order. No fair just selecting your favorite (and fastest) route to the bottom, you have to ski the bumps, steeps, chutes and everything in between. The record, 70 laps, is held by Jamie Olber and Ollie Holmes and was set at last year's event. Do the math... that is an average of 7 runs per hour. The lift ride (in case you were thinking that might not be too tough), takes about 7 minutes, so for every 7-lap hour skied, you are sitting on the lift for 49 minutes. Um.... yeah. Sick.

Today, Luke and I were really just scoping out some of the runs with which we are a lot less familiar and trying to see how fast we could ski. We also paused to jump off a few rocks just for fun. It's not all business out there on the slopes.

I ran out of steam after about 3 hours or so (still recovering from this wicked cold) so we went back to 'Zuma to see about making some fresh turns but Elephant Trunk was shut down for some reason. The jury is still out on 'Zuma Bowl for me but if it takes the pressure off the front side of the mountain (which it seems to be doing), then hey, I love it!

Post skiing we headed back to Boulder to mount up my new sticks. I bought myself a pair of K2 Hell Bents for my birthday because I have been such a good me to me this year. Tomorrow, we're heading to Eldora for their maiden voyage. Frankly, after today, I can't wait.

On the way back to Boulder, Luke's truck ran out of gas. Fortunately, this event took place in the parking lot of the gas station so we were able to push him the rest of the way to the pump. This happened to me once in highschool, actually. I coasted down the hill, through the parking lot of a Kenny's Shoe Store and across 4 lanes of traffic into the gas station. Pretty sweet. I think I even made it back to class on time but can't remember for sure.

Ok... more news tomorrow. Planning to ski a little, go to a movie, and play the rest by ear.

~stubert.

Back from the dead...

I feel like a hundred dollars. ~ Irwin Fletcher

Ok. You know you feel like ass when you can't even manage to update your blog. Or maybe that is the other way around, I can't remember.

In any event, the last week has been... challenging. I came back from SLC with some sort of demon virus and managed to quickly pass it on to my lovely wife. Apparently I am just too damned sexy or something. I think she was just being sweet and it is really that I was spreading Stu cooties all over the house. But I suppose we can stick with the "too sexy" excuse for the time being.

So aside from hacking out a lung every 6 hours and guzzling cough syrup (mmmmmm Dexamethoraphan-ey), I have been working and watching movies. I did go ski on Monday because I simply couldn't stand it any more but other than that, I have been pretty boring. Sexy boring, but boring.

Oh, and I caucused last night. Cast my vote for Edwards, which represented a solid 3% of those caucusing in my district and then proudly re-cast my vote for Obama. So I see it as kindof a dual victory.

I would like to go on record to state that this whole primary/caucus/electoral college system is perhaps the dumbest thing ever conceived and anyone tells you otherwise has been blinded by old John Wayne movies, too many whiskey sours, or both. Seriously... back in the 1700s, this was, I am sure, pretty kickass but in the age of 24-hour "news" channels and the internet, can't we just move to a popular-vote-wins-all sort of deal with a second-choice back up system or some damned thing? And though caucusing was mildly amusing, I would prefer to just go cast my vote, in secret, and go home to do clean the tub or something. Anything.

So movies... I have definitely watched quite a few over the past few days. Here's the list with a short-not-always-sweet "review":

• Eagle vs. Shark: When nerds mate wackiness ensues. Pretty amusing.
• V for Vendetta: Written in the 80s. Set in the future. Sadly talking about today. Good movie.
• The Bourne Identity: The first of a solid series of 2-hour chase scenes. Pretty good stuff.
• Pirates of the Caribbean - World's End: Let's hope series end as well. Not so good.
• The King of Kong: Who knew video games were so serious? Watch this one.
• Le Samourai: Good Alain Delon film. So good that apparently doesn't have a copy that works.
• The Namesake: Good storytelling. A bit on the sad side, however.
• Thank You for Smoking: Meh. The book was better.
• 28 Weeks Later: More zombies than you can shake a stick at. An fast buggers too! I guess brains have lots of energy. Though they weren't eating just brains. I dunno. Just turn yours off when you watch this and you'll be fine.

I think there were a few more in there but that's all I could remember.

Ok. I am feeling a lot better and am heading to the Basin or Vail or somewhere tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.

Don't lick any strange doorknobs.

~stubert.