Ice meet knee...

Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you. ~ The Stranger

This past week was relatively active with work and play-packed days. I ran 6.5 miles in an hour on the treadmill on Thursday then headed to Crested Butte early Friday to ski with my dad and cousin, in visiting from Oklahoma. We spun a bunch of laps on the North Face lift and good times were had by all. Funnel was in good shape as well, always a good way to end the day.

I started trying to step it up with both the speed and aggressiveness and managed to work up the steam to drop a few rocks in tighter terrain. Definitely wasn't flowing things quite yet but being able to toss air in the trees was a definite move forward for me. I was also charging several areas which usually cause me troubles so all in all, I was slaying it.

David, Dad and I grabbed a drink at the base post skiing and were treated to a really tasty Marg. Here's the recipe: 3 parts Tequilla, 2 parts Rose's Lime, 1 part Triple Sec, splash of Sprite. I highly recommend it. Dad and I then hit Donita's for dinner. Still one of my favorite restaurants. Great food and awesome service. Plus the owners, Kay and Heli are always willing to sit and talk with us for a bit... which is pretty cool.

Saturday, I headed back up and immediately headed out to one of my favorite circuits: Teocalli Bowl to Third Bowl. Lots of hiking = a sweaty Stu but it is usually worth it. The conditions on Saturday didn't disappoint and I dropped a couple of big rocks in Teo then rallied Third to the bottom of Big Hourglass where the Extreme Championships were being held. This is some serious terrain and is an area never open to the public. I watched the final Juniors go then stayed for most of the ladie's event before I decided to go spin more laps.

I worked my way back around the mountain for a Headwall lap then up the NFL again and into Fredo's which is a cliff section at the top of the North Face. I kinda blew my drop in but then skied the rest of Phoenix really well and hucked a couple of other big drops. Well, big for me. By the time I got back down, the men's event was in full swing and those guys are just sick. Rallying down Home Depot and tossing BIG air in the trees, over huge gaps, all in terrain with VERY serious consequences if one were to fall... really amazing skiing. I watched the event for awhile then decided to go back up and redeem myself on Fredo's. I dropped in and was skiing really well. Stuck my landing off a decent sized diving board then headed back over to Phoenix.

My second time off a pretty good drop proved to be it for me for the day. I am not really sure what happened but I landed on some rocks which rotated me forward a bit and my knee immediately started hurting. I was able to ski out, making alpine turns and having some pain on initiating right hand turns. My right knee immediately started to swell up and by the time I finally made it all the way back down to the base, it was really unhappy with me. Lots of swelling and pain. Bummer. That's the cost of going for it sometimes though.

So I iced it all the way home and am continuing treatment today. No skiing for awhile, I'm sure and running is probably out too. I'll try to get in to see Mark on Monday to see if he can help get me back up and rockin' ASAP. Given the amount of pain, I am thinking it is probably a strain vs. a tear but we'll see what the experts say.

Even with the injury, days 40 and 41 were a blast. Crested Butte has some killer terrain and is still one of my favorite areas. Get over there if you have a chance.

~stubert.