VertFest 2013

We have looked forward to the VertFest race since winter began. Every year, though, as race day approaches, we start to dread it. The week before the race, Heather started getting sick but fought it off hard, as she didn't want to spend her week off sick. The night before the race, however, she was feeling pretty crummy. I just started to get the bug the day before, luckily it didn't really hit me hard until the day after Vertfest.

We awoke Saturday morning, race day, to sheets of rain coming down outside. Heather, in her congested, head-pounding state, took one look outside and opted out of the race. Since we already had a sitter lined up for Kye, she decided to stay home and sleep a bit.

Arriving at Alpental, I found out that the Traslins were nowhere to be seen. "Hmmm, I might have a chance to do pretty good this year," I thought, but then I noticed Jason Dorais walking around the base area and my next thought was "Crap, no one stands a chance!"  Just a little info on Jason, he is the current Grand Teton Ski speed record holder, as well as second place finisher at US Nationals this year, so he is very fast.  I also noticed a few skin suits as well as light gear on some people.  Then there were the always fast locals; Seth Davis, Jan Kordel and Dave Brown (lives in Bend now).  It was looking to be a competitive day, lot's of pain.

When the gun went off I sprinted to the front with Jason and a guy from Canada named Eric, Seth was on my heels.  Within minutes Jason started to comfortably and quickly distance himself.  The second place guy also started to gap.  Not wanting to push too soon and not knowing how fast this Eric guy was, I let him get a little distance.  Then about 1/4 of the way up the first climb I looked back and saw a guy with Seth in big, baggy clothes, and what I thought was a fairly heavy ski setup.  This really messed with my head, I thought; "I suck, I'm on this light gear in tight clothes and I am getting caught by this guy in heavy gear, I should just quit skimo racing altogether".  Well luckily when this guy caught me I realized that he was not on heavy gear, but, in fact, on really light gear, just baggy clothes.  Thank goodness, ok, ego restored a little.  Turns out this baggy clothes guy is a bike racing buddy of Seth's that recently picked up skimo racing.  So, for the first ascent Seth, Alan (baggy clothes) and I all traded postition fighting for third.

 The first descent actually went pretty well for me, for once I kept Seth pretty close, and put a little time on Alan.  The second and last lap was more of the same, me, Seth and Alan together with Eric just within sight.  Towards the top of the second lap Alan began to pull hard as I hung on, Seth began slowing a bit.  I started to think about a plan to edge out Alan on the last descent.  Then Alan started to put a little bit of a gap on me, just before the snakedance area, but, unfortunately for him he took a wrong turn towards snake dance.  Alan was quickly out of sight so no chance to set him back on course, though soon the course volunteers directed him back the right direction.  I took advantage of this situation and started to push a little knowing this would give me a little breathing room.  At the last transition Alan pulled in right behind me, a quick transition got me out in front of him, all I had to do was ski clean and a podium spot was secure.  Right off the bat, I hit a rut and crashed!  I gathered myself quickly, not looking back and skied the rest of the descent clean to finish in third place.

I was glad to have a fairly clean race, gear worked good, my downhill skiing has improved a lot, thanks to weekly training chasing Seth around.  Really would like to do another race before the end of the season to see how much faster and efficient I can be.

 Kevin Curd & I at the starting line (photo Francine Curd)

And we're off...
behind me Kevin ad to the right is David Stonich,
and Holly Davis is next to him 

(photo Francine Curd)

Little Shredder

Our little guy got a new hat from Ed & Julie...

we couldn't resist a photo shoot session.

 "Hey guys, how's it going?"

"Jump!"

Staycation

We have always struggled to enjoy 'stay-cations' because we want to be doing something new and exciting. Wouldn't you know that having a kid changes your perspective, in so many ways, and I was thrilled to be spending my mid-winter break at home and not traveling.

On my list: hanging with Kye, skiing, going on a date with my hubby, a small amount of household chores, quilting (yep, I'm a dork), skiing some more, and watching TV. I know, I'm embarrassed by that last one, but it sounded soooooo nice to sit down in front of the TV and watch stupid programs about gold mining, or cops in LA fighting gang crimes, or ridiculous office scenes. With a baby and a full-time job and a commitment to make time for exercise and outdoor fun, watching TV just doesn't happen anymore. 

We did enjoy a bit of good, stupid TV, and it turns out that not much has changed in our absence. I worked on a baby quilt and made some progress. Grandma Ellie watched Kye while we went out to eat and watched a movie. We even managed to talk about topics other than baby, just like the old days. We also got out for some skiing, although the weather didn't cooperate that much. We got rain, concrete, ice, sleet, sun, and snow followed instantly by rain. Still, we enjoyed some laps on Hyak and some lift-skiing as well. [Post-script: as I type this, my week off nearly over, we are getting slammed with snow. :(]  

We'll have to do a better job of taking pics while we are out solo. We didn't do anything picture-worthy anyway. You'll have to be satisfied with some pics of Kye. :)

Kye grows and changes so fast these days. He'll be crawling in no time, as he's beginning to 'scooch' and pull his knees up under him. We better get some safety things done around home...man, how did he get to this stage so quickly?!?

Sitting in the sunshine

Our little bird likes to eat.

What, is there something on my face?

Life with both of us home is so much more manageable, but, I fear, not realistic. We must go to work, I suppose. Oh well, I'll just keep my head down and wait for spring break.

We Like This Guy...

Our camera used to contain lots of pictures of mountains and rocks; now, it's dominated with pics of baby Kye. He's pretty darn cute, but I guess we're biased. For those of you who have been wanting a pic update, here 'ya go.

 He is sooooo proud of himself for sitting in a chair and getting to eat real food!

Mountain Lessons

I have been wanting to take an avalanche safety course for some time now, but have always been reluctant to give up a day of skiing. I have a good base of knowledge, from years of skiing, climbing, and being in the mountains. Still, there is much to know and it's good to get a refresher from time to time.

To that end, I joined up with some friends and we had a private guided lesson from Pro Ski & Guiding, basically a majorly condensed version of Avy 1. It was a beautiful day to be hanging out and learning in the snow, especially because the backcountry skiing was horrendous (translation: we didn't miss out on a good day of skiing).

Our classroom:

Source Lake, Hemlock Peak and the Bryant Couloir

Dawn

Anne

A sizeable loose snow avalanche had come down earlier in the week following the load of rain we got on top of 2+ feet of snow. This debris field is actually quite tall, about 5 feet in places.

Thanks ladies for a great day out in the mountains. Thanks Papa B and Grandma for watching the little one while I played.