Winter 2.0

You know, the only reason the snow began to fall here is because we made plans to leave home. For several years, we have gone on vacation for mid-winter break and been tortured by phone calls from friends about the massive dumps of snow at home. So when the snow started to fall on Monday and we saw the predictions for the next few days, we decided to cancel our trip and stay home.

Backcountry conditions were dangerous and there was literally nobody but us at Hyak so it was the best scenario: feet of fresh, untracked snow on completely safe slopes. We played all day on Tuesday and Wednesday.

H

Tele-Ed

Julie, barely visible thru the snowfall

Sometimes It Works Out

On Saturday morning, as we were heading out the door packed and fed, ready for a day in the backcountry, we turned on our transceivers to check them and found that mine was not working. Ergh....no backcountry for us. But just a few minutes later, the phone rang and some friends were coming up to lift ski  so we joined them in the beautiful sun at Hyak.

Take 2, Sunday morning, we headed out to try again on the same tour of the Crooked Couloir (and with a borrowed transceiver). But a few days of sun and traffic going up the Phantom made it look like an ice climb, not a skin track. There were a few scramble sections up waterfall ice, which would've been okay if we had brought our crampons and/or ice axes but we had not. And so we turned around, rappelling the few sections we had already come up. Another failed attempt to ski in the backcountry...

Monday morning, the sun had gone away and the visibility was too low for the Crooked, so we headed out to Silver Peak, which we have skied in the spring but only explored in the winter. After a somewhat long tour, we had a great couple of laps on an arm of Silver, even finding fresh soft snow that hadn't melted in the sun of the past few days.

All that anticipation of fresh snow had finally been rewarded with the real thing. On our way out, we stopped at the warming hut for lunch... 

...and the snow began to fall and wouldn't stop for three days. More skiing pics to follow, only in much more snow!

Just When You Give Up...

...the snow comes.

When Ed suggested we go mountain biking in February, Brandon thought this idea was 'blasphemy'. "It just feels wrong to be biking in winter. We should be skiing!", he huffed. Given that we had three sunny days and no new snow, I thought biking sounded fun. So we met Ed & Julie after work on Friday for some riding on the Black Diamond (town, not difficulty) trails.

Ed is always way ahead of us...

It was as if I completely forgot how to mountain bike; I fell a lot and now have some great bruises. After our ride, we enjoyed some beer and good food at the Swinging Arm Bar & Grill. A great way to start our weekend...

It seemed like we would never get snow again. Just in time for the VertFest Randonee Rally @ Alpental,  we got a few inches of fresh snow to make it a bearable course instead of a slip session. And, by God's grace, the sun also came out and we had blue skies for the race.

The Traslin brothers and another Canadian led a brutal pace. 

B is the last guy in this group at the second boot pack section.
[photo taken by Mill Creek Multimedia]

Ryan (the late Monika's boyfriend)
showing his "remember Monika stuffed kitty support" in a big way!
[photo taken by Jason Hummel Photography]

Mike Traslin (2nd place) showing off Tim's T-shirt, nice.
[photo taken by Jason Hummel Photography]

Heather accepting her first place winnings in the womens 1 lap race
[photo taken by Mill Creek Multimedia]

Post Race

We both had a lot of fun, if you call sweating, coughing up blood, and panting fun, which we do. I finally got first place, which isn't a big deal, but was a long time coming (I came in 2nd multiple years) so I was excited. B was disappointed in his performance but I think he did great and will keep improving.

As I type this post, it is snowing steadily outside and there is more to come, the weatherman says. Welcome, Winter 2.0, welcome.

Awe & Wonder

I didn't know her well but I feel compelled to post a tribute about Monika Johnson, a backcountry skier that died out in the mountains this week.

On the same day that Monika fell through a cornice to her death on Red Mountain, I went for a jog in Snoqualmie Valley in the afternoon light. The sun filtered through the trees in a way that caused a short-circuit in my brain, an electrical storm, a seizure. Wearing my black VertFest tee-shirt, I went down to the ground and spent some time unconscious and in that 'in-between' reality.

Monika won the VertFest every year, hands down, beating many men and all the women by a huge gap. I admired her athleticism, but more than that, I admired the life energy that overflowed (literally could not be contained) through her smile and twinkling eyes. When you live life fully, as Monika clearly did, it is apparent to all who meet you immediately.

It wasn't until the next day that we learned about Monika's accident on Red Mountain. For the next several days, many in the backcountry ski community prayed for her safe rescue. On Saturday, the sad ending came in her body being retrieved from the backcountry.

My thoughts might appear disconnected and random but follow me a bit further...I am grateful for my life, even and especially with the affliction of seizures, for they serve as a reminder. I am grateful to know -as Monika did- that life is an amazing gift that we should spend not squander. For those of you with dull eyes, you will get the point too late. Perhaps as a final tribute in Monika's memory, God sent snow today for the first time in weeks; and, although I've seen it a bazillion times before, a smile spreads across my face and I look at it in awe. Go find the awe and wonder...

Monika Johnson- RIP February 2011

Whitefish Whiteout

I have been dragging my feet on posting this as pictures of me in my skin suit are kind of embarrasing.  But Heather made me.  We left Friday afternoon for a 10 hour drive to Whitefish, skied the race on Saturday, and then dashed home on Sunday; crazy, but we had fun.  I haven't been back to Big Mtn (now Whitefish Mtn Resort) since I was a kid so it was cool to go back. The mtn has changed a little, and the Kalispell-Whitefish area has really grown.  

The race itself was a learning experience to say the least, it was my first pro or non recreational class race. I have done a few rec races and have done fairly well but always have been curious how much faster I could go with light gear.  The main difference between rec and pro class is the vertical covered; a rec race is typically around 2k elevation gain & loss, pro class races can be anywhere from 4k to 9k.  This race covered 4800 feet and had variable snow conditions and temps.  At the starting line there were present 3 Canadian National Team members including the fastest guy in North America, the US national champ, and a few other fast looking spandex-clad folks.  

The race started as they all do in a full sprint for a 100' or so with everyone trying to establish position and/or test the speed of others.   The fast guys (about 6) began to quickly build a gap, as I stuck with a chase group of three, including #9 female in the world last year (very fast).  The first guy made it to the top in 28 min, I was around 34.  I felt good like I could increase my pace, but after the first descent and the first transition up I had a skin blowout, and then another and another.  Eventually, I just gave up and boot-packed the last three laps.  Instead of keeping pace with the three and finishing possibly top five, I finished 30 min back and in 8th.  

Oh well, the goal for me in racing is to have fun and I did have fun. I learned a lot so hopefully my next race will be more successful.  Heather, meanwhile, skied powder for a good portion of the day, and watched me at a couple points during the race. 

                                        

The Start

Run!

Well into the pain cave

                                        

First up to down transition

Finished finally