Beauty and Beatings – A Recall of the Adventures in the Andes – PART 6: The Realization

I awake, amazingly to no hangover, after a mere 4 hours of sleep, and prep for another day of skiing along with another forecast of bluebird skies and low wind.  Today is going to be a good day.  Upon gaining the ridge on the Otto lift, I’m finally able to look around and see the beautiful scenery under the clear skies.  There were peaks, ranges, and volcanoes stretching for miles, some with snow covered tops, some poking through clouds in the distance.   It was a sight to take in; one that makes you forget the music you're listening to and get lost in the beauty.

There was a little refresher of snow since Friday; some new, some blown in from other parts of the mountain.  All that mattered to me was that I was sliding on snow.  I find that I am most at peace and happy when I’m skiing.  Even in a year of low tide snow and a miserable winter, as had been the case with the previous winter in Utah and now in Chile, I still say skiing horrible snow is better than not skiing at all. 

The day blew by as we hit lap after lap of fast pow.  I spent most of the day skiing with Dave from Powder Quest and a new friend by way of another, Matt, a crazy Frenchman from the Pyrenees, that had a “dirty” habit, as he so eloquently put it, of straightlining any and everything he could.  He was fun to ski with and our styles meshed well; we both like skiing fast lines, and then scaring ourselves with tight technical lines and drops.  We would spend the long rides up the Otto lift sharing stories of wrecks, fun descents, and differences in our cultures and countries.  He told me that he usually comes to Las Trancas for a month each year and rents a cabana with a few friends.  He is able to do this as he gets an allotment of seven weeks of vacation each year at his job in France, compared to the “measly” five week standard of the rest of the country.  Immediate jealousy ensued. 

Being Saturday there was sure to be fun and shenanigans had tonight.  We heard that a Brit was going to be playing covers at Oliva’s, a local pub, after dinner, and then everyone was going to head to the disco right next to Oliva’s for mischievous times and dancing.  To protect the innocent, the details of the night shall remain untold.  However, it’s safe to assume there was plenty of dancing and drinks downed as we closed the disco and at the spry hour of 5 am.  This was easy to do as we had already made the decision to have a down day on Sunday, as the forecast was lousy, and the partying so primo.

I spent Sunday hiking up to the closest waterfall of the two in town.  As the weather was still warm down in the valley, the waterfall hadn’t yet frozen over.  The hike was through a jungle of trees and Chilean plumbing, as pipes, water catches, and more pipes encased the hillside below the waterfall.  It was good to get out of the hostel and see some of the local goods.  As I walked the couple miles back to the hostel, the rain picked up, and for the first time in years, I got to play in the rain and not care about being soaked.  That’s a rare occasion when one lives in the desert and also spends majority of their time inside behind a desk.  And it’s that latter part of the previous sentence that echoes loud inside of my mind, like a bad childhood nightmare, as I have long ago been diagnosed with Peter Pan syndrome; how can I be happy sitting still, living someone else’s dream, caged within pinstriped pants and button-up shirts, using ten times more intellect than physical skill in the completion of each day’s duty, playing the game of corporate jargon and status reports?  Is that me?  Is this what I envisioned for myself as a child?  This would be the recurring theme and question running through my mind while on this vacation.

The truth is I don’t think I ever truly envisioned what I would do as an adult as a kid.  Now I of course said I’d like to do this or that, maybe having titles of prestige like doctor or lawyer, or a title of adventure like special forces or helicopter pilot, but even as I continued through life, into college and into the “real” world, I never gave much time or thought to what I was to do next, just going with the flow of things.  I had an idea, but in this day of age where we’re surrounded by unlimited electronic distractions, habits of fighting boredom for a few seconds with a swipe or two on our smartphones, or constantly having music playing in our ears, the true dissection and subsequent decision of one’s life quest hadn’t really happened for me.  But I had an unexpected treat coming to me the next day which gave me an opportunity to be left to my thoughts.

Monday arrived with a bluebird setting and medium winds; another resort ski day.*   That asterisk is the caveat that winds may close down the lifts and you better have a Plan B in place. At this point in time you bet your last dollar I had a Plan B in place.  I had skins with me and planned on hiking up to the volcano due east of the resort, Volcan Neuvo.  On the second lap up while on the T-bar, as sure the sun rises in the east, the wind picked up just like the forecast said, and the lifts stopped spinning. Plan B is a go; midlayer off, skins on, and time to hike.  I gain the ridge and who do I run into?  My new roommate at the hostel Leon.  Mr. Leon is a funny German Italian, or is it Italian German, from a small village in Italy where he ran the business side of his family's winery.  He came out here to get out of Italy and to run the business side of a winery in Chile.  Anyhow back to the story, Leon had skinned up from the base with a group of 4 Frenchies.  After a quick chat about their agenda while battling the deafening 45 kph wind, I decided to hike with them.  This turned out to be quite the hike as the wind was head on blasting us with ice pellets, and gusting up to 60+ kph at this point.  Thank goodness for balaclavas.  It was so bad that I had to keep my helmet and goggles on.  A few hours into this brutal beating of an Andes adventure, we summited the volcano.  The crater was smaller than I expected but the view around was more than I could have asked for.  And the skiing was actually a treat on the south west aspect of the volcano considering how wind beaten the terrain had been on the hike up.

Now that we had skied down the second phase of the group's plan came out; they wanted to ski down to "Aguas Calientes" (the hot springs) in the valley to the south.  I really wanted to go and had only chatted with someone on where they were located without having them pointed out on a topographic map.  The Frenchies said they believed they were just down in the valley below us in the streams that were visible from our location.  I was told they were around the corner in the next valley lower.  At this point I was starting to reconsider making the trek as I didn't plan or prepare for such long day.  But really wanting to hit this spot while at this point not knowing if I was going to stay in Las Trancas, I gave into group think while knowing deep down the majority of the group's travel description didn't fit the description I'd gotten for a local guide with over 12 years experience.  After a long 20 minute skiing traverse we could see the "hot" springs.  I stayed high and waited for the sign that the water was actually hot, as we couldn't see any steam due to the wind.  After everyone went down, I finally dropped in only to find out that the water was indeed not hot at all.  Sucky monkey balls. (We'd find out later that we were only 200 meters away from the hot springs hidden around the corner.) If I would have stayed at my previous location, I was a mere 20-30 minute skin out to the top of the resort.  Now I'm a good 60-90 minutes out. 

The skin out was in an ice valley, and even though we were now heading north on this skin, east on the first skin, the winds changed and were now hitting us head on, but gusting even harder as it was the first notions of a new storm coming in.  By this point in the day around 5:00 pm, as my energy was depleted and I was borderline dehydrated not having planned or prepared for this long of a journery, I hit the wall and it hit me back hard.  Not only was I spent, my iPod had now run out of juice, leaving me to my thoughts and the complaining of my body for the next hour plus. At first the complaining was louder, but having grown up playing football and then moving onto the college ranks, I learned early in my youth how to put those things aside and just finish the task at hand, regardless of the struggle.  (Now here comes that unexpected treat I mentioned above.)  Towards the end of the skin to the top of the resort, my thoughts returned to the recurring theme and question running through my mind while on this vacation; am I satisfied with where I am in life?  As I thought deeply about this while pushing myself to the top of the skin, battling the pros and cons of my life, the good and bad, I came up with my answer as I caught a view of one of the most beautiful sunsets I'd seen in quite a long time.  The answer came as simply this; I'm satisfied with who I've become and the experiences I've gained at this point in my life.  The rest of the night including the ski down to the car, the delicious dinner and beers, and the chatting around the was sweet as I had accomplished another "epic" out in the backcountry and come to the decision that I was satisfied with me, yet still I was not satisfied with someone else's "dream" I was living back home in the states.........

Matt straightlining a shot


Me skiing some fast pow














Natacha, myself, and Nick being forced off the lift at midmountain















The "jungle" around the waterfall

Beauty and Beatings – A Recall of the Adventures in the Andes – PART 5

Now it’s Thursday, conditions look exactly the same as the past two days, and I’m assuming the worst, but still not throwing in the towel.  I mean come on, I’m on vacation a ski vacation nonetheless, every day is a good day, but even better if I can ski……so here we go again:

Yeah buddy ski day today and I have a ride up there, no hitchhiking!!!  Woohoo!! Alright gear on, skis in the car, day pack ready.  Let’s go.

We get up there to a warm overcast day, hardly any wind down low, and the Otto lift spinning with the staff saying it’s going to open.   Alright I’m buying a ticket.  Not ten minutes after I purchase the ticket, the staff determines it’s time to shut Otto down because there is 25 kph plus winds up top.  Awesome….  There goes twenty-five mil pesos down the drain.  I’m not accepting another down day, not today.   Time for “Plan B.”  I proceeded to pull out my skins and take off layers; let's hike the resort. 

A short forty minutes later the quick hike turned into a slow slog as I gained a ridge and the previous 25 kph turned into a 50 kph head on Andes winter welcome hurling snow and ice into my face, slowing me down to a miserable crawl.  There was so much snow being blown around combined with the low visibility cloud, I couldn't see a damn thing.  After another hour of Andes winter love, I decided to finally get some skiing in.  The next one thousand vertical feet of miserable, icy, crusty, thigh rattling groomer skiing brought a huge smile to my face.   Finally.  The down days frustration had melted away.  One more quick lap later I was finally all smiles heading back to the hostel.  And what is on the plate for tomorrow? Supposedly a few inches of fresh and a bluebird day of skiing.

Friday comes and so did the snow, but not so much the bluebird.  We pulled up to fresh tracks and blue skies.  Hallelujah, I'm soooo happy.  Plus I could finally see the mountain and started scouting lines and adventures.  After two runs of a few inches of fast pow, the glorious scenery was quickly hidden by a thick low lying cloud.  Considering the low tide snow and sharp volcanic rocks poking up all over, this was not a the best scenario, but thank goodness for skiing.  Another good thing was getting to ski with Dave from Powder Quest, especially since he had a good knowledge of the mountain.  We met at the hostel restaurant the night prior and had a fun time.  Now that he sent his group up north, he had a few days to himself.  If you're ever looking for a guided adventure down in South America, or need some info on the Chillan area head on over to Powder Quest's website and get in touch.  The best part of today was finally getting face shots, with skiing for a whole day without having to hike for turns in a close second. 

And what better way than to finish off the day? How about with a Chilean asado.  Of course no one is going to say no to slow cooked steak, chicken, and pork straight from the local butcher consumed with hot rolls, Chilean wine to die for, beer, and shenanigans.  How'd this great idea come to fruition?  Well I'll just pat myself on the back for this one; and then give credit to Isi for getting the meat and to Alejandro for taking the main duties of cooking.   It was a great time and a few of us managed to keep the night going till about 3:30 am at the local pub owned by a pair of gringos.  So back to bed by 4:00 am just to start it all over again in a few hours.  Enjoying life the Chilean way.


Here are some pics from the Asado

Rhys and Dave

Dave and Me



Beauty and Beatings – A Recall of the Adventures in the Andes – PART 4

Yeah buddy ski day today and I have a ride up there, no hitchhiking!!! Woohoo!!  Alright gear on, skis in the car, day pack ready.  Let’s go. 

We’re about a 20 minute ride up a dirt road to the resort.  It’s overcast and slightly warmer than desired.  My mind skips around various thoughts due to the excitement of skiing and the anxiety of not skiing battling it out; this ride couldn’t go fast enough.  We pull up to the middle parking lot. OTTO LIFT CLOSED!!!  Just the beginner’s poma is open and that is obviously not worth the price of admission.  My heart drops in time with the rising frustration created from a down day, one that wouldn’t have happened in America, a closure of the top lifts due to 25 to 40 kph winds (and the bottom lifts weren’t running due to no snow).  No why wouldn’t this have happened in the States?  Because a few years back the resort bought some second hand 50 year old Chinese pieces of crap cheapo lifts to save money.  And you pay for what you get; no secondary safety mechanisms on the tower rollers, a poor mountain top location with no windbreak, and twice the cost due to constantly breaking down from being a piece of poo.  Yep.

Dejected and disappointed we headed back into town to our hostel, once again the ride seemingly taking forever. Official “Down Day #1.”  We shall try again tomorrow.

The rest of the day was spent hanging out in the hostel getting to know some of those on their own adventure.  First off there was the gentlemen kind enough to give me a ride to the resort, Nick, a spry man in his 60’s and on his tenth plus tour of South America.  Now it took us all of a couple of seconds to realize we’d met before.  I immediately recognized him from time spent at Snowbird.  He’s a very interesting chap and has stories from all around the world many times over as he’s one that chose many years ago to seek after treasures of experiences and knowledge.  And he has a very refined talent of always being kind and inviting to those around, enlisting them into a group setting.   Nick and I hung out quite a bit during the trip and usually shared a table for dinner in the hostel’s restaurant.   He was also a huge boon in getting me up to and back from the resort every day that he was at the hostel. Then there was Natasha, a Parisian former ballerina now turned doctor going into her third year of residency enjoying the last couple of weeks of a three month vacation.  How was she? Classic Parisian for the first few days; I mean come on, even the French hate Parisians.   But she loosened up after a few good days of skiing later on down the road, but not quick enough, earning the nickname “Parisian Princess” in the meantime. 

Alright it’s Wednesday now. Yeah buddy ski day today and I have a ride up there, no hitchhiking!!! Woohoo!!  Alright gear on, skis in the car, day pack ready.  Let’s go.  Does this sound familiar?  Rinse and repeat.

“Official Down Day #2.”

Now my legs are just getting antsy.  Now frustration has really set in.  The weather reports are all over the board.  Depressions, ridges, systems on the horizon, no systems on the horizon; it all is true and it all is false in some sense.  Welcome to the Andes.  To combat hostel laziness and spending hours upon hours attempting to battle each other to connect to the ever inconsistent and flighty internet connect, Nick, Natasha, and I set out on a walk up Shangri-La road out to the Mission Impossible Lodge.  The walk, under overcast and drizzle i.e. snow in the mountain tops, became a discussion of France, Europe, and the reaches of modern medical reaches between Nick and Natasha with me listening and observing.  Interesting times to say the least.

The day also brought two sets of Australian couples on opposite ends of a similar journey.  The first couple, Chris and Kate from Melbourne, was in their first month of a nine month vacation, while the second couple, Rhys and Terri from Perth, was in their last month of a ten month vacation.  It was fun to see Western and Eastern Australians interact, to see the opposite sides of the adventure spectrum, and tell us of the differences between the coasts, and asking them about "Stalia" slang .  All four were a good inclusion into the the hostel group, escpeically when it came to consuming vast amounts of Chilean wine, pisco, Escudo and Cristal.

Group shot after dinner one night

Beauty and Beatings – A Recall of the Adventures in the Andes – PART 3

What happens after being up partying until 5am on minimum hours of sleep on a plane?  Deep, deep sleep.  I don’t remember the last time I slept that well.  And there were a few other factors that helped.  First off houses in Chile aren’t like the convenience based bubbles of easy living houses in America.  There is no central heating with vents going throughout the house; so the house was nice and cold. In Chile you stay warm with fire, space heaters, clothes, blankets, and hopefully another person.  Second, Rafa’s wife Victoria gave me a goat pelt blanket that was warm and heavy.  The weight of the pelt just pushed me deeper into the mattress and deeper into sleep.  I can’t explain to you how nice it really was. 

I finally emerged from my dark cave of slumber around 4pm and I felt great.  I got an approving smile and laugh from Rafa and Vic as one, they saw that I was alive and two, the smile on my face.  And not to mention their lovely almost two year old daughter gave me an "hola gringo" and a smile.  So did my late start ruin any plans?  Were we late for anything?  Is my itinerary screwed?  Hahaha this is Chile my friend.  I’m on Chilean time now AND I’m on vacation; throw your itineraries out the window of a moving car, I’m letting things happen as they will.  I’ll worry about a schedule when it’s time to fly home.  The evening was spent getting things ready to travel to Las Trancas in the morning and hiking around the hills in the valley in north Santiago leading up to Tres Valles. 

…………..

I elected to take the train to Chillan so I could take in the countryside and of course not be so cramped as would be destined to happen on a bus.  And in reality, I also didn’t want to deal with the higher likelihood of a potential bag theft while at the bus terminal traveling alone with 4 bags.  Yeah theft at bus terminals is quite common in these parts.  I lucked out and got a table seat, sharing the middle table with 3 other people. I was hoping that I’d meet someone interesting and wanted to be outside of my comfort zone.  Not so much in my case.  I shared the table with two 60 plus year old nuns and a young woman that spoke about as much English as I did Spanish, so to say the least, my iPod served as my companion on the 4 ½ hour ride.  I did happen to get a few “looks” as I stuck out with my long curly hair and flat brim black ball cap from those on the train, especially the nuns until I offered to help stow their belongs for them on the upper rack.  The scenery did not disappoint as I saw both beauty and real life represented by vineyard after vineyard in between ghettos, small farming communities, more ghettos and poverty, dirt roads, simplistic life, and small towns located in the beautiful valley with snow covered mountains to the east. 

Arriving in Chillan I knew my plan was to take a taxi a kilometer or two to the bus terminal, wait a couple of hours looking out for schemers trying for an opportunity to steal my computer bag, and then take the hour plus bus ride to the Chil Inn Hostel located in the smack dab middle of Las Trancas where I had reserved a bed for twelve nights.  But not truly having myself stuck to any “real” plan, luck struck.  While I was getting my ski bag out of the front car, I notice a “gringa” waiting behind me in line waiting to get her skis.  I chatted the woman up, Megan a 36 year old Canadian coming from England for a guided ski adventure, speaking Italian hoping for enough cross over with Chilean Spanish, and I offered to grab her bag for her if she wouldn’t mind watching my bags.  One thing I’ve learned, but often times forget in the hustle and bustle of the “American” way, is that the mere simple action of saying hi, being kind, and offering a hand opens up more avenues of opportunity and good fortune than one can foresee at the time.  This one interaction ended up coming back around as boons to me throughout my stay in Las Trancas.  As we walked to the front of the train station while talking about each other’s trip details, the first boon hit.  She had a private transfer waiting to take her to the Nevados de Chillan hotel.  She was the only one in the transfer and that meant there was room for the likes of me, I wouldn’t have to have the stress and worry of any of my gear getting stolen while sitting at the bus station for two hours as dusk was approaching.  I asked the driver how much he’d charge to take me up to the Chil Inn.  He offered a good fare since he was already headed that way and compensated, and my portion would go straight into his pocket.  Perfecto.

As I arrive at the hostel, I’m greeted by Fifa, a tall rasta Frenchman with three foot long dreads.  He’s one of the owners of the fine establishment.  The reception is located in the front room which also houses the restaurant and bar, and there’s reggae playing in the background; I’m starting to think that I really did choose the right place to stay.  Plus there is quite the number of people there consuming what appears to be a delicious spread of food.  My hunger from travelling all day has caught up with me and I quickly dispose of my bags and return for a meal.   


Searching the menu, I knew I was going to need a lot of food; “Menu del Dia” caught my eyes and the decision was made.  I had a glass of house red wine, the enslada chilena, spaghetti bolonesa, and panqueque manjar.  Now I could have had the fog of hunger clouding my judgment but I’m sure I had just made one of the best decisions of the day.  I ignorantly order a dish that contained one of my most despised items, sliced tomatoes.  The ensalada chilena is quite the simplistic salad; sliced and peeled tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and a small dash of sliced jalapeno.  The addition of salt, pepper, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar made this quite the treat.  I then experienced the most delicious, crisp, flavorful tomatoes I’d ever consumed; completely different from the crap we have in America, which if you didn’t know is developed more to serve a visual purpose than a flavoring purpose.  I ended up ordering this salad at least once a day for the rest of the trip.  The spaghetti was in a deep bowl that seemed to take an hour for me to get through.  But even though I felt stuffed to the gills, I was sure to allow myself the room for dessert, panqueque manjar, which is essentially a crepe with a caramel topping, but even better.  You see the word manjar in Chile means caramel or dulche de leche, but is also a slang term that essentially means “top notch”, “the bomb”, “nectar from the Gods”, “cream of the crop”……..well you get the point.  Fat and full I showered and prepared for bed with thoughts and imaginations of what the mountain and skiing would be like, and the adventures I’d have.  Tonight I rest for tomorrow I live, tomorrow I ski.

The awesome fireplace in the front room.

Beauty and Beatings – A Recall of the Adventures in the Andes – PART 1

Even as one can artificially, accidently, or purposefully create start and end dates for activities, events, or happenings in life, the same is not necessarily true for the start and end dates of life lessons or life changing events.  These types of events can happen anywhere through direct means like giving up one’s time and life goals to the full-time dedication of a greater cause like the Peace Corp, a religious mission, or a humanitarian mission, or indirectly when one allows their self to disconnect, assume nothing, and allow “whatever” to occur, essentially becoming once again as a small child, hungry, interested, willing to learn all that is out there.  When one does this, there is no end to what may happen, the limiting factor is not time but oneself.  As so eloquently put by the famous Yoda “you must unlearn what you have learned.”

…………………………

Just over two years to the day I arrived home from my first trip to Chile, an awesome and fun two weeks in Portillo, I departed on my second trip, but this time I ventured away from the “you are taken care of here” wonderful and easy ways of Portillo, to the unknown and “on your own” ways of Santiago and the small town of Las Trancas to access the blessed Nevados de Chillan.  My original trip plans had visions of getting a group of friends together along with a photog to have fun and get some “work” done in the snow and rocky peaks of the southern hemisphere before our season began up in the northern hemisphere.  Those dreams were dashed to pieces as many spent available funds on new Macbook Pros, cameras, or other trips, and the arrival of the horrible snow reports of the early season coming from South America. 

Undeterred by the lack of a group and lack of snow, needing an escape from the heat, inversion, and the drudges, and smoke and mirrors, of “real” life in our country, I pressed forward through the anxiety of no snow and going into the unknown alone.  But, that’s when the good stuff happens.  A few weeks before my departure, a recently new buddy recommended going to Nevados de Chillan.  He spoke of meters of fresh pow, adventures of hitchhiking up to the resort each day, and a sweet, cheap hostel right in the middle of town.  And to top it off, he had a buddy in Santiago that I could stay with before and after heading to Las Trancas.  With the unfolding of this potential adventure came the calming of the nerves.  Confidence, excitement, and smiles returned.  The three weeks leading up to the trip were filled with long hours in the office preparing proposals and briefs.  There was no rest for the weary.  I even had to give a personal briefing to my division director during dinner the night before I was to leave.    

I could see others heading south with ski boots and smiles through the sea of travelers at SLC.  The excitement and hopes was high.  As the extra pull of gravity inherently felt during takeoff dissipated, the pull of the day-to-day world of my life lost its cold grip, well, almost.  After staring at the storm clouds over Georgia during my descent into ATL, I decided to delete my work email account off of my phone while in Chile. Viva la revolucion!

The gate at ATL was filled with even more skiers.  The excitement and anxiety of little snow of those there spread through amongst the crowd quickly.  New friends were being made at every bench over discussions of trip plans, reports, previous experiences, and the unknown outcomes of new experiences.  It was here that I first met a “Reggie” from Ketchum that was heading down to do some guiding in Las Lenas.  He was pretty cool and it never came to me who he really was.  We talked about getting our seats moved next to each other to share a beer, but got distracted until boarding time.  Now I was one “short” Ambien filled flight away, but did manage to have a beer and a few scotches with my new acquaintance before shutting down.  Let the dreams begin, and in the morning we live the dreams.

Everything From a Touch of Wisconsin to Making Skis; It’s Been a Busy Month

My Fantabulous Mustache

It’s been quite the crazy month. Looking back on it just makes me smile. Most notably I was blessed to have my best bud finally make it out to Utah for a visit and some good ole mountain schralping. Joey and his awesome wife Nicole came out and just in time to celebrate and enjoy some time on the mountain. Even though they didn’t heed my advice on when to schedule the trip and happened to come a week early and miss the 50” of snow we got, we still had an awesome time. Joey and I always just pick up where we last left off regardless if it’s been a day to a year. I really enjoyed having them out here and doing my best to convince them to move out west, especially since Joey is quite the strong rider and would be an awesome partner for skiing/riding. One of the fun moments was the last second birthday party at the Tavernacle piano bar. So since it was my thirtieth birthday, I had decided it was time to have a Dirty Thirty Mustache Party, and oh my, did I cut a good one!! I convinced Joey to do the same, but he unfortunately didn’t have as much cultivation time as me.

Joey and I doing our versions of bringing sexy back

So everyone of course bought a birthday song for me, “Sexy Back” by Justin Timberlake. I was so red in the face, but after being put in the spotlight and feeling awkward, I had a “Will Ferrell-esque” blackout like in “Old School” and completely rocked the house without knowing or remembering what I was doing. Unfortunately for me, since I was doing a good job and getting random tips from women in the crowd, the pianist kept playing and playing and playing. Quite frankly, good times.

After the awesome weekend with people that are truly family ended, the Wasatch Front was finally blessed with a magnitude of snow. We had four straight days of snow totally 50”.  January 22nd brought 22” inches of goodness, and I didn’t let any of it go to waste. The video of that adventure is down below right before the pics.

The destroyed prototype ski

Now following that awesome storm I head out to Denver for a little bit of ski building, ski prototyping, SIA (Snowsports Industry Association) Trade Show time, and good times. It was quite the power weekend. I finally got to meet my ski sponsor in person and we did quite a bit of work. While I was laying up my edges and bases, I filmed Dave doing a layup of a custom ski. We also designed my topsheets to incorporate the Snowbasin Sun, and they turned out absolutely sick. I got to see the Grace Skis process and experience the principles first hand, even when I completely destroyed a pair of prototype skis that weren’t laid up using our primary process and we posted the pics on Facebook.  Being brutally honest is all part of it.

I also got to catch up with an old friend from the high schools days in Madison while in Denver, Tayler Cabalka. It was really interesting to see how she’s grown and become more comfortable in her own skin not having seen her for 11 or 12 years.  Plus she was a gracious host providing a place to crash.  I've been so blessed this past month and I'm really loving life right now.  The only thing needed now is more snow.

Oh and I finally got my car delivered a MONTH after buying it.  Yeah let's not talk about that one, still kind of sensitive......but the car is amazing.

The video proof of the storm


Joey and Nicole

 

Sending Joey off at the airport

My Skis

Dave Laying Up Custom Skis















The Pre-Destroyed Prototype Skis

My Chariot

Still Alive and Still Adventuring

Here’s an update that’s been a long time coming. That being said, it’s also been a very busy, busy year. And it’s finally slowing down just in time for the arrival of winter, which in my neck of the woods has just knocked on the door. I woke up to a wonderfully crisp morning in the 20’s. There was snow in the mountains and frost on the ground. And there is snow making going on at Snowbasin. That makes me really excited, to which I’ll explain more later.

So back to the catching up, it’s been a very good and busy year for Cutting Edge Tree Professionals. We have seen more business come our way this year than the previous season and an half. As we celebrated our two year anniversary, we also scored the largest job we’ve ever had; removal of 36 cottonwood trees and a willow. Now all of the cottonwood trees were in the 70-90 foot high category. We brought in a 60 foot boom lift for the job and combined with my rigging skills and techniques, we were able to get everything down, even those over fences and structures, without having to bring in an 85 foot boom lift. And now that we’ve finished up that job I’m finally starting to feel a little rested. You see it was a bit tiring working 72 plus hour weeks for a month straight and having to go from work to trees and changing in the car for a month. And to think, Seth put in even more hours on site than I did; I know he was exhausted and even happier to be done with the job than myself.

Now onto the exciting news with Snowbasin; the resort decided to put together a freeride team for the upcoming season and I was chosen to fill the telemark slot. It’s a great opportunity for me and I’m glad to be associated with such a good mountain and community. This will be my third season at Snowbasin and by far the most anticipated one for me. My team profile can be seen here.

In addition to Snowbasin, I’ve also started working with another great company, Flylow Gear. I love their products, both pants, jackets, and now finally bibs, oh how I love bibs. Flylow goods are technical, durable, and really stylish. I’m really blessed to have this opportunity to start a relationship with them and hopefully it’ll progress to a full sponsorship throughout the season.

And as for the visual treats, here are a few videos. The first is my promo video I created a few months ago with what little footage of myself I had. I definitely didn’t get much personal filming done this last year with the blood clot.



This is an edit giving a short glimpse into the work Ski Patrol does at Snowbasin. I had a good time creating this one.


And here’s one of stop number two of the Friday Night Lights Rail Jam Series that took place at Snowbasin last year. Another one that I was satisfied with producing.

Ups and Downs of the New Year

I know, I know.  I kept saying that I would post about everything and then I didn't.  It's been quite the busy month and an half let me tell ya.  A lot of good and a lot of not so good things have gone down.

Let's just start this back in December about 2 weeks before Christmas.  Things were going good, I had film projects lined up with Snowbasin, there was fresh snow every few days, I had just taken a new job with ARINC, a definite huge step up from my previous employer of three years, and I was also starting to see a certain woman more frequently.  Things were really good.

Now let's jump to December 21st; minor, very minor knee surgery to clean up some believed torn menicus, which was proving to be a more frequent issue than I could take for a whole season.  I was back at work the next day after surgery and my knee was feeling good.  It was only to be a matter of two weeks off a skiing and then back to training for the.  Good........at least it seemed that way.

Christmas Eve finally came and I hoped on a plane back to Wisconsin.  It'd been a whole year since I had been back and it was good to see my family.  My little niece Masha Mae actually spoke with me and didn't just cry every time that I acknowledge her or looked at her.  YESSS!!! Progress.  She really is a very cute and sweet girl.  I had an awesome Christmas in which my beloved mother got me not one, but two, yes TWO Warrior Nut Huts.  I was sooooo stoked, to the point at which I put one on over my clothes and walked around.  And my thoughtful awesome brother got me this really cool knife, against my mother's advice, which totally surprised me and is used almost everyday.  I was able to head over to visit Jay and Jeanie Kraemer before I left and touch base with my other family.  Every thing was going well, until I had to leave and I realized that 3 1/2 days a year isn't enough time for my family.  At that point I didn't want to leave yet.  I wanted to stay there and take care of my mother's needs with the house, my brother, the dogs, the yard, and whatever else I could do for her.  My mother and I even got in our annual rummy game.  Due to our crazy schedules we decided to head to the airport a little early and play in the lobby before my flight.  Ah, it was good to the soul to beat her in a few quick games and remind her of how well and ruthless she taught me how to play.

But it was really sad and hard saying goodbye, especially as she sat in front of the security area at the airport and watched me the whole way through.  I kept looking back and seeing her loving and concerned eyes watching over me, trying to get one last glimpse of me before I would be gone, heading to my home in Utah.  I couldn't help myself from letting a couple of tears roll down my face as I returned her gaze. 

Now moving onto the following Wednesday,  post-op follow up visit with the Doc. "What's that Alex, your calf really hurts does it? How about when I squeeze here? Wow did you really just hit your head on the ceiling?"  Yeah not good.  I was then sent down to get an ultrasound for a D.V.T., a deep vein thrombosis, or POS blood clot, as it's commonly referred to around my place.  Yeah at the moment the doc confirmed it, even though I knew I had one before the results were read to me because the rad-tech couldn't keep her eyes and demeanor from divulging the truth, I sank.  How does this happen to a fit, active 29 year old?  Why does this have to happen to me, when I'm getting ready to compete this year, when the season is just starting, when I'm to start filming for a with Telemark Skier Mag, when I just started talking to SkiLogik about riding for them?!?!?!?  ARGH!!!!!!

I was absolutely devastated.  When everything was going so, so well, it came crashing down on me....so it seemed.  So you're telling me my knee looks great and it wasn't as bad as once thought, that I'm a healthy person and strong enough to ski, but that there's this little itty bitty thing sitting there in my calf that could kill me if I slip on the ice?!?  Great........no skiing, no lifting, no work, and no hockey.  Now Alex, you have to sit at home for two weeks, shoot this lovenox in your stomach twice a day, not eat any of your favorite greens, and also wear these tights 24 hours a day.  Deal?  Oh do I have a choice?  Haha.......not so funny.  It really bummed me out and was kind of hard to deal with at first.

The good thing that came out of this is the awesome amount of time I was then able to spend with Mercedes.   She decided that she was going to take care of me, keep me company, and keep my spirits up.  This girl drove through a blizzard to come up and make me dinner the day I found out about the clot.  She even brought up her spare TV from the corporate apartment so I could watch movies while I laid around for the first week.  This wonderful woman seriously dedicated the last bit of her vacation to making sure that I was well and comfortable.  But I couldn't let her sit in the house when there was good snow falling in the mountains and had to kick her out a couple of times.  Now I want to talk more about her and how awesome she is, but I'll save that for a later post, one just about her.

So you might be wondering how I got the clot.  Some think that it was the plane ride after surgery that eventually caused it.  But after thinking about it and finally understanding that it was a blood clot causing the pain, and knowing that I had that pain since the very next day after surgery, I eventually put some things together to figure out what happened.  So two days before the surgery I had a bad crash that bruised my calf pretty good.   I dropped a small cliff that I do all the time and dropped it to a surprisingly hard landing, which was due to the slope beneath the cliff naturally sliding under the weight and temperature of the new 10 inches of snow.  So I landed, bounced with the harder than expected surface, rolled forward, came up going backwards, only to have the tails of my skis dive down under the snow surface, get stuck, and throw me backwards over the tops of my boots.  I hurt my calves so bad that I couldn't ski down to the car without unbuckling my boots and also only take a few turns and then stopping to rest.  I couldn't even straightline down the groomer without being overcome with pain.  Now imagine the deep tissue damage that was done, fast forward two days to the surgery, and think about all the broken blood vessels in my calf just waiting to clot up.  And now where was this clots you say?  Well it's right where I bruised my calf, where the boot top jammed into my calf.

So what have I done since then.  Well I have helped Mercedes move into her new apartment, installed a shelf in the laundry room for her, and put up an arc shower rod, spent way too much time at IKEA for my first visit, put furniture together, and shopped for countless other items that she needed to get for her new place.

And just this last weekend I finally got OKed by my physician to go ski some groomers.  Oh how nice that was to not have to work Friday and get to go ski.  I can tell you that it was truly a calming to my spirit.  I needed that more than anything else at the time.  I felt so rejuvenated while trying to use my legs that had not received any ski conditioning for 6 weeks.  And to top it off, I got to ski with Mercedes on Saturday while she worked up at The Canyons.  I skied the first two hours by myself ripping up the groomers and probably going faster than I "should" have, but I was still conservative nonetheless.  Then I got to head all over the mountain with MAV for the next three hours.  It was fun watching her shred and carve all over the mountain.  She made me smile and laugh every time that she tried throwing a shifty or would throw spread eagles with me as we goofed off of the groomers.  What a good day to spend together before having to send her off to Connecticut for two weeks work trip.

Life is good.

Chris and Me in Wisco

The Mother and Me

Family

Mercedes and Me

Trying to smile with my teeth...didn't quite work out.

Another Great Weekend Come and Gone

Today marks the end of another awesome weekend of skiing for me.  I was lucky enough to get another 4 day weekend to ski, hit some fresh pow, ski new terrain, drop a few cliffs, test out some new sticks, and get above and out of the nasty inversion in the valley.

Friday started out with a film day at Snowbasin.  The new PR Director, Jason, had scheduled a shoot with some local pro and up and coming riders. It was my first shoot with solely snowboarders, and I enjoyed the riding differences and opinions on terrain that they brought.  The plan was to show the early season riding promoting Snowbasin, and to send the video to Transworld Snowboarding Magazine. Unfortunately the weather wasn't on our side and we shot in a grey bird setting.  The footage turned out decent despite the lighting, but we're planning on getting a reshoot later on.  We'll use the reshoot footage to send to Transworld.

Saturday was great with Snowbasin finally opening up the John Paul lift.  I was so toked to finally get off the flat groomers and be able to ski the steeper terrain.  The snowpack was only about 12"-24" deep but it still allowed for some great riding.  After a short session I headed to Scout Steed's brithday bash up in Farmington Canyon.  Her two year birthday party was a sledding session high up in the mountains.  It was a lot of fun playing in the snow, eating chili, drinking wassel, and sitting by a fire with friends and family.  I built up a jump for the sled and ending up launching everyone, including myself, about 10 feet off the ground, which made for good laughs and heart pounding excitement.

Sunday brought in another full day of skiing followed by a good game of hockey.  Boy do I love my Sunday night hockey games.

And yesterday was spent skiing at Solitude.  I had good company and good snow which made for a great day.  I skied all over the mountain, enjoying all that there was to offer.  The snow was soft and deep enough in some places to hit some cliffs.  I finally dropped my first cliff of the season on a series of three 10 foot cliffs. 

Now after all of that, of course I'm in a great mood.  Here's to my last week of work. 
Sunday was

Thanksgiving Weekend

Talk about a busy extended weekend; the most over-hyped storm of the season, two Thanksgiving dinners, the Holy War, sliding on snow, and getting a new mattress.  Buy but it's been a good four days off of work, especially with the lifts now spinning. 

Trying to get my legs back in shape after sitting in an office for months on end has definitely not been easy, specifically because the only open runs at Snowbasin are pretty flat.  Not that fun.  But overall opening day was pretty awesome.  There was boot to knee deep powder covering the slopes.  Best opening I've ever experienced.

Saturday brought in the annual Holy War: BYU versus the University of Utah football game.  This year I spent the afternoon watching the game with Andy, Vanessa, and Andy's parents at Maggie McGee's Sports Bar.  I finally got lucky with the Maggie raffle and won the halftime prize; an awesome Utah bomber's wooly winter cap.  I was stoked to get it and sport the colors of my future alma mater as they ended up winning the game by blocking a gimme field goal as time expired.  Good times.

Even better than all this, I finally got a new mattress and box springs.  Andy and Vanessa bought a new bed and decided to give me theirs, which is in great condition.  I'm so stoked to have it and slept great last night.  Now getting it home from Salt Lake City to Layton was quite humorous and daunting.  I mean how many times do you see a Subaru driving by on the highway at 70 mph with a matterss and box springs tied to the top.

Here's some pictures to let you know how it was.

Opening day pow turns

Me at the end of opening day

 

Loading up the mattress on the Subaru

Andy tightening things up

How Shall This Winter Be??

Waking up to a beautiful white blanket of heaven's finest this morning brought a smile to m face.  Winter is finally here in a three part storm cycle that is sure to bring a couple of feet to the mountains.  And it's doing so in great fashion; just in time for the lifts to start turning this Thursday at Snowbasin.

And with that comes another year's worth of goals to shape up and guide the season.

1. Ski at least 45 days both frontcountry and backcountry
2. Ski at least 600,000 vertical feet
3. Ski the south face of Ben Lomond Peak
4. Drop S&S at J-Hole
5. Ski Superior 
6. Continue filming and putting edits together
7. Enter a big mountain competition or two
8. Call in sick to work at least twice for a 15 inch or more storm
9. Solo Willard Peak ice drainage and ski down into Liberty
10. More photos
11. Throw more 3's
12. Throw more front flips
13. Stop being a girl when it comes to back flips
14. Nail my line through the blond cliffs
15. The usual male skier dream

I think that rounds the potential season up.  I'm really stoked to ski a resort full-time for two consecutive seasons.  This will be the first time ever doing that and Basin has a lot of hits waiting to happen.  But I am also super excited that I managed to get a full season pass up to Grand Targhee for $250, so I will definitely be hitting that resort up a couple of times this year in addition to my six days up at Jackson Hole, which I couldn't find it in my heart to forgo this year. 

Now it's just time to keep the moment from Portillo going.......

Where Has The Time Gone

Once again, as if clockwork, having the stars align, and the seasons change, it appears as if I have disappeared.  Not necessarily, but I just haven't had much that I feel is exciting to post about.  But as we roll into winter and the lifts at my resort are about to start turning, it's time to get back to posting.

I have been thinking about goals for this ski season and am about finished with it.  I will definitely post those here in the next few days.  But for now here are two edits that I have completed for two of the Portillo Big Mountain Telemark Camp first week campers.

The first completed goes to Ian Scobe.  This kid was a hilarious jokester and made this fun with his carefully executed comments.


Ian Scobie - Mad Ballin' from Free 2 Be Productions on Vimeo.


The second edit out of the gates is for Matt Tilleard.  This Aussie was such a great guy and funny nontheless.  I love Aussie sarcasm.   Here ya go Matt, I love this song you recommended.


Matt Tilleard - Aussie Power from Free 2 Be Productions on Vimeo.

Pics n Stuff O'Chile - It's about time I post this

Alright I know that it's been a little while since I posted anything.....ok more like a long while.  I've been working on a video promo for Nick and Kayo's Portillo Big Mountain Telemark Camp in between work trips, a Six Flags and Atlantic City day, skim boarding at Destin Beach in Florida, and setting up other business ventures.  It's been quite the busy 8 weeks; the time has flown by and been one big blur.  I'll be posting the camp promo video here next week, promise.  And there'll be more posts of additional edits that are in the works.

I just totaled my stats from Portillo and this is what I got:

Ski Days: 13 (out of 15 potential)
Vertical Footage: 155,770 feet

I already have a good jump on my ski days and vertical footage for the season.
For now here's some pics of me in Portillo courtesy of the talented Luke Lubchenco.

My absolute favorite

Yes I know the camera looks funny on my helmet

At work

First week powder goodness

First day of Roca Jack

More Roca Jack

Lake Run Slash

One last sweet lake run shot