Christmas Tree Hunting

Kerry and I actually managed to work a full shift today and it was filled with characters. To add to our collection of entertaining renters we now have a 6'9" skier, a pair of children that speak no English and need ski boots, a kindly old man that heard nothing I told him because he didn't have his hearing aid, and also a very intense woman who blamed us for the lack of snow. The little children from Mexico City were my favorite, Roberta (the older girl) took a liking to me despite our language barrier she continually asked me if I was going to be her ski teacher. She had a little 2 year old cousin who ran off in the shop and almost got stuck between 2 rows of rolling shelves. It was quite a challenge to convince a 2 year old that speaks no English to stop and let me pry her out.

After a very entertaining morning at work we met up with Sarah for our Christmas tree hunt. we took Sarah's car because Kerry's seems to have a coolant leak and mine doesn't have a roof rack. We decided to head out toward the Gros Venture area past the Teton Science School. We headed down a park road past the school and continued to drive until Sarah got nervous we might not be able to get back out. After much deliberation we finally decided that we wanted the top half of a 12 foot tall tree. Kerry and Mike did the cutting, carrying and tying and we were on our way home.

Out for a drive.

Consulting the map.

Let the hunt begin.

Discussing an option.

Cutting down our final choice.

Our measuring system.

Bringing it back to the car.

Once we got home and got the tree up in the stand my job of decorating began. Being poor we elected to just decorate with white paper snowflakes tied with some scrap red yarn. We also came across some gold balls at Kmart that were pretty cheap so we added some of those. My mom also gave me a few sets of lights and some red ribbon to dress it up. All and all it came out very nice and our neighbors have already commented on how pretty it is.

Decoration sequence.

Final product.

It's a rough life

So Kerry and I have had off Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (really we never work). An average day off right now consists of getting up at 7:30, getting to the bus around 8:30, skiing until about 10:30, then coming home for lunch. We spend the remainder of the day pretty much cooking and eating. Today to switch up the routine we went to work. We got there at 9 and by 9:30 they had sent us out on a ski break until 11:30. You can really feel the trouble the weather is causing throughout the village. In almost 2 weeks we have only gotten 8 inches. Everyone is hoping it will start snowing soon and that the weather picks up the holiday season bookings.

Today I thought it might be fun to try a demo ski, so I followed my friend Jackie's suggestion and tried out the Salomon Lady in a 158. In the death cookie and hard packed conditions, it was a bit like skiing on a floppy noodle. I am sure on soft snow conditions they would be really fun since they were very responsive and wanted to really made nice turns when you would be going much slower. On a rather big hill I tried to stop because there was an obstruction in the trail and the noodle-like skis nearly killed me. I tried to push hard on my edges and I started bouncing off the surface of the snow. A fun ski, but I just took them on the wrong stuff and skied a bit too fast for it. I think this has convinced me that I could try a stiffer men's ski.

After skiing, we headed back to work for a thrilling afternoon of learning how to be a cashier. After an afternoon of that, I am very convinced I want to stay a binding tech, it is just way easier and more fun. We got sent home from work about an hour and half early and then feasted on some delicious chili and cornbread, all made from scratch. Yum Yum!!

Tomorrow I think we are going to switch it up a bit and skip skiing and go cut a Christmas tree instead. Here in Wyoming you just have to buy a permit from the forest service for $5 and you can go out to the public lands and cut one down.

Ski day count now at 7.

A nice view waiting for the bus.

Kerry looking very unimpressed about going to work.

Snow guns working hard.

Me and Kerry, I know another picture that looks the same....

Riding home on the bus.

Fun times from the 80's

Came across this funny video called Ski Dance from a rare 1986 German ski movie called "Fire and Ice." Enjoy!

Birthday wishes do come true

So yesterday as my birthday wish I asked for snow, although there was no snow in the forecast I wanted some anyway. But Mother Nature came to the rescue, at 6:25 this morning I awoke to what I though was someone dragging a metal trash can around outside, but then it continued for a few minutes. It was early so it took a few minutues for the gears in my brain to start turning but then I excitedly realized that it was a snow plow!!!!! I got out of bed and looked outside and everything was white. Kerry woke me up 40 mins later, the plow had woken him too, and we decided it was a day for skiing, not sleeping. So we threw on our gear and headed up to the Village. We got there and it was still dumping snow and there was about 6-8 inches on the ground. Unfortunately the lack of snow over the past few weeks led the entire town of Jackson to think the same as us, and as a result the mountain was packed. My first 2 runs were a mess. Within 30 seconds of the top of the run I hit a patch of ice then a pile of fluff and I fell head first into the ground, my helmet comes in hand again and I slid head and hands first down the hill. As a result I had snow all over my belly and arms due to inproper tucking and I also recieved a buise on my hand from falling on my pole. Later the same run, I fell again on a patch of ice which I am sure will lead to another good bruise this time on my hip. Kerry and I then had to go in to fix some footbed and boot issues. After working out the kinks in our boots we I met up with another UVM'er named Sarah and we skied a bunch of runs with her. The boot-fixing break served me well and after that I remembered how to ski what we might call 'varied terrian.' Due to the lack to snow and then the sudden dump conditions ranged from fresh powder, to ice, to hardpack to death cookies, which made for some fun times. There were some beautiful soft bumps toward the bottom of the trail that I really enjoyed hitting up. In Kerry's words "You ripped them up," I guess all those miserable East Coast bump runs with the boys served me well. By lunch time Kerry's feet were killing him because of new boot and footbed issues, so we decided to head home for some lunch. The rest of the afternoon comprised of napping, eating and a big grocery store adventure. Today makes the ski day count a grand total of 4, and I bet there are some East Coasters who are beating that, but I will catch up soon.

Snow day!!! We got several more inches after this photo was taken.

Mike celebrating the snow by running barefoot into it. Needless to say his feet were a bit chilly...

What a difference a day makes.

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!

So today was my 22nd birthday and what wonderful day it was. I had to get up early to go to work from 7:45 to 1. At work I spent a solid 2 hours just peeling old stickers off skis, weirdly enough it was quite relaxing and I liked it much better than sitting behind a desk. Around 10 the traffic in the shop picked up a bit and we had a steady flow of people right up until 1. I had some pretty entertaining folks that had no idea about skiing, including one girl from New Zealand who didn't know what the elastic portion at the bottom of your snow pants was for (she had it around her knees constricting all the blood flow to her feet).

Once we were released from work Kerry and I decided to go demo some equipment for the afternoon (which we can borrow for free because we work in the shop). I tried a pair of Atomic Seventh Heavens. They were a much different sort of ski than I normally use, but boy were they able to carve and charge through just about everything. I would certainly agree with this review from US Outdoor, they definitely gave me a big kick in the butt if I got into the backseat (leaning too far back for those who don't know) and got me right into the right form. I felt like just an afternoon on the skis made me realize all the bad habits having center-mounted twin tips have gotten me into. The weather was warm (about 45) and perfectly blue bird. The sky was the bluest I have ever seen, and the snow was like you would find it in mid-April. Towards the end of the afternoon I took my demos into some softened bumps on the side of the trail and they were super fun and made short turns a breeze.

Kerry taking a little break on the new trail that was opened. Notice the brown on the valley floor.

Perfect blue bird day.

Kerry and I, I have no idea how many of these we will have by the end of the season.
Notice my new mirrored goggle I was given on my first day of work!

After an afternoon of skiing Kerry suggested that we go to the Mangy Moose for a drink. This is a really cool pub at the base of the mountain that actually has a real stuffed moose that hangs from the ceiling. There was a family in their getting a post-skiing snack and I saw one of the kids point to the moose (that is attached to a sleigh) say "But mommy Santa is missing!" It was very cute. Since it was Pearl Harbor day we had Kamikaze shots (on special that day) and also got my first Corona ever! Our roommate Mike also came by as well once he got out of snowboard instructor training. After that we all took the bus home and I had a tasty dinner and relaxed on the couch. It was a very nice day.