Getting into a nice weekend pattern

Saturday we wake up when nature calls, enjoy the BlueBottle espresso shots on the couch with my girl and crashed out puppies. While Smrp goes off to play with her new pony, I do some yard walks to get their yahoos out, play some guitar and learn some songs, then hike late afternoon with the Monkey and Basie. These are the exploring duo, and they don't really care for playing in the yard so they NEED to get out. I happily oblige.


Sunday it's "get up early and go places i've never been before." Today was the day I finally went to the place that you can see from trails that I use frequently. It's the place I thought (and now think) would be a good dawn patrol hill as it's just a short hop, skip, and jump away. The Combats were my guide today and it felt awesome to get the regular tele skis and boots (boat anchors) off my feet. Simply said, I found the hillside and some soft snow and made some turns and there was much rejoicing. The main hill was 1000ft vert but the trees were too tight most of the time. So I opted for the lower hill -which was a short 300ft vertical and about 26 degrees. The snow was quite good and turning in leather boots and skinny skis is really rewarding. It is really carving, not "just" turning. It was so fun I couldn't bear leaving seeing all that untracked snow, so I did several laps before deciding I should head home.

One of my favorite feelings in the world is finding skiable hills after much searching. The reward usually pays in powder turns which, although not the goal, makes it so much the sweeter.