January 30, 2017

JanuBuried

 

Two weeks after I declared the stretch from Jan 11-15 the best week ever, it got better. We had an over-producing storm last weekend immediately followed by another round of absolute nuketown. Fortunately the timing lined up perfectly with Andrea's return from Asia - so we got the band back together and took full advantage. Dawn patrolling Tuesday through Friday, and then huge days over the weekend in the sunshine.

This past week goes down as an all-timer. The entire month has been one for the history books. Best. January. Ever.


Tuesday January 24

Triple Short Swing. We love Mill D on a powder morning for a variety of reasons. Quick access from our house and safe tree skiing on higher avy danger days are two of the main ones. 



Wednesday January 25

Triple Short Swing. For the same reasons mentioned above. And those trees! :-)





Thursday January 26

Triple Flagstaff. Needed a change of scenery from Mill D and it seemed like the last blast of the storm favored LCC. All I can say about this one is: OMG. Maybe the best powder we have ever skied (and we have skied a lot of great powder!).







Friday January 27

Quadruple Flagstaff. Same as yesterday but one more and EVEN BETTER because the sun finally broke out and it was just a stunning morning. I even made several sappy comments about how these are the days that fill up your soul - whatever that means! (but I meant it!)











Saturday January 28

Andrea had her Bioventures class today (the punishment for being smart and successful) so I was solo. After a sub-par (relatively speaking, of course) lap off Cardiff Peak, I headed back to Cardiac Ridge and tried to single-handidly ski it out. Cardiac is the epicenter of Wasangeles and for good reason - its awesome! I love how small you feel when you are back in that drainage. The snow was cold, dry, and wonderful. 





Sunday January 29

Back to Days Fork for a semi-repeat of what we did two weeks ago. Emma to Jaws to Main Days / Banana Belt for a bunch of laps. The wind had done a little damage to the higher north facing ridgelines and the sun had put zipper crust on the south facing terrain, but everything sheltered and on the N/NE/E side of the dial was soft, wonderful powder. 










I've already skied more (in terms of vertical feet) backcountry than I did during the entire 2010-2011 dream season. 

What a winter so far!!!

Now it's time to catch up on sleep for a few days, while dreaming of untracked lines and the next storm cycle.

Singapore and Bali


We're taking a (very short) break from our regular schedule of skintrack stoke and deep powder skiing updated for a little photo gallery from 9000 miles away. Don't worry, I'll post more pictures with snow tomorrow.

Andrea goes to China somewhat regularly for work but has never taken a picture or really mentioned anything about it because she hates it there. A different project took her to Singapore last week, and she actually enjoyed it! I asked her to write up a few thoughts about her trip...

Singapore is a pretty nice place to be for a work trip. Although I'm not a big fan of large cities, this one ranked pretty high on my list. There are places to run, safe, eco-friendly, great food, clean, etc. Work is work, but traveling to a place that is not totally dreadful (aka Shanghai) makes it a lot better!

Because we were already on the other side of the world, my coworker (and friend!) Shannon and I decided to take advantage and go somewhere new. We decided on Bali, Indonesia and stayed in the town of Ubud which is known as the cultural center of Bali. We only had two days to take it all in so we squeezed in as much as we could!

Saturday - 

-Ran along the Campuhan Ridge through the terraced rice fields and with views of Mount Agung - a stratovolcano. 
-Massages and pedicures (for $5!)
-Visited the Ubud Arts Market. We noticed a lot of people dressed up and offerings at every business and residence. Turns out it was a traditional Balinese holiday called Saraswati to celebrate the day when knowledge is given by God through the beautiful goddess Saraswati. 
- Lunch at a Balinese restaurant. Coconut drinks were amazing!
- Went to the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary - a nature reserve with three Hindu temples. We probably saw 100 monkeys. Shanon and I were both relieved to get out of there without one jumping on us!
- Pool relaxing in 90 degrees :-)
- Out to dinner then watched a Hindu dance at one of the temples. 

Sunday - 

- Ran along the rural roads through more terraced rice fields. It started POURING as soon as I left for the run which was actually pretty fun. 
- Went river tubing on the Penet River,
- ELEPHANT RIDING at the Bali Elephant Camp
- Local coffee and tea tasting. Our favorites were the coconut coffee and lemongrass tea.
- Dinner on Kuta Beach 
- Pretended we were staying at a fancy resort on the beach and laid by the pool until it was time to go to the airport.

There are so many fun things to do in Bali...I am hoping that I will have another work trip to Singapore to take a side trip to Bali so I can visit the volcanoes, go canyoning, snorkeling, etc.