I live in Colorado.
Thursday Feb. 26th was Scott Perkin's birthday. He has a friend in town from Atlanta named Doug. Cool guy- I knew him back in the ATL myself. Scott's good friends have a dude in town straight from Ireland named Owen. Owen, Doug Scott and myself went skiing Friday.
We went up to Winter Park Resort in the AM. Snowing balls. 11 degrees. White out conditions and practically all expert terrain. Only 2 groomed trails on the whole mountain. The rest of it was all bumps- that we couldn't see due to the driving snow and foggy goggles. What a shitty morning. The weather finally broke around 2 PM- when we were devistatingly tired from the morning of hell. We had a quick beer at the mountain and then hit up the Tommyknocker in Idaho Springs on the way home. Shitty skiing but a good time anyhow.
Today- Jeff Winger picked me up at 7 AM. We rolled up to the Loveland Pass and headed over to A-Basin. Blue skies- not a cloud all day. Fresh snow. Great old school ski hill. Live band on "the beach". The beach is a row of cars backed right up to the base of the slopes where people have grills and beer and dogs and lots of good times. You can ski right up the car. It's pretty fantastic.
The mountains were majestic. Some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. The top of the lift is over 12,000 feet high. Freakin awesome. The terrain is wide open and mostly groomed. Steep, but groomed. We killed it. We bombed down those hills all day. I must have gotten 30 runs in before 3 PM.
If you want me to go to Keystone again- you will have to drag me kicking and screaming. The A- Basin is my new home mountain.
Today was epic. I am on such a high from today. Heather just made me go get a beer to calm me down a bit. I am so addicted to skiing it's ridiculous.
My ski gear rocked it this weekend. Whoever thinks they need to spend a lot of money on ski gear is a joker. My skis, bindings, boots, poles, pants, jacket and gloves cost me less than $200 total. And if you don't believe me then I will stab you with my old school pointy skis.
Tomorrow I have to wake up and not go skiing. That totally sucks.
My stupid phone did not come in the mail today. That means that I won't have a cell phone until Monday night. I kinda like that. It's been nice not having a phone.
I gotta go find somebody to talk about skiing with.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Fuck it Dude- Let's go Bowling
You know what sucks? The term indemnified.
So I bought some old ass skis with bindings for $25. Then I found some old ski boots that had never been used for $60. The boots fit my feet and the skis were the right size, so I was feeling pretty good about my purchases. When I went to adjust my bindings to fit my boots, I discovered that the bindings would not move far enough. No big deal- I would just need to take them to a ski shop and have them move the bindings. It requires a specialty tool called a binding jig.
When I got to the ski shop today, the guy looks at my bindings and says that he needs to consult the list. "The list" is a very long list indeed that notes all the different bindings from all the manufacturers that have been "indemnified". That means that the manufacturer no longer guarantees the integrity of the binding. The ski shop tech is not allowed to work on any indemnified binding. Nor is he allowed to instruct me on how to do so myself. He is also not allowed to show me the list. I found this out because when he walked away I picked it up and started reading it.
What a racket. Without that info, the consumer shopping for used gear is taking a gamble on any used pair of bindings. The techs can't even do a safety check on a used pair of indemnified bindings.
Once the tech was convinced that I was not going to purchase his cheapest pair of bindings for $100 and that I truly was shit out of luck, he pointed me to a good ski shop that ignores the stupid rules. I walked into that shop and they didn't even bat an eyelash. My shit will be properly adjusted, inspected and tested by a professional. Thank goodness not everybody is a rule follower. They may be referred to as a less reputable shop, but they are needed. Hell, I like to think that I am "less reputable" myself sometimes.
Crisis averted. So my hard work on Craigslist paid off. I got an unused pair of boots (those things start at $200 in the stores), a proper pair of shaped skis and bindings that will be professionally adjusted, and a pair of poles for a grand total of $115. Hell yeah! At $20 a day to rent that stuff, it will be paid off in 6 trips up the hill.
We went to the mountains again last weekend. Stayed for free in the condo again. Jen and Steve stayed with us and their friends Jeff and Linda stayed in a condo right down the street. The boys got up Saturday and went to Beaver Creek. That place was awesome. Everything was really upscale. Apparently it is the 2nd wealthiest resort town behind Aspen. Then we all tried to go to Breckenridge on Sunday, but it was socked in. We drove over to Keystone and the conditions were great. Hell of a day I say, hell of a day.
Well I've managed to talk a group of people into going bowling. That is surprisingly hard to do. Off to roll!
So I bought some old ass skis with bindings for $25. Then I found some old ski boots that had never been used for $60. The boots fit my feet and the skis were the right size, so I was feeling pretty good about my purchases. When I went to adjust my bindings to fit my boots, I discovered that the bindings would not move far enough. No big deal- I would just need to take them to a ski shop and have them move the bindings. It requires a specialty tool called a binding jig.
When I got to the ski shop today, the guy looks at my bindings and says that he needs to consult the list. "The list" is a very long list indeed that notes all the different bindings from all the manufacturers that have been "indemnified". That means that the manufacturer no longer guarantees the integrity of the binding. The ski shop tech is not allowed to work on any indemnified binding. Nor is he allowed to instruct me on how to do so myself. He is also not allowed to show me the list. I found this out because when he walked away I picked it up and started reading it.
What a racket. Without that info, the consumer shopping for used gear is taking a gamble on any used pair of bindings. The techs can't even do a safety check on a used pair of indemnified bindings.
Once the tech was convinced that I was not going to purchase his cheapest pair of bindings for $100 and that I truly was shit out of luck, he pointed me to a good ski shop that ignores the stupid rules. I walked into that shop and they didn't even bat an eyelash. My shit will be properly adjusted, inspected and tested by a professional. Thank goodness not everybody is a rule follower. They may be referred to as a less reputable shop, but they are needed. Hell, I like to think that I am "less reputable" myself sometimes.
Crisis averted. So my hard work on Craigslist paid off. I got an unused pair of boots (those things start at $200 in the stores), a proper pair of shaped skis and bindings that will be professionally adjusted, and a pair of poles for a grand total of $115. Hell yeah! At $20 a day to rent that stuff, it will be paid off in 6 trips up the hill.
We went to the mountains again last weekend. Stayed for free in the condo again. Jen and Steve stayed with us and their friends Jeff and Linda stayed in a condo right down the street. The boys got up Saturday and went to Beaver Creek. That place was awesome. Everything was really upscale. Apparently it is the 2nd wealthiest resort town behind Aspen. Then we all tried to go to Breckenridge on Sunday, but it was socked in. We drove over to Keystone and the conditions were great. Hell of a day I say, hell of a day.
Well I've managed to talk a group of people into going bowling. That is surprisingly hard to do. Off to roll!
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