Spring Thaw

At long last, my winter events season is officially over. And I have to admit, I am ready for some warm sun. The past couple of months have been amazing, but I won't miss my snow boots...

That being said, I had a great time back in my old stomping grounds in Utah last weekend. The Freeskiing World Tour Championships wrapped up on Saturday, so I took up an offer from a friend of mine to join her in Park City for a day of snowboarding. It was a bluebird 60 degree day, which led to some mashed potato snow at the end of the afternoon, but we got in some solid hours of good riding (along with a few beers, but of course!).

Snowboarding has definitely been a fun new challenge. Ashley absolutely kicked my butt, but she also gave me some helpful hints. Overall, it was the perfect way to wrap up my winter season. When you have views like this, you really can't complain....

Next stop: Santa Cruz! Bring on the mountain bikes, soft sand, warm water, and sunshine!

Kirkwood Parts I & II

So far, all I can think about from last weekend is the tragic outcome of Sunday's competition. Big mountain skiing and snowboarding is obviously full of risk, but you rarely see it take someone's life during a competition. On Sunday, Ryan Hawks, a 25-year-old competitor from Vermont, attempted a backflip off of a 40 foot cliff, but wasn't able to pull his body around fully for a solid landing. Though I wasn't up there myself to witness this, many people I spoke to described it as what equated to a belly flop off a huge drop-off. Ryan gave the crowd a thumbs up before being carried away in a helicopter, but sadly he passed away Tuesday morning due to the injuries he sustained on the mountain. You can read more about the accident here.

The entire community has been shaken by this tragic accident. It will be interesting to feel out the mood up at Kirkwood this weekend as we gather there again for the big mountain snowboarding competition. My heart is definitely heavy this week as I think about all the incredible athletes I've met throughout the season and how much passion they have for their sport. I have to give credit to the event producers at Mountain Sports International who always make safety a top priority for their competitions. I guess some things are just beyond your control.

Aside from this tragic accident, the rest of the weekend was pretty good for me. Sierra Nevada was sponsoring Squaw Valley Prom (picture a huge party for big kids who like the mountains), so I was able to enjoy that with a few friends after making sure our brewery business was all taken care of. We spent the night in Truckee and woke up to a bluebird day in Squaw. This time, I grabbed some skis and finally got to test out my new boots! It felt good to be back on skis where I didn't have to think so much about what I was doing. The snowboarding is on hold again til next weekend...

Meanwhile, just one more weekend in Kirkwood, then off to the Freeskiing Championships in Utah, and then my winter season is essentially wrapped up. I should have a few weekends in a row at my house in San Francisco, so I'm looking forward to a little down time before the wave of warm-weather events is upon us. I have to admit, I'm ready for the thaw after months of ice and snow!

Small-town Colorado and Lake Tahoe

The town of Crested Butte hosted me for a whole 5 days last week for yet another stop of the Freeskiing World Tour competition. This resort was the birthplace of this tour 20 years ago, so there was a lot of love surrounding the entire event.

I flew in and out of Grand Junction, Colorado, which isn't too far from the Utah border. And just 20 miles from Crested Butte is the town of Gunnison, whose basketball and volleyball teams we played many-a-time during my years of high school athletics at Rowland Hall. Small world.

The highlight of my week was undoubtedly the amazing home-cooked meal I enjoyed with the VP of Marketing and Events for the Mt. Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce. He's organizing a mountain biking competition in town this summer, and rather than doing a standard business call or meetup for drinks, he invited me into his home. His wife made homemade pasta with alfredo sauce, and then we dug into homemade berry cheesecake for dessert. Now THAT is the way to do business!

Here are a few pics from the awards ceremony...the one of the three female winners swigging their Sierra Nevada Pale Ales is probably my favorite photo of the season thus far.

Now I'm finally local, with the next two weekends in Kirkwood, CA. A huge storm is predicted to blow through tonight and tomorrow, so we'll have some fresh "pow" for the weekend. I've got an event at Squaw Saturday night, and I'm hoping to get in a full day of snowboarding on Sunday with a few friends for a welcome day off.

And just because I work for Sierra Nevada doesn't mean I can't enjoy other brews. In case you're looking for a seasonal recommendation, I had a super tasty beer from Deschutes Brewery up in Oregon. Their Red Chair NWPA is definitely one to try while it's on the shelves.

Expert Terrain Only...

I had a great trip up to Crystal Mountain this week. The resort is just a few hours outside Seattle--the area itself is pretty remote, but the mountain is pretty big and I got a solid day of skiing in with my friend Krystal who lives just north of Seattle at the moment. We caught a super clear day with sunny, blue skies and decently warm weather.

We were feeling adventurous enough to try to make it to where the competition (North Face Masters of Snowboarding) was being held. We were given directions to go to the top of one of the highest lifts at the resort, where we could catch a traverse across a huge bowl, then drop over a ridge to the base of the spectator venue. On the left is the peak they were dropping down...probably one of the scariest pieces of terrain I've ever seen.

On the right, you can see the bowl we had to traverse to get over to the competition. Let's just say it was one of the most challenging runs I've ever done in my life. We stood at the top of the lift for 15 minutes debating whether or not we should download on the lift or go ahead and try to make the ridiculous journey down and across the bowl. Needless to say, we went for it. Krystal almost made it but bailed when she slipped off the traverse path on her snowboard. I managed to keep my ski tips on safe ground and proudly dropped into the spectator area for a much-needed breather.

Regardless of the journey across the bowl, the view from the top of the lift was simply spectacular. We had a crystal clear shot of Mt. Ranier not far in the distance, and that sight alone made the whole thing worth it.

Overall, it was a fantastic couple of days to catch up with a few old friends, ski a new resort, and complete another successful event for Sierra Nevada. I've got this weekend OFF so of course I'm headed up to Tahoe with friends...making the most of the snow this winter season.

Evenin' Mountain Adventure

At about 4pm yesterday, I decided I needed to get my blood moving so I wandered down to the hotel gym. I plopped down on the stationary bike, thinking I would get some reading done while I mindlessly pedaled. Not two minutes into it, I realized I was literally in the last place on earth I wanted to be at that moment. Here I am, surrounded by beautiful mountains, and I'm in the hotel gym?! Unacceptable.

I bolted back up to my room, threw on my warm clothes, and trekked out the back door of the hotel, straight onto the ski slopes of the resort. My goal was to reach the top of the ridge in time for sunset.

Turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. I huffed it up the cat track and wound my way up past the bottom two chairlifts. What ensued over the course of the next hour was pure sunset brilliance--I was speechless as I witnessed all these brilliant colors light up the sky.

The Great Outdoors, & Jackson Hole

Jackson Hole has got to be one of my favorite little Western towns around. I've been up here a number of times during the warm Wyoming summers, but this is my first winter experience. I walked off the plane to blue skies, warm sun, and snowy mountain peaks all around.

I had a chance to wander downtown yesterday and try some local brew at Snake River Brewing Company--they had a solid Pale Ale which washed down my sausage sampler quite nicely.

I capped off the night at a local bar where I watched Obama's State of the Union and then nabbed a pool table for some quality chill time.

I took a couple of long walks yesterday, choosing to trudge through the snow-covered neighborhood streets rather than hopping on the large bus that runs between the resort and downtown Jackson Hole. On my way back from town last night, I was surrounded by cold air, huge mountains, bright stars, and nothing but the sound of snow crunching beneath my boots.

It reminded me how incredible it is to have these awesome outdoor spaces where we can play, camp, hike, explore, and generally escape from the world. I want to give a huge shout out to my family, and particularly my grandpa Tom (far right below), and Grandma Margie (far left) for making the outdoors such an essential and central experience in their children's and grandchildren's lives.

I'm the little one in green here, stoked to be up in the High Country in Yosemite, our family's favorite place in the world. The only other place that truly rivals Yosemite is Grand Teton National Park, just an hour away from where I'm sitting now. How lucky I am to have an opportunity to visit all these magnificent places...

Snowbirding Complete. Next Stop: Jackson, WY

It was a beautiful weekend up at Snowbird resort in Utah. We had two amazing, sunny days and one day with 75 mph winds and constant snowfall. They cancelled the competition on the bad weather day, which allowed me to sneak in an afternoon of snowboarding. I gotta say--I loved it, despite being dubious of the sport from my experience 8 years ago...

The competition was incredibly fun to watch and I've enjoyed meeting the athletes between rounds. They're so talented and yet so relaxed and humble at the same time. It's refreshing and inspiring, to say the least.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves for this event. Oh, and if you click on them, they should open up in a new window in your browser and they'll be all big and pretty.

Here you'll see the booth where I "live" on the weekends, some athletes, some beer, some beer showers, and the obligatory sunset shot...