It begins!

Today, the kids and I drove to Wolf Creek ski resort east of Bayfield to build upon our downhill experience. I cannot expect to be in the back country tomorrow if we cannot apply simple downhill skills at a resort today.

Stage one: get them comfortable skiing downhill and learning the basics of snowboarding.

The pictures below are of a simple slope within Wolf Creek that the Nova chair lift accesses. The newbie slope is perfect for learning novice snowboarding skills and is ideal for Tyler and Brianna. Skiing only this lift costs $20 dollars and I felt a fairly reasonable price. Lessons are also available; however, the expense is now $60 dollars for lessons including the Nova lift, this seemed a bit more expensive and we decided not to attend the lessons.

Tyler and Brianna researched the web for the basics of snowboarding and felt comfortable applying their book knowledge. After I felt confident they were on a path of progression I decided to go explore the resort's more difficult slopes and it went better than I thought. What can I say, I am a stud.

I returned from the various slopes to check upon Tyler and Brianna. I noticed many snowboarding lessons were ongoing and I thought to myself "those suckers are paying so much for lessons, pfft. who needs them!". Tyler and Brianna smiled as I approached and excitedly informed me of their learning. "Dad, we have been sitting out of noticeable view from these classes instructors and picked up tips for free!" Oh boy, my brain spun and I had mixed emotions when I heard of their frugal action: one, I felt like a cheap bastard and two, I was quite impressed with their perseverance. Life goes on...

Here is Brianna: her first EVER day of snowboarding. Click any of the pics to view the full size image.


She already looks like a PRO!


Tyler and Brianna decided to do a synchronized downhill.


It was a BEA-utiful day, not a cloud in the sky!


Tomorrow we will be heading back for locals day; a cheaper price is a result of this special day! Rebecca will be with us displaying her downhill skills!

Anniversary Hike

We decided to go on a hike/snowshoeing celebrating 17 years of marriage. We were really looking for any excuse to go explore and the anniversary excuse seemed fitting. We revisited the hike I completed yesterday with Matt. Thanks again Matt for sharing this route.

Here is the crew on snowshoes and Tyler looking too serious. The temperature was in the upper 30s with a storm heading our way; we could feel the wind velocity increasing while the sun was playing hide and seek. Thankfully for the first part of the hike you climb from 7900 to 8350 allowing the heart rate to increase and keeping us warmer!

We found a decent overlook at the 8350'ish look. The trail would continue on into the Weminuche Wilderness. We have plans to definitely explore this much further! As I mentioned in the picasa editorial. There is something about visiting the mountains, sitting, relaxing, and eating food. Everything tastes, smells, and feels better. Maybe I am an becoming an addict, but I will wear that badge with pride.

Color coordinated, smiling and happy. Once again, what more can you ask for?



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Mental break.

I felt like exploring some new areas. Matt suggested exploring a drainage near Vallecito Reservoir. The trail head begins North of Vallecito within the San Juan and enters the Weminuche Wilderness. The dryer month of January has made for some beautiful sunny days hovering around 40 degrees. These sunny days alter the snows behavior; hiking with the snowshoes feels like walking on Creme Brulee. One moment you are walking on top of the snow, next moment you broke through the harder top layer and sink into the underlying layers.

Here we have Matt and Samson striking a pose overlooking what I think is Vallecito creek around 8000 feet.

Same overlook as above, to my right is the drainage (Vallecito Creek) it was a decent drop. The picture does not do it justice. Notice the ice formations on the bottom left of the picture.

Looking up the Gorge in the general direction off Irvine Peak (13051ft)

All in all, it was a great relaxing mellow hike, (much needed, thanks Matt) Today, I just purchased a decent set Backcountry skiing. Karhu BC 100s, beacon, skins etc. I am itching to get skiing again, especially in the backcountry further away from folks. (Am I turning into hermit or was always one by nature?)

Tyler and Brianna now both have snowboards; I am hoping they get into the lifestyle and want split boards in their near future. Rebecca expressed interest and wants to start skiing as well. One day, maybe we will be a complete backcountry family!

2009 Parental visit

My parents decided to visit the wild wild west; they visited Durango, CO our new home during the first few days of new year of 2009.

With concerns of exposing my parents to relatively higher altitudes while enduring physical exertion we decided to take my parents cross-country skiing, snowshoeing roughly (at 8000 feet) and end the trip with a bang by spending the night in a Yurt (at a mere 10500 feet.)


Day 1, cross-country skiing Vallecito Reservoir.

The area is beautiful for cross-country skiing (classic or skate skiing) My assumptions were to climitize the "sea-dwellers" with some easy skiiing.

At one point we saw an Eagle flying over the reservoir, a common site seen by regulars.

The reservoir is actually behind the models covered by snow.