My GPS tells me I hit a maximum of 31.7mph on the slopes today, although I'm pretty sure that's bogus. I was definitely going much faster than that at one point. Conditions were great, though (except a bit of concrete here and there). Too bad the hill will be mobbed...
My brain is toast and I can't think of anything else to post about. Enjoy this shot I took of the backside at Stevens....
Rob and I hit Stevens Pass today. The snow was killer and the conditions were great until about 1pm, when the storm rolled in. GPS track is at right....
Stevens Pass is open for 2009. Sweet....
Rob and I split town early this morning to get some boarding in at Mount Baker. Baker is a 3+ hour drive, but is cheap and huge, and is far enough north that it gets tremendous snow. Unfortunately, it also got a lot of rain today, which made the ride...
I recently renewed my season pass to Stevens Pass ski area and cupcake factory. Now that the summer is winding down I'm stoked for the snow. I'm actually not expecting a great year. Last year's season started late but also went really late, so it all netted out. Unfortunately, the...
This is the GPS track from Saturday's riding adventure up at Stevens Pass. I hit 36mph coming around the big sweeping bend on the bottom of the map just to the right of center....
I wore my heart rate monitor today while snowboarding. We were on the slopes for a total of four hours—including some back-country trudging through the snow—and in all I racked up a whopping 5667 burned calories. ...although I forgot to turn the watch off after the run, so this included...
Rich and I went snowboarding today. The mountain has gotten above freezing nearly every day this last week, and the cycle of melting and freezing has resulted in awful conditions. The groomed runs were rock-hard and slick, and the areas where the powder usually is was covered in big frozen...
...that boy needs therapy. I was kicked out of my office today for the move so ... I went snowboarding. The conditions today were awful. The temperature came up and the rain came down, and the powder all turned to slush. The only thing worse than slushy snow is concrete...
I didn't go snowboarding today. And I don't think I'll have a chance to go this weekend, either. So here's a shot of the mountain that I took earlier this week....
Rob and I went up to Stevens Pass today and boarded—mostly on the backside of the mountain. Conditions were spectacular. Stevens has switched to RFID ski passes for this year, and I've made two mistakes so far:I put my pass somewhere other than my front-left jacket pocket. The machines are...
I got up to the slopes today for the first time this season. I have my own gear and pass this year, and it makes things go so much more smoothly. No more dealing with rentals, and no more standing at the ticket counter. Unfortunately, my new boots chewed up...
OK technically we still have a few weeks. But the commute is starting to get dark and dumb, and snow is starting to accumulate up at Stevens Pass. I expect I'm going to have a full week of vacation I need to burn by the end of the year, so...
I bought a snowboard today. Somewhat surprisingly, the ski clearance sale I went to didn't have a ton of freeride boards—it was all freestyle junk and girlie boards. But they had this one hiding in the pile—it's a 157, which is a little shorter than I was looking for—but it's...
The thing about snowboarding is that it's easy to rack up 3000 dietary calories of exercise while hitting the slopes for a few hours. My heart rate monitor indicated 2500 calories today, and I didn't take things as roughly as I have been lately. So at the end of the...
Rich, Manuel, and I went snowboarding this last weekend at Stevens Pass. Awesome. The coolest part was that on the back side of the mountain (specifically, down the Gemini run) clouds engulfed everything and took visibility to under 100', in places. The shot at right wasn't even the worst of...
I lost a glove last night the night before last on the slopes. I was originally annoyed, but the more I think about it, the more I realize this is a good thing. My gloves (err...glove) is a generic black glove branded solely with "Thinsulate" which I got sometime when...
It turns out that the Snoqualmie ski area is bedecked in flood lamps and is open for skiing until 10pm most nights. Snoqualmie is also comparably close to Microsoft (45 minute drive), so leaving immediately after work to hit the slopes for a few hours is totally within the realm...
At least, I'm not embarrassingly bad at it anymore. I'm able to make my way down two of the blue runs at Stevens Pass, and really only fall over when I've decided I need to let it hang out a little. ...so I wrote this big long post about how...
I got a chance to go snowboarding at Crystal Mountain today which is good, because prior to now, the only place I've been boarding or skiing in Washington has been at Stevens Pass. Crystal is huge and is about as far away from me at Stevens...but this early in the...
P.S. What's with this goober?...
Snowboarding, much like sailing or driving, benefits greatly from speed. The greater the pressure on the various involved components (from the board all the way up to my legs), the greater the stability and amount of available control. I think most of it can be attributed to getting all of...
I'm back, and I'm sore. Particularly, my right forearm is sore, ostensibly from falling on it (once) and from using it to pick myself back up from falling on my ass (many, many times). My legs are also practically useless at this point. Fantastic. The only thing to note is...
Snowboarding early tomorrow morning, then a full day of work. Story at 11 tomorrow....
I'm back from my latest snowboarding adventure. After two two-hour lessons (one last week and one today) I think I can get down the hill with only a few falls. Gnarly. Since I'm really damned sore (primarily in the arms this time—which is odd) I'll end this here. Ow....
Yes, I'm headed back up to the slopes tomorrow. Unlike last time, I'll be wearing a fully-fledged snowboarding helmet, which I'll need because I'll be strapped to a bona-fide snowboard that's both long and waxed. For those of you from Jamaica, long + waxed == quick. Also on the upside,...
Oh, ow. For the love of god, ow. My calves hurt more than at any other point in my life thus far. They hurt so much that the pain is traversing my entire frame until it hits my fingers and makes it hard to type. Ow ow, ow ow ow....
If memory serves correctly, I've been skiing exactly twice in the past. Once was when I was 12 and resulted in skiing into the fence at the bottom of the bunny hill. Once was when I was in college, and resulted enough damage that my left knee still clicks from...
