REAL SKIERS FIRST ANNUAL EARLY SNOW GETAWAY

[Gary]

Hi All,
Well, we just ended 3 days of sweet conditions.......Mi chael, Ron, Lynn, myself and Ed at Beaver Creek, CO.

This trip was totally outstanding! We all skied together, ate together, laughed together, talked about gear and technique together.

Sooooooooooo many great stories to tell. Will wait for next week to fill you all in on my versions. We all got to meet Chris Anthony from Warren Miller fame. We skied groomers, bumps,  crud, powder, high speed and tight turns...what a real skiers blast! AND NO BIG CROWDS, NO LIFT LINES!!!!!

But wow...this is a must for an annual event. We are talking already about a 3 bedroom house next December in either Snowmass or Steamboat. More on this later.

The snow conditions for the snow we had were perfect, some sun, 20-35 degrees, just a beautiful begin the season get away.

OH Yeah, ask about the conveyor mishap, the loading of the chair disaster, our group drug supplier, the boot sex sound affects......

We are connected forever, we are brothers!

Next year...we be doing it again!

More to come!
Gary

[Barrettscv]

Early Season Happiness!

Gary probably didn?t realize it at the time, but when he invited me to Whistler to ski with him & Ed back in 2005; it was a life changing moment. I was unable to attend due to multiple commitments. I decided that THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOUR LIFE WHEN YOU CAN?T SKI WHISTLER DUE TO ?COMMITMENTS?!

When Ron extended an invitation to ski Beaver Creek in December, I knew I needed to go. Why not! High Mountain turns before Christmas; this should be a requirement for every skier!

Since nothing exceeds like excess, I decided to add a few extra days to the 3 day ski event in Beaver Creek. Why not start in Snowbird with local friends a week early? Why not invite my daughter, an ASU student, to ski with me in Utah & Colorado?

I was able to send my ski gear to Superior ski at Snowbird. I was hoping for an early season dump, so I sent the Volant Spatula, Dynastar Inspired by Nobis & Fischer Sceneio S500 ahead for binding & base work. It was nice to just pick-up the new-to-me gear in ready to go condition on December 07th and meet my local friends, Lynn & Peter Colgren to ski Snowbird. Jim Ratliff also was on hand along with a local friend of the Colgrens.

The weather was perfect with moderate temps and blue skis, but the snow was thin. Snowbird needs about 100 inches of snowfall to have sufficient coverage, and the YTD total was about 70 inches at that point. No matter, we were able to cruise the hardpack and we skied the empty slopes like it was a private giant slalom course. Lynn & Peter are excellent skiers and were very considerate to take us around. It was a day of rapid dissents and high speed cruising that was very enjoyable.

My Daughter and I drove to our next destination, Snowmass on the following day. Snowmass had excellent coverage and was also empty. I could ride the Big Burn chair and only see four skiers spread across thousands of acres. Candice & I continued our high speed hooligan skiing and enjoyed the town of Aspen. There is something very earthy about Aspen that the newer upscale resorts can?t match.

Karl a.k.a. ?Shreadhead? from Epic invited Candice & I for some extreme skiing at Ajax, but we bowed out. Karl has a beautiful single family home in Aspen and flew home to Chicago in a Corporate Jet. Some people have the life?

I skied Monday morning in Snowmass and enjoyed the falling snow. I think I skied 14000 vertical in about 3 hours. I then drove to Beaver Creek as the snow fell along Glenwood Canyon. Parts of I70 were later closed do to multiple accidents.

With my Daughter back in Tempe, I meet up with Ron, Ed & Gary for beer. We then drove to Beaver Creek Lodge, a palace of marble and fine fabrics. The Village is equally beautiful, a post-classical version of the perfect European Alpine Village.

The skiing was excellent. The combination of snowmaking, grooming and 10 inches of new snow made the conditions ideal.

Part II to follow.

[Ron]

it was truly an incredibly fun time. A great group to ski and hang with. Some great turns, great conditions and great folks. So many laughs along the way. I have some video which I have to figure out how to post. Some great footage of gary making his perfect PMTS turns!  Oh, by the way, Gary is a great skier but don't give him a video camera.......

[Ron]

Just wanted to add a comment regarding our skis. I cannot again stress how great the SuperShapes and 82 perform.  I think gary will be posting since it was his first time on the 82's but we were both skiing them on groomed soft snow. We made effortless, deeply carved turns at 40-50mph, The ski truly thinks its 70mm underfoot, making varied sized turns without hesitation.It was almost as much fun as the SuperShape. We did notice that in pockets of deeper powder, the RX8 floated much better. The SS however held better on steeper groomed/harder snow, especially on tight, slow turns. It just felt glued to the snow. Of course, there were optimal conditions for fast skiing and I had a blast ripin' it up with the gang. Micheal and Gary ski a bit faster than me but I was able to keep up with them well enough.

[Gary]

Ron..oh too kind....It was great to be with others who share the same passion.

I was a total screw up when using Rons camera...took me too many times to get used to it. Next time I promise to do better.\

Hey, maybe next time we could hire a Video guy for a day...now that's the ticket!

Gary

[midwif]

The list of support crew grows! First a ski caddy for the expansive quivers and now a video person!
Well, one way to promote this annual outing is the promise of weight loss!? I lost 5 lbs out there. Unfortunately I did not want to lose any weight. Next time I sleep at 8,000 ft, I'm going to get set up with a night time intravenous!

Guys, It was a blast skiing and eating with you. I think some awards are in order:

1. Best dressed on the slopes......Hands down, RON. Even the boots were beyond cool!
2. Best fall while moving the slowest.....Michael
3. Fastest skier.....Michael
4. Most beautiful turns......Gary (IMHO)
5. Best boot spreader.....Ed
6. Best ski technique advice, "don't think!"....Michael
7. Second best ski technique advice (to me) "ah, Lynn, lift some weight off that inside ski".....Gary
8. A special award to Ron for organizing the Beano's outing and for leading us on the mountain. I don't think we ever used a trail map!

So, is it Snowmass next year?
 Ginko, ginko ginko
Lynn

[Gary]

Hey Lynn,
It was a pleasure meeting you and skiing with you on our first annual outing....next year....ginko, a big house, boots that work, and maybe Steamboat or Snowmass.

Ed stopped in Dumont on the way out to have his boots worked on. Come to find out, his heel wasn't event getting back into the heel pocket.

Well, it was a terrific group with many memorable momments, more of which I hope we all can share down the road.

So........what have you done about your boots?


Gary

[midwif]

I stopped at Dumont on my way out also. Harald kept them and worked on them based on the issues. More grinding, shaved down footbed, slimmed down boot board etc. He called me Saturday night to tell me that Diana had put them on to check for toe space and that her bigger feet had some room. Harald is mailing me the boots and I will spend some time  walking around the house with them on prior to skiing to check the fit!

I want to say again how great it was of you guys to let me  join in the fun! Especially coming back to spring-like temps with with no snow in sight. I am glad I took the plunge and got a few days of real skiing in.

There are some lovely pictures of you and your daughter, Gary. Frameable! Too bad we didn't think of a photo-op when Chris Anthony stopped by to chat.

Lynn

[Ron]

Thanks for the award!  I really think the "best fall" award should be expounded upon  

Micheal, standing on the people mover taking us across the bridge to Strawberry lift, is playing with his new Demo toys, the Dynastars, its not enough to look at them though, Michael decides to turn around on the people mover, this is not a good idea, his tip catches and Micheal goes down hard!  The lifty hits the emergency stop and theres not a dry eye in the area!  He's a good sport and takes his well-deserved abuse like a champ. 

Lynne, you get most dramatic improvement!  You jumped up two levels, awesome job in the crud and you can dish it out with the best of them,

Now about the boot thing........ I'll defer to another to another to tell that story.

[Gary]

Ok Lynn....I'm just hoping the boots can be put on your feet by just you and not two men my size or just one Ed!

Ok, Ron......you must admit Michaels fall was graceful and that the same move would have produced spectacular results in the half pipe!

Right Ron, Lynn looked soooo comfortable in the crud and groomers? by the last day...well except for her numb feet.

Ron...carving some awesome high speed turns dancing all over the mountain. Ron is a strong skier who is a? quick learner especially in the bumps and crud. What was truly great was the passion our group had for challenging ourselves and talking about ski skills and gear.

Oh yeah...and about that boot thing Ron was referring to...uh..no...I'm not going there!

[Ron]

Who is going to tackle the boot thing? 

OK, overheard in the hallway while Lynn was putting her boots on with Ed's help


Ohh, oh, yes, almost there

Yes, I think I'm in

Yes! It's in!

The ski tech almost fell over himself running to the doorway to see what was going on. I almost peed in my pants laughing so hard.

[midwif]

Hey, what happened to "what happens at the Beav, stays at the Beav?" 
Let's just be accurate then. There were no Oooh's.  There were only arrgghs of effort in getting the danged feet into the damn boots.
Ski caddy, videographer and boot valet. The essentials of any ski trip!
Lynn

[Gary]

I hear ya Lynn.....and let's let everyone know...Ron did pee his pants!

He's a brazen young lad that dresses to kill....

Still, ooohs or arrgghs...the cacophony of primal sounds was enough to turn many heads!

Unfortunately, I think this particular memorable moment shall be a one time event.......ONCE THOSE DAMN BOOTS are finally fixed.

Hmmm....maybe we should set you up to help Ron put on a spandex Race suit!

That thought is just ticklin' me inside!!!!!!!


Bary

[midwif]

Just how tight a spandex suit are we talking?
Revenge is sweet.
Lynn

[Ron]

Hmm, I will aquiesse but I think there was some grunting....

Gary, I peed on my ski's not my pants!  Important lesson for the kids, when peeing in the trees, make sure you make a reverse wedge with your skis!