Category — Non-NZ Adventures

Saturday was amazing! The weather was great, the snow was deep, the company was gung-ho. What more could I ask for from winter? We got to Jay around 9:30 (a little later than I hoped). The parking lots were overflowing, a feat I have never seen in my 5 years riding there. So many people, but there was enough snow to be able to ride fresh powder all day. Nothing beats the feeling of carving turns between trees without having a single edge catch anything remotely resembling a solid surface.

A true “Jay day” and the reason I wake up and ride when I can.

Katie and me on the headwall at Jay Peak (picture courtesy Mr. Sykes)

side note: listen to Amadou & Mariam

Haven’t had a time to post in a little while. Since I got back I have just been swamped with homework etc. Back from where you say?

I’ll tell you where. Someplace warm. A place where the beer flows like wine. Where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I’m talking about a little place called Aspen Boulder.

CO was beautiful. Just makes me want to move out west more than I did. It’s bike friendly, snowboard friendly, hiking friendly, and just plain friendly. We went riding for two days in the warm sun and great snow. Sunday we went hiking in tee shirts. Where else can you do that?! It was surreal, to say the least, to experience two of my favorite pass-times in different seasons in a single weekend never driving more than an hour and a half from Boulder. I never expected Colorado to surpass my expectations. I’ve heard nothing but praise my whole life about the quality of snow and climate. But man, who could have imagined it would be THIS good!

Snowboarding was a little crowded on Saturday, but it was a long holiday weekend so it was to be expected. The family side of Winter Park was a mess of people in overpriced outdoor gear standing in lines and falling over in place. We strayed away from that. We mainly rode Mary Jane (the other side of the mountain, the one with amazing tree riding and a bowl!)

The next day we woke up and I kid you not it was probably 60 deg and sunny out. Bailey grabbed her day hiking book and we set out someplace. We had a great day hiking and soaking in some CO scenery. We came back and made some home made some high-elevation pizza (the dough rises funny at elevation.)

Monday I made my way back to boston. I have nothing but good things to say about Jet Blue and CO.

Pictures to come VERY soon (pizza pics included).

I’m having a blast here in CO. The weather is great, the people are great, and most importantly the snow is great.

Bailey, some of her friends, and myself went up to Winter Park today for some weekday riding. It got kind of busy, but the mountain is big enough that it’s not noticeable. It was in the 30′s and sunny even up on the peak of the mountain (sorry New England). Not a cloud in the sky and I got a tan!

When we got back to Bailey’s place, I started getting an intense headache. Thinking it was dehydration, I started chugging glass after glass of watter. Before I knew it, I was peeing clear and no subsiding in the headache. Then we figured it out. The elevation of the seamingly flat Boulder.  CO is over 5,000 feet above sea level. That is bigger than pretty much every mountain in VT. Living here for over 24 hours, the elevation finally caught up to me in the form of a blistering headache. I broke my rule and took some Advil. Lesson learned. (whatever that may be).

Things I forgot to bring:

• Bailey’s sun glasses that have been sitting on my bureau for the past 4 months
• My bottom base layer (I’m borrowing a pair so don’t fret mom)
• A book
• A CAMERA!!!!

At least I have a phone camera. I’ll try to borrow one for tomorrow.