Skiing, Biking, Learning

Those are the three things I've been doing since posting. Well, maybe there are a couple more in there- working, sleeping, eating, you know, the usual. Those, however, are the most important. And, I thoroughly enjoy those three together.

Skiing: A couple of friends came up from Fort Collins two weekends ago and we headed out to the Basin (as us locals call it...I mean, it sounds far more "in" than A-Basin and exponentially better than Arapahoe Basin. So if you're visiting and are heading up Loveland Pass to ski, make sure it's the "Basin" you're referencing. [Just a tip])

Roxanne, Me, and Keeley in the short lift line. Can't you tell?

Luckily it was Keystone's opening weekend, so the lift lines at the Basin (see how I slipped that in, doesn't it sound like I'm in the know?) were pretty fast. We headed up the Exhibition Lift and headed straight for the Norway lift. The snow was decent, the day was unbelievable and we were having fun. In the lift lines we were practicing our best pick up lines and luckily a guy heard us and decided to use it on me on the way up the lift. Another guy turned around in line and told us we were "a hoot," which of course, we already knew as we had accompaniment from the chair in front of us while we were singing Don't Stop Believing the run before.

I mean, we just look fun.

I had to head out early to get to work, but for the first day of skiing, I was satisfied. Especially when dinner was ready for me, complete with table setting and tea lights when I got home that evening.

Biking: The next week was warm and sunny so a friend and I headed out to a trail in Dillon and rode our mountain bikes again.

Sara stuffing dog food in her bike bag. We like to attract bears.

The mountains were brilliant against the blue of the sky and the trees actually looked green.

Looking at Baldy and Quandary from across the county

(I guess most of the trees still look brown)

We both agreed it felt good to be out on our bikes before the snow really comes. The most exciting part of the ride though, was when we found a bear track. I used to bike alone quite often on the trails behind Summit Cove, and being afraid (ok, terrified- it might be a phobia) of bears, I would constantly be finding "bear tracks" in the mud. On closer investigation they were always footprints. But, truly, this time we went back and it looked like this: bear print. There was only one, but the ground was pretty hard.

Smiling before finding the bear print

Sara and Maddie, the real reason we had dog food

Skiing (again, it's what we do): Last Thursday was Breck's opening day, as Andy posted, and we definitely walked our eight minute walk up to the base and enjoyed some pancakes. Neither of us could ski that day, we had to be at work, but Timmy and Margo from The Main Street Outlet took one run and said it was great for opening day. I headed out on Saturday and though it was crowded, we took three runs and enjoyed getting out for the day.

Learning: Saturday night was the Colorado Avalanche Information Center's Benefit Bash (yes, those are two separate links). The only thing anyone could talk about during the day on Saturday was the benefit, so I figured I should go check it out. It was a fundraiser, complete with sick give aways like free skis from Fat-ypus, a sick ski company here in Summit County, and gnarly backcountry skis from G3, as well as trekking poles, packs, coffee, and jackets. Pretty much anything you need when you want to say, "yeah yeah gnar gnar shred some pow pow" and send it off a cornice. Anyway, everyone who is anyone in Breck was there- I swear I saw everyone I know in this town, including my cousin, which I was stoked about. There were vendors set up such as- Mountain Outfitters, Mammut, and Berthoud Pass Backcountry, where you could check out their products and they could feed you all their techy info while you sipped on your three free drinks and ate free food with your 2000 closest friends, all while it dumped outside. I would say that is a damn good night.

P.S. Check out this awesome blog from a college friend living in Crested Butte. Please don't defect blogs now that you've read his, though:
Tales from the Midcountry It's also linked on our sidebar.