We got 3 or 4 inches of snow last night so the morning runs were a lot of fun. We hit the Study Plots first and then found good snow on Elephant Tree to Paintbrush to Toilet Bowl. Today I skied my Pocket Rockets and the shorter skis and better snow made me feel much better about my skiing. Then I saw the blind skier and his guide doing all the same trails we were doing and I didn't feel like such a BA (i.e., bad ass). Yesterday we saw the same guy skiing the steep bumps in Cheyenne Bowl. I skied down after him and fell, so when I got to the bottom I told Michael that I fell because I was skiing with my eyes closed to experience what blind skiing was like.
Triangle Trees had the best snow of the day and we found enough snow for two runs of fresh tracks, but you had to ski fast and stay in front of the kids or the six cousins would totally snake all the best lines. Chris totally wiped out below Triangle Trees and a few seconds later, in a show of Sellew Solidarity, his brother Eric took a header and lost a ski.
Michael tells me I make too many turns and ski too slow. He challenged me to a race back to the Teton Club for lunch. So I said, ok, and took off skiing about as fast as I comfortably could. Next thing I know Michael rockets past me in a tuck. Michael kept looking back and later told me he thought I gave up, but I dropped into a tuck and slowly overtook him, passing him just yards before the finish line.
The twelve of us ate lunch at our suite at the Teton Club. We had roasted parsnip and butternut squash soup, and broiled flank steak wrapped in tortillas with veggies and guacamole. Yum. And we were back on the slopes skiing less than an hour after we came in for lunch.
The afternoon we skied Casper Bowl and Ranger and watched the cousins get air off the cat track and in the terrain park. This year, Michele and Nicholas are the big air champs.
The kids are all growing up. Several years ago, at Copperas Pond in the Adirondacks, we jumped off a big rock into the water. Michael was afraid to jump and I remember calling up to him, "Come on. Don't be scared. It's fun. You'll like it." Today Michael skied off a rock on Ranger, but I hesitated on top of the rock. Michael called back to me, "Come on. It's easy. You have to do it."
Check out our new goggles. Michael's goggles were all scratched up and my goggles didn't work well with my helmet so Michael helped me pick out these Spy goggles and he inherited my cool Dragon goggles.
Julie says "Nyah, Nyah. I have Dragon goggles and you don't." Julie also says to remind her not to buckle her boots too tight. Yesterday, she suffered from the Burpee "sunk cost" affliction.Here's a bonus video of Julie skiing down Toilet Bowl. The Ganja Cave is in the background. Toilet Bowl is only moderately steep, but unfortunately this video makes it look as flat as our backyard.
Apres ski we got together with some friends from home. Bob has two sons, Trevor and Zach, who are close friends of our boys. We sat on the balcony sharing a drink and discussing family vacations. Bob is here with two brothers and their kids. Julie is here with two sisters and their kids. One of my favorite vacations was the cross country trip I took with my family when I was in junior high school. The highlight was a three-day backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon. I dream of taking my children to the Grand Canyon for a week of white water rafting and hiking the side canyons.
Dinner was tofu chili from the magic fridge. Mimi planned a week of interesting and healthy meals for us; Chef Al prepared delicious food and froze it. Now we can just heat it up and enjoy. Thanks Mimi and Frank! The only sour note at dinner was Mama Mia playing on the DVD in the background (just kidding) after the kids finished eating and the adults were discussing important issues like the face of evil and solutions to the world's economic and ecological problems.
Tomorrow, Frank is taking Julie, Michael, and me out of bounds to ski Cody Peak. So we packed our shovels, probes, and beacons and are ready for adventure. Hope I can get to sleep tonight. This video is of Cody Peak, but we ski a different line, off-camera to the looker's right. OK, so that was just insane, but this video shows Four Shadows which is also on Cody Peak and we skied it last year. (Corbet's Couloir is also shown in the video, and, no, I haven't skied it, but Melissa, my 13-year-old niece, has.) Tomorrow we will probably ski No Shadows, the chute to the right of shadow in the photo above.
I found this photo of No Shadows in the TGR forums. Follow the link for a lot of other good Jackson Hole photos. I'm getting cliffed out just looking. Better get to sleep now.
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