Life of a Happy Middle-Aged Guy

100k down; 200, 300, 400, and 600k to go

2009-04-18T14:11:00.001-07:00

Today was the season opener of the Boston Brevets Series, nominally 100 km, but the route was actually 68 miles.
Fifty-five of us left at 8 AM and rode to Sterling and then back to Hanscom. (Maps of route out and route back)

It was a beautiful ride, especially around Hudson, Bolton, Sterling, Harvard, and Boxborough. Since I didn't have a camera, I'll have to use the thousand words equivalent.

Photo 1 - British Redcoats and Colonial Soldiers mustering in front of their SUVs in Concord.
Photo 2 - Two men pruning the bushes at a blueberry farm.
Photo 3 - Smokey Bear holding a sign "Today's Forest Fire Risk: Very High"; in the background smoke rises above the trees.
Photo 4 - A tree with its branches broken off, but still hangin to the trunk. One of many damaged trees. Most yards had piles of broken branches.
Photo 5 - One of the many men cleaning up downed trees with chainsaws and chippers.
Photo 6 - A bonfire burning in the side yard. Only one of the fifty or so fires I saw in the towns out past I-495. Celebrating Earth Day?
Photo 7 - Hundreds of cars parked at the Minute Man National Historic Park to see the battle reenactment.

I finished with an official time of 4 hours 8 minutes. After a winter of driving to work (gasp), I just got back on the bike 5 days ago, so I was happy finish. And very happy I drove to the start and wouldn't have to ride home like last year.
On the way out, I was in a fast group led by a couple on a tandem. The group included Justin (a long distance specialist from Lincoln Labs), three tri-chicks, and a guy from Minuteman Road Club. About a mile from the checkpoint, we saw a small group of three riders already heading back. They were the only riders ahead of us.
On the way back I couldn't keep the pace, so I sat up and enjoyed the scenery. Near the end another tandem-led group caught me so I finished with them. The three bikes in this group were interesting. The tandem was a DaVinci with Independent Drive which allows the captain and stoker to pedal at different cadences. Bruce Ingle (past Boston Brevet organizer) was on a fixed gear. In contrast to Bruce's stripped down bike, the third bike was ridden by Mr. Gizmo. He had a giant GPS on the handlebars, and a power meter. He had a hub generator for head and tail lights, and a battery pack for backup lights (and this ride was all in daylight). He had an underseat pack for tools and another toolkit that fit in his water bottle cage. And a backpack. And fenders, of course.

The 200k is in three weeks.

Fwd: Fresh from the Oven

2009-03-31T06:16:00.001-07:00

Pane Siciliano recipe from The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart

Pate Fermentee

Makes 16 oz, enough for 1 batch of Pane Siciliano.

2 ¼ C flour
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp instant yeast
¾ C water

stir ingredients until makes a coarse ball.
knead for 4 – 6 minutes.
put in covered bowl and ferment at room temp for 1 hour.
put bowl in refrigerator overnight (or up to 3 days).

Pane Siciliano

Traditionally baked as an S-shaped loaf, it can also be used for pizza dough (6 x 8 oz crusts), small rolls, or breadsticks.

3 C pate fermentee
3 ½ C flour
1 ¼ tsp salt
1 ¼ tsp yeast
2 Tbl olive oil
1 Tbl honey
1 ½ C water

remove pate fermentee from refrigerator for 1 hour
add ingredients to pate fermentee and mix
knead for 10 minutes
ferment at room termp for 2 hours

for pizza divide into 4 pieces

shape into balls
toss into air to spin into crusts
add toppings
put in 500F oven for 8 minutes

for bread div into 3 pieces as for baguettes

extend to about 24 inches
coil dough from both ends to make S-shape
spray with water and sprinkle with sesame seeds
allow to ferment for an hour or so
put in 500F oven
add 1 cup or boiling water to steam pan
reduce oven to 450F
bake for ~15 minutes
rotate and bake another 10-15 minutes

Photos of the bread deleted because I exceeded my Picassa storage limit.

Beautiful Lies at The Real School of Music

2009-03-27T19:33:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Lies was the featured band at The Real School of Music tonight. These four guys met at Berklee College of Music and play some very good original music. Phil on bass and Dave on drums lay down a heavy bass beat that you can feel in your chest. Brothers Zach and Nick play guitars and sing. They closed their set with "Save Yourself" and the guitars were screaming.

My photos of Beautiful Lies were blurry, so you'll have to make do with this photo of the bass player's cool shoes.

It was another fun, fun concert in a small space with excellent acoustics. Afterward we chatted with the band and learned a bit about how they write songs; they also signed their CD for us. If you live near Burlington, MA you should really check out the concerts at The Real School of Music. Sometime soon (probably May) Enter the Haggis will be returning for a concert with The XXX Brothers. The brothers' name isn't XXX; I just don't remember what it is. But you should remember to come to the concert.

And Architecture opened. Good luck in the Battle of the Bands.

The opening band tonight was And Architecture, four boys from Winchester High School. They got a chance to play at The Real School because they are finalists in the Winchester Battle of the Bands. The lead singer / drummer is my friend's son. I used to babysit this guy when he was a toddler; now he's playing in a band and writing songs. Cool!

I took some photos and a couple of videos, but the quality is embarrassingly poor. Groupies and parents can find the photos here, and the videos here(AA#1), here(AA#2), here(BL#1), and here(BL#2). If you want better photos, chip in for a Digital SLR camera to replace my Sony Cyber-shot and I'll try to get some better shots next time. Or you could check out the band's web site at BeautifulLies.net to hear their music and watch their videos.

To compensate for my crappy photos, I'm inserting the info about tonight's concert from The Real School's promo. It has good photos and interesting information about the band.

Berklee-Born Alternative Rock Band, Beautiful Lies, visits Real School to Launch New Full Length CD!

Friday, March 27
7:00 - 9:00 PM

With over 100 shows in 1 1/2 years, the band makes live performance a high priority. Brothers Nick & Zach McLean have been writing and performing their brand of melodic alternative rock since a very young age. Working with a revolving lineup of musicians and band names, they have seen multiple album releases and tours, and have worked with many talented and experienced people. Beautiful Lies was formed after drummer David Widaman and bassist Phil Crayton met at the prestigious Berklee College of Music. The band has since released three records, toured 8 countries, and embarked on two US tours.

"Fans of alternative pop should check these guys out."
The Noise, Boston

* Opening will be Winchester Battle of the Bands Finalist *
"And Architecture"

Jam Night at the Fiske

2009-03-26T18:11:00.000-07:00

Michael's band from The Real School of Music played in front of 350 people at Fiske Elementary's "Pizza Night", a fundraiser for the PTO.

The mosh pit was full of slam dancing grade schoolers,
and the groupies rushed the stage to be close to the band.

video of Michael on bass in "Green Onions"
video of Michael on bass in "Sunshine of your Love"

Nick didn't play with the band tonight
(he's on a field trip to Washington, D.C.),
but the rest of the family was at the concert.

2009-03-14T05:58:00.001-07:00

In January we saw Guggenheim Grotto at The Real School of Music. I blogged about it here, but just this week I got hold of some video clips of the concert that I want to share. The concert video was taken by a professional crew for MTV's Palladia.

MaryBeth Maes at The Real School of Music

2009-03-14T05:02:00.000-07:00

On Friday the 13th, Julie and I saw MaryBeth Maes in concert at The Real School of Music. MaryBeth has a great voice and we have an autographed CD of her original songs.

Interesting tidbits:

MaryBeth got some airtime on The River 92.5. Must be cool to hear your song on the radio.
She is playing at Cheers on St Patrick's Day. Appropriate for an Irish girl whose songs often feature brews, whiskey, or wine.
Her husband plays with Ernie Boch Jr in Ernie and the Automatics. The drummer and guitarist were in the band Boston.

The audience last night was not the typical Real School audience. It was mostly her family; the adults talked throughout the concerts and kids did a non-stop congo line. A rowdy audience focused on music can make a concert more energetic, but these people didn't even seem to be paying attention to the music.

Enter the Haggis @ The Real School of Music

2009-03-10T05:37:00.000-07:00

Sunday, we heard "Enter the Haggis" perform at The Real School of Music. They are a Celtic rock band that includes a bagpipe player and a fiddler. These guys really rocked; may be the first time I've heard bagpipes without covering my ears.

Get a taste of the Haggis

One Last Drink - great song
Gasoline - the introduction is okay. the sound is not so good.
ETH on Regis and Kelly - what can I say?

Here are my crappy videos of their concert at The Real School

My boys take guitar and bass lessons at The Real School of Music. It's a great school of rock. In addition to private lessons, the boys play in an "ensemble" once a week. Ensemble really means rock band. They put students in groups with a singer, drummer, guitarist, bassist, and an instructor as "coach".

The Real School also has a recording studio and a concert room. In addition to concerts by the "ensembles", they give local amateur bands a chance to play in front of an audience. And once or twice a month, they have concerts by professional bands. We heard Greg Hawkes of the Cars, Guggenheim Grotto, and now Enter the Haggis at The Real School of Music. These concerts are the best, very intimate with only 50-100 people in the audience, and either free or a nominal fee. Check it out if you get the chance.

High Cabin Adventure

2009-03-08T06:07:00.000-07:00

Saturday I turned 48 in a cabin at the top of a mountain. The two days at Mt Cardigan were full of good fun, good food, good drinks, and good people--a lot like the previous 47 years, 364 days of my life.

The whole crew posing in front of the High Cabin. Phillip, Pauline, Sunny, Tom, Josh, Ulandt, Mario, John.

Good people. Half these people I was meeting for the first time, and my longest acquaintance was a year, but what an excellent group to hang with. Fun, adventurous, smart. And fit too! Pauline is a yoga instructor, Ulandt a ski instructor. Mario travels around the world to surf with sharks. John runs marathons in 3:02. Tom skates from NYC to DC. Josh wrestles guys 20 years younger and 50 pounds heavier, and does triathlons. Sunny does triathlons too. Acutally, it seemed like everyone but me and Mario does triathlons. But that's okay, they were still fun to hang with. And my claim to fame? First descents by sled from the summits of Mt Cardigan and Horn Pond Mountain.

Friday was overcast with light sprinkles and freezing rain in the forecast. Appropriate weather for the drudgery of hauling all the supplies up the mountain to the high cabin.

Hmmm, this ain't so bad... Josh with a fully loaded sled on the flat section at the bottom.

The trail starts to get steeper and is about to get all off-camber on us. Mario with a heavy pack and snowboard. Plus a sled loaded with firewood and chili.

Mario's sled had two heavy bundles of firewood needed to keep us warm and toasty through the winter night. Then the trail started to get steeper. But it was the tricky off-camber section that really wore us out. The sleds kept slipping off the trail and dumping the supplies down the slope towards the creek. Wading through the waist-deep snow to retrieve the 12-pack of SmuttyNose, I decided I'd had enough. We left half the supplies in a pile next to the trail and pushed on (pulled on?) with much lighter sleds. Good decision, as the trail got much steeper as we neared the cabin.

Luckily this was near the top. I don't look like I could go much further.

Snack time. Mario and Josh take a break between loads. You know what would taste great with these Doritos? Those beers lying next to the trail half way down the mountain.

The payoff for all that hiking: Mario making turns on the Alexandria ski trail.

Josh looking rad on the Mad River Rocket. Sleds were made to go down, not up.

Pauline, Sunny, John and Tom at the Crew Bridge. Soon they will discover the cache we left for them to carry up to the cabin.

Tom won the prize for heaviest pack. I couldn't even lift it.

I like maps. And compasses. But I was still glad to hear them yell, "Phil, the trails over here" after my sled shortcut left me bushwhacking through dense forest.

Summit at sundown: Ulandt, Pauline, John, Phillip.

Good drinks. I thought a bottle of red and a bottle of white would be good with cheese and crackers before dinner. Josh thought a single malt would be good around the wood stove. Sunny preferred spiced rum in a hip flask. John likes port and Tom goes for brandy. Ulandt and Pauline brought wine in a box. Oh yeah, and everyone likes a cold one after hiking. Plus lots of water. And cocoa, tea, even espresso. The door's squeaky hinges woke us several times that night as people snuck out to water the forest.

We talked about watching the sun rise from the summit. Then we stayed up late playing Bananagrams instead. I did make it to PJ Ledge in time to do the daily dozen, but the sun slept in.

Good food. Cheese (Mancebo, Asiago, Jarlsburg, Camembert, aged goat cheese,...) and crackers. Also Italian cheese bread. Chili and cornbread for dinner. Dark chocolate, crystallized ginger, ginger covered in dark chocolate, almonds. Doritos (yum) and chips. Bagels with creme cheese and lox for breakfast. Also omelettes, and espresso and tea. Bananas and Mineolas. Good thing we were playing hard whenever we weren't eating.

Tom and Mario on South Peak. The sun came out and it was a beautiful day.

Phillip lugged his sled all around the top of the mountain, braving high winds and encroaching tree branches. The payoff was the best sledding on the mountain just above the fire warden's cabin.

Phillip almost gets air on his Mad River Rocket.

The chickadee is not impressed.

After the morning hike, everyone headed in different directions. Mario took his snowboard down Alexandria's and then hiked up Firescrew to ride Dukes. Josh and Phillip piled gear and trash on their sleds and rode them down to the parking lot, stowed everything in the car, then relaxed in the base lodge for awhile. Later we joined Pauline, Sunny, and Ulandt for a short x-country ski trip out and back on the Z93 trail near the base lodge. Most fun I've had on skinny skis since that day in Tetons National Park. Well, except for that and the day in Yellowstone. Anyhow, it was a lot more fun than skiing at the local golf course.

Josh gets in a little x-country skiing before heading home to play tennis.

Ulandt led some of us on an excellent ski trip up and down Z93.

Emerging from the woods with the AMC base lodge in the background.

More photos:

Sunny's photos.
John's photos.
Ulandt's photos.
Phillip's photos.

Lessons learned:

A sled with a tow rope is not a pulk. Need rigid tow poles and better tiedown system.
Lighten the load. Sleds don't have special anti-gravity powers.
Beer in cans, wine in boxes. Glass is heavy. Could have saved 8.5 pounds.
AudioBooks on iPod. Magazines are heavy and it's hard to read by candelight. Could have saved 2.5 pounds.
Avoid duplicates. Two people brought corkscrews. Could have saved 2.5 ounces.
Triathletes are serious about their Bananagrams.
AT ski boots are not hiking boots.
Pack it in; pack it out. I rode my sled back down sitting on a bag of trash. Felt sort of like the Grinch returning all the toys to Whoville.
Single stream recycling is gross when you are the one separating the streams. At the cabin we threw all the trash into one big bag. Today I separated the bottles from the plastic, and added the kitchen scraps and paper towels to my compost pile. Everything was coated in olive oil and coffee grounds. Yuk.

Massachusetts Youth Wrestling Championships

2009-03-02T18:51:00.000-08:00

Sunday, March 1

Nick wrestled in the state championships today, an open tournament that attracts all the best wrestlers in the state. The top three in each weight class advance to the New England Youth Wrestling Championships.

This was Nick's first opportunity to wrestle against top-level competition. Nick's only other tournament experience was at the Big East Tournament, where he wrestled in the novice division and won all his matches, mostly by early pins. Maybe we should have called it the Big Easy.

I didn't see any bad matches. All of the wrestlers were competent and tough. Nick wrestled in one of the largest weight classes; there were 38 boys in the 98 pound division. There was almost one fewer, because Nick weighed in at 98.2 pounds. Too many gummy bears at the basketball game the night before. But after 15 minutes jogging around the gym, Nick was cleared to wrestle at 98.

He won his first match against Chris Sullivan (Canton) handily, 8-2, but almost got in trouble at the end of the match.

Nick's 2nd match (click to view)
Next he had to face the #4 seed, Jim Chappius (Duxbury). After two periods, Nick was winning 6-3. Nick started the third period on top, but his opponent reached back and caught him in a headlock and Nick spent the entire period fighting the pin. The reverse and near fall gave his opponent an 8-6 victory. The scorers had it wrong, showing a 6-6 tie, but their coach caught the mistake and our coaches confirmed that the score should be 8-6.

Nick's 3rd match (click to view)
In the consolation round, Nick wrestled Mike Trzcienski (Dracut) and neither one of them scored a point for three periods. In overtime, Nick shot quickly and took his opponent down for the victory.

Nick's 4th match (click to view)
Nick wrestled next against the #5 seed, Danny Cassidy (Billerica). His opponent got a takedown in each of the first two periods for a 4-0 lead. Nick started down in the third period and got a reverse to make it 4-2. With time running out, he got his opponent in a cradle and tried to put him on his back to earn the win, but couldn't turn him over in time.

Nick's second loss ended his day so we headed home. Two wins to offset the two losses was quite an accomplishment at this high profile tournament. Nick stepped up to the challenge of the competition and fought smart and hard to the last second of every match.

A 260-pound match with an 80-pound match in the background.
Middle schoolers come in all shapes and sizes: most were thin and wirey,
a few had bulging muscles, one had a beard, another had breasts.

Awesome results for Winchester at the Mass Youth Wrestling Championships. Winchester only took six wrestlers, and three of them placed. Congratulations to

Tyler Christoper - 1st place
Marcos Torres - 4th place
Nathan Landau - 1st place

Complete results here.

Jackson Hole Ski Trip, 2009 - departure

2009-03-02T18:27:00.000-08:00

Satuday, Feb 28

Today I got up at 4:35 (just a few hours after my late night in the Great Room) and headed to the airport. Our plane was delayed because the de-icing truck was broken, but I made the connection in Denver and got home on schedule.

Julie picked me up at Logan and we joined the Bubbas, the Beaners, and the little Doobers at the Harvard v. Cornell basketball game. A great week ended with a great victory as Harvard held on at the buzzer to beat the #1 team in the Ivy League.

The Tetons as seen from the airport.

Julie, Alexa and Shoes.

Michael, the little Beaners, and Bubba.

Eric and Nick.

Final score.

Jackson Hole Ski Trip, 2009 - Day 14, Granite Canyon

2009-02-28T03:42:00.001-08:00

Friday, Feb 27

Granite Canyon's Mile Long Couloir.

Somehow I lost my glasses. (Found them; I'm a teensy bit drunk.) In spite of all that, today was awesome. I am totally skied out, and yet I didn't make any in bounds turns (actually I did ski Rendezvous Bowl twice, but still...)

We got in the tram line at 8:15, but that was 15 minutes too late to catch the first tram at 9:00. We were sandwiched between New Jersey guy and the Million Dollar Man for almost an hour before the mountain opened and we got to ski. New Jersey guy told us that he heard that there were three JH locals in their 40's who retired and skied all the time. He heard they hired a guide so they could cut line, but they skied so fast that they just told the guide to meet them at the tram so they could cut line again. Frank just shrugged and said "Hmmm." I was skeptical, because the guides I knew skied super fast and I couldn't imagine three whipper snappers skiing faster. Over drinks at dinner that night, Frank told me that the guide was Sammy, slowed down by a broken tibia. The three "retirees" were Clint, Ned, and Frank himself.

(This followed a chance encounter in the tram line the day before. I mentioned that my brother-in-law and sister-in-law lived in town. Later I referred to them by name. The local we were talking to said, "Everyone knows Frank and Mimi." Geordie wants to create a web site with that as a title.)

The Million Dollar Man was a guy wearing a CMH "Million Vertical Feet" jacket, that you earn by doing a ton of heli-skiing. I was impressed, but Frank pointed out over dinner, that wearing the jacket is like bragging that you spent $100,000 on heli skiing. In Jackson, such ostentation is frowned upon. Even I was turned off by the Million Dollar Man's story about his acceptance speech when awarded the jacket. They gave him the jacket and he tried it on, but said he was worried the ski pants wouldn't fit. He dropped trou, exposing his G-string and the "Congratulations" markered on his butt cheek with a Sharpie. Please. It is early and we just want to relax until we get to the top of the mountain.

OK. On to the skiing. Frank had us buckle our boots and packs while standing in line. That way we could zoom off the tram and ski down the bowl before the hordes. We exited the ski area boundary at the lower gate and hiked up to Four Pines. The run down was awesome. We floated through light powder and got first tracks the whole way. The hike up Paranoia Ridge seemed easier than the day before, and we took the run from the top of Four Pines without stopping. At the bottom, Mimi and Frank paid me the HUGE compliment of saying that I looked balanced on my skis. I was rocking the BROs for the second day in a row, and all was right with the world.

Geordie skiing through the willows at the runout from Four Pines.

When Geordie asked me what to wear that morning, I told him that we were going to ski in bounds until it was tracked out, and then we would move to Rock Springs Canyon for some out of bounds turns that didn't require any hiking. How wrong I was!

Four Pines requires a steep climb up Paranoia Ridge and a longer climb up to the top of Four Pines. But that was nothing compared to what Frank and Mimi had in store for us. The tram line was super long when we got back to the bottom, so we took the gondola. At the top, we decided to do a run in Granite Canyon. First we had to climb the boot pack from the gondola to the top of the Headwall. I passed a bunch of people on the way up and nearly had a coronary from the exertion. At the top, I ate a "cow pie" (sort of like a pizza in a bun) and rested while waiting for Geordie to catch up.

The top of the Headwall climb.

The climb up the Headwall turned out to be the easiest part of the day. We traversed out past Casper Bowl and the Crags, and ducked the rope to ski down the backside into Granite Canyon. The entry into Mile Long Couloir was sketchy. We had to tiptoe down a rock strewn chute before it opened up into a very skiable couloir. The upside of the tricky entrance, is that the couloir doesn't get skied as much as Endless Couloir with an easy entrance right next door.

Mimi checking out the entrance to Mile Long Couloir,
straight ahead across the rocks and then down.

Geordie made it through the rocks into the couloir.

Mimi ready to drop into Mile Long Couloir.

The name Mile Long Couloir may be an exaggeration, but it was plenty long for me. The top was steep enough that I made jump turns. The next section I skied with big, round turns, until Frank shot by me and showed me how to do it: Swoop right down the fall line, faster and faster. I got so caught up in the sensation, that I forgot the basics of backcountry skiing: one at a time and only stop in safety zones. The couloir is so long--Frank guesses 2500 feet vertical--that I couldn't ski it without stopping a couple of times. Fortunately, the snow was very stable and avalanche danger was moderate.

Looking back up Mile Long Couloir from the bottom.

Frank at the bottom of Mile Long Couloir.

Mimi at the bottom of Mile Long Couloir.

Geordie at the bottom of Mile Long Couloir.

Self portrait of Phillip at the bottom of Mile Long Couloir.

The hardest part of the day was the traverse out of Granite Canyon back to the ski resort. Rumor has it that the traverse is 5 miles long. The first half is mostly uphill and we spent a lot of energy sidestepping. At an obvious resting point, I took off my helmet and unzipped my jacket and pulled up my sleeves. Immediately after we got going again, we had a fast downhill traverse with the most massive whoop-de-doos I have ever encountered on skis. I wished my helmet was back on my head, for sure. An interminable time later, we reached the boundaries of the ski area again. It was surreal reentering the controlled and groomed world of the ski area. It was like walking out of the wilderness into Disney World. Most of the skiers inbounds had no idea what lay just on the other side of the ropes. Of course, there are a few skiers who do laps on the route we just finished. Those people are so strong, it is ridiculous. Once a day is plenty for me. Geordie said once a lifetime for him.

The long traverse home from Granite Canyon (~45 minutes).

Even the snow loves my BROs.

After a big lunch of split pea soup, broiled sweet potato fries, and tortellinis with tomato and mushroom sauce, we headed back out for the last run of the trip, an easy (no hiking required) out of bounds run down Rock Springs Canyon. Mimi called her daughter's school and arranged for Michelle to hang out at the Village Cafe for 30 minutes because we wouldn't make it back before the bus dropped her off. As expected, Rock Springs was tracked out, but was still fun to ski. It will have to do until next time. Returning to the ski resort, I headed to Wildernest to buy a photo-map of Granite Canyon. Cutting through the VC, I heard, "Hi Doober!" It was Michelle patiently waiting for us to get back. Thanks Michelle for letting me borrow your Mom as a ski guide.

Frank, Mimi, and Geordie at GameFish.

That night Geordie took us out to dinner at GameFish. First we shared a bottle of champagne (thanks Mimi) at the Teton Club. After a toast to our hosts and guides--"everyone knows Frank and Mimi"--we walked to the restaurant and had a great time telling stories from the ski trip.

Back at the Teton Club, the bar was rocking. So I stopped in and hung out with Quinn Connor, Twenty-seven, and some Mass members. Aaron was the only one sober. Some funny stories I'll try to add later.

Jackson Hole Ski Trip, 2009 - Day 13, Rockin' the BROs

2009-02-26T21:27:00.001-08:00

Thursday, Feb 26

It snowed a ton today. In the morning we headed O.B. and did a Four Pines. We got a bunch of untracked. We went up the tram and out the high gate. From there we skied down Far Drift which is basically skiing down Rendezvous Bowl, but on the other side of the Jackson Hole Resort boundary. So we got freshies the whole way.

Then the work begins. We hiked up the short, but steep Paranoia Ridge. There is a beautiful, but short powder run right next to the boot track which Mimi and I skied last year. I thought it might be fun to repeat this year, but by the time I got to the top I was huffing and puffing and covered in sweat, so skiing down and hiking up a second time didn't seem as attractive.

Frank, Greg, and Mimi somewhere on the way to Four Pines.

After a short traverse, we made a longer, but less steep hike up to Four Pines. There was quite a crowd on top, but we got geared up and away before most of the rest of them. My favorite part of this run was a couple of slots through the rocks; the snow was deep and we shot down the slots and then down the face below to the bottom of the slope. It looked like a reasonably long run from the top, but much too soon we were at the bottom. We must have been screaming down the hill, because it ended way earlier than I expected.

Then we had a long traverse back from Rock Springs Canyon to the ski area. It wasn't really that far, but with Greg on his snowboard, traverses can be a travail. Especially when he gets too low and has to climb back up to the track. Second year running this happened. I joked that last week I skied the Triple No (No Shadows, No Name Peak, No Name Canyon) and today we skied the Triple Slow (we waited for George on the climbs, we waited for me on the descents, and we waited for Greg on the traverse). As usual, Mimi and Frank were excellent and patient guides, leading us to the best runs and educating us about safety in the backcountry.

Yay! George made it.

Phillip and George at the top of Four Pines.

After lunch, Greg, George and I went back out and had some of the best runs of the entire trip. We stayed inbounds and took a couple of trams and a gondie. The snow was fine in the Bowl, but was wicked fun in the Hobacks. We were skiing fast and smooth, getting face shots on some of the turns. Greg was ripping on his snowboard, throwing up a plume of snow as he sped down the mountain. George was linking beautiful turns, flowing from one to the next. And I thought I was skiing about the best I have ever skied. I felt fast and in total control, with big smooth turns in the open parts of the slope and then making quick turns to dive between the trees at the bottom.

Greg nearly impaled himself on this punji stick in the Hobacks. (See the broken branch next to his knee?)

George rests for a moment before ripping down the rest of the Hobacks.

I attribute my breakthrough skiing to three things:

Change in attitude. Instead of overanalyzing my technique and criticizing everytime I got in the backseat or off balance, I decided to do my best and enjoy the skiing regardless if I was skiing as well as the rest of the party. This really paid off in our Four Pines trip. I don't think I've ever had so much fun out of bounds before. I just skied and didn't worry about how I looked.
Change in technique. At lunch, George and Greg made some suggestions on how to improve my skiiing. In particular, narrowing my stance and keeping my hands in closer and driving down the slope. I have been working on just these things all week, but when we go OB or the conditions deteriorate, I tend to forget and go back to my bad habits. When we went back out after lunch, I put it all together and flew down the mountain like never before. I really felt that my skiing was BRO-worthy.
Change in conditions. We probably got 12 inches of snow today. It made skiing much easier. It was pretty close to hero snow and probably accounts for some of my improvement. But I think it all started with having the right attitude.

We were on the 2nd to last tram and then got on the gondola at 3:57, three minutes before it closed. Everyone on the mountain was giddy, enjoying the excellent conditions. The gondie operators agreed with me that they should keep the lifts running until dark because it was just to good to quit and go inside. But the ski day did end after a last run down Casper Bowl, and we just hope for more of the same tomorrow.

Dinner was a lot of fun. Greg made a wilted brussel sprout salad and I made pizzas. We drank more of George's wine and went to bed early. Greg leaves at 5 AM tomorrow and the rest of us want to get in the tram line early for more POW.

Authentic Happiness: Using the new Positive Psychology

2009-02-26T07:55:00.000-08:00

Because I actually believe that thinking good thoughts leads to a better life, I am changing the name of my blog from "Life of a Grumpy Old Man" to "Life of a Happy Middle-Aged Guy."

Check out Authentic Happiness: Using the new Positive Psychology to learn more.

Jackson Hole Ski Trip, 2009 - Day 12, I'm not worthy

2009-02-25T21:26:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, Feb 25

It was dumping this morning.

The bowl was awesome.

A telemarketer (Bubba's name for a telemark skier) watched me ski down Alta 2 and called up, "You're rocking the BROs today." That would normally make me feel great, but he had just watched me hook a tip on a branch and take a head first ride down the chute. I want to get a sticker for my BROs with that immortal line of Wayne and Garth: "I'm not worthy."

At lunch I switched to my Pocket Rockets. With several inches of new snow, I skied great. The day was redeemed. The bowl was buffed smooth and I've never skied it faster or cleaner. Paul could have skied it today and enjoyed it.

Tonight we had dinner at the BrewPub, where they brew Snake River Beer. My SRB Cobb salad was okay, but the draft beer was excellent. Then we saw a sneak preview of the movie Swift. Silent. Deep. the story of the Jackson Hole Air Force. It was cool watching this movie about a bunch of local ski heroes with an auditorium full of locals who know and ski with these guys.

Geordie and Greg at the tram dock.

Geordie and Frank on the tram.

Mimi and Greg on the tram.

Phillip on the balcony at lunch. It's dumping.

Geordie in Ten Sleep. There is a skier coming down Corbet's Couloir behind George and two more waiting to launch at the top of the cooler.

Anonymous at Snake River BrewPub.

Jackson Hole Ski Trip, 2009 - Day 11, Mardi Gras

2009-02-25T05:54:00.001-08:00

Tuesday, Feb 24

Today was disappointing. The expected snow didn't come; I didn't ski as well as I want to; and I burned the sausages on the grille.

Despite all this it was a good day. Mimi and Frank joined Greg and me in the morning ski. We had some fun runs down the Bowl and through the Hobacks. When we got to the club for lunch and surprised George in his boxers. He got into JH early and was changing into his ski clothes to join us on the mountain.

We caught the Tram and repeated the morning run through the Hobacks, but the spring skiing snow was setting up and was now very tricky to ski. Though Greg on his big ole snowboard thought it was great, George and I were skiing in survival mode. The best runs of the day were in Rendezvous Bowl. I thought the snow in the Bowl got better each time; the wind smoothed out the bumps and the snow was creamy near the doingers. But the wind was howling; the first 4 turns were strange because when you turned left the wind accelerated you to warp speed and then when you turned right it was like hitting a wall. After those initial turns, the ridge blocked the wind and the skiing was excellent.

Apres Ski there was a Mardi Gras celebration in the Great Room. We ate jambalaya and King Cake and drank Hurricanes. We wore beads without having to earn them the New Orleans way. I even got a chair massage which relaxed my back after too many tumbles in the Hobacks. For dinner, I grilled sausages on the patio. The reality didn't live up to the anitcipation (just like the snow storm); I burned the sausages to a crisp. But dinner was saved by Mimi's baked potatoes and George's Pinot Noir.

Pray for snow. The forecast promises snow every day this week, but I am getting cynical about the forecasts.

Jackson Hole Ski Trip, 2009 - Day 10, Waiting

2009-02-25T05:37:00.001-08:00

Monday, Feb 23

Today I'm waiting. Waiting for the big storm to dump 18 inches of powder. Waiting for Greg and George to get here.

I woke up early as usual, about 5 AM. I stretch, do the daily dozen, and read for awhile. About 6, I baked pita bread, looking out the window I see it is snowing hard. Oh joy!

My clothes are all layed out on the bed; I want to be on an early tram. I eat breakfast and work a crossword puzzle. At 8:55 I get in line for the tram and walk right onto the 9 AM tram, first public tram of the day. PSIA Bruce Keller comments on the BROs I'm skiing and points out the chipped paint on the tram, caused by the cover used to hide the tram until its unveiling on opening day.

Phillip in the tram.

The skiing was very good. Fresh snow makes every run more fun. A bit after 10 I walked right on to the next tram; it wasn't even full so the ride was comfortable and I chatted with a group of skiers from Iran.

About an hour later, I came back to the Teton Club for an early lunch. It was snowing pretty hard and my plan was to allow more snow to fill in the bumps while I ate.

Big disappointment. When I got back on the tram at noon, the snow had stopped and the conditions degraded throughout the afternoon. Oh well. The forecast is still for lots of snow tonight and tomorrow.

Greg got here about 9 PM and spent the next couple of hours MacGyvering his antique snowboard bindings, so he could get another week of riding out of them.

Jackson Hole Ski Trip, 2009 - Day 9, Turista

2009-02-22T07:24:00.001-08:00

Sunday, Feb 22

Yesterday, as I was putting on my skis at the top of Cody Bowl to traverse over to No Name Peak, I slipped and crashed into a local skier, someone Mimi knew. Mimi said to him, "Sorry. He's my brother-in-law. He's a tourist, but he's okay." That's about as much acceptance as a visiting skier can hope for from the locals, even from your own kin. :)

Today I skied alone again, missing Julie and my kids back in Boston. I got on the tram at 9:30 planning to take it easy and ski groomers to recover from yesterday's backcountry adventure. At the top I saw John and Lisa, who skied No Name with us yesterday. They were also skiing groomers today and asked me to join them. I thanked them, but declined. I wanted to go slow and stop often to look at things I usually rush right by, trying to photograph the area from a different angle. I got in touch with my inner tourist and took photographs of Corbet's Cabin and the inside of the tram. I even skied the Apres Vous side of the resort. The intermediate trails were icy and Saratoga Bowl was frozen moguls; I only made a few turns before traversing back onto the groomed trails.

I took a long break for lunch, from 11 to 2, but then skied until after the lifts closed at 4. My first and last runs were from the tram and Rendezvous Bowl was quite nice. In between, I must have skied every traverse at the resort.

Here are some things I learned today:

There are 73 steps from the ski lockers to room 306. Since I climb them twice a day, it takes a bit less than a week to equal the climb up Cody Bowl.

You can buy an 105 Howitzer Ammo Box for $10 at Corbet's Cabin.

The Bear Flats Snack Shack at the base of Sublette chairlift is closed.

Now I know why we get such good cell phone reception at JH. That tree at the entrance to Saratoga Bowl is really a cell phone tower.

I rediscovered "Jaws" which we used to ski with the kids when they were little. Today I just gawked at the sign, like a tourist. I saw a "Caution Cliff" sign and turned the other way.

The avi beacon training area is open again.

Good thing, because I need more practice.

They should have made the clock tower taller. The tram dock blocks most of the clock so you can't tell what time it is. Dock, block, and clock all rhyme. Cool.

You can use the grille on the patio to cook your dinner, and let the staff do the cleanup.

You can walk out of the Great Room, across the patio, and onto the ski trails.

Rowdy O'Yeats is a Teton Club owner. Rowdy, a.k.a. Michael T. Thorsnes, retired from his law practice and served as Poet Laureate for the Presidential Campaign of John Kerry.

I found this quote from Kipling in a book in the Great Room: "What profit to kill men? Little, that I know. But if evil men are not now and then slain, It would not be a good world for weaponless dreamers."

The new restaurant in the lower level of the Teton Club is named Slopeside Rendezvous so they didn't have to change all the SR logos when they bought the space from the bankrupt Snake River Sporting Club. The restaurant provides ski locker service for $3000 per year; 17 people took advantage of it this winter.

In addition to my three pairs of skis, I can fit a beer in my ski locker for apres ski. I can drink 3 Newcastle Brown Ales from my locker for the price of one at the Slopeside Rendezvous.

Teton Village Sports has a spoon collection in their ski rental shop.

Matt "Harvard" Barber is the only name written in Crimson.

The Teton Club has 30 winter weeks and 100 summer weeks still for sale.

Peter Steinbrenner's name is right above ours on the plaque of founding members. Peter is distantly related to George Steinbrenner of the Yankees. Boo! Hiss!

Cousin Greg was supposed to arrive at the Teton Club tonight. But his flight was delayed by a missing a co-pilot and couldn't make the connection in Denver. So he decided to work another half-day and try again tomorrow. Mad River Glen ski patroller George will joins us Tuesday. I'm looking forward to skiing with both of them again.

JH Weather Forecast
One more day of sunshine is expected before another snowstorm hovers over our mountain, dropping 12"-18" between Monday morning and Tuesday afternoon.

Jackson Hole Ski Trip, 2009 - Day 8, Triple No

2009-02-21T15:02:00.001-08:00

Saturday, Feb 21

Today we skied OB. Mimi and Frank, Lisa and John, and yours truly skied Cody Peak, No Name Peak and No Name Canyon. On Cody I skied No Shadows, so that is the Triple No.

Mimi skied Pucker Face, a steeper route with a band of rocks/cliffs you have to negotiate. Pucker is Mimi's personal white whale. About 15 years ago she was in Steep Camp, and the graduation exercise was to ski Pucker Face. She did it, but had sewing machine legs, and has been afraid of Pucker Face since then. Today she dropped right in and skied a beautiful line. No fear, no problem, no bad turns--another Triple No.

The hike up Powder 8 Bowl was tiring, but the traverse out to No Name Peak really did me in. There is a long section you have to side step; a couple of guys took their skis off and walked so I did too. Big mistake. Soon I was foundering in powder up to my waist. The others put their skis back on, but I couldn't even get out of my hole, let alone get my skis off my pack and on my feet on this steep and deep traverse. Then a snowboarder passed me, crawling so he didn't sink in so far. I emulated him and made it up to the scree section where you have to walk, but crawling totally wiped me out. Take it from me, keep your skis on in deep snow.

The other four in our group are excellent skiers and looked awesome on each run. I skied pretty well. I had no nervousness this time out, and made many good turns, spooning the previous skiers tracks most of the way. But in both No Shadows and No Name Face, I tumbled at least once during my run. Frank says the snow was wind loaded, making skiing tricky. I felt like the weak link, but had an excellent day in the mountains. The photos just don't do justice to how gorgeous this area is.

In summary, the skiing was excellent, the hiking was exhausting, the scenery was unsurpassed, and the company was fantastic. A good day all around.

Mimi and Frank about to start the climb up Cody Bowl.

Mimi climbing the steepest, most difficult part of Cody Bowl. The route was different a few days ago, but the snow melted and the teeny little toe holds of the other route aren't possible now, so you have to climb through the rocks, which is difficult in Alpine ski boots.

Cody Bowl. Four Shadows, our route last time, is in the shadows. No Shadows is closer and in the sun. Pucker Face is the closest and steepest with that band of rocks running across it.

After skiing No Name Face, we had to hike a bit to access the north-facing slopes of No Name Canyon. By this time (about 12:30 pm), the south facing slopes are heated by the sun and prone to slide. Even though I am thoroughly exhausted by this point, I am smiling because we get to ski the rest of the way back to the ski resort.

John and Lisa with Phillip in the middle.

Mimi and Frank with Phillip in the middle. Everyone else was anxious to get going again, but I delayed them with the camera ploy to get a bit more rest.

In No Name Canyon we skied three gentle pitches before the long traverse back to the resort. This first slope was almost untracked when we got there. Only the two rightmost tracks marred the perfection of the snow (the straightline running across the slope and the long turns on the right). The next three tracks are John, Frank, and Phillip doing an okay job of spooning the big boys' tracks. On the left you can see Mimi (in the lead) and Lisa making figure 8's all the way down.

Jackson Hole Ski Trip, 2009 - Day 7, All by myself

2009-02-20T21:56:00.001-08:00

Friday, Feb 20

My family went home today, leaving me to ski the next week all by myself. Even though we come out here for 2 weeks every year, this year the boys decided they couldn't miss a week of school so they went home. With no one for me to take photos of, I just have words today.

I said goodbye to my family about 5 AM, and came back to the suite and baked bread. First I made dough for pain a l'ancienne to make pizza and baguettes after it slow ferments in the refrigerator for a couple of days. Then i made pita bread and ate a couple with honey. Mm-mmm!

After reading for awhile and doing a crossword puzzle, I finally got out to ski at 10:30. I learned my lesson--always be in line when the lifts open. The skiing was great today and I missed the first hour-and-a-half; bummer. It was windy all night long and buffed the bumps in Rendezvous Bowl smooth. I had two great runs down the bowl even though the wind was still howling. It was so windy in Tensleep Bowl that when I pointed my skis downhill, the wind kept me from moving. The wind scoured off all the snow, so Tensleep was about the only place that wasn't fun to ski, but it led me to Cirque which had excellent snow in the dead tree line.

Two hours after my late breakfast, I met Mimi and Frank at Osteria for lunch. They were meeting with a couple (owners of The Fresh Market) that were considering moving to Jackson Hole and wanted to get an insiders view of what family living in Jackson Hole was like. It was interesting to hear what they value about living in JH. Mimi said they live outside, not inside. That's why their house is small, but their garage is large, to hold all their outdoors recreation equipment. This emphasis on the outdoors gives their children an interest in nature and conservation. Living in JH also reduces materialism, partially because of the lack of shopping opportunities, but mostly because the residents focus on what people do, not what they own.

After lunch, I did another lap of Tram, Sublette, Thunder. Cirque was still good. So was Triangle Trees. The snow was excellent in Tower Three Chutes too, but the bumps were heinous. My legs were exhausted by this point, so I took the gondola so I could sit and recover a bit. Like all the other lifts, the gondy had no line. In fact, I was given an 8-person gondola car all by myself. Just before the door closed, a young woman joined me. At first I was disappointed not to be able to enjoy a solitary ride up the mountain, but she was very interesting and we had a great chat. She graduated from Dartmouth (where she was the leader of the Dartmouth Outing Club) six years ago and moved to Jackson Hole. She works for the Rocky Mountain Conservation Something or Other. Her fieldwork includes ski-tracking wolves during the winter.

After the lifts closed I checked out the gear at Wildernest Sports. Two things stood out: the ski boots with clear shells so that you could see the linings; and the great deals on barely used demo skis. The ski shop guy told me that hotel bookings were down 30% this year, and that translates into a bad year for ski rentals.

Jackson Hole Ski Trip, 2009 - Day 6, Christmas Tree Bowl

2009-02-19T13:26:00.001-08:00

Thursday, Feb 19

When I woke up, I couldn't bend my thumb; it was bruised and swollen from yesterday's crash. It was difficult putting on my gloves, but I could ski, so we all headed out for an adventure at Teton Pass.

Teton Pass is a half hour drive from Teton Village and the ski resort. You have to get there early to be sure of a parking space alongside the road. Then you hike or skin up and ski down any of the many powder slopes.

On the way, we stopped at Pearl Street Bagels in Wilson for a breakfast of coffee and bagels.

At Teton Pass, Michael, Mimi, Frank, and Julie are ready to head up at 8:15 AM.

Michael skinning up the mountain. Soon the coats would come off as the climbing warmed us up.

Julie climbing with "skins" attached to the bottoms of the skis. The little fibers of the skins keep the skis from slipping backwards, so you can ski up fairly steep slopes.

Mimi in the lead, as usual. After a short climb, we got a few excellent turns in the Powder Reserves, then the real climb up Christmas Tree Bowl began.

The eponymous "Christmas Tree" the bowl is named after.

More climbing.

Phillip taking a break.

Frank stopped to dig a snow pit on the slope we were going to ski. This helps us understand the snow stability and judge the risk of avalanche. Frank determined that the snow pack was stable, low risk.

Michael and Phillip watch and learn as Frank explains how to judge the snow stability.

There was still a lot more climbing to do.

After all the clmbing, there were sweet, sweet turns through the super-light powder and big grins at the bottom.

Phillip had his usual "powder anxiety" and cratered right next to a skier Z-ing his way up the bowl we wanted to ski. Thus I forfeited any righteous indignation at this interloper, and had to settle for the schadenfreude of watching him make a lame jump off the kicker. But as you can see from my smiling face, my last run was a lung-burning succession of super fun turns all the way down Christmas Tree Bowl. Michael's assessment: "You were a little slow at the top, but you made excellent turns at the bottom." Parents live for those crumbs of praise from their kids.

By a little after noon, Julie and Phillip are relaxing on the tailgate of Frank's truck back at the highway. Frank and Mimi once again proved to be excellent guides for a fun day of backcountry skiing.

We bookended our adventure with another stop at Pearl Street Bagel. The perfect way to end the excursion: Mochas and Chai Lattes and conversation with Richard Hughes, the first person in charge of marketing for Jackson Hole Resort when it opened up back in the sixties. Mr. Hughes grew up in the circus, as a third-generation acrobat, contortionist, and magician.

Tomorrow Julie and the boys go home. So do the Sellews. Phillip will miss them all, but will try to make them proud with every run I take down the mountain.

video of Frank's snow pit
video of Julie and Mimi skiing Christmas Tree Bowl
video of Mimi stripping her skins

Jackson Hole Ski Trip, 2009 - Day 5, Karma

2009-02-18T21:52:00.001-08:00

Wednesday, Feb 18

We got another 8" of snow last night on top of the 6" the night before. Not epic, but enough that we were in line half an hour before the first tram. The kids passed the time by digging a hole in the snow; about 18 down they hit grass. The resort must have thought it was a snowboarder trap, because the asked them to fill it in.
Michelle with her arm down the hole.

Chris excavating.

Michael, Frank, and Melissa all rocked the BROs today. I was left bringing up the rear in my shortie Pocket Rockets.
Michael and Frank modeling the BRO Model skis.

Melissa with her BROs, SISs?, CUZs?

We caught the 2nd tram of the day after a short delay. Frank said, Uh oh, not a good sign when the bucket comes out. Sure enough, the cleaning crew went to work with shovel and mop. Must have been a chain reaction vomit on the guides tram. Usually people rush for both ends of the tram when the doors open, but this time the whole crowd pushed to the front and only the unsuspecting moved to the rear.
Waiting for the tram: Faith, Melissa, Chris, Nick, Michelle.

We had some great powder runs in the morning. I was ripping it and for once got ahead of the crew. I got down the Hobacks ten or fifteen minutes before the rest of them and while waiting at the Union Pass lift back to the main resort called my parents. It was the first time I ever used my cell phone while skiing. My parents were also on vacation; they had just left Julie's parents and were driving to the airport to fly to the Bahamas.

Later we had a great run down Casper's Bowl, knee-deep light powder, so much fun. Michael and I were traversing out of the bowl and I asked if we were headed to the rock above the cat track jump. Michael pointed down and said that looked good. I agreed and made the turns through waist deep snow. When Michael caught up, he was aggravated that I snaked his line and complained that he broke the #1 rule--There's no friends on powder days. A couple runs later I crashed and burned (and sprained my thumb) and all Michael said was, "Karma!"

Before lunch we sent the kids off to play in Casper's Bowl while we had mocha with espresso shots at the Bridger. A poster at the cafe confirmed that the film crew we saw around the resort for the last few days was, in fact, for America's Most Wanted.
Frank, Mimi, Bonnie, and Julie enjoying mochas or tea at the Bridger.

Poster explaining what America's Most Wanted film crew was doing at Jackson Hole.

We skied the trees off Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (the kids' name for the traverse to Casper Bowl). When we got back to the suite for lunch we found that the kids skied the same area and even gave it a name--The Belly--for Mr. Toad's Belly.

After lunch Julie and I skied a few runs with Bubba. Our last run was Elephant Tree and then a low traverse through the woods to enter Toilet Bowl to the far left. This area is plastered with signs that say "Caution. Cliff Area." Bubba was nervous because I was standing next to one of the signs. Julie and I have skied this area many times (and most of the kids did yesterday) and there is no real danger, but Bonnie didn't know that. She wanted me away from the supposed cliff; she was so scared she said "I am literally *****ing my pants." When I jump turned to face the opposite direction, Bubba let loose a puff of fear, which Julie immediately dubbed "nerve gas."
Caution! Nerve Gas! (I mean, Cliff Area!)

Tonight the adults had a fun dinner at Osteria, while the kids hung out at the hot tubs and ate leftover lasagna. Tomorrow Frank, Mimi, Julie, Phillip, and Michael are skinning up Teton Pass. The rest of the crew will enjoy more new snow at the resort.

Jackson Hole Ski Trip, 2009 - Day 4, BROs rule

2009-02-17T19:24:00.001-08:00

Tuesday, Feb 17

We got 6 inches of snow last night, so we didn't stop to take many photos today.

Phillip with the disputed skis in front of the Teton Club. This is what a good ski morning looks like. New snow overnight and more snow falling.

The tram passes right by our suite at the Teton Club. A good incentive to finish breakfast and get outside.

Michael, Mimi, Phillip, and John in front of the Bear Flats Snack Shack. I just included this photo because IT'S SNOWING!!!

Yesterday, Frank gave me a pair BROs, his old powder skis. This morning I checked to make sure my boots fit the bindings and then we all headed up the tram. When I tried to step into my new skis at the top of the mountain, my boot wouldn't stay in the binding. Guess I should have double-checked the fit. I was considering taking the tram back down, when Mimi suggested that Michael's boot was a bit bigger and might stay in the binding. Fortunately they fit Michael so we swapped skis and he skied the BROs all morning.

After lunch I adjusted the bindings so they fit my boots, and skied the BROs all afternoon. I was a bit nervous that I didn't adjust them correctly and they wouldn't release in a fall. So on my first run down Rendezvous Bowl I tested them by crashing and doing a somersault; the bindings released just fine.

It snowed all day today and it should snow all night. Tomorrow we are getting around early so we are in line before the lifts open and can get first tracks. The only problem is that both Michael and I want to ski the BROs. Here are all the arguments Michael used to convince me to let him use the skis tomorrow:

Michael challenged me to a wrestle off; winner gets the BROs. I think I can take him, so he moved on to other arguments.
I can use the BROs all next week while Michael is back at school, so he should get to use them tomorrow.
I bought my Pocket Rockets new; Michael's skis we bought used from the rental shop. It's only fair he get the BROs.
After Frank gave me the BROs, Mimi said he should have given them to Michael.
I got new goggles this week and handed down my old goggles to Michael. He should get the good skis.
I don't ski well enough to deserve the BROs. Can you say cruising for a bruising? See argument #1.

Anyhow, I am a good Dad and want the best for my children. So I will let him ski the BROs tomorrow. I'll get to use them all next week anyhow. Have fun at school, Michael.

For dinner I made pizza. At lunch I was stressing out because I was worried that the dough wouldn't be good, that we didn't have the right toppings, that people wouldn't like the pizza... Fortunately, it all worked out great and everyone enjoyed homemade pizza for dinner. Whew!

Jackson Hole Ski Trip, 2009 - Day 3, Four Shadows

2009-02-16T20:14:00.001-08:00

Monday, Feb 16

Today we skied Four Shadows on Cody Peak. I've been up there a handful of times, but I still get nervous every time I think about it. We took the tram up soon after 9 AM and had waffles in Corbet's Cabin.

Michael and Frank enjoying waffles at Corbet's Cabin before the hike.

After a quick gear check, we headed out the gate marking the boundary of the Jackson Hole ski resort. We skied down the saddle and then climbed up the ridge to Cody Peak. The climb is a bit sketchy at points, with some nearly vertical pitches where you barely have a toehold.

Frank, Phillip, and Michael after leaving the ski resort boundary. Four Shadows is the chute with the shadows just to the left of the trees.

Phillip and Michael. Time to put the skis on the backpacks and start climbing.

Frank with the difficult climbing in the background.

Julie climbing up the near vertical section on the way to Cody Bowl.

Another shot of Julie.

And another photo of Julie climbing.

Michael climbing on ahead.

After the difficult climb, it is still a long walk up to Cody Peak. You can see the boot track on the right of the photo and Four Shadows just to the right of the cliffs.

We planned to ski No Shadows, but a guide with a group of snowboarders arrived minutes after us, and everyone knows eight's a crowd, so we hiked further up to ski Four Shadows.

Four Shadows is a bit steeper and sometimes has a cornice you have to jump off to get into the couloir, but today's entrance was mellow and we could ski right in. The snow was wind packed, but very skiable. My legs were burning by the time I hit the traverse.

Four Shadows is the chute in the shadows. You can see the boot track to the right of the ridge.

Frank, Julie, Michael after skiing down Four Shadows.

Next we climbed up Cody Bowl, something like 900 steps straight up. Works up a bit of a sweat. At the top, we had to choose whether to continue over to No Name Peak or ski down the Powder 8 Bowl. Partly because Julie's boots were killing her, we decided to ski down the bowl. Frank went first and then Michael. I was last because I could wield a shovel better than Julie. I cratered on my first turn. Then I made some ragged figure 8's crossing Julie's tracks. At the bottom I cratered again. Quite a show for anyone hiking up the bowl.
Julie hiking up the Powder 8 bowl.

The line to the far left is the boot track up the Powder 8 Bowl. To the right are the malformed figure eights layed down by Julie and Phillip. Michael's tracks are the rightmost in the center of the photo, and Frank's are the tracks all the way to the right.

This is a view of No Name Peak. We've skied it in the past, but it is hard to get to, so today we just headed down the Powder 8 Face instead.

After the Powder 8 Bowl, we called it a day and headed home through Rock Springs Canyon. The day was a great adventure; the hiking was strenuous, the views were amazing, and the skiing was way better than in-bounds.

Michael skied great. He is much more confident of his skiing ability this year. Last year, he had to bolster his ego by pointing out all the flaws in my style. This year, he just takes it for granted that he is a better skier than me.

This shot shows the Grand Teton right in the middle. If you look close at the mountain on the right, you can see the tram unloading dock. From there we skied across the top of Rendezvous Bowl and down the saddle. Then we hiked up through the rocks to the left of the photo and along the ridge (out of the photo to the left) to Four Shadows.

After skiing home, we ate a late lunch of minestrone soup and salad then I headed over to Dr. Tom for a blood analysis and acupuncture to treat my achy shoulder, neck, elbow...

Dinner was at Mimi and Frank's, with too much wine and chocolate for dessert. Now I'm ready for bed. Tomorrow I'm going to try skiing the BROs Frank gave me. Once again, Michael is jealous of my ski quiver, so maybe I'll let him try them for a run or two.

While we were OB, the kids were having fun on their own. First waffles at Corbet's.

Then ripping up the slopes when they weren't striking a pose.

Jackson Hole Ski Trip, 2009 - Day 2, New goggles

2009-02-15T20:23:00.001-08:00

Sunday, Feb 15

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.

Jackson Hole Ski Trip, 2009 - Day 1, Let the Fun Begin

2009-02-14T21:49:00.001-08:00

Saturday, Valentine's Day

We skied all day and had a great time. We stuck to the groomers in the morning and then skied some bumps before and after lunch. We ate in Bridger Restaurant at the top of the gondola, right next to the windows that got buried by the avalanche in December. The restaurant was closed for repairs all of January. Julie, Bubba, and Mimi stopped early to go grocery shopping and visit Dr. Tom for a blood examination. I skied with the kids until the lifts closed. Now my back is a little sore. My ego is a bit bruised too. I think both Michael and Nicholas are skiing better than me this year. They look very smooth, fluid, and balanced on their skis and I am feeling awkward and struggling to find the line through the trees and in the bumps.

We rode up the chairlift with Peter. Mimi knows him because they have ski lockers next to each other. Turns out he is the owner of AppleCrest Farm Orchards in New Hampshire. Next fall, we may have to skip our annual trip to Shelburne Farm to check out Peter's orchard.

We moved into the Teton Club today, unpacked all our stuff from storage, and settled in. Yesterday we searched for 30 minutes through the storage room for Michael's new ski boots and my old ski boots. I was sure we left them here at the end of last year's trip. Today I was talking with the people at the desk and we suddenly remembered that last year I decided I didn't want those old, stiff Rossignol Race 1 boots anymore, so I gave them to one of the employees who needed boots. I feel much better with that mystery solved. As for Michael's boots, they may be at home in our basement. Sort of aggravating to rent boots for a week because we can't keep track of where all our stuff is, but we aren't letting it detract from our having fun out here.

Getting ready to hit the slopes. From left: Mimi, Michael, Nicholas, Eric, Julie, Melissa, Frank, and, in front, Michelle.

The new 100-person tram.

A rare sighting of Bigfoot at the gondola loading station.

Jackson Hole Ski Trip, 2009 - arrival

2009-02-14T21:33:00.001-08:00

Friday the Thirteenth

Despite the ominous date, our flight to Jackson was uneventful. When we landed the temperature was 3F, but in the sun it was comfortable in a light jacket and no hat or gloves.

We spent the night at Mimi and Frank's house. Mimi is Julie's sister and she lives a couple of miles from Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. In the evening you can sit in their living room and watch the snowcats grooming the ski trails. On the other side of their house is the Snake River. Before it got dark, we went for a walk along the dike next to the river. The kids did some ski-jouring on cross country skis. Mimi's dogs, Geyser and Willow, have harnesses and can tow the kids on cross country skis through the snow. Willow joined the the family 4 days ago from the dog adoption center. When Mimi met us at the airport, the new dog's name was Gizmo, but by the time we got our gear squared away and got to their house, the dog's name was changed to Gnochi. After a few hours wrangling over dog names, the dog was re-renamed Willow, and that has stuck for over 24 hours now.

This is Mimi and Frank's house, with Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in the background.

Mimi and Bonnie in front of the Snake River, with the Sleeping Indian in the background.

Michael and Chris along the Snake River with the Grand Tetons in the background.

Nicholas and Melissa with the Grand in the background.

The 6 cousins had dinner at Mimi's house and the adults drove back to town for a wine tasting. Mimi visits "Dr. Tom" for homeopathy treatments. His wife, Susie, owns a wine shop in Bozeman, MT and invited us a wine tasting at a friend's house in Jackson. Gardner is a transplant from VT and lives on a hill overlooking town--Snow King, the town ski hill, is on the same mountain--with an excellent view of the lights on the buildings in the valley and the snowcovered buttes on the other side. We were greeted with a glass of champagne and then invited to try the 20+ bottles of wine set out on the dining table. We started with whites (Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay) and then turned the corner and tasted the reds. My favorites were a Syrah and a couple of 80% Cabernets from Paragua, a winery in Chile. Susie suggested food to pair with each wine, so we ate chocolate truffles, nuts, salmon, or antelope (hunted by Dr. Tom) depending on which wine we were tasting. At the end of the night, Susie gave us a treat when she opened a $165 bottle of red wine. It really was quite a bit better than the "cheaper" $50 bottles we had tasted up to that point, but I am not sophisticated enough to describe the differences. It was a fun way to spend our first night in Jackson and we met some interesting people, like Sarge whose father's name is Major, and Stella who isn't really a person, but an American Bull Mastiff. On the way out, Paul (our family's oenophile) and Mimi bought some wine for us to drink this week, so we will get to re-experience some of that first night throughout the week.

Julie and Bubba with Stella.

Jackson Hole Ski Trip, 2009 - getting ready

2009-02-12T09:37:00.001-08:00

Last night we packed; tonight I take ChiChi to the kennel; and tomorrow, very early, we head out to Jackson Hole, Wyoming for our annual ski trip.

As the kids get older, things change. Alexa is in college and doesn't get next week off, so she isn't going this year. Michael and Nicholas are feeling studious this year and don't want to miss a week of school, so they and Julie are only staying the one week of school vacation. Phillip is staying the full two weeks, but he won't be alone. Cousin Greg and ski-master George will join him at the Teton Club for the second week.

Another change this year is that the new tram is up and running. The old tram was decommissioned a couple years ago and we missed the big red box outside our window at the Teton Club. We are anxious to see, "Is the new tram is bigger, better, and redder?"

We don't expect to do much skiing OB this year. New snow is poorly bonded to slick old snow surfaces, raising the avalanche risk. A couple of months ago, during the Christmas vacation, Jackson Hole Ski Resort actually closed for a couple of days because of a rash of in-bounds avalanches. A skier was killed by an avalanche on Paintbrush, an area we skied laps on last year. The restaurant at the top of the gondola was damaged by an avalanche off the Headwall which we usually hike and ski each year. The links below show amazing photos of avalanche crowns in nearly a dozen areas we regularly ski.

So this year is different from other years. But, as always, we will be careful and have a lot of fun.

In-bounds avalanche kills Wilson skier
Headwall Avalanche at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort
photos of Bridger Restaurant at the top of the Bridger Gondola (scroll down to see photos)
photos of crowns observed within JHMR's boundaries (scroll down to see very interesting photos of areas we ski regularly)
more photos of crowns observed within JHMR's boundaries (scroll down)

Headwall avalanche hits the Bridger Restaurants at the top of the gondola.

Inside the restaurant.

Two snowcats on the track above the avalanche crown in Laramie Bowl.

Wai Kru

2009-02-07T16:49:00.001-08:00

I wrestled with Boston Union at Wai Kru in Allston today. A few guys from the Bentley College Wrestling Club were there (they don't have a varsity wrestling team). After drilling, we chose teams and had a dual meet, 3 x 30 second periods. It was a lot of fun; even though I lost my match 2-0. Tried to stack him with the western hook & 3/4 nelson at the end but he was too strong.

Wai Kru is a MMA training club and one of the guys (that I made sure not to wrestle) was in Las Vegas last weekend fighting in a UFC match. He was named fighter of the night and got a $65K bonus. While we wrestled others were kicking and punching heavy bags or jumping rope. A couple of guys were doing light sparring in the octagonal cage next to the wrestling mat. Pretty cool.

Michael's first varsity wrestling match

2009-02-04T13:20:00.001-08:00

Last night was the Winchester vs. Woburn wrestling meet. Woburn is an arch-rival and last year's contest was a nail biter, with Winchester winning by a narrow margin.

This year the Woburn match was extra special because the Town of Winchester declared it "Larry Tremblay Day" to honor the coach for 500+ wins and 28 years as head coach of the Winchester Wrestling Team. Everyone signed a big banner before the meet, and afterwards there was a ceremony with speeches, plaques, and handshakes. A big crowd was on hand to watch the meet.

Julie, Nick, and I got there after the JV matches were already underway. We didn't see Michael anywhere, so Nick suggested maybe he was going to wrestle varsity. There had been no hint of that earlier in the day, and Michael was just expecting to watch an exciting varsity meet. But when the varsity team ran out to warm up, there was Michael with all the starters. In the stands, our family and the other wrestlers' parents were excited to see Michael wrestle. Last week, he cut to weigh in at 152 but didn't wrestle. Last night we looked for him at 152, but Mike Greco wrestled 152. Then James Hingston wrestled 160. So we thought Michael wouldn't be wrestling after all. But no, there he was, stepping onto the mat to wrestle at 171.

After all the anticipation and excitement, the match was a bit of a let down: Michael got cradled and pinned in the first period. He has looked real good in his JV matches this year, but he was never really competitive in this match. Sometimes you get caught in a mistake and it's over before it even begins. Oh well, baptism by fire. First varsity match jitters should be behind him if he gets another chance at this weekend's Quad Meet.

Later we learned that Brandon, the first string at 171, injured himself warming up and so Michael was asked to wrestle up a class (or two) to prevent a default.

By the way, Winchester beat Woburn by a score of 62 to 9.

Here's a video of Michael's first varsity wrestling match. Sorry about the jerkiness at the beginning; I'll use a tripod next time.

Rocketshoeing

2009-02-04T08:01:00.001-08:00

The Mad River Rocket has created a following among snowshoers looking for adventure. Lightweight and easy to carry, the Mad River Rocket combined with snowshoes makes it possible to access backcountry terrain. Dubbed "Rocketshoeing," it's a trend waiting to happen.
--from Kidznsnow Article: Rippin' Riders Preview: Mad River Rocket Sleds ...

Since the Mini Cooper has cut my winter bike commuting to almost nil, I needed something else to keep in shape. So now, whenever we have snow, I go "Rocketshoeing" before or after work. I put on my snowshoes (or instep crampons or bareboots depending on the conditions) and, towing my sled on a rope attached to my belt by a caribiner, run up Horn Pond Mountain and sled back down. By "run" I mean jog until my lungs ache, then plod until my legs burn, then walk until my head stops pounding, then jog... Repeat until I reach the top. One lap takes about 20 minutes.

Yesterday after work, I ran up Toll Road and sled the Backside Middle. Then I ran up Falling Waters and sled Electric Avenue.
This morning before work, I ran up Falling Waters three times and sled Backside Middle, Rehab Trail, and Boulder Trail to Lower Yak Trak.

Last week's storm dumped 12 inches of powder. The conditions were great for sledding, what skiers call "hero snow," and I went down almost anything: hucked boulders, schussed steep slopes, and slalomed through the woods.

What a difference a week makes. Yesterday's storm put 4 inches on top of nearly unbreakable crust. Classic "dust on crust" made the sledding super fast (Mad River Rocket, indeed) and turning an iffy proposition. Last night's Electric Avenue run (in the dark) went something like this: Jump of the rock at the top; grab some trees to slow down; chicken out and butt slide down the rollover; zigzap down the lower face. Go home, tail between my legs. This morning, in the light of day with a couple more inches of snow was better, but steering was still sketchy so I stuck to the tamer trails.

Mad River Rocket Freesledding

2009-01-31T06:02:00.001-08:00

My newest winter pastime is freesledding.

Horn Pond Mountain is a short walk from my house. After a recent snowstorm I put in some new lines down Electric Avenue and Rehab Trail, and hucked the Reservoir Boulders. Caution: Hyperbole is to freesledding what oxygen is to life.

Here's how the pros do it:
http://teamsleds.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=44
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfoFFNb6d34

Here's how we do it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTZHWOhC2Ps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKPvCEAeVVo
http://picasaweb.google.com/phillip.stern/HornPondMtnBestLines?authkey=MUFl-9dk7xA#

Pack Monadnock and Temple Mountain adventure
On the way home, we hit black ice at 50 mph. We fishtailed across the road into the oncoming traffic lane, but managed to avoid the cars coming at us and the other cars that hit the ice and were stopped on both shoulders. We did a 180 and stopped inches from the snow bank on our side of the road.
The 180 was definitely the most memorable event of the day, but the sledding was a lot of fun too and, at the time, seemed more risky than driving to and from the mountain. We got to Pack Monadnock about 8:30 and geared up in the 3 degree F parking lot. Fingers numb with cold we began hiking up the summer toll road, now buried by a couple feet of snow. Soon we were sweating and peeled off our coats and hung them from our packs. At the top, we climbed the lookout tower and inspected the trails at Temple Mountain across the highway; we were going there after lunch. Then we unstrapped our sleds and headed down.
The trail was boot packed and not steep enough to be fun on our sleds, so we found short shots through the powder and very dense trees off the side of the trail. Unfortunately, the trail didn't switchback, so after every little run, we had to climb back up to the trail. But we had fun going off some little rocks covered in snow. Back in parking lot, another hiker told us we picked the "bad" trail. The other trail stays in the fall line and is more fun for hiking and, presumably, sledding.
At the Temple Mountain parking lot we ate a quick lunch and queried other hikers/skiers/snowboarders about the trails. Temple Mountain was a ski resort that closed in 1991.
At the top we met more snowboarders and found a short open run with a couple of drops. The boarders and sledders took turns watching each other get some air. I went off a big round boulder with about an 8-foot drop to the powder below. Then we split up and took different routes to the bottom. It was fun to have longer runs than at Pack Monadnock, but the trails just weren't steep enough. First tracks often meant using your hands to push along the flat spots.
From the picnic area at the bottom, we hiked straight up a ski slope, and it would have been tough going without snowshoes. The climb had me huffing and puffing, but it let us scout out a great second run. At the top we met the snowboarders again and took a video of them getting air off a 10-foot rock. I took my sled down the side of the same rock, in a series of 3 step-like drops. I climbed back up and launched off the other side of the rock landing in a tiny clearing between a boulder and a downed tree. These jumps were all seemed pretty scary while sitting at the top trying to get up the nerve to push off, but the snow was so deep and soft that the reality of the jump was a bit anti-climatic. Still, I did get a little rush each time. After playing around up top for awhile, we headed back down to the base. We followed a trail put in by a snowboarder sometime in the past week. On flatter sections we stayed on the packed trail to keep our speed up. On the steeper pitches, we shot into the powder next to the track and carved some turns. It was almost a top to bottom run, prevented only by a couple of wipeouts.

Phillip and John toast the good runs at Temple Mountain

Phillip climbing Mt Cardigan with his Mad River Rocket

Pack Monadnock and Temple Mountain adventure

2009-01-31T02:55:00.001-08:00

Sunday (Jan 25) John and I loaded our sleds, crampons, snowshoes, and backpacks into the Mini Cooper and headed up to Pack Monadnock and Temple Mountain for a day of backcountry sledding. It was a great day, not the least because we survived the drive home.

We were heading south on US 202, driving close to the posted limit of 50 mph. It was a sunny, but cold afternoon. Visibility was good and the road was dry. Up ahead I saw a curve and two cars stopped on the shoulder of our lane. Across the road, an SUV was stopped on the shoulder facing the other way. As I entered the curve, we hit a large patch of black ice and started a four wheel slide towards the two stopped cars and the women standing beside them. Then the ice ended and the front wheels grabbed sudden traction; the rear end fishtailed and I countersteered to regain control. Then we were fishtailing the opposite direction but I countersteered again and thought I was about to drive out of it. By now we were across the yellow line into the oncoming traffic lane, and there was a car oncoming. I turned the wheel to get back in my lane and must have overcorrected, because next thing I knew we were 180 degrees around, in the correct lane, but going backwards. We passed the oncoming car by a wide margin, but were heading (backwards) towards the icy snowbank at the edge of our lane. I slammed on the brakes and we stopped inches from the snowbank. John and I just looked at each other and said "Holy Shit!" The smell of burned rubber and maybe burned transmission filled the air. We walked around the car but saw no damage. So I did a u-turn and we continued on our way. In the rear view mirror I saw the women walking across the road to talk to the people in the SUV. My guess is that the SUV also hit the ice, did a 180 and was facing the wrong way but on the other side of the road. Several minutes later a parade of emergency vehicles (ambulance, police car, maybe a firetruck) came flying towards us with lights flashing and sirens blaring heading towards the stopped vehicles. What they really needed was a salt truck. Several times on the drive home, we just broke into laughter, so relieved to have escaped without injury.

John at the base of Pack Monadnock.

The 180 was definitely the most memorable event of the day, but the sledding was a lot of fun too and, at the time, seemed more risky than driving to and from the mountain. We got to Pack Monadnock about 8:30 and geared up in the 3 degree F parking lot. Fingers numb with cold we began hiking up the summer toll road, now buried by a couple feet of snow. Soon we were sweating and peeled off our coats and hung them from our packs. At the top, we climbed the lookout tower and inspected the trails at Temple Mountain across the highway; we were going there after lunch. Then we unstrapped our sleds and headed down the trail to the sledders' left of the toll road.

Looking across at Temple Mtn from the top of Pack Monadnock.

The trail was boot packed and not steep enough to be fun on our sleds, so we found short shots through the powder and very dense trees off the side of the trail. Unfortunately, the trail didn't switchback, so after every little run, we had to climb back up to the trail. But we had fun going off some little rocks covered in snow. Back in parking lot, another hiker told us we picked the "bad" trail. The trail to the right of the toll road stays in the fall line and is more fun for hiking and, presumably, sledding.

At the Temple Mountain parking lot we ate a quick lunch and queried other hikers/skiers/snowboarders about the trails. Temple Mountain was a ski resort that closed in 1991. The only sign of the resort are the trails cut into the forest, which is quickly filling in those same trails with groves of little saplings. A sign in the parking lot says LCHIP, which is The New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment Program, "an independent state authority that makes matching grants to NH communities and non-profits to conserve and preserve New Hampshire's most important natural, cultural and historic resources."

Mario (with snowboard) and John hiking up Temple Mtn.

We met Mario, a snowboarder, and walked up the Wapack trail, which was totally packed down. We had on snowshoes, but could have just as easily walked up in boots. The Wapack trail must have been an old service road. It gradually wound its way up to the top and we didn't even get out of breath on the climb. At the top we met a couple more snowboarders and found a short open run with a couple of drops. The boarders and sledders took turns watching each other get some air. I went off a big round boulder with about an 8-foot drop to the powder below. Then we split up and took different routes to the bottom. It was fun to have longer runs than at Pack Monadnock, but the trails just weren't steep enough. First tracks often meant using your hands to push along the flat spots.

Phillip and John at top of Temple Mtn with Pack Monadnock in the background

From the picnic area at the bottom, we hiked straight up a ski slope, and it would have been tough going without snowshoes. The climb had me huffing and puffing, but it let us scout out a great second run. At the top we met the snowboarders again and took a video of them getting air off a 10-foot rock. I took my sled down the side of the same rock, in a series of 3 step-like drops. I climbed back up and launched off the other side of the rock landing in a tiny clearing between a boulder and a downed tree. These jumps were all seemed pretty scary while sitting at the top trying to get up the nerve to push off, but the snow was so deep and soft that the reality of the jump was a bit anti-climatic. Still, I did get a little rush each time. After playing around up top for awhile, we headed back down to the base. We followed a trail put in by a snowboarder sometime in the past week. On flatter sections we stayed on the packed trail to keep our speed up. On the steeper pitches, we shot into the powder next to the track and carved some turns. It was almost a top to bottom run, prevented only by a couple of wipeouts.

One of the best parts of the day was the people we met. We hiked with Mario the snowboarder and learned he is the Dean of Education at Lesley University and lives in the town next to ours. The two college-age boarders were Norbert and Andrew and it was fun to see what the kids could do on their boards and what we old guys could do on our sleds. We were all united in our desire to play in the snow and mountains without spending $60 to $90 for lift tickets. So we shared some information about potential sledding / boarding sites and exchanged email addresses.

Another happy encounter was with another older guy getting out his sled at the base of Pack Monadnock while we were putting ours away and getting ready to move over to Temple Mountain. He had a HammerHead sled, something like a hightech Flexible Flyer. He sleds headfirst lying on his stomach and says he really gets moving down the packed Toll Road. Probably a lot of fun but I prefer the off trail powder and freesledding made possible by the Mad River Rockets. Of course, if your knees aren't flexible enough to kneel on a Rocket sled, a HammerHead might be a reasonable alternative.

Anyhow, this guy was showing us his sled when he realized that one of the replaceable runners had fallen off his sled. It wasn't in the car so he was going to drive back home to see if it was in his basement. He was just saying that he hoped he didn't lose it last weekend when he was sledding at Pack Monadnock, when he looked across the parking lot and saw the missing runner stuck in a snow bank near the trailhead. I got a great feeling because this fellow was going to be able to enjoy playing in the snow instead of driving home on a fruitless search for a missing runner.

Phillip and John toast the end of a good day sledding.
Temple Mtn in the background.

After the last run of the day, we loaded the gear in the Mini, toasted our adventure with a Harpoon Winter Warmer (totally unrelated to the subsequent 180) and shared Julie's excellent cookies with the snowboarders. Then we drove to Harvard, Mass to hear a lecture by John's friend Richard Higgins, author of As High a Heaven: Meditating on Trees with Thoreau. We were wearing sweaty outdoors clothes and our hair was pretty wild, but when we explained we were just coming from hiking the woods we fit right in with the tree hugging crowd.

Fwd: Wildcat with Alexa

2009-01-31T02:53:00.001-08:00

2 Wildcat lift tickets: $18
lunch for two: $17
transportation: $187 (driving at 55 cents per mile)
skiing with my daughter Alexa: priceless

It's been years since we skied in New England and, in the meantime, we have become accustomed to the conditions and terrain at Jackson Hole, WY. So after the first run down the icy, cold (10F), crowded, gradual pitch slopes at Wildcat Mountain, I was about ready to have an early lunch and head home. But after a couple more runs, the joy of skiing returned. Even on less challenging terrain you can work on finding the balance point and holding a good edge. We even had fun on the green trails, turning only when the trail turned on its serpentine patch through the woods. An added bonus: the snow was better on these easier trails. We spent about half the day on the ungroomed trails, relearning how to ski icy bumps. A reasonable level of competency soon returned, until the added difficulty of thin cover and exposed rocks threw me off balance again.

We drove for 7+ hours to ski for 5+ hours, but it was worth it. Wildcat was celebrating its 51st anniversary and offering $9 tickets (as opposed to the usual $60) so it was a not-to-be-missed deal. I took the day off work (Friday), and Alexa was between mid-term exams and classes starting back up (Tuesday). A nice mini-vacation.

The directions were so easy, I-95 N to 16 N, that I didn't even set the GPS. Alexa and I were chatting about school and next thing I knew we were at the roundabout in Gloucester. We flew right past the point where I-95 and 128 separate and ended up driving an extra 30 miles.

Coming home, we had no problems with the directions but we almost didn't get out of the parking lot. In the morning we parked in a line of cars, bumper to bumper down the middle of the lot. In the afternoon, we skied down the mountain and right across the snow-covered lot to our car, popped our skis off, loaded everything into the car, and drove straight ahead to what I thought was the exit. Turned out it was the trail we just skied down and the front wheels sank axle-deep into the snow. Fortunately, two college-aged boys came and pushed us out, without even commenting on my bonehead driving maneuver.

The trip up was 188 miles at 65 mph avg for 38 mpg. The return trip was 153 miles at 55 mph avg for 41 mpg. The Mini Cooper is a great 2-person adventure car, add a third person and it is very difficult to fit all the gear, whether it is skis or sleds or backpacks.

Fwd: Celebrating the Red Sox - 2007 World Series Champions

2009-01-31T02:50:00.001-08:00

Like Papelbon, we were too tired to dance, but we still held a small celebration after the Red Sox won the World Series.
--pws

Fwd: Big weekend

2009-01-31T02:49:00.001-08:00

Lots going on around here.

Julie and I just got back from a concert at The Real School for Music. We heard Guggenheim Grotto, a duo that plays "a decidedly upbeat mix of timeless pop, folk and soaring melodies." Hearing live music in an intimate setting is very special. We were sitting in the front row about five feet from the musicians. At one point they asked us to sing the refrain of the next song so they could sing a countermelody. I whispered, "Uh oh!" to Julie and they heard me and made a joke about it. Their whole concert was taped and we were told it was for MTV, so we'll keep an eye out for it.

The warm up band was Sev, who plays great guitar. Mike Abbott, one of the Real School founders, sat in on saxophone and flute. Sev is a musician and an artist with an interesting web site: www.sevhead.com.

The boys were planning to go with us, but wrestling changed those plans. Too bad, because they missed an excellent night of music and would have benefitted from hearing what can be done on guitar. It was really amazing.

But Michael wanted to go to bed early. He is trying to lose 3 pounds overnight so he can wrestle in a varsity match tomorrow at 155. He thinks of himself as wrestling in the 160-pound weight class, but I guess the coach thinks of him as a 152-pounder (plus the 3 pound allowance you get late in the season). We all hope he gets to wrestle varsity tomorrow, but we'll have to wait and see. He has done real well in his JV matches and wants to test himself at the next level.

Nick had a special wrestling practice tonight. He is wrestling in his first tournament on Sunday. It is a sectional and if he does well, he will advance to the regionals next weekend. In addition to weight divisions, they divide the boys into groups by ability and experience: Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Copper. Since this is Nick's first year he would normally wrestle Copper, but his coach says he is "scrappy" and is going to have him wrestle Bronze. I dream of him winning the tournament and getting bumped up to Silver for the regionals, but again we'll have to wait and see.

On the academic front, all continue to excell. Once again Nick got all A's, except for that B in gym. It astounds me that he is a good athlete, but gets his lowest grade in gym. He thinks it is because the teacher gets him confused with another Nick that goofs off in gym. Michael got A's on his exams and expects good grades on his report card next week. Alexa got her first college scores back and got an A, and two B+, with a Pass in her freshman seminar. She wrote an excellent book review for her Chinese History class and got an A- on it, so she is settling in to her classes quite nicely.

Julie offered free treatment for anyone on the wrestling team last weekend and Michael acted as her assistant. Several boys came for treatment of various aches and pains. At last night's wrestling meet, the parents were effusive in their thanks. The boys all really liked the treatment and felt much better afterwards. One mother said her son got up that night and started cleaning house, so maybe that is some kind of weird marketing angle Julie can use. She is planning to run another clinic for the wresters next weekend.

I went sledding in the rain that followed the big snowstorm on Tuesday. I'm attaching photos of a couple of my lines. In the third photo, you can see the ice at the bottom of the reservoir. I think those are the boot tracks we made the day Michael and I fell through the ice. There is even a little hole of water that has not completely refrozen next to the tracks.

Fwd: snow day - flexing at least half day

2009-01-19T14:47:00.001-08:00

It snowed all day Sunday and most of the night. This morning we had over 12 inches of fluffy powder, so I decided to take the day off and celebrate Martin Luther King Jr Day by playing in the snow (my version of ebony and ivory).

Julie, Michael and I went out for a couple of hours hiking and sledding before breakfast. Horn Pond Mountain is just a short walk from our house; Horn Pond Mountain isn't as big or steep as the mountains in this Mad River Rocket highlights video, and we don't get crazy air, but we do have the Mad River Rocket Killer-B sleds and deep powder, so it was a good morning.

After breakfast, shoveling the driveway (the only downside of 12+ inches of powder), and Michael's wrestling practice, I went back out with Nicholas. Nick a bit of a daredevil and coaxed me to go off some small jumps. That went well, so then we went off some medium size jumps. Then Nick upped the ante and went off a 12-footer and I decided that I'd rather just take the video. (The video is from my cell phone so quality is poor, but you get the idea.) In addition to several shorter runs, we did 5 top to bottom runs. We are both exhausted now. Not sure how we'll survive skiing Jackson Hole if we get tired sledding at Horn Pond.

We decided to start naming the trails.

Gubba Gully - the site of Nick's daring do.
Yak Trak - the main trail up the front side of the mountain, because Nick found one of the traction devices Julie lost this morning at the bottom of this trail.
Crossroad - crosses Yak Trak and runs past the Old Stone House.
Backside Bowls - =tThe open face down the back of the mountain, but since the slope goes over steep slabs of rock and ends at the Head Trauma Center we should be able to come up with a better name.
B&C - the area with the boulder and rock cairn.
Flat Tire - the trail where we popped a snow tube a couple weeks ago. The trail near B&C, not to be confused with the Downhill Jump trail, where Eric popped another tube the same day.
Downhill Jump - a fun run that ends on Crossroad with a crazy jump that some downhill MTB dude must have built.
Whole Paycheck - the trail we took to Whole Foods for a late lunch (need a better name for this one too)

The photos show Nick on the rock before the major drop, the old reservoir where Michael and I fell through the ice a couple of weeks ago, and a hill we sled down today with lots of rocks and trees to avoid. I included the reservoir photo, because falling through the ice ruined my brand new camera and I had to shoot these photos and the video on my cell phone.

In case you haven't heard it, here is the "fell through the ice" story.

The reservoir is no longer used and we like to hike down into it and clamber over the rock sides. Usually there is a marshy section at the very bottom; sometimes it collects water, but never more than ankle or knee deep.
So we walked across the ice at the bottom and as we got near the opposite side the ice cracked and Michael and I (who were in the lead) fell through. A hole opened in the ice, about 6 feet in diameter and suddenly we were standing in water (very cold water) up to our armpits. I tried to climb out, but the ice kept breaking (just like you read about). Fortunately, there were tiny trees (maybe sumac bushes) growing in out of the water and we used them to pull ourselves out and back onto solid ice.
We walked home quickly (about 10 minutes), washed all our clothes, and took hot showers. No real harm (except to Michael's phone and my camera) and we learned first-hand about the risks of winter hiking, and my desire for an adventure was met.

Mini vs. Hummer

2008-12-23T09:37:00.001-08:00

I found this story while googling chains for our Mini Cooper.

Quick story: On my way home last winter, uphill, a Hummer H2 had spun into the ditch and the woman driving couldn't get it unstuck. I stopped, and gave her the winter driving tip that allowed the 4wd system to pull itself out (when stuck, turn the front wheels slightly this way and that, and apply the throttle slowly). We worked the vehicle out, got her safe, and talked about a few winter driving tips. It was a very productive, positive conversation, until she noticed my Really Little car, just uphill from her. ON the roda, not in the ditch.

Her: "You got up the hill in that??!"
Me: "Yes."
Her: "Does it have 4 wheel drive?"
Me: "No, just front drive, but with good snow tires" (and a little finesse, my Little Inside Voice said).
Her: (gritting teeth) "...and My Husband Makes Me Drive This Monster In Winter???!?"

I was glad I wasn't him. She smiled as I slipped the clutch, waved, and drove off...

Fwd: [nebc] Thanks NEBC road tips for music video

2008-12-11T16:34:00.001-08:00

check out this music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTfB6EcJMp8

It was made by a member of my bike club, NEBC.
I like the song, but my favorite thing was seeing all the familiar Boston landmarks:

the little road next to the lake (at 10 seconds) is on a "shortcut" Jay and I take while biking (Mill St & Lincoln St in Lexington)
Charles River
Salt & Pepper bridge - when I worked in Boston I bike commuted over that bridge every day
Fanueil Hall
On my weekend rides out past Hanscom, we often return by taking the Mill St / Lincoln St longcut to avoid traffic and go past that lake.

On Thu, Dec 11, 2008 at 6:15 PM, David Smith <DavidSheila@comcast.net> wrote:

I just want to say a BIG BIG thanks to all the NEBC club members that recommended a nice quiet road
for the bicycle music video that I did

KATRIN the singer really appreciated the road (She plays a mean acoustic guitar by the way)

I checked out all the leads from the club and ended up on Lincoln Street, near the water - it looks so great in the video
(It's in Lexington right - hell, I didn't even know where I was).

Sad to be so close to home and lost. I can't tell you how helpful all those road leads were

It was perfect, and we only saw about 10 cars in 3 hours on a Sunday morning! Able to get all the close ups and "action" shots with no problems

Thanks to all those that wrote me an e-mail and I appreciated the time spent

Bares, Tetrault, Preneta, McMaster, Evans, Turer, Rowell, Chiu, Martin, Laupheimer, Shan Smith, Greenberg

You'll see some of the bike stuff about 30 seconds into the video and it continues until the end on and off
(I know, I know, she doesn't have a helmet and she is wearing cowboy boots, but this is entertainment so try and pretend your in LA
where there are no rules)

In this clip you can see Lincoln Street and the water. Heck, it looks like Kentucky!

I shoot all my music videos alone and without a crew, so I do it all, a tough thing to do. I had a driver for some of the bike shots and that's it

By the way, the 3 speed in this music video, I found it in the trash, it was in almost perfect condition

Remember to press on Watch High Quality when on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTfB6EcJMp8

Thanks again!

David Smith

www.skyjamvideos.com

_______________________________________________
nebc mailing list
nebc@mailman.connactivity.com
http://mailman.northeastbicycleclub.org/mailman/listinfo/nebc

Happy Holidays, 2008

2008-12-07T18:53:00.000-08:00

Julie and I decorated a couple of plain evergreen wreaths to hang on our front stairs. Not bad, if I do say so myself.

Alexa's friend Corrine joined us for Thanksgiving. Her parents grew up in China. She was born in Paris and lived most of her life in Montreal. So this was her first classic American Thanksgiving dinner with turkey, stuffing, cranberries, and mashed potatoes.
Alexa and Corrine. They met backpacking in Maine during Harvard's Freshman Outdoor Program the week before starting college.
Quite a spread.
I blame the photographer.
Cheers!

Michael and Nick with their instructor Dave at The Real School of Music.We heard Greg Hawkes, the keyboardist for the Cars, play at The Real School of Music with four of the instructors, including Michael and Nicholas' instructor Dave.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we all went to Charlie Wu's vacation house in Maine. This photo is of all the kids.
...and now the adults.
Alexa and Corrine decorating the Christmas tree Thanksgiving weekend.
Michael had some friends over before The Soccer Ball, one of the biggest social events at the high school. Michael went with Dana (the taller girl in the photo). Dana's father and mother are another Harvard-Wellesley couple.

Nicholas is practicing stacking things.
Nick is also experimenting with keystone arches.
It snowed today, Dec 7. ChiChi and I went for a mountain bike ride / dog walk over at Horn Pond.
Merry Christmas!

Monocycle

2008-11-09T18:11:00.001-08:00

This Monocycle looks a lot like Garrison's invention in South Park's episode, The Entity.
Here's the Wiki description:

Garrison's "IT" is a rip on the nickname of the famous Segway PT. Garrison's "IT" can go up to two hundred miles per hour, gets three hundred miles to the gallon, and is an all-around better mode of travel. The only problem is that it is controlled by an uncomfortable method.

You can see just how uncomfortable in this video with 8:30 to go.
--pws

21st Century Monocycle by Ben Wilson

by Mike Chino

Are traditional bikes a bit too pedestrian for you? Ben Wilson recently unveiled a sleek monocycle at this year's XXIst Century Man Exhibition in Tokyo. Wilson's pedal-powered prototype one-ups those tendentious "bi-cycles" with a single center-seated wheel. The elegant nimbus may not provide for the smoothest ride, but it more than makes up for it via its pure awesome appeal.

Rock and Roll

2008-10-11T14:52:00.001-07:00

I'm sitting here listening to a Rolling Stones LP. Michael is a big 70's music fan. He was intrigued by the crates of records up in the attic, so I've been promising him for years that I'd get our old turntable fixed up so he could listen to our classic rock.

So today we picked up the turntable from Audio Lab and set it up. He was totally in to it for about half an hour then got bored and wondered off, but I'm really enjoying listening to the old music and hearing the occasional pop or crackle.

Julie is a bit disgusted that I spent $215 fixing up antique technology. I told her the guy at Audio Lab says this turntable is worth $1500 now. She said, "Great, sell it and use the money to buy an HD-TV."

Back in the Saddle Again

2008-10-05T17:19:00.001-07:00

My plan was to ride lots of miles this summer and I started out strong in the spring. By mid-June I had completed the 100K and 200K of the Boston Brevet Series and completed the 150-mile Harpoon Brewery-to-Brewery ride from Boston to Windsor, VT. But I missed the 300K brevet because I hit an SUV on my bike a couple of days before the ride. Then I missed the 400K and 600K brevets because I was on vacation during those rides. With Jay focusing on a new job our Sunday morning rides became sporadic (though we did have an excellent ride in the fog to Ipswich), and I basically stopped riding for most of the summer.

But now I'm back in the saddle again (or if that's too old school, check out Aerosmith's version).

Last weekend, I rode the Five Notches Ride in NH with the Rippers. It may be due to my lack of fitness, but I thought this was the hardest ride I've ever done. We rode over 5 mountain passes in 93 miles. Actually, since I made a wrong turn just a couple miles from the finish, I ended having to ride an extra 6 miles up an extra mountain. Although I was exhausted, it was a fun weekend. A group of 15 of us went up Friday night and stayed in a couple ski houses owned by Rippers. It poured rain all day Friday and was raining at breakfast Saturday morning. The rain stopped before we started riding and didn't start again until dinner time when we were safely back inside. The trees were in full color and the reds, oranges, and yellows of the maple trees contrasted beautifully with the white clouds and green pines. The Rippers are a great group to ride and socialize with, but the ride fast and really put the hurt on me.

Today I had another fun ride with HUCA, the Harvard University Cycling Association. The Harvard-to-Harvard ride is a 75-mile fund raiser that starts at Harvard University, rides through Concord and out to the town of Harvard, before returning to campus. The university race team provided ride leaders and sweepers to make sure no one got lost. Forty or fifty riders started together, but I did most of the ride with a group of about 8, including Anna McLoon and Shane from HUCA. Anna races for Harvard during the school year and for Colavita during the summer and knows a couple of the Rippers (Ed Sassler was her first coach, and Kristen Gohr also races with Colavita). For a few miles I rode with Garth McCavana, the Associate Dean for Student Affairs for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard. The hills in the Greater Boston area were almost easy after struggling through the mountains of New Hampshire the week before.

The good times kept rolling as I got back to Winchester to watch Nick's soccer team win 4-0. Then =Sam and Mabel came over to watch the Patriots beat the Forty-Niners. The day will be perfect if the Red Sox can come back and beat the Angels to sweep the first round of the playoffs.

Re: Harvard 25 - Holy Cross 24

2008-09-20T05:19:00.001-07:00

Pizzotti, Harvard rally past Crusaders

The first Friday night game at Harvard Stadium attracted a crowd of 20,462, and senior quarterback Chris Pizzotti sent the spectators into the night buzzing, throwing for 370 yards as the Crimson roared back with 19 fourth-quarter points to beat Holy Cross, 25-24.
it wasn't until he scored on his second 1-yard touchdown run in less than five minutes, with 1:42 remaining, that the Crimson (1-0) went ahead.
Holy Cross led, 17-6, to start the fourth quarter and was poised to increase its lead when Harvard's Eric Schultz dumped Crusaders quarterback Dominic Randolph for a 9-yard loss, forcing a fumble. Schultz recovered.
On the ensuing drive, Pizzotti floated a pass to Marco Iannuzzi (11 catches, 174 yards), who hauled it in at the 31 and outran a pair of Holy Cross defenders for the 68-yard score. The 2-point conversion failed, but Holy Cross was reeling.

Harvard cornerback Andrew Berry is too good to be true.

The Crimson senior was named a preseason All-American by The Sports Network on the heels of his selection last year to the All-Ivy first team and ESPN The Magazine's Academic All-America first team.
He started every game in Harvard's 8-2 Ivy championship season, and went four straight without having a ball thrown against him in one-on-one coverage.
He ranked fourth on the team in passes defended (nine) with an interception and a forced fumble.
He's got a twin brother, Adam, who is a wide receiver for Princeton, but he's never let Adam catch a pass against him.
He's got smarts, too. He is a top student, concentrating in economics but also becoming so accomplished in computer science that in his junior year, he became a teaching fellow for the introductory course he took as a freshman.
He's involved in the community, tutoring at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School and participating in campus Christian groups, and, said Harvard coach Tim Murphy, "There's not a phony bone in his body."
Holy Cross, the Crusaders took a 31-28 victory last year, connecting for a 40-yard touchdown pass with 19 seconds remaining.
Murphy, whose defense ranked in the nation's top five in five categories last season. "In my mind, he may be the best defensive back in the country.

On Fri, Sep 19, 2008 at 11:50 PM, Phillip Stern <phillip.stern@gmail.com> wrote:

The boys and I watched Harvard come back to beat Holy Cross 25-24 with a last minute touchdown.
It was perfect football weather and fun to watch under the new lights at the stadium. It was quite crowded with 22,000 in attendance.

Harvard 25 - Holy Cross 24

2008-09-19T20:50:00.001-07:00

The boys and I watched Harvard come back to beat Holy Cross 25-24 with a last minute touchdown.
It was perfect football weather and fun to watch under the new lights at the stadium. It was quite crowded with 22,000 in attendance.

The boys got in free as guests of Alexa and her roommate Pamela. They were just coming from a dinner at Quincy House with the Half Asian Club (HAPA).
I've asked many times but no one knows what the P stands for. It was funny because Alexa introduced her friends as, "This is Pamela; she's half Japanese. This is Crystal; she's half Korean. This is James; he's half Vietnamese." I wondered if the Half Asian Club had gang fights with the All Asian Club.
By the way James father (Guy Fish) was class of '81 and lived in Quincy House for a year before moving to the Quad. Since we walked in with Alexa and her friends, I figured we would watch the game with them. But Alexa very diplomatically asked where we were sitting and said she'd come say hi at halftime. I got the clue and we went and sat with the old alumni at the 50, while she sat with the current college crowd near the band.

Nick met a bunch of his friends at the game (one dad is a fellow alumn, the other is a prof) and they ran around in the empty seats in the end zone while Harvard stunk up the first half, getting intercepted a couple of times and falling two touchdowns behind.
But he came they all came and watched with us during the 4th quarter while Harvard scored twice to win the game and then put in a tough defense to shut down Holy Cross and run the clock out.
We stuck around after the game to listen to the Harvard Band and one of the coaches tossed a game ball to Nick up in the stands. Nick was really psyched, holding the ball over his head, yelling "I got one! I got one!"

By the way Larry, we watched the cheerleaders for awhile and I told Michael you were a cheerleader. He was surprised because he knows you were a big jock swimmer and thought the cheerleading was a bit lame. He wondered why you wanted to be a cheerleader and I suggested maybe it fun, but he wasn't convinced. So then I got to wondering, why did you join the cheerleading squad? How many years did you cheer? Was it fun? Did you get a varsity cheerleading letter? Does Harvard give varsity letters? You must have a bunch from swimming. Are you in some Varsity Club? Inquiring minds want to know.

fun with sticky notes

2008-09-13T14:19:00.001-07:00

Watch how to have fun with sticky notes.

You may remember the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment from EeepyBird. The sticky notes experiments are even cooler.

Re: Authentic Happiness

2008-09-12T15:54:00.001-07:00

Excuse me if I sound like a proselytizer, but I just finished Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman for tonight's book club meeting.

I first learned about this book and Positive Psychology at my 25th college reunion in June, and was intrigued by the idea of better health through being happy. (Caroline Adams Miller, one of the first coaches in the world to gain the Masters in Applied Positive Psychology credential from the University of Pennsylvania, spoke of the importance of happiness.)

Of course some of you may remember that even a couple of years ago I was encouraging people to laugh loud and hard (even fake laughs) to improve health.

So I was excited to read this book on Authentic Happiness. It has some interesting ideas, but also lots of chaff to pad out the 260 pages of text.
Rather than encourage you to read the book, I am attaching my notes from the book that extract what I thought were the most salient points.

I especially direct Bob to read the section "why are lawyers so unhappy?"
I thought Paul would be interested in the section "NonZero by Robert Wright." I summarized Seligman's summary of Wright's book.
Martin also had advice about raising children, but I didn't take many notes since ours are all teens now. If interested, see the book pages 208 to 246.
Some of you may be amused or insulted by "Seligman's reconciliation of theology and science."

As for me, I am going to try to incorporate several suggestions from the Authentic Happiness:

practice gratitude and forgiveness
emphasize the use of my personal strengths at work and at home
admire the personal strengths of my loved ones
practice "Responsive and Attentive Listening" and break my habit of "talk and wait"

My goal for now is to move from a "pleasant life" to a "good life." Later I may work on a "meaningful life" which would give me the "full life" trifecta.

Don't worry. Be Happy!
Phillip

Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman

Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fullfillment

Preview the book in online at Google Books

Authentic Happiness web site: AuthenticHappiness.com

p 50 – happiness quiz – correct answer (my guess)

% Americans clinically depressed? –8-18% (15%)
% life satisfaction above neutral? –83% (50%)
%mental patients positive emotional balance? –57% (20%)
reports negative emotional balance:

poor African-americans – no (yes)
unemployed men – no (yes)
elderly people – no (no)
severely multiply handicapped people – no (yes)

p 74 – gratitude exercises

1) Select one important person from your past who has made a major positive difference in your life and to whom you have never fully expressed your thanks. Write a testimonial just long enough to cover one laminated page. Take your time composing this (e.g., weeks). Invite that person to your home, or travel to that person's home. It is important you do this face to face, not just in writing or on the phone. Do not tell the person the purpose of the visit in advance; a simple "I just want to see you" will suffice. Bring a laminated version of your testimonial with you as a gift. When all settles down, read your testimonial aloud slowly, with expression and with eye contact. Then let the other person react unhurriedly. Reminisce together about the concrete events that make this person so important to you. (If you are so moved, please do send a copy to Seligman@psych.upenn.edu.)

2) If you scored in the lower half of either the gratitude or the life satisfaction test, this second exercise is for you. Set aside five free minutes each niht for the next two weeks, preferably right before bed. Before the first night take the Satisfaction with Life Scale and the General Happiness Scale. Then think back over the previous 24 hours and write down, on separate lines, up to five things in your life you are grateful or thankful for. Repeat the two scales on the final night, wtwo weeks after you start, and compare your scores to the first night's scores. If this worked for you, incorporate it into your nightly routine.

p 117 – flow: building psychological capital

Given all the benefits and the flow that the gratifications produce, it is very puzzling that we often choose pleasure (and work, displeasure) over gratification. In the nightly choice between reading a good book and watching a sitcom on television, we often choose the latter—although surveys show again and again that the average mood while watching sitcoms on television is mild depression. Habitually choosing the easy pleasures over the gratifications may have untoward consequences.

p 118 – shortcuts lead to depression

I have theorized that an ethos that builds unwarranted self-esteem, espouses victimology, and encourages rampant individualism has contributed to the [depression] epidemic, but I will not belabor this speculation here. There is another factor that looms as a cause of the epidemic: the over-reliance on shortcuts to happiness. Every wealthy nation creates more and more shortcuts to pleasure: television, drugs, shopping, loveless sex, spectator sports, and chocolate to name just a few.
The pleasures come easily, and the gratifications (which result from the exercise of personal strengths) are hard-won. A determination to identify and develop these strengths is therefore the great buffer against depression.

p 120 – how to increase pleasures (and positive emotions) in your life

gratitude, forgiveness, and escaping the tyranny of determinism to increase positive emotions about the past;
learning hope and optimism through disputing to increase positive emotions about the future;
breaking habituation, savoring, and mindfulness to increase the pleasures of the present.

When an entire lifetime is taken up in the pursuit of the positive emotions, however, authenticity and meaning are nowhere to be found.

p 129 – science should be descriptive, not prescriptive

being optimistic brings about less depression, better physical health, and higher achievement, at a cost perhaps of less realism.

p 133 – six virtues (from across 3000 years and the entire face of the earth)

wisdom and knowledge
courage
love and humanity
justice
temperance
spirituality and transcendence

p 134 – talents and strengths

strengths are moral traits, while talents are nonmoral.
talents generally are not as buildable as strengths.

p 160 – signature strengths (ranked by results of my survey answers)

Love of learning - You love learning new things, whether in a class or on your own. You have always loved school, reading, and museums-anywhere and everywhere there is an opportunity to learn.
Curiosity and interest in the world - You are curious about everything. You are always asking questions, and you find all subjects and topics fascinating. You like exploration and discovery.
Fairness, equity, and justice - Treating all people fairly is one of your abiding principles. You do not let your personal feelings bias your decisions about other people. You give everyone a chance.
Gratitude - You are aware of the good things that happen to you, and you never take them for granted. Your friends and family members know that you are a grateful person because you always take the time to express your thanks.
Honesty, authenticity, and genuineness - You are an honest person, not only by speaking the truth but by living your life in a genuine and authentic way. You are down to earth and without pretense; you are a "real" person.
Judgment, critical thinking, and open-mindedness - Thinking things through and examining them from all sides are important aspects of who you are. You do not jump to conclusions, and you rely only on solid evidence to make your decisions. You are able to change your mind.
Citizenship, teamwork, and loyalty - You excel as a member of a group. You are a loyal and dedicated teammate, you always do your share, and you work hard for the success of your group.
Industry, diligence, and perseverance - You work hard to finish what you start. No matter the project, you "get it out the door" in timely fashion. You do not get distracted when you work, and you take satisfaction in completing tasks.
Bravery and valor - You are a courageous person who does not shrink from threat, challenge, difficulty, or pain. You speak up for what is right even if there is opposition. You act on your convictions.
Capacity to love and be loved - You value close relations with others, in particular those in which sharing and caring are reciprocated. The people to whom you feel most close are the same people who feel most close to you.
Leadership - You excel at the tasks of leadership: encouraging a group to get things done and preserving harmony within the group by making everyone feel included. You do a good job organizing activities and seeing that they happen.
Zest, enthusiasm, and energy - Regardless of what you do, you approach it with excitement and energy. You never do anything halfway or halfheartedly. For you, life is an adventure.
Forgiveness and mercy - You forgive those who have done you wrong. You always give people a second chance. Your guiding principle is mercy and not revenge.
Caution, prudence, and discretion - You are a careful person, and your choices are consistently prudent ones. You do not say or do things that you might later regret.
Humor and playfulness - You like to laugh and tease. Bringing smiles to other people is important to you. You try to see the light side of all situations.
Appreciation of beauty and excellence - You notice and appreciate beauty, excellence, and/or skilled performance in all domains of life, from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience.
Hope, optimism, and future-mindedness - You expect the best in the future, and you work to achieve it. You believe that the future is something that you can control.
Kindness and generosity - You are kind and generous to others, and you are never too busy to do a favor. You enjoy doing good deeds for others, even if you do not know them well.
Social intelligence - You are aware of the motives and feelings of other people. You know what to do to fit in to different social situations, and you know what to do to put others at ease.
Self-control and self-regulation - You self-consciously regulate what you feel and what you do. You are a disciplined person. You are in control of your appetites and your emotions, not vice versa.
Perspective (wisdom) - Although you may not think of yourself as wise, your friends hold this view of you. They value your perspective on matters and turn to you for advice. You have a way of looking at the world that makes sense to others and to yourself.
Creativity, ingenuity, and originality - Thinking of new ways to do things is a crucial part of who you are. You are never content with doing something the conventional way if a better way is possible.
Modesty and humility - You do not seek the spotlight, preferring to let your accomplishments speak for themselves. You do not regard yourself as special, and others recognize and value your modesty.
Spirituality, sense of purpose, and faith - You have strong and coherent beliefs about the higher purpose and meaning of the universe. You know where you fit in the larger scheme. Your beliefs shape your actions and are a source of comfort to you.

p 177 – why are lawyers so unhappy?

Lawyers long ago surpassed doctors as the highest-paid professionals. In addition to being disenchanted, lawyers are in remarkably poor mental health,… suffering depression at a rate 3.6 times higher than employed persons generally… they are disproportionately unhappy and unhealthy.

Three causes:

1) Pessimism. Pessimists do better at law. In law school, higher grades and law review achievement. Pessimism=prudence is a plus among lawyers, enabling them to see every conceivable snare and catastrophe that might occur in a transaction. Unfortunately, a trait that makes you good at your profession does not always make you a happy human being.

2) Low decision latitude. A study found high job demands coupled with low decision latitude was particularly inimical to health and morale. Young lawyers often fall into this quadrant.

3) win-loss game. The adversarial process lies at the heart of the American system of law because it is thought to be the royal road to truth, but it does embody the classic win-loss game. Lawyers are trained to be aggressive, judgmental, intellectual, analytical and emotionally detached. This produces predictable emotional consequences: he/she will be depressed, anxious, and angry a lot of the time.

p 188 – Marriage

Humans are born big-brained and immature, a state that necessitates a vast amount of learning from parents. This advantage only works with the addition of pair-bonding. Immature, dependent offspring who have parents that stick around to protect and mentor them do much better than their cousins whose parents abandon them. Those of our ancestors, therefore, who were inclined to make a deep commitment to each other were more likely to have viable children and thereby pass on their genes. Thus marriage was "invented" by natural selection, not by culture.
The children of couples who are married and stay married do better by every known criterion than the children of all other arrangements… Among the most surprising outcomes (beyond better grades and lack of depression) are the findings that the children of stable marriages mature more slowly in sexual terms, they have more positive attitudes to potential mates, and are more interested in long-term relationships than are the children of divorce.

p 193 – secure people

Memories: Secure adults remember their parents as available, as warm, and as affectionate.
Attitudes: Secure adults have high self-esteem and few self-doubts. Other people like them, and they regard other people as trustworthy, reliable, good-hearted, and helpful until sad experience proves otherwise.
Goals: Secure people strive for intimate relations with those they love and try to find a good balance of dependence and independence.
Managing distress: Secure people admit it when they are upset, and they try to use their distress to achieve constructive ends.

p 197 – 5 hours per week to improve your marriage

Partings. Before these couples say goodbye every morning, they find out one thing that each is going to do that day. (2 min x 5 days = 10 min)
Reunions. At the end of each workday, these couples havae a low-stress reunion conversation. (20 min x 5 = 1:40)
Affection. Touching, grabbing, holding, and kissing—all laced with tenderness and forgiveness. (5m x 7 = :35)
One weekly date. Just the two of you in a relaxed atmosphere, updating your love. (2 hrs once a week)
Admiration and appreciation. Every day, genuine affection and appreciation is given at least once. (5m x 7 = :35)

The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work, by John Gottman and Nan Silver presents a series of exercises for fanning the embers of fondness and admiration for strengths into a steadier glow.

p 198 – Your Partner's Strengths

Choose three of the 24 signature strengths that your partner has. For each strength write down a recent admirable incident in which s/he displayed this strength. Let your partner read what you wrote and ask him/her to do the same for you.

Strength 1:
Incident:
Strength 2:
Incident:
Strength 3:
Incident:

p 200 – Hold on to your Illusions

[Romantic illusion is] the discrepancy [in a positive direction] between what your partner believes about your strengths and what your friends believe.
The bigger the illusion, the happier and more stable the relationship. Satisfied couples see virtues in their partners that are not seen at all by their closest friends.
The happiest couples look on the bright side of the relationship, focusing on strengths rather than weaknesses, and believing that bad events that might threaten other couples do not affect them. Positive illusions are self-fulfilling because the idealized partners actually try to live up to them. They are a daily buffer against hassles, since partners forgive each other more easily for the wearying transgressions of daily life and use the alchemy of illusions to downplay faults and elevate shortcomings into strengths.
These happy couples are nimble users of the important "yes, but…" technique [of finding something good in a partner's weakness.]
Such nimbleness of emotion is related to optimistic explanations in marriage. Optimistic people make temporary and specific explanations for bad events, and they make permanent and pervasive explanations for good events.

p 202 – The upshot of this is straightforward: Optimism helps marriage.

When your partner does something that displeases you, try hard to find a credible temporary and local explanation for it. When your partner does something admirable, amplify it with plausible explanations that are permanent (always) and pervasive (character traits).

p 203 – Responsive and Attentive Listening can make a good marriage better

The overarching principle of good listening is validation. The speaker first wants to know that he has been understood. If possible, he additionally wants to know that the listener agrees or is at least sympathetic. You should go far out of your way to validate what your spouse is saying; the more serious the issue, the clearer your validation must be. Save disagreeing for when it is your turn to speak.
External factors (e.g., tv on) should be eliminated. There are also common internal factors that make you inattentive (e.g., fatigue, thinking about something else, being bored, and preparing your rebuttal).

p 204 – speaker-listener ritual

When you find yourself talking about a hot-button issue, label it: "This is one of my hot-button issues, so let's use the speaker-listener ritual." (Only speak when you have the talking stick.) Talk about your own thoughts and feelings, not about your interpretation of perception of what your partner is thinking and feeling. Use "I" as much as possible, rather than "you." Stop often and let the listener paraphrase.
When you are the listener, paraphrase what you heard when you are asked to do so. Don't rebut, and don't offer solutions. Your job is only to show you understood what you heard. You will get a chance to rebut when you are handed the [talking stick].

p 206 – Two principles for making good love better

attention and irreplaceability.
You must not scrimp on the attention you pay to the person you love. The listening and speaking skills I discussed will help with the quality of attention you pay to each other.
By making attention more affectionate, going out of your way to admire the strengths of your mate will also improve the quality of attention.
But the quantity is crucial. I am not a believer in the convenient notion of "quality time" when it comes to love. Of the people whom we love and who love us, we ask not only how well do they listen, but how often do they listen. When they allow the pressures of the office, of school, or of the unending panoply of external hassles to intrude on and displace the attention they offer us, love cannot but be diluted. Irreplaceability is at rock bottom.

p 207 – irreplaceability

Part of what makes us irreplaceable in the eyes of those who love us is the profile of our strengths and the unique ways in which we express them.

p 208 – Raising children

Building positive emotion

Sleeping with your baby
Synchrony Games
No and Yes
Praise and Punishment
Sibling Rivalry
Bedtime Nuggets
Making a Deal
New Year's Resolutions

Building Children's Strengths

Reward all displays of any of the strengths
Allow your child to display these burgeoning signature strengths in the course of your normal family activities.

p 249 – The Full Life

The pleasant life is wrapped up in the successful pursuit of the positive feelings, supplemented by the skills of amplifying these emotions.
The good life is a life wrapped up in successfully using your signature strengths to obtain abundant and authentic gratification.
The meaningful life has one additional feature: using your signature strengths in the service of something larger than you are.
To live all three lives is to lead a full life.

p 254 – NonZero by Robert Wright

The secret of life is not DNA, but the nonzero sum game. A win-loss game is an activity in which the fortunes of the winner and loser are inversely related, and a win-win game has a net result that is positive. The basic principle underlying life itself is the superior reproductive success that favors win-win games. Biological systems are forced by Darwinian selection into more complexity and more win-win scenarios.
It is not only biological change that has this direction, but human history itself. The universal picture of political change over the centuries, all across the world, is from savage to barbarian to civilization. This is a progression with an increase in win-win situations at its core. The more positive-sum games in a culture, the more likely it is to survive and flourish. History is checkered with one horror after another, but the broad movement of human history is in the direction of more win-win.
We are, at this moment, living through the end of the storm before the calm. The internet, globalization, and the absence of nuclear war are not happenstance. They are the almost inevitable products of a species selected for more win-win scenarios. The species stands at an inflection point after which the human future will be much happier than the human past.

p 256 – negative emotions help in win-loss games

Could it be that negative emotion has evolved to help us in win-loss games? When we are in a deadly competition, fear and anxiety are our motivators and our guides. When we are struggling to avoid loss or to repel trespass, sadness and anger are our motivators and guides.
When we feel a negative emotion, it is a signal that we are in a win-loss game. Such emotions set up an action repertoire that fights, flees, or gives up. These emotions also activate a mindset that is analytical and narrows our focus so nothing but the problem at hand is present.

p 257 – positive emotions help in win-win games

Could it be that positive emotion has evolved to motivate and guide us through win-win games? When we are in a situation in which everyone might benefit—courting, hunting together, raising children, cooperating, planting seeds, teaching and learning—joy, good cheer, contentment, and happiness motivate us and guide our actions.
Positive emotions are part of a sensory system that alerts to us the presence of a potential win-win. They also set up an action repertoire and a mindset that broadens and builds abiding intellectual and social resources.

p 258 – The Last Question by Isaac Asimov

Q: "Can entropy be reversed?"
Computer: "Not enough data for a meaningful answer."
Repeat for trillions of years.
A: "Let there be light," the computer responds. And there was light

God has four properties in the Judeo-Christian tradition

omnipotence
omniscience
goodness
the creation of the universe

Seligman's reconciliation of theology and science:

There was no such God, and there is no such God now. But, again, in the very longest run, where is the principle of win-win headed? Toward a God who is not supernatural, a God who ultimately acquires omnipotence, omniscience, and goodness through the natural progress of win-win. Perhaps, just perhaps, God comes at the end.

Bicycle Safety in Numbers

2008-09-11T15:47:00.001-07:00

Bicycle Safety in Numbers

For a city to improve bicycle safety, the prescription actually is to put even more riders on the streets.
Adam Hinterthuer reports

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[The following is an exact transcript of this podcast.]

There's a new prescription for communities that want to make their streets safer for bike riders: just add more bikes. A team of international researchers looked at cities from Australia to Denmark to California, and found that more riders meant fewer run-ins with cars. The researchers presented their findings to a cycling safety seminar on September 5 in Sydney, Australia.

What's surprising, the researchers say, is that biker safety doesn't seem to correspond to a city's efforts to cut down on accidents. Run-ins between bikes and cars had little to do with miles of bike lanes or lower speed limits. But if the number of bike riders in a city doubled, the rate of bike-car accidents dropped by a third.

Apparently, motorists learn to share the road better when they have to deal with more bikes on their daily commute. Also, more cyclists means more drivers who also bike, which makes them better aware of fellow bikers. The researchers call it a virtuous cycle—run-ins with cars drop with more bikes on the road. And safer cycling means more people strap on a helmet and join the revolution.

—Adam Hinterthuer

another danger of biking

2008-09-11T12:56:00.001-07:00

Teacher OK after crashing into bear on a bicycle

Wed Sep 10, 11:17 PM ET

MISSOULA, Mont. - A middle school teacher suffered some bruising and a big scratch on his back after he struck a bear while riding his bicycle to school.
Jim Litz said he was traveling about 25 mph Monday morning when he came upon a rise and spotted a black bear about 10 feet in front of him. He didn't have time to stop and T-boned the bruin.
He tumbled over the handlebars, his helmet hit the bear's back and the two went cartwheeling down the road.
The bear rolled over Litz's head, cracking his helmet, and scratched his back before scampering up a hill above the road.
Litz's wife drove by shortly after the crash and took her husband to the hospital. He hoped to be able to return to teaching science at Target Range Middle School on Friday.

AP Photo: Jim Litz, has a broken bike helmet and bruised ribs to show for the...

The Real School of Music

2008-09-11T08:21:00.001-07:00

The boys guitar teacher from Performance Music School in Woburn quit at the beginning of the summer to help start a new music school in Burlington: The Real School of Music.
Last night we attended the open house for the Real School and it was real cool.

They gutted a two story building and rebuilt it into a music school for guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, and voice. The walls are painted contrasting bright colors and all the fixtures are very cool, in the Apple Mac and iPod fashion. They gave the boys Real School t-shirts that say "Work Hard. Play Hard." on the back with a silhouette of a guitarist jumping up in the air, sort of like the early iPod posters.

There is a 100 seat performance hall, a couple recording studios, a few ensemble practice rooms, and many rooms for individual lessons. All the rooms are soundproofed, of course. At the entry there is a comfortable waiting area with a big screen HD-TV and tables, and there are smaller common areas with comfy chairs and TVs for hanging out while the kids are in lessons. In addition, the whole building has free wireless internet.

The school offers the instructors benefits like health insurance, so they expect to attract and keep musicians who can make instructing be a full time job (plus gigs on the side, I expect). For the students, the benefits include not just individual lessons, but the opportunity to play in an ensemble of students with similar skill and musical interest, also known as a band. The ensemble practice session will be "coached" by one of the instructors. As they students progress, they will have access to the recording studios and can make CS, mp3s, whatever. The Real School also offers lessons to people who want to learn how to run the recording equipment. They also plan to have small concerts that are free for Real School members (aka students).

It seemed like Winchester night at the Real School. We were there for about an hour and saw many friends. The architect (and one of the 4 founders, who are all musicians) is Weldon Wickerham, Michael's little league baseball coach. We saw Larry, one of the Rippers I bike with. Larry's neighbor (Tom or Don?) is another of the founders. Mary Kay McIntyre was there with her youngest son; her older son is Nick's friend. In addition, Michael learned through Facebook that a couple of his friends are playing a concert/recital there on Saturday night.

Some kids were fooling around with the drum kits and guitars in the ensemble rooms. I was amazed how good they sounded. Will was playing the Chili Peppers' Snow on guitar, and an older teen was giving him pointers on improving his technique. I enjoy listening to Michael and Nick and Chocolate Thunder practice, but these kids were about the same age and sounded really, really good. Dave (the instructor) said that playing in an ensemble helps take your playing to a whole new level.

As you might have guessed, we signed the boys up; their first lessons are next Monday night.

an interview with the FatCyclist

2008-09-11T06:38:00.001-07:00

I'm a big fan of fatcyclist.com. I even have a couple of FatCyclist bike jerseys. As usual, today's blog post is amusing; it's about Lance returning to pro racing.
But the best reading is hidden in this postscript from Fatty:

PS: Cycling Utah, a printed monthly magazine, interviews me in the current issue. You can download a PDF here and discover how goofy and all over the map I am when people ask me straightforward questions.

The interview starts on page 2 and covers many of the interesting posts and events from the blog, including the weight loss contest and Win Susan photo sending campaign, both of which I participated in. It also gives insight into Eldon (aka Fatty), the Lance Armstrong Foundation, we we enjoy cycling, and what is involved in writing a blog.

get your Paul Sellew memorabilia

2008-07-15T05:26:00.001-07:00

Paul Sellew was sitting courtside when the Celtics won the 2008 NBA Championship. The next day the Boston Globe ran a full page photo of the players hoisting the trophy, and there was Paul in the background. In this photo you can see Paul on the left side of the central photo. He is wearing a blue shirt and has a big smile on his face; his head is at the same height as the top of the trophy.

For your own copy of Paul's photo, check out this Framed Print: "Sweet 17" Celtics' 2008 NBA Championship.

Invitation to view Phillip's Picasa Web Album - Minis Take The States, Boston 2008

2008-06-22T13:24:00.001-07:00

You are invited to view Phillip's photo album: Minis Take The States, Boston 2008

Minis Take The States, Boston 2008

Boston, MA -

Jun 22, 2008
by Phillip

Mini USA was in Boston this weekend for Minis Take the States. We raced karts at F1 Boston on Friday night, then drove our Mini in a road rally up to Rockport Saturday morning. Saturday evening we went to UMass Boston's beautiful campus on the ocean and played games and listened to Fountains of Wayne. Sunday morning we went back to test drive lots of different Minis on an autocross course set up using cones in a parking lot. Tons of fun!

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expensive gasoline spurs some good changes

2008-06-22T06:15:00.001-07:00

Two articles in today's Boston Globe caught my eye. I've excerpted the main points and then added my thoughts.
Grain of salt: I write this a day after attending the Boston Mini Rally where 300+ Mini Cooper owners got together just to drive their cars for fun.
--Phillip

exceprts from House hunting in the age of $4 gas: Analysts say commuters may move closer to work

With gas now $4 a gallon, the software executive is no longer willing to pour $500 worth into his tank each month, an expense he attributes mainly to his 34-mile commute each way to work in Wilmington, or farther, to Logan International Airport for out-of-town meetings. He is looking to buy a home closer to his employer and the airport.
soaring gasoline prices, which have forced many commuters to modify their driving habits. Some are making fewer trips, and others are trading in gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles for compacts or taking mass transit to work. The US Department of Transportation recently reported a record drop in the number of miles Americans drove in March, compared with March 2007, which amounted to a 4.3 percent decline.
But if gas prices continue their inexorable rise, commuting costs will become a critical factor in where people choose to live, according to transit specialists and economists.
The first dramatic changes would probably occur for those in isolated suburbs and exurbs: the New Hampshire resident who commutes 50 miles to Boston or the Framingham resident who drives 20 miles into Kendall Square in Cambridge.
In a survey of its agents by real estate brokerage Coldwell Banker, 81 percent said they are seeing more interest from prospective buyers in urban living because of high gasoline prices. Fifty-four percent said access to public transportation is more important to their clients now.
A May study by CEOs for Cities, a research organization supported by government and business, said rising gas prices would push new housing developments closer to the urban core in Boston, Seattle, and other US cities, while suburbs with few transit options will lose value.
"The market for higher-density development in close-in neighborhoods is likely to grow stronger," the report said.
Young families might settle for tighter quarters closer to the city instead of the larger, less expensive homes with long commutes. For suburban professionals, a more expensive condo in downtown Boston might make financial sense. And baby boomers might consider giving up the family home because higher gas prices eat into their retirement savings.

My editorializing: I would be glad to see a reversal of suburban sprawl, and a lessening of our dependence on the automobile. I just wish this could happen without being tied to the cost of a barrel of oil. Instead I think we should charge motorists the true costs of using the roads (via electronic tolls or gasoline taxes) rather than hiding most of the costs in income or property taxes that are the same regardless of how much you use the roads.

excerpts from Ciao car, hello Vespa: Easy on the pocketbook, Italian-made scooter makes riding smooth around the city

Ahead, a red light glared, and bumper-to-bumper traffic stretched as far as the eye could see. Taxis honked. Drivers sighed. Nobody was happy - except the reporter on the white Vespa who slipped into the space between the lanes and nimbly passed among the cars. Pedestrians stopped to watch, and drivers' eyes gleamed with irritation and envy as the reporter made her way to the front of the line, turned right, and zipped off on her way.
With gas prices at record highs and the weather transformed to glorious summer, many are parking their guzzlers in favor of transportation less petrol-hungry. Subway ridership is up. Bicycles are out in greater numbers. This reporter's choice was a Vespa, the sleek Italian-made scooter that seems to exemplify the phrase "Ciao bella!"
Would one of Boston's notoriously aggressive drivers push her off the road? Would people honk when she topped out at 35 miles per hour? Would she be eaten by a monster-sized pothole? Or would the ability to cut through traffic, park virtually anywhere, and look good doing it win out?
As vehicles circled Newbury Street searching for a spot during the lunch hour, the reporter glided up onto the sidewalk and left the Vespa in the shade of a tree.
Cars actually let the reporter cut in front of them. Pedestrians stopped midstep and waved the scooter by.
It seemed like perhaps all of Boston would be a happier, kinder place if more people drove this way.

My editorializing: Or maybe ride a bike? Why is it that people give the person on the Vespa respect and admiration, but loathe and attack the bicycle rider? The Vespa rider, cutting through the stalled traffic, is as much a scofflaw as the cyclist. Maybe motorists feel more kindred with the Vespa because it too has a motor.

old time photos

2008-06-16T14:24:00.001-07:00

Can you believe these photos of me as a kid?

The first photo is of Roya and me on the first day of school (probably kindergarten and 1st grade). At least Roya's socks are supposed to show.
The boy reminds me Forrest Gump or the Beaver. My friends at work think it looks like a Norman Rockwell painting.

The second photo includes Mom and Dad, and my grandma (on Mom's side) holding baby Tonja.

Thanks to my dad for taking and saving these photos and to Roya for moving them from slides to digital images.
I anticipate some good laughs looking at the rest of the photos when we visit Indiana in July.

Fwd: Good News, Bad News

2008-05-31T03:26:00.001-07:00

The Good News is I don't have to get up at 3 AM to ride in the rain tomorrow.

The Bad News is I won't be doing the Boston Brevet 300K tomorrow.
Yesterday, I rear-ended an SUV that was stopped at a red light. My bike is OK, but I have some bruises and strains.
I rode to work today, but it was slow and uncomfortable. Not the optimal situation for a 12 to 14 hour ride.

My plan is to do the 300K route on my own sometime this summer.

Fwd: Mini Cooper Festival

2008-05-11T06:43:00.000-07:00

The Mini Cooper Festival in Boston sounds like a lot of fun. Fri to Sun (June 20-22). $20 per person.

Fri night - F1 kart racing.
Sat morning - rally
Sat afternoon - drive your Mini on "an aggressive auto-cross course", go-karting, Mini products, live music, mtb stunt show, rock climbing,...
Sat night - "headline" band (who is still to be announced)
Sun - repeat most of the Sat afternoon activities

Alexa, your goal should be to improve your driving of the Mini so you can do the auto-cross course. Sat morning you can even sign up to test-drive one of their cars, instead of ours. :)

Fwd: Mini Cooper Festival

2008-05-11T06:42:00.000-07:00

We have to "trick out" our Minis for the festival. Here are some ideas.
--pws

Fwd: Mini Cooper Festival

2008-05-11T06:41:00.000-07:00

Someone asked what "an aggressive auto-cross course" meant, so I found some photos.
--pws

Re: 200K Boston Brevet to New Boston, NH

2008-05-10T14:49:00.001-07:00

I did the 200k Boston Brevet today. Left Hanscom at 7 AM and rode to New Boston, NH and got back to Hanscom at 2:50 PM. That's 127 miles in 7:50 including 30 minutes spent at the check points. I rode the first ten miles with a group of ~20 people who planned to finish in under 8 hours, but at 10 miles I hit a pot hole and got a pinch flat. I spent the next 40 miles chasing that group to the first checkpoint.

I was told that large group disintegrated into groups of 2 to 4 people, so for most of the rest of the ride I was with two guys that are Paris-Brest-Paris veterans. One does a different 1200k ride every year. Turns out it was Brian Johnson from Teradyne. He knows Jay and says hi. The other guy was Justin who began riding a year-and-a-half ago and rode PBP last summer.

The second leg, had some big climbs. My back got sore, but I did okay. I guess riding with the Rippers is helping me with hills. We had some ripping descents after all the climbing. Topped 45 three times and could have gone faster on one hill except for traffic turning caused me to slow down on the steepest section.

After hanging out at Hanscom chatting for awhile, I rode my bike home for a total of 136 miles. Now I have three weeks to rest up for the 300k. We leave at 4 AM. I'd like to be able to finish in 12 hours, but I don't know...

51 people did the ride today. After we sat around a bit at the finish I asked how many were still on the road. Answer: 39, so I finished in the top 10 or 12. The first finisher, Matt, did it in 7:15, so he must have been taking it easy. He left with the group (2 people) who planned to finish under 6 hours.

I rode with Matt during the 100k on 4/12. He is studying at the Harvard Medical School and still has time to be a sponsored ultra rider. Last summer he set the record for riding across Maine. I think he said 380 miles in 20 hours, but that seems near impossible. Anyhow, he finished first for the 100k also. I finished 3rd. These brevets aren't races, but it is nice to finish before the masses.

200K on May 10, 2008
map to Checkpoint 1 -    48.9 miles -   from Hanscom Field, MA   to New Boston, NH
map to Checkpoint 2 -    86.0 miles -   from New Boston, NH        to Brookline, NH
map to Checkpoint 3 - 124.7 miles -   from Brookline, NH            to Hanscom Field, MA

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2008-05-07T16:57:00.001-07:00

Hi Mom,
We just wanted to send a note wishing you a Happy 72nd Birthday.
That's 6 cycles of the Chinese Zodiac, so in the attached photo Julie is holding a picture of a Rat for you birth year.
We are all looking forward to seeing you next month.
Happy Birthday from all of us,
Phillip, Julie, Alexa, Michael, Nicholas (and ChiChi too!)

Win Susan!!!

2008-05-07T16:49:00.001-07:00

Hi,
Thought you might find this interesting. Follow the "Lance link" to see a cool photo.
--Phillip

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Susan,
You and your family have been on my mind a lot recently.
I'm sending this "Win Susan!" photo as an emblem of my support and positive vibes.
Just count me (along with Lance) as one of your well wishers,
Phillip "TigerMouth" Stern

From:	Errorista
To:	tigermouth
Posted:	Mon May 05, 2008 1:31 pm
Hey - This is Jodi, I'm Fat Cyclist Elden's sister. I'm putting together a photo montage for his family of the many people on this planet that are here to support them. I've noticed that you are one of these people, and would love it if you could email me a photo of your self holding a sign that says "WIN Susan" - along with your screen name or real name. I'm going to try to have these collected by the beginning of next week, so don't get too fancy, just do it, and email it to: Thanks! (not really very fat) Jodi

Fwd: JD Drew

2008-05-04T16:00:00.001-07:00

I won't be at wrestling practice this week. I sort of feel like JD Drew; more time on the injury list than on the playing field.
My ribs still hurt from Thursday's practice, but that alone wouldn't keep me away.
Saturday I smashed my hand with a hammer working in the garage and today I cut the tip of my thumb off with a knife working in the kitchen.
In between those mishaps I had 5 flat tires on my bicycle. I'm hoping next week is better.
--Phillip

Fwd: Mini Bummer

2008-04-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

Driving to work this morning (because I go to wrestling after work on Mon and Wed), a hit-and-run driver smashed the Mini Cooper.
I was turning from Montvale Ave onto I-93 North. I waited for the green turn arrow and went. I never saw the car, but it must have run the red light going the opposite direction on Montvale.
I pulled over to the side of the I-93 entrance ramp and walked back to the intersection, but the car that hit me was gone. The other vehicles that were waiting at the light with me were gone too, so no witnesses.

Fortunately, I was not injured and I think the Mini was only minimally damaged.
The rear bumper was ripped off and hanging by two bolts, but that seems to be the extent of the damage.
Still, it was very sad seeing the Mini lying in pieces next to the road.
I guess now I have no excuse for not riding my bike to work for the next couple of weeks.

Mt. Cardigan: 1st Sled Descent

2008-03-17T08:39:00.000-07:00

The drive to Mt Cardigan was an adventure of its own. Rain and snow made visibility poor. We saw three crashses; one left a minivan perched atop an 8-foot high pile of snow; another somehow deposited a car on the other side of a 3-foot guardrail. Watching the wrecks instead of the exits, we missed our exit... twice. The AMC's Cardigan Lodge is at the end of a dirt road that goes over a big hill. New snow and old tires made it impossible to drive over the hill. Michael and John put on their crampons and pushed with all their strength for about 100 yards to get us over the top. Only time this week my strained QL was a benefit; I got to drive instead of push.
There was no powder like last time, but there was still plenty of snow. The trail was well packed, making snowshoes unnecessary, but step off the trail and you would posthole to knee or crotch. The bridge gave evidence that the packed snow was at least two-feet deep. Blazes on the trees, normally at eye-level, were waist high.
It was a warm day, in the high-30's, so we had to strip down while climbing. Although it was cloudy, it didn't rain.
Just before the summit, there was a small downhill, so sleds came off the packs for a bit of fun.

The summit was windblown and icy. We used our snowshoes for traction, but could have easily booted it all the way.

A group of skiers skinned past us while we were eating lunch near the warden's cabin. They were still at the summit when we got there and took the group photo below. They saw our sleds and waited around to see us descend. They told us it would be the first sled descent from the summit of Mt. Cardigan, and I'm sure they would know.
Tandem sledding

Tree turns

Standing fall

getting back in shape

2008-03-09T09:48:00.001-07:00

After a winter of not riding, my weight was up to about 175. I want to get back down to about 155.
So I am cutting back on snacking and sweets and increasing my activity level again.

We just got back from our Jackson Hole trip and I'm going to start riding my bike a lot again. Today (Sunday) I went our for an easy (13 mph average) two hours with John M.
My goal this year is to do the Boston Brevet Series.

I also joined the Boston Union Wrestling Club and will have a 2-hour practice every Monday and Friday. I will drive to work those days and ride every other day.
I also bought trail running shoes and want to get in half an hour in the woods around Horn Pond on the days I don't ride my bike.

So there's the plan.

Today's weight: 170.

Fwd: the hidden cost of buying a car

2008-03-06T09:00:00.001-08:00

I rode my bike to work today for only the 4th time since buying the Mini in December.
I rode real slow. I look like the guy in the "bought a car" photo.
Guess I should buy another bike.

wrestling

2008-03-06T05:39:00.001-08:00

Last night I joined the Boston Union Wrestling Club and participated in wrestling practice for the first time in 28 years.
After one-and-a-half hours of calisthenics, drills, and top/bottom wrestling I was beat and decided to sit out the wrestling challenge matches.
Today my legs and neck ache, but I had some fun and didn't get hurt, so I think I'll be going back to practice every Monday and Wednesday evening.

Jackson Hole 2008 - Day 7 (Rock Springs)

2008-02-26T15:34:00.000-08:00

Today we went OB--out of bounds--to get some untracked powder. Someday I want to try to describe the special feeling of skiing deep powder, but for now, if you haven't done it yourself, you'll just have to believe me that it is really fun.

Mimi used her special pass to get up the gondola before it opens for the general public and made two runs down the Bowl before we Sterns hooked up with her. We did far right of the bowl and then left the ski resort via the high gate.

Here Mimi is holding the gate for the rest of us to ski through. Then we checked that all the avalanche beacons were transmitting correctly, and snugged our packs with probes and shovels. Even though we planned a very conservative and safe tour, we had to be prepared for the worst.

We are all ready to go. Behind us is the ski area, Rendezvous Bowl to be specific.
Once through the gate, there is a short traverse through the trees to get to the first slope. The mountains are beautiful and the snow fields beckon.

Here we are contemplating the first powder run. We went one at a time to reduce the risk of bringing down snow on top of the skier below. The snow was light and deep, over the knees.
Mimi let me go first and I skied a decent line. At the bottom I tried to get some photos of the rest of the group, but the better the skiing is, the less time you have for getting good photos.

Nick was skiing without poles, but that didn't keep him from going big.

Powder pig smile.

Julie got this picture of Mimi checking out the lay of the land and keeping an eye on her charges. Mimi was our guide extraordanaire, doing route finding, sharing safety tips, and going last to pick up the pieces if necessary.

Nick watching his Mom making turns. When we were all down, we looked back up and admired our lines snaking down the mountain next to each other.

Julie enjoying the pow.

We had so much fun on our first run that we decided to do it again. This required 4 lifts to get us back up to the top of the mountain (Gondola, Thunder, Sublette, East Ridge). Sometimes skiing the trails between the lifts is what it's all about, but today it was just what we had to do to get to the main event, Rock Springs Canyon.

On our second OB tour, Mimi, Michael, and Phillip hiked up Paranoia Ridge to get 10 to 15 turns through a slash in the trees. Michael went first and laid perfect tracks. I did my best to follow his line, but he is skiing better than me this year. It was still my best run of the day. The north facing slope in the shadows of trees made for light, deep snow that bubbled up to my waist and on a couple of turns flew up to my chin and down the neck of my jacket. Bottomless snow; felt like I was floating down the mountain. Ahhh!

Julie and Nick didn't want to hike so they missed the best run of the day. Next we hit the same slopes we did a couple of hours before, but the sun had warmed the snow and made it heavier. Still fun but not the joy of light, untracked powder.

At the bottom, we skied through the trees and found more light stuff. The turns were very tight, but it was a shallow slope and the powder made it easy. After the long traverse back to the base of the ski area it was time for lunch. Nick fell asleep at the table, testament to the tiring nature of the tour. Julie also called it a day and took a nap. Greg, however, was up for another run. (Greg and Harry were worn out too; they hiked the Head Wall and skied down the Crags while we were in Rock Springs Canyon.)

Greg skis fast (actually rides his snowboard fast) and I have trouble keeping up with him. Maybe he is just in a hurry to get back to the lift so he can call in to work and check on the many design projects his architecture firm is responsible for.

Jackson Hole 2008 - Day 6 (All Day Dump)

2008-02-25T15:41:00.001-08:00

Nick gearing up for another day of deep. Another 4 or more inches fell during the night and it continued to storm all day. Still snowing as I type this after a day of excellent runs.

That's Michael waiting for the rest of us to get our boots on. The patio off the Teton Club's ski locker is a ground level in the summer. In the winter they have to build snow stairs so you can climb to the top of the snow pack.

Julie's still recovering from her cold and moving a little slow, but there was no way she was going to miss these great conditions.

Mimi and Frank have a locker pass that allows them to catch an early gondola so they get first tracks. The hoi polloi have to wait in line for the gondola to open at 9 AM, and there was a long line today. Accidentally, we got in the singles line a few minutes before 9 and didn't have to wait long before we were heading up the mountain. Bonus #1: Chatting with Hollee Armstrong (proprietress of the spa at the Teton Club and wife of Sick Rick Armstrong, extreme skiing legend) in the line. Bonus #2: They put all four of us from the singles line of into the same gondola so we got the short wait in line and the companionship during the ride up.

We caught up with Mimi and Frank at Sublette Chair. They already had a run down Rendezvous Bowl and we headed up for another. Then a great shot through the trees in Bivouac Woods with Mimi. Followed by an awesomely deep run down Expert Chutes. Three awesome runs in the first couple of hours. Our final run before lunch was North Hobacks, a looong powder run. We hugged the trees and had some insane fun. Lost Greg for most of the run, but unlike yesterday we didn't send Frank out to find him. Didn't work yesterday and didn't want to diminish today's run. Just like yesterday, we all hooked up at Union Pass Traverse so no problemo.

Here's a shot of Julie near the bottom of Rendezvous Bowl. Even sick and run down, she skis better than most. We had another yummy lunch at our condo thanks to Chef Al's split pea soup and super sandwiches--BreadMan bread fortified with Mimi's granola, topped with condiments like sun dried tomatoes, olive tapenade, hummus, artichoke hearts, and cranberry sauce. Oh yeah, some meat, cheese, and lettuce too.

After lunch Mimi went grocery shopping; Julie and Nick took naps; and Frank went to do some work around the house. Michael, Phillip, Greg and his friend Harry went back for more snow.

In the gondie, Greg took a call from a customer (Greg's and architect) and let the caller believe he was in the office, rather than out shredding the slopes.

Unlike yesterday, the afternoon runs were as good as the morning, maybe better. We had fun in the Study Plots and Bivouac Woods. The ride up Sublette was cold, with the wind and snow howling. The ride up East Ridge was more of the same, and then Rendezvous Bowl was white out conditions. I couldn't tell which way was down until I got to the black doingers marking the steepest route down. Using them as slalom poles enabled me to enjoy the run down. At the bottom I asked Michael about doing another lap, but he said no way, too cold. Then Greg slid up on his board and said it was the best run of the day. After a long wait, Harry showed up on his board and said never again; he couldn't tell up from down in the whiteout and basically fell his way down the bowl.

After another ride up Sublette, Greg talked Harry into another go at the Bowl. Michael was too cold so we headed down the Hobacks. This time we stayed in the trees between North Hoback and Cheyenne Gully; the snow was deep and the fun was off the charts. Michael is skiing great and led me on the best route through the trees. After learning from him, I zipped past him to get first tracks and he followed, complaining that the second skier didn't have as much good snow.

The day ended with a run down Dick's Ditch behind a couple of snowboarders throwing 360's off the rocks. Then some time in the hot tubs and dinner at Mimi's. A near perfect day.

Jackson Hole 2008 - Day 5 (Cowboy Powder)

2008-02-24T19:08:00.000-08:00

We got some real snow today (13 inches). It started snowing heavily around 6 AM and kept up till dinner time. My first ride up the gondie (gondy?, gondi?) I heard Jeff Zell (extreme skier turned guide, and brother of Julie Zell, champion boarder turned restauranteer) tell his clients that the best skiing would be "cowboy powder"--fresh snow over groomers. So I took his advice and skied Gros Ventre and a couple of Lower Tramlines. I got three runs from the gondola in untracked snow before the rest of the gang moseyed out around 10:30.

The kids waiting at the gondola for the adults to get their acts together. That's a snow flake in front of Nick's nose, not a tissue to stop the nosebleeds he often suffers in the high altitude dry air of Wyoming. After skiing a few runs with us, the under-15 set went their own way for the rest of the day. We saw them at lunch and again at dinner.

Cousin Greg, the renegade boarder, joined the gang today. His flight from NYC was delayed 24 hours by the snowstorm in the east. Bubba, Paul, Chris and Eric left Jackson for Boston today but got held up in Chicago for two days due to the storms. Skiers' delight is travelers' woe. Greg, aka Eggy, had a couple of tumbling falls which we promptly named "egg-beaters".

We went into the Teton Club for a late lunch, from which some of the crowd never recovered. Julie and Frank (see below) extended lunch naps into all-afternoon affairs, but Nick recovered and spent the last couple of hours skiing Casper Bowl with his cousins. Julie is still recovering from her cold and I suspect Frank is suffering from hosting-induced fatigue.

After lunch, Greg and Michael showed off all the cool things they could do with the iPhone and iTouch. Frank and Michael also held a forum on internet lingo. Topics debated included the pronunciation of "pwned" and the proper use of "teh".

Jackson Hole 2008 - Day 4

2008-02-23T20:27:00.001-08:00

We got some snow today, with more forecast for tonight.
Julie got new custom footbeds and ski boot liners.
Unfortunately, she also got Nick's cold and spent the day in bed instead of on the slopes.

While it was cloudy and snowing on the top of the mountain, at the base it was sunny and warmer. This band was rocking the line at the gondola.

Eric borrowed one of Mimi's backpacks yesterday to carry his skis up the Headwall. He felt so cool with the pack that he wanted to wear it again today, even though it only held some snacks and water.

Bubba and Paul head back to Boston tomorrow. Bubba left her hat and goggles in the restroom and had to wear Frank's neckie on her head to keep warm. Sort of looks like a fuzzy, black toque.

Speaking of interesting ski wear, take a look at this outfit.

Jackson Hole 2008 - Days 1, 2, and 3

2008-02-22T17:59:00.001-08:00

Day 1 - Waiting for the gondola to open. Had some fun in Cheyenne Bowl and multiple runs down Broken Goggles. Rode the double up to ski Rendezvous Bowl. This is the second year with no tram. Can't wait for the new and improved tram next year.

Day 2 - Excellent base of snow, but no new snow. So not much to report. Skied Ten Sleep and Expert Chutes. Also Alta Three and Bird in Hand. Met up with Bubba's neighbors from Carlisle and skied a few runs with them. The 16 y.o. followed our kids up and over Roller Coaster Rock, but had too much speed and flew off the top of the rock and fell about 10 feet flat on his back. No injury, but broke his rental ski in half. His Dad was PO'ed until he found he paid the extra $1 per day for insurance and wouldn't have to pay $500 for broken skis. Matt, the younger brother (13 y.o.) continued to ski with us and was psyched to ski so many double diamonds. He told his friend Chris, "You're family never stops. They ski everything."

Above are a couple of shots of paragliders taking off from Gros Ventre, right below where the gondola unloads. The pilots earn some money by strapping a paying guest rider in front of them and running down the hill to fill the sail and glide down to the valley.

Day 3 – Still no new snow. But after two blue bird, sunny days, there were some clouds today and a dusting is forecast for tonight. Boston and NYC got dumped on, but nothing here.

We hiked up the Headwall today. Nick was sick and didn't ski yesterday, so today he skied with his cousins M&M, while we climbed. The entry where we took off our skis and put them on our packs was tricky, as you can tell by Chris struggling up the first section in front of Frank (below).

Then it's just a long climb up the boot track to the top. The photo above is looking back at Chris and Frank. The photo below is looking up at Michael and the rock marking the top of the climb.

Chris, Frank, and Mimi approach the top of the climb.

Mimi crests the top of the climb.

Phillip on top.

The whole gang posing at the top of the Headwall climb, with Corbett's Couloir and Ten Sleep in the background. From left to right: Michael, Julie, Phillip, Bubba, Eric, Frank, Mimi, Chris.

Mimi and Bubba enter Casper Bowl, the prize after the hike.

Michael found the best snow by entering the chute from the skier's right (above). Below he makes a turn and enters the steepest section of the chute.

Below, Chris catches some air off a cat track. It looks like he's jumping for joy at surviving his first experience skiing out of bounds.

I also took the following videos, but the picture quality leaves something to be desired.

Mimi demonstrates that just getting to the start of the climb was difficult.

Michael drops into the chute in Casper Bowl. But first... Bubba falls into the chute.

Garfield Trail hike & ski with George and Rob

2008-02-15T22:00:00.000-08:00

It took almost two months, but here are the photos from our hike.
I finally found a way to move photos from my phone to my computer.
The resolution is disappointing, but here they are.

from email sent Mon, Jan 14, 2008 at 10:51 PM

I am going to meet Rob at the NH Liquor Store on I-93 North near exit 11 in Hooksett, NH between 7 and 7:15 AM. I will leave the Mini there and go the rest of the way in Rob's dark green, old Chevy Tahoe 4WD. We will meet George at the Cannon Mtn ski area base lodge between 8:30 and 8:45.

We are hiking up the Garfield Trail to Mt Garfield peak and then skiing back down.
Plan is to leave the trailhead by 9:00 AM. Assuming it takes 4 hours up and we then ski down, 2 hours max, we'll be done at 3:00 PM. If we hike and walk down, we should be down by 4:00. It gets dark about 4:30 or 5:00 so we absolutely want to be out by then So I should be home between 7 and 7:30 PM.

The trailhead is off Gale River Loop Rd.
Directions and map - Take I-93 North past Cannon, then Rte 3 North until a small picnic area 0.3 miles south of its intersection with Trudeau Road. This intersection, often called 5 Corners, has signs for Trudeau Rd. Avoiding the right fork, follow the Gale river Loop Rd south for 1.2 miles then swing left and cross a bridge for the parking lot on the Right.

Extreme Backcountry Sledding

2008-02-10T08:10:00.001-08:00

For Nick's 13th birthday, we went to the Mt Cardigan Reservation for some extreme backcountry sledding.

The sun was shining and the trails were covered with 8 to 12 inches of new snow. Life was good. Nick and his friend Mikey made good time in their snowshoes on the flat trails at the base of the mountain.

A couple of hours later, we were breaking trail on the steeper sections and the boys began to tire. Mikey said, "This isn't at all what I expected. I thought we would be walking up the mountain. This is HIKING!"

Near the top of the Firescrew Mountain, the Manning trail goes past a couple of huge boulders and you have to be careful not to slip and fall 20 feet. So Nick decides that it would be fun to slide down these rocks on our butts. Despite my reservations, he was right. It's scary sitting at the top of the drop, and on the way down you free fall for a few feet, but the snow cascades down in front of you acting like a brake and making for a soft landing.

Nick in the starting gate.

Wheee!

Mikey's turn.

Woo Hoo!

Rejuvenated from our play in the snow, we pushed on up the trail. At the Ledges the trail comes out of the woods and opens up to some excellent views and large snow fields. We made two or three runs on our sleds and got some serious speed. We were amazed that we would sled down for a seemingly short time and then it would take us 5 or 10 minutes to hike back up, gasping for breath.

Then after eating our lunch at the Ledges, the real fun began. We rode our sleds back down the narrow, twisty, tree lined hiking trail we spent all day climbing up. By now, enough snowshoers had climbed up the trail that their track was packed down and resembled a bobsled run. This was extreme sledding and required deft steering and quick reflexes to avoid going off the trail and hitting a tree.

We went so fast and had so much fun that we don't have any photos from the steep sections. The only sledding photos are from the much flatter trail at the base of the mountain

Nick on his Swiss Bob sled. The Swiss Bob is easy to carry and worked great on steep and packed trails, but it doesn't have enough float for powder, and is so short that our backpacks dragged in the snow acting like a brake.

Mikey on his surfboard. Although more awkward to carry, the surfboard offered lots of options for sledding. In addition to the belly flop, Mikey could ride sitting or on his knees.

After six hours of hiking and sledding, the boys barely had enough energy to make it back to the lodge. Only the promise of hot chocolate and dry clothes got them back on their feet to walk the last 15 minutes back to trailhead.

The AMC Lodge was hosting a group Scottish musicians and dancers. I enjoyed listening to their music while I relaxed by the fire. But the boys were in a hurry to leave, so we loaded our gear in the car and headed into Bristol for dinner. Mikey confided that he had to get out of there because the music was making him sick. In fact, he did look ill so we gave him a plastic bag so he would be less likely to christen the back seat of our new car.

It began snowing as we finished our hike, so by the time we left the lodge there was a layer of new snow making the dirt road very slippery. We couldn't make it up the hill, the wheels just spinning until the car came to a halt near the top. I suggested spending the night at the lodge and hoping the road was cleared by the next morning, but Mikey said he'd rather walk home (120 miles). Fortunately, on our fourth attempt, we crested the hill and coasted down the other side. Of course, the downhill was equally slippery and even locking the brakes didn't slow our descent. Good thing we were the only car on this narrow road.

In Bristol, we ate at The Mill which serves excellent soups and veggie sandwiches. After a couple a couple games of chess, Mikey felt better and ate a artichoke sandwich. Then the band started to set up on stage and we beat a hasty retreat in case bongos make Mikey sick too.

It was still snowing pretty hard and the traffic on I-93 was crawling along between 10 mph and 30 mph. The boys promptly fell asleep and after half an hour, I was able to speed up to 50 mph and we eventually got home, safe and sound.

Below is a rare photo of the trip leader, driver, photographer, and journalist.