Literally. I can tell winter has begun because I obsessively check the mountain weather forecast every hour. Will it snow? No? Well, maybe that will change in the next 60 minutes and I need to check AGAIN.
I do realize that I have a problem. However, this problem is at least slightly better than my checking-for-race-results-every-15-minutes problem. Slightly.
The ski season started off with an early bang and in a frenzied fear that it may end just as quickly as it began (oh, the loveliness of bi-polar Northwest weather), I have clicked my telemark boots in to bindings 7 times in November. SEVEN TIMES. I went back and looked at the 2008 archives of this blog and I didn't even ski until November 23rd last year, and even
then, it was on a few scarce runs at Timberline. The first powder day didn't arrive until December 19th.
So I am excited. And I want to be on the snow 24/7. And I am doing my best to make that happen.
The weekend before Thanksgiving, Barkernews and I traded baby shifts with the Stiles and we got to ski together in knee-deep snow. It was totally worth babysitting a 6-month-old and a 15-month-old for. Unfortunately, we have no pictures because we couldn't manage to bring one of our three cameras. Barkernews did snap this Blackberry picture of The Hizz and I at Cascade Ski Lodge where we spent the night:
The next day, I woke before the crack of dawn to ski patrol in a blizzard. After three runs by braille, the ski area was shut down and I was sent home at 10:30am. In my four years of patrolling, this has never happened. There have been occasions when I have been there until 6pm, but never sent home in the morning. I wasn't too upset. Skiing by braille in to mounds of wind-blown snow is never safe. I'll take hanging out with The Hizz and Barkernews over that any day.
The Wednesday before Thanksgiving was a no school day, as decreed by my school. The forecast was for 50 degrees and sunny. How could I NOT go to the mountain? Upon my arrival, the mountain was waiting for me:
Spring skiing days in November= most excellent. I ran in to the parent of one of my students who happens to be a ripping tele skier (the parent, not the student) and my fun quotient immediately doubled.
I LOVE to ski. Have I mentioned that on this blog before?
After thoroughly wasting my legs, Barkernews, The Hizz, and I hopped in to the car for a three-hour tour to Seattle. We spent Thursday eating and eating and eating, just like the rest of America. Except we made up for it the next day. I am proud to say that every Kaiser kid (all four of us) and their spouses (all three of them) went skiing together on Friday.
The weather and the conditions weren't ideal, but the groomers were fast and there were fresh tracks to be had in Edelweiss Bowl:
Also, from what I can glean from other people's lives, it's not often that a group of adult siblings and their spouses all do something active together. They might eat together or shop together or drink together, but that doesn't count. Now, if you drink together AFTER you ski, that does count.
We are missing Ritchie, Ailey's husband in the picture. We have converted Nate and Marissa to tele. Only three more to go:
To complete our snow whirlwind, we headed up to SkiBowl early Sunday morning to patrol, a mere eight hours after arriving home from Seattle. The snow was hard and fast, but the sun was shining. Barkernews took the morning patrol shift. I took the morning Hizz shift. It was awesome.
Thwarted by a broken snowshoe, but encouraged by hard-packed snow, The Hizz and I went on a short 3-mile hike where we encountered this snowman (whose "hair" seems to be eating Hazel):
Upon our return, it was time to switch with Barkernews. For his Hizz shift, he skinned her up to Silcox Hut and skied her back down. He's nuts. The girl is finally over 20 pounds. Add in the weight of the backpack and various "stuff" and she is easily 25% of my body weight. I am pretty sure dropping a knee in that circumstance would be pretty difficult.
The snow at SkiBowl was less than fantastic, so I took some runs on bullet-proof ice and then hung out at Rescue Center where I proceeded to annoy Mike and Andrew for a few hours. The view was worth it:
As you can clearly see, SkiBowl was stuck in a cloud. Timberline and Meadows were enjoying some nice, warm sun. Jerks.
It was a ridiculously easy day on patrol capped off by a little someone who came to pick me up in her sled:
The Barkers finished it off with our normal end-of-day-in-the-snow routine: Haze and I asleep and Barkernews driving home. It's an awesome ritual.
The Barkers finished it off with our normal end-of-day-in-the-snow routine: Haze and I asleep and Barkernews driving home. It's an awesome ritual.
A couple weeks ago, a friend told me she had declined to purchase a season pass this year because she just didn't really like to ski all that much. I almost fell over. Really? How can you not love to ski? Even on the worst days, when the snow is blue ice and the winds are whipping around you at 60 miles per hour, being on the mountain is cool. Sure, I have been known to take some runs and then chill out for awhile (ahem, yesterday), but even if you're hanging out in the lodge with friends or your family, it's the experience.
I know, I know. There are those of you out there who would rather run or ride a bike or swim or kick a soccer ball around or even sit on your ass and watch tv. And that's cool.
But you should really, really try skiing. Really.
