[Reverb10] Party - Baker Ski Trip

December 9 – Party Prompt: Party. What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans. 


This seems like an appropriate time to bring up the Mt. Baker Ski Trip!  I decided that Thanksgiving Break was too short to merit an expensive plane ticket back to Colorado.  Instead, I organized a ski trip to Mt. Baker for us Aero grad students (plus some alums/friends).  There were 11 of us total, and we had a fantastic time in a pretty posh cabin!


From the lodging website...the outside of the cabin:

There were quite a few amenities.  We took advantage of them all: the grill (nothing like BBQing in the snow), hot tub, game room, fireplace...


We found some childhood favorites in the movie cabinet.  Nothing says "grad students regressing" like watching Kipper over some Alaskan Winter Ales!

The game room was pretty much a roomy converted crawlspace.  It had a tiny hobbit-esque door to get there (and you could only get to it from the outside of the house), and had a ping pong table and foosball/air hockey table.

 Alberto even discovered the hidden putting area for midgets...

We were there for two nights and two days.  The skiing the first day was gorgeous!  We were there for first chair.

Silly snowboarders.  Bumming on the side of the mountain. ;)

First time on downhill skis for Lenny!

 The second day at Baker was far less fortunate.  The fog and poor lighting moved in, and it was near impossible to make it down without stoppint every few feet.

Things were better on the easier side of the mountain, so we all converged there for the day.  Photo from Ian: I gave into peer pressure and tried some ungroomed stuff.  If you look closely, you'll notice how I still haven't mastered the parallel turn...working on it!!

The weekend was a lot of fun, and I was left with a lot of leftover food and drink.  I've been giving most of it away to those who came on the trip, but I think it's going to take me an eon to make a dent on the unclaimed hot chocolate packets and bag of unused marshmallows.  S'mores cookies, anyone?

Mt. Rainier Backcountry

Lenny: I've learned that people in the Pacific Northwest are really extreme.  Be really cautious when you agree to do recreational activities with people you meet here.


Being from Colorado, I took this with a grain of salt and agreed to go on a snowshoeing/skiing trip at Muir Snowfield at Mt. Rainier National Park for my first backcountry experience.  I was told the ski would be easy...like a green or blue, something that was within my ability level.   There were five of us total: four of us from the UW A&A Department (Esther, Logan, Ian and me) and Esther's friend, Alli.

The day started perfectly.  Blue skies, fresh snow, and warm sun on our faces.

Photo courtesy of Ian

The views were spectacular the entire way up.

As the morning progressed, the hike became steeper.  I became more tired, and had to take lots of breaks.

Esther and Logan are trekking champs

Alli and Ian

 As we got towards the top, the wind started to move in, and so did a looming storm.  We sought a shelter for a quick lunch.

Ian took this picture of me bringing up the rear in the blowing wind.  It makes me look about 100x more hardcore than I actually am.

The wind was annoying, but created a beautiful scape.

By the time we got to the top, the weather was souring....quickly!

Compare that shot to the one when we first started...they look like they were taken on completely different days.

Unfortunately, we couldn't make it to Muir before the weather chased us down, so we ended up taking quite a challenging route down.  It was so cold that I had trouble putting on my boot (Logan had to help push my leg into it), and my legs were wobbly from the hike up.  For my first turns of the season, it was not a wise choice to go backcountry...no matter how mellow it was.  I was fatigued, scared, and the weather was creating very, very flat lighting that was not conducive to getting down the mountain quickly.

You'll notice that I didn't post any pictures of us skiing down...and that would be because they didn't exist: we were focused on getting down in the whiteout safely and as fast as possible.

Those words of Lenny could not have rung truer.  Looking back, I have no regrets, and really enjoyed the trip...as terrifying as it was to "ski" down (it was more like falling interrupted with the occasional upright position).  I love how active everyone in UW A&A is, and I love their company and enthusiasm, but I'm definitely going to have to get in shape before I commit to another day trip like this!  If anything, it kicked my butt into gear to become a better skier and snowshoer.  Looks like I have the winter cut out for me...

October Blizzard

Boulder had a lovely mid-week blizzard, bringing roughly 2 feet of snow in one day, and a few additional inches the next. I think there's supposed to be a bike under there...(thankfully not mine!)



Campus closed early on Wednesday, and my professor canceled his class on Thursday...which meant I had a mid-week weekend! It was a welcome break from the last two weeks I had, which were crammed with take-home midterms and fellowship applications. A welcome time for some winter-y treats on Pearl Street during those two days.

Happy Hour fondue at Boulder Cafe with Ryan ($4 a person for all this delicious food, plus my $2.50 glass of white wine...what a steal!):

Some lattes at my favorite Boulder coffee shop, The Cup.

"Weekend" in Fraser/Winter Park

Part of an annual tradition, Sam invited people to his family's condo up in the Fraser/Winter Park area of Colorado for a ski trip. I'm a terrible skier and an even worse snowboarder, so I opted to snowshoe (just like last year). Conveniently, the trip landed during the same time that Andy (friend from Wichita) decided to visit. He came for a ski trip with his dad, and then stayed to check out Boulder and the area for engineering grad school.

Andy and Ryan suit up the shoes!


We were lucky enough to spot not only one moose, but two moose on the 5 mi trail.
A close-up of the female:
We scared them off, so the photo of the male isn't as clear...this was the best we could get.

When we weren't playing in the snow, we spent our time relaxing in the hot tub, cooking, watching movies, or playing games. Our plans were somewhat delayed with the closing of Berthoud Pass the morning of our departure, so we ended up staying in our pajamas and watching James Bond.
Of course, S'mores were a must.

Winter Break with the Family

I have been so bad about blogging...it's time to play major catch up!

The family was back in town, which meant lots of eating, lazing around, baking, EATING, and having a good time. :)

Porter is an all-star at begging now, and indulged in many treats over break that many dogs (and humans) don't have a chance to usually eat (including lamb, shrimp, beef, and salmon).

The "Christmas Card" family portrait:

Shiway and Dave lucked out...the weather was gorgeous for most of their stay.
The "kiddos"

Shiway was ambitious and decided to take on our huge home-video collection as her "project" for two weeks. She burned the VHS tapes to DVD, and we all had a good laugh watching some OLD videos. Here's one from back in the day!

Boulder is COLD

This is the inside of my window...




-12degF according to my computer!!

FIRST SNOW, FINALLY!!!

The first snow FINALLY came to BOULDER on Friday!!! It wasn't much, and in true Boulder fashion, the sun was out and melted it all by lunchtime...



...but it was still pretty while it lasted, and I answered it with a perfect winter breakfast: coffee and blueberry-brown sugar oatmeal.

Condo Weekend

It was finally time to enjoy the snow around here...Sam has a place up in the Fraser/Winter Park area, so nine of us crammed into the 2-bedroom condo for the weekend. We were also celebrating Starin's birthday!

The days were spent skiing, and the nights were spent watching movies and playing games. I am not keen on spending $100+ in one day, so I opted to snowshoe instead. Elsbeth and Ryan opted to shoe also:



It was really pretty out, and the weather was gorgeous. Fun times, but now it's back to work!

32" of SNOW!

Blizzard of '06! It was AMAZING!

I don't know where it came from or how it happened, but Colorado pretty much just shut down in the past 24 hours. Denver International Airport completely stopped all arriving and departing flights, Interstates 25 and 70 are closed, malls are closed, grocery stores are closed, and even the University of Colorado is closed. Kids all over campus had the option of taking their final exams as usual, postpoining them til January, or accepting their grades as is. Lucky for me, I finished all of my exams before this all started, so I spent the day (mostly) in pajamas and frolicking in the snow. I put on my ski gear, and my roommate lent me her waterproof boots.
This was about 6pm, far before it stopped snowing...it goes to my mid-thighs, about.
Ryan tried to build a fort, but it was just too powdery and too much...

Here is a quick video of me trying to make a snow angel.



So we meandered over to Danny's apartment and baracaded in his window.
This is the view from my living room window. This is this morning, about an hour after it finally stopped snowing.
Zooming in on the bike racks really gives you an idea of how much there is!