My bathroom floor; it's that time of year

Well what can I say this is usually what my bathroom floor looks like any time of the year and as I walked in and saw all the 2011 catalogs there at my feet I felt, well excited about this coming year of riding. Hell it's my job to sell bikes and yes the bathroom is where I read up, compare and contrast all the new stuff. Is it weird you may ask? Well I don't think so, wasn't the flux capacitor thunk up by Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown in the bathroom? Why it sure was and yes that was a great fictional movie. But as I think about this summer and I flip through these pages I can only think; this coming season is going to be even better then the last. That is if I can keep the rubber side down and not break a wing like last year; a serious bummer and not recommended. So if you're enjoying the snow but happen to be thinking about that new bike or are just wondering what the heck is new this year? Stop by your local bike shop they just might know and heck I might just be there to tell you.

Now go get outside, and have fun out there.

T.

Happy Brithday MRG.

It was a great day to get out and celebrate a great place to ski: Mad River Glen.  Parking may have been a little uchemm... mad.. but Sarah and I had a great time making some great turns at a true classic Vermont ski hill!  They even roll back lift ticket prices to 1949 at $ 3.50 - a true steal! 

Happy Birthday Mad River Glen.

A cold day, a beautiful day.

Negative temps as cold as -24 couldn't keep us in! We toured today through some absolutely beautiful terrain, which just happens to be out my back yard.  It was a good day to be a GMPG.  Looks like we might just be getting some more snow this week!  As one friend put it " La Nina is on our side this year". I think what he means is were getting some great snow and turns in this year and boy do we know it.  See you out there!

My musical past.

Well I've been exposed, yes I was indeed the fifth Wailer.  Those were the good days.

Pizza and the ring of fire.

Home

More skin tracks than you could shake a stick at!

With conditions like this it's hard to stay home. Sarah and I have have a hard time staying home anyways never mind the snow that has befallen our beautiful mountains this past week.  As one happy Vermont BC skier said yesterday " The snow conditions are unbelievable, best yet!"  as he smiled and went on his way on  210 cm skis.  People love to ski here, hell people love to ski here even when conditions aren't well, less than ideal!  But right now we have some great snow and when you find yourselves in good company and deep powder turns in the middle of beautiful mountains things just don't get any better.  We did find ourselves a little turned around as the skin tracks seemed to run just about everywhere as we skinned our way up the mountain.  In the end we found our way and made some new turns, with more to come next time. So as we find ourselves in the mountains remember this- our time in the mountains right now are good, they could get better!, or they could be worse and no matter what you find, its time well spent!

Good friends and good turns

Our third day out getting the snow while its good!  The Catamount trail offers a great way to access some great BC skiing.  When good powder snow and good friends come together it's a beautiful thing.  Our only problem is the turns are so good no one wants to be a photographer!  Hah! I don't blame us.  So here's to the snow and your friends, now go out and get it while it's good!

Sarah and Tristan doing what we do best, fun

The place; The Mad Taco

If you haven't been to the Mad Taco, well then the next thing that should cross your mind is why haven't I been yet? and when am I going? The food here is - simply put - amazing, produced by our good friends at the Three Penny Taproom. These guys don't do anything unless it's done phenomenally! They brought us fine crafted beers in Montpelier VT, now they have outdone themselves with their Mexican inspired cuisine by Chef Joey Nagy, a true artist in his own right! These guys even smoke their own meats right outside as you walk in and smell the absolutely delicious aromas made within. They even make their own sauces served up with a hot factor scale scrawled on a chalk board for one's pondering. I believe my friend "Shaggy", after a day of turns at the Bush, opted for creepers revenge, which on the scale of 1-10 was an eleven. I think we can figure out what Shaggy was saying after that... So if you happen to find yourself in the Waitsfield valley or hell even if you aren't, make the trip, check this place out you won't be disappointed, I promise you that.

Snacks first skin; Wilderness

                    

          
                   
                  It was only a matter of time before we wore off on him.

Turns out snack can earn his turns, here's to getting those powder turns.  It's sort of a tradition to Skin Wilderness at least ounce a week as the season goes.  We were not disappointed as we had great snow all the way down, matter of fact none of us could stop grinning even after we all went our separate ways.  Now that's a good time with good friends.

Now get out there.

I think its a matter of ski and let ski! Is it really about how much snow you get and what your mountains look like that makes us content skiers? I know that if I went around telling everyone how good it was where I am and how crappy it is where they are I would A~ not have many friends to ski or ride with and B~ I'm probably not happy where I am skiing and riding. Skiing for me and the people I spend time with doing it with do it because they love it no matter where they are. Whether its on skis, a board or a sled its all about that sensation of sliding on snow that I think we all can all relate to, is it not? Yeah were getting skunked right now here in VT but the snow will come and if it doesn't well that's just the way it goes. We had an awesome year for trail riding last year and well what do you know I managed to break my first bone and lost three months! three months! I still managed a good season despite my broken wing and explored the White mountains which are stunning in their own right, point is I made the best of it.  A comment on my blog comes to mind as well from a very northerly poetic person " Our mountains don't need us to defend them as they speak for themselves". So here's to where you are and where you might  find yourself in the future, because where ever you find yourself; its all good.


Now get out there.
 
On a lighter note I had a rare and wonderful conversation with my grandmother of 90 years!  She has good days and bad but today she could hear me loud and clear as she said " Were getting 5-6" of snow today I just might go sliding"  What was that? I said "Well you know when I was younger I loved to slide on snow".  All I can remember for the last 50 years of knowing my grandmother was that she hated the cold and complained of it constantly.  But here she was years later remembering the feeling of sliding on snow and well like I said old, young, ripper, weekend warrior, east or west we can all say that there is just something about the feeling of sliding on snow.  Now thats something I think we can all agree on.
 
Tristan

A True Backyard Adventure

Those of you who know T and I know that we are in home-buying limbo, and have been for months...or at least you know that we moved! (We are now living in the house we hope to buy, if the Marshfield Planning Commission will let us...the topic of a different conversation, perhaps.) And in the spirit of backyard adventuring, we have been skiing in our yard - which brings a huge smile to my face - and building a little pumptrack we call the dinorsaur's back on the piles left behind by the snow plow. But last night we branched from our literal backyard to one a bit more figurative: we hiked Spruce Mountain in Plainfield, which T had never been up. And we hiked it at night, in true Sarah and Tristan Fashion.

Spruce Mountain is a splendid little hike, which I can't wait to see in the lush green Vermont summer, and it includes some of the gnarliest fields of solid ice I've ever encountered on a trail in Vermont. Likely the most important pieces of gear we had on us were our Kahtoola Microspikes. If you like to hike in winter, and you don't yet have a pair of these, they are highly worth it. They weigh next to nothing and don't take up much space, so it is no big deal to pack them on any outing, and they effortlessly grip right into the ice, if you need them to. With these little puppies on your tootsies, you can walk straight up the ice in solid confidence. Before your next winter outing, scoot down to Onion River Sports in downtown Montpelier (or to your neighborhood gear shop - remember to keep those guys in business!).

And with these - in confidence - enjoy your next outing into the beautiful, wonderful, challenging but rewarding Vermont winter woods. Happy Trails!

Liz rippin it up.

Congrats to my favorite Vermonter and good friend Liz Stephens who ripped up the course at Black mountain Maine to win her 6th U.S. Cross country Championships in the 20k freestyle!  Liz is fast but what makes Liz really special is her personality.  When I first met Liz I had no doubt she was the most positive, inspiring person I had met in quite awhile.  I continue to watch her as she spreads her insirational vibe across the skiing and world community as she travels abroad.

 Congrats my friend!

T.

The Frozen Onion; be there.

Ski~bikes.

Happy new year.