Kiss it goodbye

Chris and I want to officially say adios to the skiing season. Apparently the snow wants to stick around a little bit longer, but we are more than ready to get the bikes out for good and hang up the two-planks. We took some photos of our last day of skiing together at Snowbasin.

The Hole

We took a long weekend and headed out with Ben and Megan Wallace, their 2+ month old daughter, Maria, Megan's younger brother Mark and his friend Justin. We found some beautiful bluebird skies in Jackson Hole. Ben's grandma owns a condo at an ideal location at the base of the Jackson Hole Ski Resort. (Ben and Megan know all the right people in all the right places). It was my first time skiing at a resort outside of Utah and I loved it. It was Megan's first time on the slopes after giving birth. It was as though she had skied all season.


It's a squishy ride up on the tram. Megan and my shoulder got really close.


Chris gets to breathe fresh air being tall enough to actually see out the windows.


Megan and I look pretty flashy in our new ski pants. Megan got a record number of compliments from a large number of fashion-conscious men.



Maria was our test run baby for part of the time. We had a lot of fun babysitting while Ben and Megan went out for half a ski day. Maria is such a fun baby. In this picture she was getting such a kick out of simply going up and down.


Chris and I in a somewhat awkward looking position at the top of the tram just before we take our first run. You can see how beautiful the mountains are in the background. We liked the steep pitches so much we look forward to getting back when there is fresh snow.

Sweet Yurt Trip

Paige and I went on a 3-day yurt trip in the Tetons a few miles from Grand Targhee resort in early February. We have been anxiously awaiting the CD with the pictures since our camera malfunctioned on the first day, and it finally arrived! So now we can share this adventure as well.....

Here's a picture of the yurt:

We went with Paige's uncle Steve, one of his coworkers Pete, and Pete's brother-in-law Dan. Here's a shot of the group (me, Paige, Dan, Pete, and Steve):

All of us were freeheelers as well (the only way to ski!).

We couldn't have picked a better time to go. The snowpack had been very unstable for most of the winter, but it stabilized nicely the couple of weeks leading up to our trip. Plus, the snow! Hero snow for sure. Every turn was buttery smooth, knee to thigh high turns, lots of cold smoke, face shots, the whole bit. Some shots were even snorkle-worthy.

Here are a few select photos:

Hiking up the ridge to Beard Mtn:




Steve, Paige and I:


Paige rippin' it up!



Here I am getting my share:



Steve sampling the goods:



Dan had some great shots too:



Pete was the selfless photographer but on one run I tried to catch him but the shots were a little blurry:


Look at the cold smoke!


Halfway through the trip the heel lifter on one of my skis broke and so we had to rig an alternative:

It actually worked perfectly and saved the trip for me!

The snow was perfect, the quads got worked big time, we got very dirty and smelly (no showers or baths), but we survived and had a blast! We would recommend this to anyone!

Here's a parting shot of Grand Teton in the background (the clouds parted one afternoon and allowed us the view):

St. George Weekend

Chris and I wanted to get some early season riding in without having to wear 3 layers of clothes. We were going to ride an organized ride in Zion, but one of Chris' partners has a place in St. George and knows some great places to ride and offered to guide us on some fun loops. The weekend started off a little rough, though. Before arriving in St. George we made a long trek through Hurricane to get to the start of a mountain bike trail we wanted to ride. We are going to be racing the same trail in a few weeks and wanted to get an idea of what the trail was like. It was supposed to be Chris' debut ride on his new mountain bike, but that was cut short when the front brake pads fell off and we couldn't get them back on.

Here we are, all ready to go...

This is as far as we got.


We took the bike to a shop to get it fixed and found that the front disc was bent and the handle bars were too tight and caused stopping points. That started our trip off with a $100 dollars less in our pocket. While we were waiting for repairs Chris and I took out our road bikes and went down to the temple thinking that maybe we would osmotically absorb some spirituality to brighten our moods since we had both because somewhat testy. Didn't work. Later we found that the cure was a spicy mexican burrito for the both of us.

The next day we woke up and took Mike Nielsen's favorite mountain bike trail. It's a short, not very technical course (when I say not very technical it means I only had to get off my bike 5 or 6 times, instead of those 'technical' trails where I walk my bike more than ride). There were some great overlooks and beautiful scenery.







We took a lunch break and then headed out on the road bikes. We rode a beautiful loop that took us up Snow Canyon (unfortunately we didn't take any pictures of the road bike ride even though the camera took the whole trip). We looped over to Veyo, and through some great back roads to Gunlock Reservoir. Just when we were getting tired of the yellow walls framing the road leading from the reservoir it opened up and we could see the beautiful red cliffs again. By the end of the ride my rear end had had enough and we all took a sitz bath in a nice warm hot tub.

Before heading home we went to Pioneer Park and played on the rocks, along with the rest of St. George. We found some great places to crawl around in and on and through.

Mike Neilsen's son Aidan and I were the only two to fit through 'Fat Man's Worry', a slit in the rock where if you ate to much just before coming you might not make it through. Chris just looked at the space and said 'No, I think I'll pass'. It had been a while since I had tried it and realized it was much easier back in highschool. Aidan ran through the space face forward and kept saying 'This is so easy, because I'm skinny'. As I sucked in and squeezed through left side first, I just thought to myself, 'Enjoy it now, six-year old!'

President's Day

It's been a while since we've updated anything. We've been busy, but mostly lazy. We had a great Christmas (that's how long ago it was) and New Years. We have spent plenty of time kicking up the snow in our tele skis. Over President's Day weekend we went to Bear Lake to relax and spend time with the family. Monday morning we had a great time tubing and actually caught a few pictures of the event. The goal was to see who could go the furthest. The distance marker was an orange cone found in the back of someone's car. We tried various combinations to see what worked the best. Piling as many people on as possible in hopes the weight would carry further... Tubes full of just girls... An 'older' (but wiser) person, a younger person, and a much younger person... Or, we tried families to see if one family could beat the other. This is a picture of the carnage from a load that didn't make it very far. In the end, the winner was Jeff who barreled past the original record with ease. Ezra and Keith brought their four wheelers which made the trip up much easier, though I think we burned the engine out with such large loads. It was great to see Tyler in his miniature stay puff marshmallow suit. He wasn't a huge fan of the sled, but had a great time going down a small hill on his back.

Santa is on his way

Chris and I have spent some time getting our house ready for Christmas. We just put up the last of the outside Christmas lights so I think we can relax and enjoy the Christmas season from here on out.

Although I do remember the first year my family started using fake Christmas trees, I can't ever remember that I noticed having a real one. Chris really likes having a live tree so that's what we use. Last year we cut down our own tree and it looked alright, but sure didn't smell so pine-ey and evergreen-ey like everyone talks about. And decorating the tree left us looking like a small cat had mawled our arms in our sleep. This year I think we got it right because our tree smells great and the branches are soft enough you don't feel like you are going to lose an eye.



Chris is going to be working at the Snowbasin Medical Clinic again this winter so we are looking forward to a lot of fun days on the slopes this year. We had a very cold and windy, but, thankfully, also very snowy day today. It was so cold and windy that after our first run our faces were painfully frozen so we went to the ski shop and bought some face warmers. I'm struggling to keep up with Chris on the telly skis, and having fun at the same time. One of my goals this year is to be able to put on my telly skis faster than Chris does. I think I have about 3 minutes to lose before I get there.

A very nice treat that was waiting for us in our garage after our ski day today was an early Christmas present from my parents. Something we were very much in need of and will probably wear out in the first year of having it is a brand new snowblower with a gas tank. We are so grateful for the generosity and thoughtfulness of my parents. They gave it to us early knowing that we were probably going to be needing it soon. And, if the forecasters are right, we will have loads of snow in no time.

We hope everyone enjoys the holidays because they are going to be here and gone far too quickly.

Viva Santa Fe!

So Paige and I visited my parents in Santa Fe for Thanksgiving this past weekend. This is a picture of their house with the view of the Sangre de Cristo mountains in the background. They are part of the southern tip of the rockies. Here is another shot of the view:

This place is a photographer's dream every sunrise and sunset, especially when there are clouds around. The colors can be stunning.

We had a great time visiting. We were hoping they'd have more snow to try out the local ski hills, but it was not to be. We're planning on returning a little later in the winter to sample them.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!