Steamboat 2/14/09

My friend Jake came up from Denver to come chill for the weekend (we’ll drink our single sorrows away tonight). I know Jake from my Washington/teaching at Snoqualmie days so it was great to have him come up to hang out.

I can always count on seeing Chad and Sara at the beginning of the day at the base of the mountain stocking up on breakfast bagels and coffee. From there, Jake and I headed up the gondola where we waited at the top for Amy to join us. Then headed over to Thunderhead to wait for Steve, Chad and Sara to join in.

We made our way around the mountain from Storm Peak to Sundown to track what we could in the trees and hopefully find some good turns.

Amy coming out of the treesJake

While the steeper powder will get touched quickly, the easier terrain can last for weeks because in those areas of the mountains the beginners don’t go into the trees.  I found a really good bumpy area to totally wipe out in so that was fun.

After ducking the rope and finding some, Amy rode next to me enjoying the benefits. It’s a little flat but still some powder.
I watched the guys head over some really fun rollers and captured them on film. It was hilarious to see the photo later because a hand positioning is really classic. I did not photoshop that.

I tried out two new things today, Spy goggles and Drop Gloves.

Since I took off 3 days this week, I’m having to work this weekend to make up for it so wasn’t able to ride that long today.