Josh Thomson everybody.......

One of the coolest guy's on Keystone Ski Patrol....Josh Thomson. Last March, almost at the end of Patrol, he t-boned a car on his sport bike. The driver turned right in front of him and he was hurt pretty bad. But he's back stronger than ever and even cooler.

Santa came and a little bit more.......

What a wonderful Christmas season. The house was decorated just the way I like it, with lot's of Christmas cheer. Camille's daughter, Amy, was coming into town from Vanderbilt and her other two sons would be here as well.


Christmas morning was lot's of fun. Nanny and Pop's, Camille's parents spent the night from Christmas eve. On the eve were also some of her extended family. On Christmas eve night we had a mexican fiesta and played Apples to Apples. Me and my team almost won.....grrrrrrr.


Here is Amy modeling the gift I got her. It was the super cool slipper cowboy boots. She seemed to really like them. I think they'll be a big hit in the Vanderbilt dorm in Nashville.


Here is my favorite gift. It was from Amy. It's the lady Yodeling Marmot to go with the boy Yodeling Marmot I already had. The two make a wonderful pair and the yodeling is AWESOME!!!


Here's a picture from when Camille and I went to cut our tree down. We had to drive about 2 hours away but it was so much fun. I thought I had a pic of Camille but I must have lost it.


Camille and I went to the 10th Mountain Huts Christmas party in Aspen and It was fun. We got to hang out with the whole 10th crew which is always fun. Here's a picture of Camille with Lou and Lisa Dawson.


Here's my great friend Scott trying on Lou's new Feathered Friends down jacket he got for his up coming Denali ski mountaineering trip.


These two awesome people are Cindy and Debby. Both of these guys have been at 10th Mountain Huts for many many years.


Here are Cindy's shoes. Man, they're pointy. Hmmmmm.....I think they're part of the 10th Mountain Huts uniform.

Avalanche danger is EXTREME on my driveway.

Last night, here in Boulder, we had snow and very very high winds not to mention cold temps. We woke up to a 4 inch hard slab on the driveway. Man, tilt that thing to 38 degrees and we have trouble. Good thing it's only about 4 degrees.

Hmmmm, i wonder if all that surface hoar melted before the snow fell. Ah, i'll chance it.

Beware the wind...........

This just in from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, CAIC :

The avalanche danger this morning is MODERATE, but will rise quickly on wind loaded slopes as new snow is redistributed. Steep, leeward terrain features will be very sensitive in wind exposed areas that receive more than 4" of new snow.

We have a nice storm system flowing into the state. Very cold temps and very high winds. Remember high winds carry snow and deposit on leeward slopes making these slopes very prone to slides.

3-4 inches of snow for Boulder.

Just went out to shovel the driveway and it looks like Boulder got 3-4 inches of snow. Add this to the 7 inches just a few days ago and that means North Boulder Park and Flatirons Park (just 2 blocks over from me) is very prime for skate skiing. The Boulder nordic Club always grooms a skate and classic trail when the snow is deep enough.....it is.

As always the snow here in Boulder is so light and fluffy. One more snow cycle and we'll be skiing the hills under NCAR. Hey, this ain't Aspen but it's always still good.

Yahooo, i've been called up!!!!

Well, I got the call today. December the 12th will be my first official ski day for the 2009-2010 winter season.

Hey, why am I so excited. I was up at Keystone today and the temps were -2 degrees...........yikes!!!

Hmmm, does the sticky side of a band-aid go against the skin or away from the skin. Ahhhh, i'm sure i'll figure it out.

Short and tight or long and lean.....What do you like?

I was listening to an avalanche presentation last night and the presenter had some interesting comments on finding slope angle. One comment he had was observing the tracks left by other skiers. He stated that it takes steep slopes, 30 degrees are more, to make short little tight turns. This makes some sense because when it's steeper you check your speed by making shorter tighter turns. When the slope is not so steep, 30 degrees or less, to make beautiful turns speed is your friend. On these low angle slopes your turns will look more long, lean and narrow.



In the photo above you can see the happy skiers making long graceful straighter turns. This slope is maybe 20 degree or less. Don't forget, you can have a blast skiing slopes like this and you can even ski them during extreme avalanche conditions.



In this other photo you can see the turns are shorter, tighter and there are many more of them. This slope is somewhere in the 30-34 degree area.

Remember, avalanche safety is all about the observations. The more observations you have, the more information you have to make good decisions. One great observation would be if the skiers who made the tracks skied down to you. Just ask them if they measured the slope and what angle it was. But......that would be a big trust thing.