One Week, and Counting

Is it possible that it could really look like this??

So...I guess this thing is happening. At some point, over this weekend, I will bring up the suitcase and start packing. it all seems so surreal. I have so much donated gear from friends - from helmets to a knockoff Go Pro -  so many semi-necessary purchased items - from ski socks to Gu - that I hope that it will all fit in my suitcase and carry-on.

I have been spending so much time scouring videos of Crested Butte, linking over to Telluride, to Steamboat, to Jackson Hole....and I've lost way more sleep than I should have on worrying about my rental car experience, to the five hour drive from Denver, including the perilous Monarch Pass...that before I know it, I will have to actually do it, and live it, then leave it, forever. Oh good. Something else to get anxious over.  I intend to leave a couple days worth of lesson plans, just in case.

Looks like our weather will be excellent for everything but powder skiing: 37 and sun on Saturday, a little snow overnight, followed by 30 and partial clouds on Saturday.

Questions: what will I do after the lifts close at 4? I haven't given this hardly any thought, and it will be more than half my time, there.  Sure, I've worried about altitude sickness, and how I shouldn't party due to my brain exploding, but not of the fun I could have, apres ski. Maybe I should open myself to that possibility.

Will I be able to ski anything other than the greens and blues. Should I dare try an "Extremes with Ease" lesson? Giving me a guided tour of the most coveted extreme terrain in the country? (Apparently, they test you on the "horseshoe" run. If you can link turns on that, they'll take you up top. Will have to try on Saturday.)

Do I try to build in time to get a half day in at CB or Monarch on Monday?? That even sounds like pushing it to me, but then again....savor every second...

Honestly, I want to stand on the top of the mountain, and have a staggering view, and then make some big turns among the aspens, watching the scenery as I go downhill. Then, relax on some mid-mountain restaurant / bar, and soak in more scenery, and eat and drink exquisitely. So much of my love of skiing is simply to be active in a beautiful, wild surrounding. I think I will be able to accomplish that. Really, so much of the satisfaction will be visual, more than physical.

I have 135 squats to get to my goal in six days. I think I can do that in two days, if I try. I really am liking this combination of swimming and squats. Baseball tomorrow. If I can get some good work done, paper-grading wise, I may do more swimming. Goal is to finish training Wednesday. Take Thursday off, and travel Friday.

Wow. It's all coming so soon...

Getting Absolutely SLAMMED

With over 30 inches of snow in the last 48 hours, they're practically buried at the Butte... and it's a beautiful thing. Both of these shots were taken today:

 

It is now close enough that we can get a sense of weather for our trip. Doesn't look like big powder, but I don't know how to ski powder, anyhow. Looks like partly cloudy, light snow, and highs in the low 30s. Sounds perfect! Of course, who knows what plans the mountains have in store for us.

Fitness update:  I'm shifting away from spinning, elliptical, and stairs, and focusing mostly on swimming and squats. Lungs and legs, baby! I'm aiming for at least 500 squats in the two weeks before I go, and hopefully more. The scale is moving in the right direction this week. ;)

Not Butte, But Beautiful, Pt. 2

Just amazing.......

Good to Know: I Remember How to Ski

With exactly three weeks to go before I arrive in Crested Butte, I thought it would be wise to see if I even remember how to ski. Sitting on my couch in Cincinnati, I seriously doubted it, and my ravaged knees redoubled that doubt. So, last night, I went out to the hills of Indiana to find out if I should even bother with lift tickets in Colorado. Luckily, even after a three year break from the slopes, I still could make it down 400 vertical feet without falling or stopping.

Not Butte, But Beautiful

So, this video is from the opposite side of Colorado than Crested Butte, but I'm sharing it here for two reasons: 1. Because my friend and colleague, Jerry, is taking a long weekend back country skiing with Steamboat Powdercats (I would never speak to him, again, if I weren't heading to Crusty Butt in a month),




... and 2: It features my favorite track from the very first album I bought with my own allowance:  Van Halen: Women and Children First.

Still trying to get the old legs and lungs in shape. It's a work in progress. I feel a difference, even if the scale doesn't.

This is More Like It.....

The teenager inside of me hates to say it, but the "Groomer" video (read: flat and manicured) is likely more my speed. Except the star is a former Olympian, and is still going REALLY FAST!

Wendy's Favorite Runs: Groomers from Crested Butte on Vimeo.

Hard Work, and Recognizing Limits

I've recruited my daughter, Riley, in my pre-Butte fitness endeavor. She's a strong 15-year-old kid, and between spinning, rounds on the heavy bag, plank contests, and her Erg. challenges, she and I are doing just about all we can to get my fat old self ready for the terrain at Crested Butte.

That said, um, no:

Shredding the February 8th Storm from Crested Butte on Vimeo.