The Blog I Didn't Want to Write

The Blog I Didn't Want to Write for the Talon Crew

Start of Year Three and Blogging for the Talon Crew

Professional photo I just came across in the Talon Crew archives.
Can you tell how much enjoyed being out there on the World Championships last year?

Right now I'm busy writing for the Talon Crew as their main blogger and working on the course.  Talon Crew are the folk who prepare the Birds of Prey Championship race course with World Cup competition starting next week. Here's the main blog page:Talon Crew Website  Once the races are over after Dec. 6 I'll get back to writing for this blog about life and adventures in the Vail Valley.

Here's a couple of the blogs I've recently posted for the Talon Crew:

What's the Average of the Above Average?--an analysis of who makes up the crew

The Heat is On --a short article about an 11,000 ft. HVAC guy

All this brings me back to the great fun I had working on the World Championships and I got a chance to look through the 100's of pro photos on the crew Flicker account and found some photos of myself I hadn't come across yet. We have a professional photographer on course most every day who takes great photos of the crew at work. Working the Worlds was definitely one of my highlights of the 14-15 season at Vail.



World Championships final volunteer celebration. Lots of fun, food and swag.

Having a little fun in the end of the day Talon Crew beer tent with my bad ass bell. It's a Himalayan donkey bell I bought in western Nepal in 1989 and packed in my gear for ski race events last year. It really out rang those silly little Swiss bells.  It was heard up on course while I was working,  in meetings, beer tent  and on days I was in the grandstands as a spectator.




 




 

 

Crazy Day at Vail

 Well my last day of the season as a Mountain Host for Vail was anything but ordinary. After my first lift scan my ski wallet (a small wallet on a string around my neck) and my lift pass vanished.  Back tracked to no avail. Called Visa got my credit card stopped. Got a lift pass re- printed all in time to start leading a 10:15 tour group and of course was a bit flustered thinking about the other cards in my wallet I was going to have to spend time replacing.  Near the end of a two hour tour with 8 guests in tow and in a bowl with no other exit the lift. The lift went down for an extended period (at that point going on 20 minutes) After a phone consultation with my boss, ditched my guests in the lift line glad we weren't ON the lift.  Threw my jacket on the snow to help the Ski Patrollers and lifties manually push the chairs through the bull wheel to get the lift moving slow enough to get guests out.  AT least my wallet appeared when I took my jacket off as it had gotten slung over my back somehow. After the guests (a couple of hundred maybe--both mazes were past full) were all loaded we continued to have to push the chairs until the last loaded chair made it out of the bowl. Those of us who stayed behind to push were extricated by ski patrol snowmobiles. Stopped for a break at one of the mid mountain restaurants where a hostesses knew I'd been looking for my wallet. She claimed that the ticket office in the village had called with something with my name on it. But I had my wallet back? So I skied down to the village ticket office and they had no idea what I was talking about so that was a wild goose chase I still haven't figured out. Thinking I was set for my last run down the locker room my boss comes on the radio looking for help at the base of another lift that was down (this isn't usual at Vail!) I was in the vicinity so headed there to help give folks other ideas for skiing down. Had to help a beginner who couldn't begin to negotiate the slope,  green cat track, and I'm not sure how she ever gotten to where she was in the first place. Ski patrol came and put her on a sled to get her down. I think was the last one to the locker room today!

**Vail guests are great and they all waited pretty patiently in that mid-day lift line and cheered for and thanked folks pushing the chairs. When a lift is down over 20 minutes then there is Vail personeel awarding vouchers for free lift tickets when folks reach the top. So everyone on that lift and waiting down in the bottom of the bowl were given two vouchers. The folks stuck on the lift at the end of the day were also awarded a voucher. A daily lift ticket at Vail on a peak dayis $159. So those vouchers are a great way to recover a guest's experience. I enjoy being connected to this company because they work hard on customer service.**

Looking for Your Support for Pink Vail: The World's Biggest Cancer Ski Day

If you have enjoyed reading my blog, I hope you will consider showing your support by making just $5 donation to me and our team The Rebel Yells as we participant in Pink Vail on March 21, 2015. If I can get 50 friends to donate $5 I'll reach my $250 goal. We are skiing in honor of friend Judd Babcock who is currently under treatment for cancer at an outstanding local cancer center, Shaw Regional here in Edwards, CO where I spend the winter.  This link Vail Val's Pink Vail Page where you can click on a button that will allow you to enter credit card information. 

Thanks!!

Vail Val

Tenth Mountain Hut Trip

I remember talking with my friend Patty Packrat about the 10th Mountain Trail system for the first time in the 80's thinking it would be a great adventure.  I was envious again 30 years later when my back country kayak pal Vera told me she had skied to some of them. These huts has grown to an extensive back country trail system with over 34 huts with 300 plus miles of hiking/biking/skiing trails in the high country. If you go back to my earlier snowmobile post in December, this area is rich in WWII 10th Mtn division history and this hut system commemorates and celebrates those rugged winter warriors. 10th Mountain Hut History  Tuesday the 18th of February happened to be the 70th Anniversary of Riva Ridge (see the snowmobile post for an explanation) and this past Tuesday while I was gone to the hut,  Vail especially groomed the run named for that because there is still a reunion ski down for a handful of those 90+ year old vets. Would have loved to been here for that. CBS out of Denver covered it: WWII Vets Reunite

 I had my chance this past week to do a 3 day hut trip to the hut that is named "The 10th Mountain Hut" with 8 of my friends from Vail Club 50 who pretty much do a hut trip annually.  The weather gods smiled on us and we skied in just under 4 miles under bluebird then had a picture perfect high country powder falling all the next day and skied through a pristine winter landscape to exit. Yes, this is serious back country travel and we were under a high avalanche warning at the time in Colorado but research showed that the trail in did not pass on or beneath any questionable slopes and our play day in at the hut we stayed off of any slopes that may have posed danger. We did cheat a bit and utilize snowmobiles to pack the food in, and if you know me not being a "purist" was a bit hard. But I felt a little better when the snowmobiles got bogged down so badly that we decided the skiers would go first to pack the trail for the snowmobiles--now that's a turn about!  I borrowed a pair of back country x-c skis for this trip but have decided a pair(free heel, wider than regular x-c skis, metal edges, beefier bindings, fish scales in the camber and climbing skins for steep slopes)  need to be in my ski quiver.I created a little movie of our trip I hope you enjoy, click on the link and it will take you to Youtube: 10th Mtn Hut Trip February 2015
Thought the info posted in the hut was interesting but it didn't fit well in the movie I made.

Notice the 122 lbs per person these ski troopers carried! Wonder what an emergency thong was?
 

Links to Who's on Crew?

These are links to short bios and photos I've been doing for the Talon Crew Blog for a corner I came up with called "Who's on Crew?"
Matthias from Germany
Myreh
Staci
Allesio from Italy
Covelle
Stefan from Austria
Scott

Figuring Out Fencing

This is my latest post to the Talon Crew blog. It explains some of the miles and miles of fencing we have installed up on the race course to keep the racers safe. Figuring out Fencing