Thankgiving Weekend

My brother and his grilfriend Chantell flew out for Thanksgiving weekend in Colorado.  Even though there was no fresh snow or powder days on the mountain we still made the best of it.  I was happy to eat out every night away from the usual cafeteria food in the commons.  Deno's for Thanksgiving, Sushi Bar Friday night, and Fontenos Saturday night will keep me satisfied for the rest of my time here at Snow Mountain Ranch.  We competed in the annual nordic skiing Turkey Trot, two good days of skiing Winter Park and a day of hiking on the continental divide in between.  Not bad for a couple of flatlanders living in St.  Louis!  Thanks for the great weekend and I'll see you in a few weeks for all you can eat sushi in St. Louis.  Remember you can always quit your job and live a life of fun and adventure with me.  The pictures below are from the Turkey Trot Nordic Race, more photos to come later.

Copper Mountain - Day 2

Skied Copper Mountain last Sunday and today in beautiful weather.  They only have 4 lifts open and 12 trails or so, but it was nice to start skiing in early November.  Next week on November 15th Winter Park is opening and we will no longer have to make the 90 minute drive to Copper.  Took these photos at Copper today, hope some of you can make it out here soon to do some skiing. 

The first photo is me (some sort of 70's comb over) and Felipe eating a lunch of champions courtesy of SMR breakfast buffet.

Second is a picture of the "SKY" shoots in the backcountry that were formed by avalanches.  They are supposed to spell out SKY but from this angle it's hard to see.

The third and fourth photos were taken 2 full lifts and 1 tow lift later on the very top of the mountain.  12,000+ ft.

Next road trip to Copper Sunday depending on how I feel, then Winter Park Thursday for the second day of the season.

Lunar Halos

Last night at campfire it was impossible not to notice the lunar halo surrounding the almost full moon (completely full at 5 am Sunday morning).  I couldn't get to my camera in time before the lower clouds moved in, but I googled some pictures of lunar halos.  The photos below are almost identical to how the moon looked last night for a few short hours between 7 and 9 pm. 

I have also put a link to some information about how these halos form around the moon and the science behind them.  If it appears again tonight I'll be sure to grab my camera for some of my own photos.

Link: Science behind Moon Halos

I got the photos from here and here.   

Live Gametracker What?

As you may or may not know the Big Ten Championships for men's soccer are this weekend being held at Ohio State University.  With out television or radio coverage (not that I have those anyway) and no internet in my cabin, I have found myself in the lobby of Snow Mountain Ranch yelling at the computer screen and CSTV's gametracker.  This must be the worst possible way to ever watch a soccer match.  The only information provided to a viewer during the run of play is SHOT, FOUL or OFFSIDE enough to make you go crazy.  But the way I look at it is that it's one more fan supporting the Where's Waldo Seniors (what a great analogy) with out being there to tailgate and yell at the other team.

Whatever the outcome of this weekend, don't worry Waldo, you already have a ring and much more.  Goodluck.

SHIT!  NU scored!  COME OOONNNNNN!