Ski Area Operations Seminar and Planning classes

It's amazing how close the end of the school year is. Friday night is graduation and a week from now I'll be back in South Dakota.

For the past three weeks or so a lot of second-year Ski Area Operations students have just had two classes- Ski Area Operations Seminar and Ski Area Planning.

In Ski Area Operations Seminar we have heard about Paul Rauschke's journey to the ski industry. We have also heard from Steve Hill who is Director of Rental and Retail at Aspen Ski Corporation; C.A. Lane who is Winter Park's General Manager / Director of Mountain Operations; and Allison Kohn, a Level IV groomer at Beaver Creek Resort. According to the course schedule, this week we will be hearing from Dave Byrd who is the Director of Education and Risk for the National Ski Areas Association and Geoff George who is the Lift Maintenance Lead Mechanic for Keystone Resort.

I think the best description I could give of Ski Area Planning is the one in the course syllabus. "Design and clearing of ski trails and locating support facilities approved in long range ski area development plans are the topics of this course. Emphasis will be given to computing skiing capacities and balancing of facilities, lift and trail capacities with various environmental constraints.".

So far in the class we have covered "The language of Ski Area Planning", computing ski area capacities, balancing capacities, Feasibility Studies and Master Planning, Colorado's Joint Review Process, Environmental Impact Statements and Issues, Construction Planning Processes, Lift and Trail Construction, Snowmaking and Utilities Planning and Construction, and Water Supply and Sewage Treatment Facilities. We also had a guest speaker come in to explain the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to us.

We have learned to shoot grade which determines what type of trail we have and the appropriate skier density. We have learned that a beginner skier expects to ski 2,000 vertical feet but an advanced skier expects to ski 20,000 vertical feet. We have learned that the average car arriving at a ski area has 2.7 passengers and requires a 300 square foot parking spot. Base area lodges should be able to accomodate 20-35% of your skiing guests at one time and you should have 1 toilet for every 50-60 persons. In determining ski area facilities and expansion you must take these factors into account. Your lift and trail capacities need to be equal to your parking lot capacity which needs to be equal to your facilities capacities. You should also aim to have a 20% beginner, 60% intermediate, and 20% advanced trail mix.

For our final project we creating possible designs for the "Lake County Winter Recreation Area". We were told that we were to include some sort of lift, a tubing hill, a terrain park, that we needed to relocate one building, and that we should build a small lodge. Most of our designs also include lighting and expanding snowmaking. Based on my own computations, the area could handle 205 guests at one time Sunday-Thursday and on Friday and Saturday when I am working with longer hours, the area could do 342 guests at one time. Being that I do not spend much time in the terrain park, I am also learning a lot about the spacing of features.

Food for thought: A skier density of 50-100 skiers/acre is appropriate on a beginner trail, but on an advanced trail, that number is closer to 10 or 15. Why do you think this is? I'd enjoy hearing your opinions.

Murphy's Law Makes An Appearance in Winter Park

Last weekend was the 2010 Nature Valley NASTAR Nationals in Winter Park, CO.

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you might remember the trip that my mom and I took to Whistler last March which didn't quite go as planned. This trip was no different. Evidentally my mom and I should not go on trips without other family members.

The weekend started on Thursday when my mom arrived in Denver- 3 hours late. After having boarded the plane in Omaha, it was apparently decided that they should fix the plane's wing before taking off. At first they were told that it would be a 20-minute fix, but it took a lot longer. I was almost in Denver when I was informed that her plane had yet to leave the ground. So, I went on a search for a Wendy's. Certainly a town the size of Denver has several Wendy's locations at which I could get my Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger fix. I never did find a Wendy's. Or a McDonald's. I did take an exit saying "Exit now for Wendy's"... but I never did find the Wendy's. Since my mom's plane still had not left, I killed some time at the mall, discovered the amazingness of Strawberry Julius's, and located both a Target and a Best Buy (these locations come in later in the story). However, simply driving on the interstate to said mall just could not be a boring activity. An impatient car in the lane next to mine decided that he would cut in front of me, and while I managed to avoid hitting him, he wasn't so lucky in avoiding the cars in front of him.
After my little adventure to the mall, I drove uneventfully to the airport and picked my mom up who was waiting at the curb. Then came the Best Buy stop where I was informed that the hard-drive in my 1 1/2 year old laptop was dying, so I was laptop-less for the weekend as the hard-drive from my old laptop was being transferred onto a new laptop. Aside from that, we got out of Denver uneventfully. We got off at a town that I don't remember the name of, so my mom could get dinner. All I got was a soda and half of her fries because I was planning on eating dinner when we got to Winter Park because competitors got a free meal that night. I then proceeded to get on the interstate going east instead of west, but we got off at the next exit, saw some buffalo, and got back on the interstate going west, so it wasn't a huge deal. Life was starting to look up.
Our luck quickly ended at the short little tunnel east of Idaho Springs when traffic came to a standstill for 2 hours due to an accident. There was a sign saying traffic was being directed onto Frontage Road and 511 said the same thing, but neither my mom nor I could understand how it was taking so incredibly long for traffic to exit the interstate and get on Frontage Road. I remembered hearing about a pizza place in Idaho Springs called Beau Jo's which is supposed to be really good. We never did find said pizza place. Finally we got to Winter Park at 8pm. My free dinner had ended at 7, so I was in the mood to find food, but first I had to check-in for the next day's race. Due to my "excellent" directional skills, my mom and I went up the Village Cabriolet, which was essentially an open-air gondola car, walked around the Winter Park base area, and then my mom finally insisted on asking for directions. Turns out that the hotel that was at the bottom of the hill, where we had first loaded the cabriolet was where we needed to check in. My mom was less than pleased about the little adventure. We took the cabriolet down the hill and checked-in for the race and then checked-in to our hotel that was "across the street" from Winter Park Resort. Well, it was across the street- street being major highway. There was a bus though that ran continuously, so all was good. By now it was like 9pm and we were both tired, but I still felt that I needed food, so we drove into the town of Winter Park and right about the time I thought I'd somehow missed the town, we found it and just stopped at the first place we found. It was sometime around 10:30 when we made it back to our hotel room and could finally go to bed.

Friday morning we went to the hotel restaurant with its' over-priced breakfast buffet, got ready to go skiing, and got on the chairlift at 9:15 when my race started at 9:30. So much for slipping the course that morning I guess. I took my first run through the course, went back up the chairlift, and sat at the top of the course waiting for my turn. Since there were 40 snowboarders continuously cycling through in order to complete their two runs, one would think that it wouldn't take that long. Had someone not crashed into the timing device at the bottom which apparently caused the whole system to go haywire and stop recording times, it wouldn't have taken long. So, without knowing what was taking so long, we all sat there, and sat there some more, then it started snowing, and we sat there and sat there and sat there. Then a couple guys went, an ex-Olympian ski racer ran the course (because comparing apples to bananas really equals the playing field), and things finally started moving again. After eating at Snoasis, which turned out to be the most reasonably-priced place on the mountain, my mom and I took a couple of runs, on our quest to ride every chairlift on the mountain since it would have been impossible to ski every trail.
After having made a good start at our goal, we went back to the hotel for a couple hours before heading back to the base area for some prize give-aways. Since the bus that had taken us to the mountain that morning stopped running at 5:30, we drove over and proceeded to get lost while trying to find a place to park. Once we finally found a place to park, I demonstrated exactly how not to descend an icy, snow-covered slope and my mom and I concluded that we should wear snowpants the next day in order to descend such slope. After the prize give-aways, we climbed up such hill on our hands and knees because that was the only way to get up the hill. Then, because my wrist hurt, we went and ate dinner at the hotel instead of in town as we had originally planned to. Around 11pm that night, an annoying beeping noise traveled down the hallway. It sounded vaguely like a fire alarm so I woke my mom up.
The conversation went something like this:
Me: "Mom, is that the fire alarm going off?"
Mom: "Mhm." *Rolls over and goes back to sleep
Me: *Wake Mom up* "Does that mean we should go outside?"
Mom: "Yes." *Rolls over*
Me: "Mom. Wake up!"
Mom: "Why?"
Me: "Because the fire alarm is going off and you just said we should go outside."
Mom: "Oh."
So, some hotel guests, like my mom and I, went outside in various stages of appropriate outdoor-wear. Some guests were smarter and stood in the glassed-in stairwell. When they let us go back inside we were informed that someone set the alarm system off while trying to iron their clothes. I sort of felt like I was in the dorms at that point, because someone not knowing how to iron without setting off the alarm made me think of the people that try to cook and end up setting off the alarm.

Saturday my mom and I met a woman at breakfast who had injured both her shoulder and her knee ski racing the day before. I then managed to end up at my race course even later than the day before and again we stood around some more, waiting for snow to accumulate on the course. However, Saturday's wait was much less time consuming than Friday's was. Afterwards, we went down to the clinic to get my wrist looked at for my parking lot fall the day before. One of the questions on the "Slip and Fall" sheet was "Were you wearing a helmet at the time of your fall?" which I found to be amusing, as you cannot really expect your guests to be wearing a helmet in order to walk through your parking lot at 5:30PM. Then I hung out in the hotel room while my mom went and skied some more. That evening was the awards ceremony- I got 3rd for Female 17-20 snowboarding- and then they had an awards banquet thing for competitors and autograph signings.

Sunday my mom and I ventured to Mary Jane which is known for its' bumps (mogul) skiing and managed to find trails to ski on that didn't have any moguls, which is good because my mom does not go on trails unless they are paved (groomed). Later that afternoon I went back to the hotel to get ready to drive to Ski Cooper for the ski school end-of-season dinner while my mom continued skiing. On the way back to Winter Park from Ski Cooper I was followed by a cop for 26 miles who then pulled me over in my hotel parking lot to inform me that I had been driving "about 5 miles over the speed limit" when I first turned off the interstate (26 miles ago) and that I "endangered the life of a wild animal". Said wild animal was a moose that was standing in the middle of the road, that I very carefully drove around. If you ask me, it posed a greater threat to me than I did to it. If there is a pathetic excuse to pull me over, I think it has happened. I apparently get this cop-magnet trait from my dad and my mom just does not understand it.

Monday morning we managed to get all of our stuff packed up and visited the gift shop for souvenirs and left in a timely fashion. In Denver we stopped at Best Buy to retrieve the laptops and the mall so that my mom could go into Target for her M&M fix for the plane ride home. Aside from not being so lucky in finding the Wendy's that I was still determined to find, we did find a gas station selling hot dogs and that sufficed for lunch. I then dropped my mom off at the airport and as far as I know her trip home went uneventfully. On my way home from Denver I stopped at Mother Cabrini's Shrine and Buffalo Bill's Grave, but I'll save that for another blog, along with writing about Ski Cooper's last weekend of the season.

A Day In The Life

A snowboard instructor's job consists solely of teaching snowboarding, right? Wrong. In this blog I will outline the exact happenings of the relatively normal day that I had at work today.

7:50AM
The alarm on my phone goes off. It's a slightly more tolerable sound when not experiencing the effects of Daylight Savings Time.

8:25AM
I get in my snow covered Explorer, blast the defrost, and dust the windows off so that I can pretend to see when I drive.

8:30AM
Gas station. It seems to be taking forever for my gas to pump!

8:40AM
On the road. It snowed overnight and is still snowing. The plows have not yet come through.

9:05AM
Ski Cooper parking lot. A parking lot attendant is telling me where to park, and honestly, I think I could find a closer parking spot, but I'm in a cooperative mood this morning.

9:15AM
Geared up. Time for breakfast.

9:25AM
I explain to a woman that she can buy a Panda ticket (children's all day ski lesson) at either the ticket window or in the rental shop.

9:30AM
I rescue an overly eager small child from his snowboard bindings. He put his board on and neither he nor his mother knew how to undo the bindings.

9:40AM
Another instructor sends me on a mission to get them breakfast.

9:47AM
I tell 6 never-ever snowboarders that their lesson will start in 10 or 15 minutes.

9:50AM-10:15AM
I am asked by a few people when the snowboard lesson is going to start. I am informed by a woman that her family tried especially hard to get there on time for the 10AM lesson. My supervisor decides who teaches what lesson, so I can't do much to change the situation, and it's still before 10, so I tell them their lesson will likely start in a couple of minutes. I ask a group of Pandas if they're excited to go skiing. They say yes, but most of them sound like they wish they were still in bed. I help some Pandas find their skis. I explain to a couple of people where to check in for their Panda lesson and point out my supervisor for a few people who are running late for their ski lesson.

10:20AM
I go out with a half-day snowboard lesson. During the course of the three-hour lesson, I get to snowboard all over the mountain because the student was an "advanced intermediate" snowboarder. This essentially means that he snowboards mainly easy and intermediate terrain, but is capable of advanced terrain- at least that is how I classify it. Having learned from past mistakes we start on the Poma lift and the go up the double chair and come down an intermediate run called Trail's End.

11:30AM
Break time. It is currently snowing and that snow coats your face. It is also a tad bit chilly.

11:35
Up the double chair, down an easy trail on the backside called Eagle, up the triple, down an advanced trail that the student requests which is named Motherlode. Back up the triple. While at the bottom of the triple, I explain to a mother that if her daughter is really miserably cold they can warm up in Ski Patrol hut at the top, rather than suffering for the entire way down the frontside to get to the lodge.
Notes for the wise: Keep a set or two of handwarmers in your pocket. On a cold day ensure that they are in your pocket, rather than figuring out that they are in your backpack at the bottom of the hill when you are on the backside with freezing cold hands

12:20 PM
Break time again. Rather than going down the front side and taking our break in the Children's Center like we did the first time, we take our break in the Ski Patrol hut at the top of the triple.
Random fact of the day: A certain sized oxygen tank has 660 liters of oxygen in it when full. I'm not sure what size tank this is. It's small enough to be portable though. Just as a guess, I'd say it's a C tank.
We make hot chocolate with "Dark Chocolate Sauce" and hot water. No one is really sure how much "Dark Chocolate Sauce" to use. A snowboarder comes in who did her binding wrong, so we unscrew the strap in order to shove it through, because it was not going to go back the way it went in. We finish our hot chocolate and are just about to leave as a man skis into the patrol shack. I'm not sure why or how he did this, but it would have involved stepping up onto the wooden deck, skiing across it, opening the door and then skiing onto the carpet. A patroller kindly informs him that he needs to take his skis off and then offers to put them in the rack outside for him.

12:35PM
One last run down the backside on a trail called Treasure Trove because my student wanted to go down it. It is an intermediate pathway through the trees. From there we manage to wander across about 5 different trails on our way to the bottom of the triple. Up the triple. Down the frontside on an advanced trail called Pando which my student wanted to go on because "his dad never let him go down it because it is a boring trail". After awhile he decides to cut over to an easy trail called Sitzmark. Once on Sitzmark I inform a mother with a small child (The size of child that commonly uses an "edgie-wedgie" and may or may not be capable of doing a "pizza" to stop themselves. Also the size known for wearing harnesses which their parents hold onto in order to control them.) that they probably do not want to go down Pando as it is ungroomed, bumpy in spots, and has lift towers to run into. She wisely stays on Sitzmark. Student and I make it to the bottom of the hill and tell his dad what he should work on.

1:30PM
I run over to the cafeteria for lunch, taking 2 ice chests with me which were used to bring over Panda lunches.

1:42PM
I take 2 students up the hill to start their lesson. In a group lesson we teach to the lowest ability of student, meaning that the "crawling snow monster" (reason for this name will be explained in a minute) is determining how fast we progress. I'm not sure how old the "crawling snow monster" was, but we recommend that students be at least 8 years old to take a snowboard lesson and it's also useful if they have previously skied as that gets them used to sliding on the snow. "Crawling snow monster" improves at the heelside slide. Rather than walking up the hill like a person normally would, he determines that crawling up the hill while still having one foot attached to his snowboard is easier and faster, hence why I am referring to him as the "crawling snow monster". Neither my roommate nor I understand this logic. I decide that maybe he would be better off with both feet strapped in, as some people just can't manage to have 1 foot loose when snowboarding. So, we strap both of his feet in and he improves dramatically. When I asked him whether he was going to unstrap one foot or both feet to walk up the hill, he told me he was going to walk up the hill with both of his feet strapped in. Snowboards aren't really designed to allow you to walk up the hill. You can hop up the hill with them, but that takes a slight amount of talent, which I didn't think the "crawling snow monster" had yet achieved. So, the "crawling snow monster" attempts to walk up the hill and does not succeed, but hey, at least he tried. When I asked him why he thought walking up the hill would work he replied "It works in my Shaun White video game!". Unfortunately, the "crawling snow monster" was not Shaun White nor was he in a video game.

2:15 PM
Another instructor takes over my snowboard lesson because I was dizzy. You would think that this would mean my day was done, but not quite. I help a young Panda get her gloves, helmet, "racing number" (all of the Pandas wear bibs so that they can be identified as being in the Panda Patrol. Reasons for this might include: it warns other skiers of a possible lack of skiing ability and it assists in the whole "lost" child thing.), and coat off because she decided that she was done skiing for the day.

2:30PM
As I'm headed out for the day, I convince the "crawling snow monster" that he should go back to his snowboard lesson.

3:30PM
Back in my dorm room. I really think it would be awesome if the roads were plowed at all. Driving home at 30mph only holds so much excitement. The road up to CMC is especially interesting, as the car in front of me got stuck and I drove up the middle of the road in someone else's tire tracks, hoping that no one was coming down the hill at that moment. Upon getting out of my car, I discover that the snow is like knee-deep. This may be nice for skiing and snowboarding, but it isn't nice for walking when you get back to the dorms.

4:30PM
Time to write a blog.

5:30PM
Time to stop writing the blog and do my Introduction to Business homework. Maybe I can manage to get ahead of my homework so that I'm not always doing it the night that it is due.

Who knows what the rest of the day holds. I think homework, dinner, and sleep should pretty much do it for me.

By the way, you can stop hoping for snow now, because I'd like my car to not be a total lump of snow tomorrow.

2010 CMC Rail Jam and Slopestyle

I do not have pictures or results right now from the Rail Jam as I was really not feeling so great that day. I do however have a couple of pictures of the set-up that I got from the "CMC RAIL JAM AND SLOPESTYLE" Facebook event.

Just Add Water

Yale's Comedy Improv Troupe, Just Add Water, performed at a Leadville church this past Sunday night. Thanks to Student Government, Colorado Mountain College students were able to attend for free. There were only three students that went, but then again, it was the start of Spring Break.

The show was about an hour long and a lot of fun to watch. The troupe doesn't make any of the show up ahead of time- it is based solely off of what audience member's say.

The first "skit" involved a date that took place at an igloo, when the other person assumed that they were going to someplace like Paris, after having been asked out by an elementary school choir.

Another "skit" involved two people in an outhouse, and they both had a "voice inside their head" that would randomly speak.

The final skit was about 15 minutes long and involved a girl from the desert going to the forest because she needed a new adventure. Her father was uncertain about this adventure because her mother had gotten lost in the woods years ago. The girl when anyway though and ended up being re-united with her mother.

If you ever have a chance to see Just Add Water, I highly recommend it.

If you click on the title of this blog, you will be directed to Just Add Water's website where you can read more about the group.

Ski Joriing & Crystal Carnival Weekend

March 6th and 7th 2010 is Leadville Skijoring!!

"Ski Joring is a competition where a horse and rider pull a skier at a fast pace through a course that has gates, jumps and rings. The skier is timed through the course, and penalties are assessed by missing gates or jumps, and by missing or dropping any of the rings."

Click here for registration information.
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Crystal Carnival Weekend

LEADVILLE CELEBRATES WINTER WITH 61st ANNUAL SKI JORING, AND CRYSTAL CARNIVAL, MAR. 5-7
Highlights include horse-drawn skiers racing over jumps on snow-packed streets; a snowman-building contest for kids; sled dog, Nordic, snowshoe and mountain bike races; and broomball games

LEADVILLE, Colo. (February 4, 2010) — Winter is a cause for celebration in Leadville, Colo., the highest incorporated city in North America. At 10,152’, the residents have learned to make the most of their natural abundant snowfall and are gearing up for a weekend of ski joring and snow-themed activities. The Annual Ski Joring and Crystal Carnival events will take place Mar. 5 - 7, in downtown Leadville, and will include horse-drawn skiers racing over jumps on snow-packed streets; a snowman-building contest for kids; sled dog, snowshoe and mountain bike races; and broomball games.

Leadville has been hosting ski joring competitions since 1949. Ski joring, which entails a horse and rider pulling a skier down a snow-packed road over jumps while spearing rings in a timed competition, draws teams from all over the country. This year’s event will include four classes on Saturday and again on Sunday: the Open Class, for experienced competitive teams; the Sport Class, for beginners; the Legends Class, for experienced teams who are getting a little long in the tooth for the Open Class; and, new this year, the Snowmobile Class. The Open Class will feature a $1,000 added purse each day; the Sport and Legends Classes will each feature a $500 added purse each day. The entry fee is $70 per team in the Open Class, and $60 per team in the Sport and Legends Classes. Teams must prequalify the day of the event to compete in the Open Class. On Saturday morning at 10:30, kids can also try their hand at ski joring behind a snowmobile for just $5 a ride.

The Crystal Carnival, which commemorates the original winter sports festival held in Leadville in 1896, offers a not-your-usual-winter-weekend experience for the entire family. All events are free for spectators; some require fees for participants. The winners of the second annual Crystal Carnival Original Drink & Dessert Contest, which began Feb. 1, will be announced during the carnival as well. The contestants are: Cookies with Altitude, Doc Holliday’s, Szechuan Taste, Tennessee Pass Cafe and Wild Bill’s in the desserts category, and Bobbie’s Place, Doc Holliday’s, The Grill, Manhattan, Pastime Bar, Quincy’s, Silver Dollar Saloon, Tennessee Pass Cafe, and Zichitella’s in the drinks category.


Schedule of Events

Friday, Mar. 5
7 p.m. Harrison Avenue Knock-Out Nordic Sprints — 400-meter sprints under the lights, with cash prizes

Saturday, Mar. 7
All Day Free sledding on Dutch Henri Sledding Hill —Bring your own sled or rent a tube for $5 (snow permitting;
tube rental available noon – 5 p.m.)
8 – 11 a.m. Ski Joring — Registration at the Elks Lodge
9 a.m. 3rd Annual Mt. Massive Mush — Presented by Mount Massive Golf Course and the Rocky Mountain Sled Dog Club
10 a.m. Kids’ Parade — Children (ages 5 – 12) are welcome to join in and will receive a free balloon
10:30 a.m. Kids’ Ski Joring — Kids can try ski joring behind a snowmobile for $5 a ride
11 a.m. Ski Joring Draw, Calcutta and Competition — Teams draw for time slots, followed by Calcutta Sale, then the Sports Class, Legends Class and Open Class competitions
11:30 a.m. Snowman Showdown — Snowman-building contest on the Courthouse lawn for children age 7 and under
12:30 p.m. Book Signing and Presentation — Discover the history of the Ice Palace and Leadville’s first Winter Carnival with author Darlene Godet at the movie theater behind the courthouse
1 p.m. Shelter Dog Shuffle — Ski, snowshoe, run or walk with your shelter dog in this one-mile race at Mount Massive Golf Course to benefit the Leadville/Lake County Animal Shelter and Planned Pethood Assistance
1 – 9 p.m. Lake County Ice Skating Rink — Admission $2.25; skate rentals are $1 for kids; $2 for adults
5 p.m. Mineral Belt Mayhem — An 11-mile loop on Leadville’s Mineral Belt Trail; registration and check-in at 5 p.m. at Cycles of Life, 309 Harrison Ave.; race starts at 7 p.m.; part of the Winter Mountain Bike Race Series

Sunday, Mar. 8
All Day Free sledding on Dutch Henri Sledding Hill — Bring your own sled or rent a tube for $5 snow permitting;tube rental available noon – 5 p.m.
8 – 11 a.m. Ski Joring — Registration at the Elks Lodge
8:15 a.m. Crystal Snowshoe Shuffle — 1.5-mile race on the Mineral Belt Trail at Dutch Henri Sledding Hill; registration at 8:15, race at 9; $15 fee; proceeds support Beta Sigma Phi community fundraising efforts
9 a.m. 3rd Annual Mt. Massive Mush — Presented by Mount Massive Golf Course and the Rocky Mountain Sled Dog Club
10 a.m. Golden Broom Broomball Game “The Guns vs. The Hoses” — The Policemen take on the Firemen for the coveted Golden Broom Award
11 a.m. Ski Joring Draw, Calcutta and Competition — Teams draw for time slots, followed by Calcutta Sale, then the Sport Class, Legends Class and Open Class competitions
11 a.m. Golden Broom Broomball Game — ALCO vs. Safeway
1 – 9 p.m. Lake County Ice Skating Rink — Admission $2.25; skate rentals are $1 for kids; $2 for adults

Leadville Upcoming Events

International Film Series at CMC

Colorado Mountain College Timberline Campus presents
Babette’s Feast on March 26th, 2010 from 6-9:30PM

Guided discussion by CMC Faculty /Staff

One-time registration fee of $10 required.
This fee covers one or all movies.
Call 486-4292 to register
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February 27th
The Mineral Belt Historical Tour

A non-competitive cross-country ski tour of the historic Leadville Mining District . No matter what age or ability, folks are sure to have fun exploring the rich mining history of Leadville on the Mineral Belt Trail.
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February 28th
Leadville Loppit

The Mineral Belt Trail is proud to host the Annual Leadville Loppit. Challenge Yourself at 10,000 feet. Ski over the footprints of the gold rush miners on the historic and scenic mineral Belt and Colorado Mountain College Trails in beautiful Leadville, Colorado.
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March 6th, 2010
2 Mile High Rail Jam & Cloud City Slopestyle
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March 6th - Mineral Belt Mayhem

March 6th and 7th 2010 is Leadville Skijoring!!

The Advocates of Lake County is also holding a pancake breakfast March 6th and 7th.
Click here for information.

The above events are part of the Crystal Carnival Weekend
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March 7th, 2010
Paintball Biathlon

Children’s loops, 5k or 10k skate with two shooting stops, one prone and one standing. A great event for anyone to try out what it’s like to ski in a biathlon. Prizes to the top two skiers in each age category. Age categories are: 13 and Under, 14-18, 19-29, 30-49, and 50+.

2010 Colorado Mountain College Rail Jam

Colorado Mountain College

Ski Area Operations Timberline Campus presents:

2 Mile High Rail Jam & Cloud City Slopestyle

March 6, 2010

Leadville, Colorado

Dutch Henri Hill

Registration 8AM

Rail Jam $10

Slopestyle $15

Rail Jam 10-11AM

Slopestyle 1-4PM

Live music & Food

Skiers and snowboarders welcome

For more information

Call 719-486-4229

It's Dumping!!

To any loyal followers of my blog, I am sorry for the lack of blogs lately.

A blogger from Breckenridge, one from Steamboat, and another from Glenwood Springs, along with myself attended the X-Games in Aspen, Colorado a few Saturdays ago. We had a scavenger hunt planned but, unfortunately, it did not work out as planned. 50 cent performed for about 1/2 an hour right aroudn lunch time. After 50 Cent's performance I was able to watch the Snowboard Cross competition. As defined by Wikipedia, "Snowboarder X (also Boardercross, Boarder-X or BX, SBX, or Snowboard cross) is the official X-Games title given to the sport traditionally and still more commonly known as Boardercross - a snowboard competition in which a group of snowboarders (usually four) start simultaneously atop an inclined course, then race to reach the finish line first. Boardercross courses are typically quite narrow and includes cambered turns, gap jumps, berms, drops, and steep and flat sections designed to challenge the riders' ability to stay in control."

Free Bowling Night took place this past Tuesday. Students were able to play 2 games. Approximately 20 students attended the event.

Topics discussed in the past couple of weeks during Student Government include changing the student activity fee, funding for the rail jam put on by the Colorado Mountain College Events Management class, and a Vance's Cabin hut trip.

Ski Area Operations- Timberline Campus presents 2 Mile High Rail Jam & Cloud City Slopestyle.
Saturday, March 6th 2010 in Leadville, Colorado at the bottom of Dutch Henri.
Registration is at 8AM.
Rail Jam takes place from 10AM-11AM
Slopestyle takes place from 1PM-4PM
Rail Jam registration is $10 and Slopestyle registration is $15.
Slopestyle registration qualifies for Rail Jam.
Both skiers and snowboarders are welcome to participate.
For more information call 719-486-4229.

The free gym, swim, and ice nights have been well attended the few times I have gone. This past Tuesday a game of hockey was in full-swing at the ice rink and there were about 10 people at the pool while I was there Thursday night.
Gym nights are Mondays and Wednesdays.
Swim nights are Thursdays and Fridays.
Ice nights are Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Attendance is free with a valid CMC Student ID.

Free XC Skiing Wednesday, February 17th.
The Outdoor Program will provide free equipment rental.
Students who are interested should meet in the MPR at 2pm.
All ability levels are welcome to attend.

Ski Cooper On-Goings

As I spend the majority of my waking hours at Ski Cooper instructing, I thought that would be a more fitting topic for this week's blog, compared to classes (of which I currently have one- which reminds me, I should probably do my homework for that class tonight) and school-sponsored activities, which I have done a poor job of attending lately.

About a week and a half ago, six Australians came to visit Ski Cooper. Three of them took lessons and since there was a "split" (meaning that there were different ability levels within the group), Dominic took the two girls who were both about the same level and I took Cameron who was more advanced. We started out on the beginner slope, which is serviced by a Poma (aka Platter) lift (if you are a snowboarder desiring to ride a Poma lift, take a lesson unless you wish to entertain everyone in line behind you). To read more about Poma lifts you can look at this wikipedia article. We then progressed to the double chair and went down the backside of the mountain (oh how I love the lessons involving the chairlift and snowboarding as opposed to walking up the hill repeatedly). While on the chairlift I asked him why he chose to come to the USA and he said that originally they were planning on going to Japan, but the Australian Dollar to American Dollar exchange rate was so good they decided that they would come to the USA instead. They had purchased 8-day tickets for the Vail Resorts but came to Ski Cooper as a warm-up day. While warming up in the Ski Patrol hut, Cameron and one of the ski patrollers had a rather interesting conversation that started out as where a good bar was but very quickly turned into a discussion about Red Heelers (a breed of dog) and their breeding.



A couple days ago I had a very interesting group of young men who informed me that they had snowboarded before. I then asked them if they knew how to skate (Skating is how you move around in lift lines) and they all said "yes", however, when asked to demonstrate the skill, they required an explanation as to what they were to do. Luckily they seemed to remember things rather quickly. When we moved onto the Poma lift, only one of them caught onto it. Towards the end of the lesson, one of them wanted to just walk up the hill because "The Poma isn't real snowboarding. You have to be able to snowboard before you can ride the Poma.", another said "I already know how to walk. I want to get this Poma thing down.", and another was indifferent. Oh the joys of teaching some days.

Last Friday afternoon I went skiing when there were no lessons at 1:30. It worked out for awhile, but for the last run of the day I decided to go down a run called "Last Chance" which is sort of out of the way. My ski then proceeded to fall off and refuse to go back on for the next 30 minutes. However, as soon as the ski patroller came along, it magically snapped on... and then fell off 10 feet later.


Yesterday I had a group lesson in the morning with 2 women who were on their 3rd lesson in order to get a free season pass to Ski Cooper. For the Free Pass program, you take either 3 ski or 3 snowboard lessons. Whichever sport you choose, you must have never done it before. The idea behind it is that you don't take 1 lesson and immediately decide you hate the sport simply because you did not immediately catch on to it. Plus, by the end of the 3rd lesson (in my experience) you are up on the mountain, which is a whole lot more exciting than forever being on the Poma lift. From teaching this lesson, I learned that "I'm slightly afraid of heights" can translate into "I am deathly afraid of heights and intend to scream for a portion of the chairlift ride". Apparently the view from Trail's End was worth it though because they informed me that they would be going up the chairlift again, even if it meant that Beth would spend the ride up screaming.

This weekend is the X-Games in Aspen. Four of the Colorado Mountain College student bloggers will be there (Dylan, Bobbie, Ali, and myself). We will be handing out flyers with clues for a scavenger hunt and handing out swag (stickers, pens, decals, and caribeaners). The four of us will be in 2 teams. One team will have pink stickers on our jackets and the other team will have blue stickers. When you find a team, we give you a clue.

After A Week In The Dorms

Considering that I haven't had any classes, I don't have much to write on that front. I did however find out a couple days ago that I have an online class this semester, which I was completely unaware of. My books arrived in the mail today, which was a complete surprise to me because I thought Martin Luther King Day was a federal holiday. Perhaps UPS does not observe federal holidays.

As far as Martin Luther King Day goes, on my way to work this morning I noticed an American flag. Then I noticed another. And another. Then I started really wondering why every lightpost in Leadville had an American flag attached to it. After a brief moment of thought I decided that it must be Martin Luther King Day, which meant it was a Monday. I've begun to notice a trend of the days all sort of blending together. I go to work, I come home from work, I go to work again the next day. I'm not the only one experiencing this phenomena either... Yesterday at work some people thought it was Saturday and others thought it was Monday. It was in fact Sunday.

Last week at work was not exactly busy. I went from Sunday to Friday without teaching a single lesson. Luckily business picked up a bit over the holiday weekend.
Saturday, the Piney Basin Triple Chair was not functioning, which meant that the entire skiing public was either on the Buckeye Platter which was only operating to midway and therefore servicing only the bottom half of a green run and the bottom half of a blue run, the 10th Mountain Double, or the Printer Boy Platter (aka the beginner hill). To add to the excitement, the Cooper Cup race was taking place, which meant that Black Powder was closed to the public.

Sunday, I taught a mother and daughter who had previously taken a snowboard lesson and were wishing to improve, while Jane, another snowboard instructor, shadowed me since all she had ever taught were "never-ever" lessons. Also on Sunday, some instructors participated in the NASTAR race which took place between the morning and afternoon runs of the Cooper Cup.

Today, when there weren't any students taking lessons at 1:30, a group of us went out for a couple runs. After going down a green run we all ended up following our bold leader down a black and off into a tree run. I don't really do tree runs because I don't trust myself to not slide full-force into a tree. Yes, I have gone on both Powder Keg and Timber Bash this year which could be considered tree runs, but the trees are much farther apart. The skier following me was on skis for his 9th day ever and I'm not sure he appreciated the trail choice much more. It was fun though once I was no longer in the midst of the corkscrew (The trail is named Corkscrew. I believe the main path through it makes a corkscrew pattern, but studying the pattern was not quite at the top of my list of priorities).

In the past couple weeks I have discovered that if I am ever running into the lodge at Ski Cooper to do something real quick, I should not wear my instructor jacket. Sometimes I feel as if guests have a radar that zones in the on busiest employee.

You have 30 seconds before you're supposed to be at line-up and you want to use the restroom first? Someone will want an explanation of how to put their boots on.

There are also the times where a guest asks me a question that just truly amazes me.

"What's the best beer to order in the bar?". I'm 19 and do not even know what alcohol they serve in the bar. Perhaps you should ask the person running the bar.

During Christmas break, two women were at the bottom of the triple (on the backside of Ski Cooper). One woman told the other "We should just take this cat track so that we don't have to wait in line.". The "cat track" they were referring to is Piney Ditch Road, which is over a mile long (I believe it is 1 3/4 miles... Don't quote me on that though.) and not the best way to get to the frontside. They might have had to wait in the lift line for 2 minutes. I'm not sure on the ride time of the triple, but Jane and I made it from the bottom of the triple, to the top of the hill, back down the frontside in 16 minutes.

A few days ago I stopped to help out a skier who couldn't get her boot into the binding because it was still clicked down. After I told her how to get her ski back on she told me "I knew that. I haven't fallen while skiing in over 5 years. It's just these new boots.". In the lodge she told me she couldn't unbuckle her ski boot. Once I unbuckled it for her she informed me that she was going to her car to get her old boots because they didn't make her fall down.

A binding like this is
not going to accept
your boot no matter
how hard you slam
your boot down into
it.

A binding that looks like this is ready for you to put your boot into it.

In other news, the X-Games come to Aspen the last weekend of January.

CMC Rec Nights are in full force. Monday and Wednesday night are open gym. Thursday and Friday are swimming. Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday are ice skating. All activities are free to students presenting a valid ID.

Until next time, that's it. Please hope for snow- Colorado could really use it.

Dew Tour Wrap-Up

I unfortunately got distracted and neglected to write about the 5th day of the Winter Dew Tour. So we shall now test my memory as to what exactly happened that day.

The day started rather early for me as I was aiming to get to Breckenridge around 9AM in order to have time to park, put my gear on, take the bus from the free parking lot to the gondola, take the gondola up to Peak 8, stash my backpack at the CMC booth, and take the chairlift up to the competition area to photograph a competition that started at 10:30. Later in the day I went back down to the CMC booth and then back up to photograph another competition. If I remember correctly, both competitions that day were slopestyle snowboarding- women's in the morning and men's in the afternoon.

Close-up of the CMC booth

My excellent bull riding skills
(there is a video at the bottom of the page of my bull riding)

Me in front of the CMC booth with my photo pass and media credentials

Far-away shot of the Colorado Mountain College booth

Me with the High Cascade Snowboard Camp marshmallow

The past two weeks I have been instructing every day at Ski Cooper. A lot of it is work, but there are also the fun moments. There are the "Never Ever" lessons where they catch on so incredibly fast that it's awfully hard to believe that they have never snowboarded and there are the lessons where the fact that they can get up and not run into anyone is amazing. In the afternoon a group of instructors usually goes out for a couple runs. One day I went out with 5 ski instructors and boy was that entertaining. I apparently hit one of the guys with my arm and I then fell down while getting off the triple chair. The next run another instructor decided he was going to practice his eyes-closed skiing. Let's just say that he should keep his eyes open when unloading from the chair. The rest of the run he did a good job of following his guide's instructions. Yesterday I spent a couple hours in the afternoon refreshing my skiing skills. All I have to say about that is "Just because you went down a green run without falling, doesn't mean you should take off for a blue run". I very much thought I might fall on my face. Lately there has also been a "Let's try out tele-marking" craze. I think I'll work on feeling comfortable on alpine skis first.

Currently I am sitting in Proving Grounds enjoying a cup of hot chocolate and their wireless internet. When classes are in session, students like to hang out here. Last year I know there were several people that would play Dominos. It's also just a nice place to hang out with friends or a way to get away from the dorms and still have the possibility of completing homework or studying.

The dorms open for the semester at 9AM Wednesday morning. My roommate and I are both moving in on Thursday since she has a out-of-state friend visiting and, as of right now, I work Wednesday.

Other than that, I haven't heard of much going on around Leadville lately.

As far as classes go for next semester, I am currently taking an online business class, a 5-credit internship, a Ski Area Seminar class, and a Ski Area Planning class. I'm think I'm also going to see if I can still get into some of the labs (they tend to fill up quickly) since I enjoyed the Snowmaking lab so much last semester. And/or I might take a couple of "general" classes that are requirements for graduation at a school that my parents are wishing I continue on to.

Well, that's all I have for now. I'll try to write about how move-in went either Thursday or Friday sometime.

Winter Dew Tour: Days 3 & 4

Friday the Colorado Mountain College booth had gotten all sorted out and no one was trying to figure out where we were supposed to be setting up. Our item of the day was to hand out the Colorado Mountain College stickers that we had which had information about a text raffle on the back. We also had chapstick, ice scrapers, and caribeaners.

Saturday, I spent the day working the CMC booth. We were still trying to get all of the stickers hand out for the raffle taking place this morning. We were also trying to get rid of ice scrapers. We also seemed to have a lot of people interested in the brochures. The weather was really nice and sunny for most of the afternoon. Unfortunately, for about the last 45 minutes it suddenly got colder.

Finals take place today. They start at 10:30 so I'm about to head over to Breckenridge. From what I've been told, you can't take photos or videos of the finals. Maybe I can manage to interview a couple of athletes. We'll just see how things go.

Winter Dew Tour: Day 2

Today I was in Breckenridge once again for the Dew Tour. The Colorado Mountain College booth had a bit of a slow start as there were so issues that had to be sorted out as to where exactly our tent would be. We did eventually get set-up though.

Since there ended up being six of us hanging around the tent, we were able to take turns walking around. A couple people walked up to watch part of the halfpipe skiing event. Bobbie, who is one of the bloggers in Steamboat, and I both tried out the mechanical bull at the Jack Links tent and got Andreas Wigg's autograph at Toyota's booth. Nike 6.0 had blaze orange beanies for people who had 3 of a kind on their ticket. Mountain Dew was making custom screen-printed bandanas and applying stickers to snowboards. I did a mock interview in FuelTV's tent and decided that I was much better with interviews when I prepared what I was going to say ahead of time. Food samples were provided by Totino's Pizza, Mountain Dew, and PowerBar. Paul Mitchell also had chocolate to give away.

If you are at the Dew Tour tomorrow, you should come check out CMC's booth has we have a gazillion stickers to give away along with chapstick and caribeaners. We also have class schedules for the Breckenridge campus and brochures for various programs.

Winter Dew Tour: Day 1

Today I spent the day in Breckenridge for the Winter Dew Tour. For those of you who don't know, the Dew Tour is a freestyle ski and snowboard competition. As part of the Dew Tour, I was given the opportunity to interview a couple of competitors.

The first person I interviewed was Dan Marion who so kindly explained to a Breckenridge employee and myself, why they were painting multiple blue lines on the landing of a jump (it makes it more visible). Dan is a skier whose favorite Disney character is Peter Pan and his favorite ski or snowboard movie this year is Wild Stallions. His typical meal on the mountain is a PB&J and if he were not a skier, he would be a golfer. During the summer he surfs, skateboards, participates in water ramp training, and hikes. His parents got him into the sport of skiing. He skis professionally because he loves to ski. Having fun, progression, and video segments is what motivates him to work hard at the sport. His most memorable moment was getting 5th at the X-Games. He believes that diet definately has an impact on performance and that it's part of being a professional.

Next I interviewed Brett Esser who is a snowboarder. His favorite Disney character is Miley Cyrus. Black Winter is his favorite ski or snowboard movie this year. A typical meal on the mountain for him is a Pepperjack Chicken burger. He spends his summers skating and at Mt. Hood. If he weren't a snowboarder, he would be a Sushi Chef. When Brett was 7, his older brother got him interested in snowboarding. He snowboards professionally because it's fun, the progression, and the people. Money, sponsors, and babes motivates him to work hard at snowboarding. His most memorable time snowboarding was the first time he ever went snowboarding. He believes diet has an impact on his performance.

Jordi Carlinski's favorite Disney character is Aladin. She is a snowboarder who eats granola bars while on the mountain. During the summer she works and enjoys going outside. If she weren't a skier she would be a full-time student. Her parents got her involved in snowboarding. Fun and competition are her reasons for snowboarding professionally. Enjoyment and progression motivate her to work hard at riding. Iceland was her most memorable snowboarding experience. She believes diet has an impact on her riding performance.

Nils Mindnich's favorite Disney character is the racoon in Pocahontas. Before he thought of the racoon, his favorite character was the dwarf off of Snow White who doesn't talk and whose name is possibly Dopey. He doesn't watch ski and snowboard videos, so he didn't have a favorite. He asked me what my favorite was, but I don't watch them either, so I wasn't able to be of much help. On the mountain he eats french fries and Ramen noodles. During the summer he hikes and skates and he would be a surf rat if he weren't a snowboarder. His parents got him involved in snowboarding. Fun and opportunity are why he snowboards professioanlly. 80's pop music motivates him to work hard. His most memorable snowboarding experience was heli-boarding in New Zealand. He also believes diet has an impact on his performance as a snowboarder.

Fun fact: One of the snowboarders who was competing in the men's halfpipe open qualifier is a Breckenridge local who jogs to the ski area to ride.

I was actually surprised at how friendly the competitors that I talked to were. You hear about professional athletes being jerks, but the ones I talked to weren't like that at all.

Tomorrow I am helping out at the Colorado Mountain College booth. I will also try to do a couple more interviews with competitors, as I realize today's interviews were focused on snowboarders and males (due in part to I was standing in the "holding area" for the men's snowboard halfpipe open qualifiers).

Winter Activities in Leadville

Tonight I headed over to the Lake County Ice Rink which is really a basketball court that they flood with water. Someone had told me earlier in the day that they had free hot dogs this evening since it was their opening day. Turns out that they also had free skating and skate rentals. I am definately not much of an ice skater, but it was fun for the short time that I partook in it. If you don't mind dodging small children wearing ski helmets and holding onto miniture chairs for dear life, middle schoolers congregating in large crowds, couples holding hands, and a hockey game that you didn't realize you had skated into the midst of, the ice rink was the place to be.

Dutch Henri sledding hill is currently closed, but once it does open, sledding is free if you provide your own sled. Tube rental is available on Saturdays and Sundays for $5/hour.

Another free activity in Leadville is corss country skiing or snowshoeing on the Mineral Belt Trail.


Ice skating is $4.25 for admission plus skate rental. Monday nights from 6-9pm is drop in hockey.

On Monday and Wednesday nights, from 6-9pm, the Lake County Middle School Gym is open for those that are 18 and over. Admission is $2.

Thursday evenings there is half-price swimming for adults from 7-9pm.

There is also downhill skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, ice fishing, and dog sledding.

Click here for more information about recreation in Lake County.

Don't forget about the Winter Dew Tour in Breckenridge next weekend. Hope to see you there!

Finals Week

This past week was finals week. I only had one final since all of my Ski Area Operations classes ended at Halloween. My one final was in Principles of Accounting and I felt like it took FOREVER, but we were able to take it home and work on it, so it wasn't that bad.

I finally got my "Drive Up From Denver" video uploaded earlier today.

Earlier this week we finally got the snow that everyone had been waiting for. Ski Cooper has on-snow instructor training this weekend and is hopefully opening for the season next weekend.

The first stop on the Winter Dew Tour is the Totino's Open, which will be held at Breckenridge Ski Resort, in Breckenridge, Colorado. It takes place from December 17th-21st.
"At each event there are a total of six competitions amongst men's and women's snowboarding and freeskiing in superpipe and slopestyle."
A couple of us bloggers are helping out at the Colorado Mountain College booth, which will be at the village at the base of Peak 8. We will be around Thursday-Sunday to hand out freebies and talk about our experiences at CMC. We also have the opportunity to interview a couple of Dew Tour athletes on Wednesday, which I think is pretty awesome.

Monday night was "Night Breakfast" in the cafeteria and on Wednesday there was karaoke in the cafeteria. I was asleep before Night Breakfast started and I didn't stay for much of the karaoke, but the part I did see was entertaining.

As for what's in store for the next couple of weeks...
This coming Wednesday and Thursday I'll be in Breckenridge for the Dew Tour. I should have some interviews, photos, and videos to post afterwards.
After that it is teaching snowboarding at Ski Cooper for my SAO internship.
The dorms open back up on January 6th and classes start on the 11th.

Enjoy your Christmas break! :)

The Drive Up From Denver

The video does not actually start in Denver. It starts more in the Sterling area on I-76. Denver sounded like a more identifiable location than Sterling though for people who are not familiar with Colorado.

When I started filming, I could see the mountains in the distance, but apparently the camera could not.

However, as you can see, the mountains appear soon enough.

The 5th "clip" (the one where there are all kinds of cars on the other side of the interstate) is the outskirts of Denver, still on I-76. I really did not get any filming done as I went through Denver as I value my car staying in one piece and Denver has more traffic than I am used to.

The 7th and 8th "clips" are on I-70.

The 9th "clip" is on the way into Silverthorne. You can see Dillon Dam on the in the distance. It starts off on the left but due to the road and my filming ends up more towards the right, and then goes back to the left before disappearing.

The clip after that is after taking the Copper Mountain exit. Note to my concerned parents: I was looking where I was going and the light was red and there weren't any cars in front of me

I think the sun on the last clip looks pretty cool.

And that is it. The drive from I-76 somewhere past Sterling, through Denver, onto I-70, and then onto Hwy 91.

Adventures At Home

Last Friday my aunt and I went to the mall in Sioux Falls for the Black Friday sales. My mom however, was going to have no part in this- she hates the mall, and shopping, and crowds. Although the mall opened at 5AM, we really did not feel the need to be there that early. Arriving at 9:30 worked just fine for us. Aside from the mass of people that filled Younkers and the line at Old Navy that went from the front of the store all the way to the back of the store, we did not find any crowds. JCPenney's had all kinds of employees around to help you and I found a $20 robe for my brother for Christmas that was originally $84. Macy's was handing out Craisins to "give you energy to shop". We also stopped into Naturalizer where my aunt was able to find a pair of shoes. After that, my aunt had a cup of coffee and I had a pretzel while waiting to get my hair cut. Then we left the mall, made a quick stop at the grocery store, and headed home.

Since my dad had to work on Friday, my uncle and brother just hunted on our land, but they didn't get anything.

Saturday my mom, aunt, and I headed to Mitchell, SD to go to Cabela's to look at winter coats. Unfortunately, their selection of winter coats was rather slim. While standing under the "Women's Outerwear" sign we found 2 coats. Being rather disappointed with the selection, we went to the hunting section, found my dad what he told us to get, and went through the checkout. We then put our stuff in the car and my mom suggested we eat at the restaurant inside. So, we head back inside and find a couple more women's winter coats along with the UnderArmour that was on sale that my mom saw in the ad and we then forgot about. We then discovered that the restaurant was no more. It was now a fudge shop with miscellaneous other items. We each got a free sample of fudge though. We then ate at Culvers for lunch which was packed- as in if you wanted to sit down to eat you basically needed to wait for someone else to vacate their table. Then it was back onto the interstate to go to Scheels in Sioux Falls which had a lot more selection and a salesman who was determined to not let me use the big hook that is used to get down coats that are too high to reach. Not allowing me to use the big hook was probably in the best interest of the rest of the store, as I had no clue how to use it.

Then it was another quick trip to the grocery store before we headed home, where my dad, uncle, and brother were hunting after my dad and uncle had not had luck finding pheasants elsewhere.

Sunday my aunt, uncle, and their 2 dogs left. Then I cut my brother's hair since he doesn't trust my mom to do it. I think his original plan was "Cut it short so that mom won't try to cut it before the end of February when we are coming to visit you". However, my mom says it's short enough now that it won't need to get cut until my graduation at the end of April. Words of wisdom: Don't assume that your 17-year-old brother knows what blade should be used to cut his hair. Then, while my mom and brother went to church I attempted to finish drying some sheets that I was planning to taking back to Colorado with me that afternoon. My dad and I headed into Sioux Falls a little later and met my mom at a snowboard shop where I was hoping to get boots, but that didn't happen because apparently I'm too picky about how the boot fits. Then we went to Perkins where my mom had to have her usual debate of whether she wanted to eat breakfast or lunch before my dad went to the auto parts store to get some fluids to put in my car and my mom and I went to the cell phone store and the mall before picking my brother up from a movie. A little while after getting home, my mom and I had to go back into town to get an additive for a fluid that my dad was putting into my car. Then it was an attempt at going to bed early since I was getting up at 2AM (1AM Colorado time) to drive back. I made a video of the drive up from Denver and I will be posting it in another post, as I'm not totally sure how to upload a video and I wish to have as few things as possible to make disappear, re-arrange, or otherwise mess up.

Monday morning I was not exactly raring to go when my alarm went off and the fact that I tried to make hot chocolate with only hot water is a sign of that. I woke up soon enough though and enjoyed the wonderful 14-hour drive back to Colorado. At the Student Government meeting we didn't have enough people to vote on anything and since this coming Monday will be finals week, we don't have a meeting again until next semester.

Tuesday in Accounting we were told we'd basically have a take-home final. She is posting it this weekend and then we can come in on Tuesday to work on it, otherwise we can do it on our own. While Accounting was an enjoyable class this semester for the most part, I don't think I will be taking "Part 2" next semester as it has yet to "click" and so it results in more frustration than anything.

To say that it has been chilly in Leadville lately is an understatement. Yesterday morning it was -15. Yes, negative. Today it was a balmy -12 when I got up. It's now -2. At least it is sunny though. One of my friends was joking this morning that a heat wave must have come in overnight. Many of us are getting impatient with the negative temperatures. It would be one thing if there were snow on the ground or if it were currently snowing. But it's not. It's just ridiculously cold. Those of us working at Ski Cooper this winter are really wishing for snow about now. Hopefully we'll get a bunch of snow this weekend, as they announce on Monday whether or not they are opening for the coming weekend.

Thanksgiving with the Thompsons and Willards

Monday night after a very brief student government meeting, I set off going east on I-70 to start my drive back to South Dakota. I-70 was less than delightful as it was covered in snow and the 3rd lane that cars were driving in may or may not have been the driver-side shoulder. There was a CDOT plow spraying chemicals on the road, but as far as I was concerned, he was essentially a slow moving obstacle which I needed to avoid. Luckily, a couple miles east of the Eisenhower/Johnson tunnel, the road cleared up and I was able to go faster than approximately 30 miles/hour. Normally I start my drive early in the morning, but this time my dad suggested I break the drive into 2 days. However, in the future maybe I'll just do it in one day when it was snowing earlier in the day. I stopped in Sterling, Colorado for the night and then I only had 11 hours of driving the next day instead of 15. I think my mom appreciated the 4 hours sooner that I got home though as the house was still a mess and relatives were arriving in a few hours.

For the past 10 years (minus a year or two when they couldn't make it up, and last year when my parents, brother, and I went to see my grandparents) my aunt and uncle from Missouri have come up for Thanksgiving. On and off throughout the years, another aunt, uncle, and 2 cousins have come, but that has not happened for a few years as they have been busy with other activities.

Well, this year is no different. Tuesday evening, after stopping in Sioux Falls to eat dinner, my aunt and uncle arrived with two dogs in tow. See, the reason for this whole Thanksgiving get-together is pheasant hunting. The dogs change throughout the year, some years there is more hunting talent than other years, but there is always at least a couple dogs. This year Turbo (ours) and Domino (theirs) were the only dogs hunting. Our other two dogs- Sonic who is gun-shy and Dusky who likes to bark too much too be a hunting dog- stayed at home and kept Bonheur (pronounced Bone-er) the puppy (theirs) company. Sonic, Turbo, Domino, and Bonheur are all French Broques. Dusky is the lone German Shepard.

My dad and my uncle go hunting while my brother, my mom, my aunt, and I stay at home. Occassionally my brother goes out to hunt on our land with my dad and uncle.

Wednesday the 4 of us (my aunt, my brother, my mom, and I) went into Sioux Falls and my aunt went grocery shopping while my brother had an appointment while I accompanied my mom to the place where she works. After dropping my aunt and brother off, Bonheur was sitting in my mom's lap and my mom said "She smells like fish oil" and after a couple minutes we decided that she must have rolled in something. After my mom went to work and we picked up my aunt and brother, we headed home where Bonheur got to take a bath so that she was more enjoyable to hold. Considering that I was the one who got to give Bonheur a bath, I greatly appreciated her bath-taking skills. Our three dogs (Sonic, Turbo, and Dusky) HATE baths. They will leap out of the bathtub and splash around as much as possible. By the time you are finished giving them a bath, the bathroom is soaked along with the person giving the bath. Bonheur however calmly stands there as you pour water all over her and coat her in shampoo and then rinse her off. She even stood nicely as I dried her off.

Today (Thursday/Thanksgiving Day) "the men" went hunting again. There was no snow and it was approximately 50 degrees today, which is much nicer than a lot of Novembers in South Dakota. While out hunting, Domino decided that he would visit with a skunk and got sprayed. So, he got a bath this evening. Domino is also a very well-behaved bath taker. I think I found the bath more torturous than he did, as I was covered up to my elbows in tomato juice which I then began to think I was allergic to once my arms started itching like crazy.

During the day, we cooked "Goliath Jr." who ONLY weighed 22 pounds. Two years ago we cooked "Goliath" who weighed 40 pounds and was a beast to wrestle in and out of the oven, to say the least. After Domino's bath, we had our more-or-less traditional Thanksgiving dinner (we had a goose one year and ham a couple other years, so we're not exactly the leading example of traditional Thanksgiving). Yesterday we had apple pie, today we had pumpkin and chocolate pecan pies, and hopefully at some point I will be able to talk my mom into helping me make a chocolate pudding pie, so by the time I go back to Colorado, I should have gotten my pie filling for awhile.

Tomorrow my aunt and I are off to the Empire Mall in Sioux Falls for Black Friday while my parents work. I'm not sure what my brother and uncle are doing. There was talk that they could go hunting on our land tomorrow. Otherwise I'm guessing my uncle and the dogs will enjoy a day off. Then my dad and uncle are hunting again Saturday and Sunday. Monday my aunt and uncle are headed back to Missouri. I'm either headed back Sunday afternoon or really early Monday morning.

Sunday evening I was in the dorms and the white board was announcing a Thanksgiving dinner for those living in the residence hall who were not going home for Thanksgiving.

Last Friday I handed in paperwork to move back into the dorms. Last April I was all keen on moving out of the dorms. I came in July to find an apartment and was all excited about not having to live in the dorms, and how there would not be any false fire alarms in the middle of the night, and I could eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. Realistically, that is not what happened.

Living in the dorms is way more social than living in an apartment by yourself. You get so used to the noise in the dorms, that it's a little difficult to get used to so much quiet so much of the time. When you're in a lonely mood or you really want to go do something but you don't want to go alone, it's really nice to be able to walk a few doors down the hall and ask someone. If they can't go, you go another few doors. It is much faster than calling/texting half of your phonebook and then getting frustrated because they didn't respond in the first 5 minutes.

My apartment might not have any false fire alarms, but it does have strange noises at 1AM, people talking/playing guitar/watching TV next door, and cops and fire trucks driving past with sirens on.

I might be able to eat whatever I want whenever I want. I eat breakfast. After that it's a matter of chance whether I eat lunch or dinner. If I do eat either of those meals, their nutritional content is as varied as night and day. Sometimes a bag of popcorn sounds like a perfectly acceptable meal and other days I end up with 3 or 4 food groups on my plate. My food-time-schedule still revolves around "I'm hungry now" not "Maybe an hour from now I'll want to eat baked chicken".

I never thought I would say this, but I am actually looking forward to living in a dorm full of guys next semester, with fire alarms going off at 4AM, and cafeteria food.

So, before enthusiastically moving out of the dorms when your one-year contract is up, I suggest seriously considering whether you actually have the motivation to make 2 or 3 meals a day. Also consider how social you are and how motivated your friends are to come see you / how motivated you are to go see them.

Until next time, enjoy your Thanksgiving leftovers, try not to spend too much money shopping on Black Friday, and hope for some snow to fall in Leadville so that Ski Cooper can open.

PS: For those of you who are loyal readers and are wondering why I came home two weeks ago and then came home again now, I came how two weeks ago with the idea that maybe I would be working at this point. Ski Cooper doesn't have their necessary foot of snow though, so they are not open yet, so I came home now since I am SURE Ski Cooper will be open by Christmas. If they aren't open by then, lets just say me and everyone else from CMC trying to do their internship there, is doomed.

PPS: Saturday for Ski Cooper training we went over the Ski Cooper Ski School handbook, watched a video about ACL injuries, and our bosses talked to us. Sunday we did not have training because it's rather difficult to have on-snow training without any snow.