20 January, 2019:
Oh boy. Grouchy this early a.m. Glad I didn’t let my mind win this morning because we had a great skin up A-Basin and I realized that, yes, I can still ski even when it gets a little steep. The mind is a powerful, scary thing. I am grateful, everyday, that I live in a place that makes it easy to get outside. Excuses are only that in this magical place.
16 January, 2019:
Arrived back home today from a 5 day trip to San Diego. My flight was early and I hadn’t gotten outside yet so Frank and I skinned up Peak 9 around 6p. It was snowing, windy and stormy. We still managed to make it to the highest point of the uphill access and had a tiny adventure getting down in the dark while snow pelted our faces.
The Cats hadn’t made it through that section yet and the snow was falling hard enough to leave a couple inches of fresh for us on the way down. It’s the first time I have skied on anything more then perfectly groomed snow. It was fun as I felt my skis a little differently, and learned to move with the inconsistent terrain.
I have high hopes I am going to be able to get out into the backcountry on skis before this winter is over!
10 January, 2019:
7th day of skinning and what a great morning it was! I worked late, but I got my ass up at 4:30a to get a lap in with Frank. He works at 7ish, so we have to get out a little earlier then the normal skinning time. We took Peak 9 for the first time as it is walking distance of our house. The whole ski was by way of headlamp and I hadn’t lost any of my confidence from the last time on the downhill.
I am a little sleepy, but so happy and content that I started my day early and outside. My work schedule has been ridiculous for two weeks and utilizing my free time wisely is crucial to my survival in the customer service jungle I am stuck in too many hours a week.
6 January, 2019:
6th day of getting out for a skin. Today was awesome. The best day by far. I had a great time going downhill. Something clicked and I just get it now. It felt natural and I went faster then I ever have before.
I still need to get more consistent with it and go more often, and now I can practice and hopefully just get stronger and more confident. Up until now, I was just surviving on the downhill.
From here on out, I am just going to add to this page every time I go uphill-ing. I don’t want my blog feed to fill up with updates about skinning the same mountain.
Anyway, day five. I worked late and was in bed by midnight. I was able to pull myself out of bed at 5a and Frank and I were going uphill by 6a. It was dark and 10°.
I was overdressed for the way up and underdressed for the way down. I am still getting my gear game down. By the time I reached the bottom the sweat on my back was ice and I had screaming barfies in my hands and feet. We had planned on two laps at least, but I wimped out. We got coffee instead.
One is better than none.
