Trecking

A friend of mine took a leap of faith and invited me to go snowshoeing/snowboarding with him and the guys Saturday. He had never seen me snowboard, so for all he knew, I might only be able to leaf and would try to make him carry my pack. Luckily for them, I can carry my own pack, and I'd like to think I'm a level above leafing.

We hiked out on a ridge line that extends from a local ski resort. It was three miles to our destination: an open cliff that has amazing panoramic views of mountain peaks, meadows and valleys. We made it at the break neck speed of 1 mph. It was a haul, but it was fun to catch glimpses of the scenery between the trees and felt good to be outside.

We spent awhile relaxing at the edge of the cliff and watching the jet streams trace lines up above us in a sky with no clouds.

On the way back, we alternated between snowshoeing the flats and snowboarding any downhill. We made it out in time to swing through some powder on a closed off run.

Lesson learned: I've got some tricks for switching out my snowboard for snowshoes for next time.

Ramping up

A local ski resort puts on a video premiere every year before the season starts to wet our appetites for snow. I went for the first time Friday night. Watching snowboarders weave down rippled crests and launch over cornices did serve a little bit like a snowboarding aphrodisiac. Before it was even over, I began to plot ways to save money for ski tickets and dream up possible trips for this winter. Now I just need to fuel up my helicopter.

Hopefully, the weather cooperates with my plans. If the forecast has any merit, I may be sticking to strapping up and hopping around in my living room in my snow garb.

Lesson learned: Pro snowboarders may not make great prospective boyfriends, but they are pretty to look at.

Crash watching

This weekend was the end of the season for our local ski resort. So today they held a pond skim — because what better way to transition into summer than by setting up some sort of snowboard-wakeboard hybrid? I got out to take a few runs in the morning, then headed down to the base to check it out. I didn't want to miss people in costumes from dinosaurs to 80s rockers to Hercules attempt to skate across 50 feet of water that had (strangely enough) frozen overnight. But much to everyone's relief, they were able to break up the ice, haul out the biggest ice bergs and put a second piece of plastic over the base of the pond (the first of which they had punctured while breaking up the ice).

To be honest, I think those of us who had the most fun were watching. The success rate was about 20 percent. Among those who didn't make it, there were some great crashes. The participants were kind enough to involve the audience in some cases by setting off a tsunami. When I first arrived, I was naive to this possibility and got a full body shot at one point. Lucky for me, snowpants are designed to be water proof.

As the event went on, a combination of the audience absorbing some of the water and people's skis and boards putting a couple holes in the plastic resulted in a steadily-dipping water level. That just made it all the more crazy, because the distance from the edge where people launched off to the water just got longer and longer, fueling more dramatic crashes. Fun for me, not for them.

I have some great videos, which I might post if I can figure out how to do it.

Lessons learned: There is a reason why there are two separate sports — one for water and one for snow.

Snow tour

I just got home from vacation, which is part of the reason it's been so long since I've posted (that and because I'm just a slacker.) In five days, I went from Denver to Aspen to Vail to Beaver Creek to Denver to Boulder and back to Denver. I've never been one to mess around with vacation time. I always cram in as much as possible.

I was able to see one of best friends, Ben, who lives in Denver and meet his new girlfriend. He took me to Aspen first, which still had some pockets of powder. Then, I was also able to meet up with Felicity, an English girl I met while I studied abroad in Salzburg. She brought a friend, Emma. The three of us stayed in a condo for a few days in East Vail. We got really lucky with the snow and the weather. We made it to Beaver Creek the last day I was there, where "cookie time" made up for the crumbling snow conditions. Every day at 3 p.m., older men in white chef's hats and coats hand out warm chocolate chip cookies for free at the base of the mountain.

Wednesday, I was able to hang out with Ben a bit in Boulder before I had to get on the plane. The last two days I've been trying to recover. Thank God it's the weekend.

Lesson learned: I need to stop booking my flights at 8:30 p.m. on the return.