Aprils Fool

Well, my goal of keeping the blog up to date this year didn't last too long. I'll spare everyone my usual long explanation and apology. Suffice to say plenty has happened over the past two months report. I've just not set aside the time to complete the task. So here's a quick break down.

Hitting the Slopes (literally)  

In March, resulting from extreme amounts of generosity, I was able to make a trip out west for some skiing. My Brother, his Wife and I traveled to Utah for a week of snow filled, gravity affirming, tree dodging, mountain conquering goodness. We flew into Salt Lake City, acquired transportation and headed north to Snowbasin ski resort.

Snowbasin served as venue for the alpine events of the 2002 Winter Olympics. The place was unique from other resorts I've experienced. The facilities were amazing. Newly constructed, just as nice as you'd expect  from an Olympic venue. All set in a secluded "local" resort feel. Snowbasin lacks the lodging that you expect to find at most Rocky Mountian resorts. I consider this to be a positive. Keeps the crowds at a minimum... Anyone that knows me knows how important that is. After a couple of days skiing Snowbasin, we decided to try Powder Mountain for a couple, then one day at Solitude, before a final day at Snowbasin.

That was a pretty non-descriptive description of a week long trip. The reasoning behind that? Information overload. An aside may help illustrate the gravity of the situation. My Brother has a wonderful little toy; a small HD video camera that you attach to your helmet. I wouldn't say we documented every run from every day, but we ended up with over 10 hours of raw footage. While we did capture many great moments, unfortunately the most entertaining stories didn't end up as anything more than a memory.

There was the time I got stuck in a tree... upside down. I told Andy to take a picture, but he didn't. Crazy, I think he was worried if I was okay. Too busy seeing if I could get myself unstuck. Meanwhile I was busy thinking, "This would make a great picture.". Then there was the crash that made me exclaim gratitude in wearing a helmet for the first time. (That one was very early in the trip, and unfortunately messed up my back a bit, along with a rung bell.) Would have been great fodder for the camera. I'm pretty sure I crashed more this trip then I have on any of my other western ski trips, combined. So much in fact that I spent the last day sitting at the base of the mountain, in the lodge, reading a book. The only thing missing was a cast on my leg.. I recall  describing my skiing to Beth as "mountain climbing downhill".

Andy and I on a chairlift.  Thanks to Beth for catching this.
 

Not that every story involves bodily harm. In between crashes was some amazing scenery and some exciting skiing. I found an my all time favorite run, a moderately steep run through some aspen trees. We traveled one day (to Solitude) to follow the powder of an overnight storm. We spent a beautiful day in some amazing trees in fresh powder. Solitude also included the Headwall Forest, some of the steepest terrain I've been on. Unfortunately I was fairly beat up starting that day, and the death nail was delivered with a stomach injury (a combination of two crashes. One to strain the muscle and another to complete the job). After, I was able to make a couple more measured runs. Dreading every bump and turn, I had to hang it up early. Injuries included: bruised shin, tweaked back, pulled abdominal muscle and one that is still in recovery, but didn't affect my skiing at all. A jammed (cracked?) finger.

We spent most of our time skiing "off the grid". Well, not totally off, but we were on the fringes, skiing black diamond bumps and trees. Quite honestly it was a little above my skill level.  We never encountered anything I was unable to get down, sometimes it just took a little longer. Perhaps on a day gone by... long ago, when skiing was a way to pass the time until the golf courses opened again. Oh how I would have loved to live this trip in my 1988 body.  Then again, I may not have lived through the experience.  The Rocky Mountains are a little less forgiving then the slopes at Buena Vista Ski Area.

I came home with all these adventures and hours upon hours of footage. How was I going to consolidate it all down to share with others? My first thought was to make a collection of all crashes to poke some fun at myself. Most of the footage was from the perspective of my brother since he was the camera bearer a majority of the time. The only crashes able to be seen were if he was skiing close to me, and looking at me during the fall. While quite a few are on tape, most lack the "oomph" to accurately convey the message I'd like to send. Plus, it provided no sense of time or setting. Perhaps I will revive the idea at a later time.  Fortunately (maybe) I did come up with a second idea.

On the second day (Snowbasin) I wore the camera and we went "off the grid" big time. In hindsight, probably a bit too soon since I was still dusting off the rust, and a little timid from the crash on the first day that had tweaked my back. While reviewing the film of this day I decided on a different movie. What better way to convey a story then to show a trip down the mountain from my perspective.   I picked a long run that had varied terrain and a few nice crashes. The footage time totaled a little over 30 minutes for the descent. I edited down to a 9:00 chronological trip from peak to base, all crashes saved for your enjoyment. It was a different experience to make a non-Taylor-centric movie. Opening the door to a much broader range of music.

The Movie

Let me set the stage. Snowbasin ski resort, Utah. For the last day and a half we have been skiing some moderate to difficult stuff, some groomed trails, some trees. I've had a few crashes, one painful, the rest just frustrating. In my head I should be skiing much better and I'm becoming a bit self-conscious of all the time spent on my posterior. We have been seeing the start shacks from the Olympic downhill up on the ridge line off the peak of the mountain. We decide to go check it out. In order to reach the peak you take one of the Quad lifts up to the "top", then you take a short gondola ride on the Allen Peak Tram. You take off your skis and climb into a gondola that probably holds 8 skiers and Ski Patrol employee. One this trip there are only 2 other skiers beside us three, snowboarders actually if I recall correctly. You sit down and the doors close. They let you know what your into from the start. The Ski Patrol employee starts reading a disclaimer. I can't repeat it verbatim, but I remember enough to give you the gist. Basically it sounds a bit like this:  

"Allen Peak Tram serves expert terrain only. There are unmarked hazards and cliff areas. There is no easy way down from the top. If you ski outside the boundary you will be responsible for the cost incurred for any rescue mission. If you feel you being on this gondola is a mistake you can ride it back down."

I think he may have mentioned bodily injury and or death, but that may be a mental fabrication. It's kind of like riding up that first hill on a roller-coaster. Except you are relying on your ability to get back down.

Once we unloaded the first thing that grips you (as usually the case when reaching the top of a mountain) is the incredible view. We spent about 5 minutes at the top, taking pictures and getting our gear back together. Privately I was also waiting for the snowboarders to move on so I could start my descent without an audience. The top part of the mountain is a trail that leads from the mens to the womens downhill start. It's a narrow trail that switches back and forth with a cliff wall on one side and a drop-off on the other. The trees are snow swept and the vistas are incomparable. I'll let the movie guide you the rest of the way down.

but first...

This is as good as time as any to point out a few new things around here.  You may have noticed the blog looks a little bit different (or not).  In addition to the slightly different look there are some other major additions.  Under the picture at the top there are links to 5 unique pages, each with different information.  Home: The main page where the regular postings are. (where we are now)  Origins of Not Too Bad: The background story that used to be on the right side, and some additional information (subject to change). Taylor's Chronicle: This is basically pictures of Taylor. One per month from birth to present.  Photo Wall: A collection of some favorite photographs, will change over time. At The Movies: This is a page that has movies I've put up on the blog gathered in one place (for my selfish reasons).   The movie from the ski trip is called "From the Top" and you can get to it by clicking the "At the Movies" up top or by clicking this link.  At the Movies .  Unfortunately the video quality on the blog movies aren't that good. If you have access to Facebook, I've posted the movie on my page there as well (in it's native 16:9 HD ratio).

Additionally, here are some more pictures from the ski trip.  Only a few of the approximately 300 taken.  More Pictures

Easter Visit

Over Easter we had some family visiting.  Linda's parents were in town for a week and everyone had a great time.  Taylor was much more talkative and really enjoyed spending time with her grandparents.  By the time the trip was over she was calling them Papa and Mimi.  I'm not sure yet if those names will stick or if she will alter them as she get's older.  It's cute now around the house with her asking for Papa and Mimi.  We went to an Easter egg hunt at the church.  It was a very large production, very well organized and plenty of eggs and fun for all the kids (there were hundreds there).  On Easter we had a little egg hunt in our back yard as well.  During the times that the ladies were out and about, Darrell and I got some projects done around the house.  We fixed the washer drain in the back yard (a job that had needed to be done for a while, and not an easy one). We utilized some material I had laying around from old projects and built a play area for Taylor's slide.  We put a fire pit in the back yard.  I wanted to do the fire pit  for a while and it was a big success.  We spent an evening out in the back yard talking around a camp fire roasting some marshmallows.  Linda and I have used it a couple of times since.  It makes for a nice desert.  Here are some pictures from the visit.

 The play area around Taylor's Slide

 Taylor found a couple of feathers on the way back to the parking lot after the Easter egg hunt.

 Taylor can't believe all the eggs she's finding.

 Playing on her slide.

Here is a link to some more pictures of Taylor over the past couple of months. More Pictures

Etc. Etc.

A few bits of tid from the last 2 months...  I played in two golf tournaments in March...  During one I got to meet Urban Meyer (it was his charity event). I won a nice Cleveland Wedge in the other tournament (had a closest to the pin on a par 3)  Our team didn't win either, but both were a lot of fun...  I played 54 holes in one day last week. There were 3 other guys with me, so I wasn't the only crazy one.  We had only planned on playing 36, but after we were done there was still plenty of daylight left, the lady in the pro shop said we could play another 18 for 5 bucks. I think it was 39.50 total for 54 holes with a cart.  Hard to beat that...  Work is pretty slow at the moment, I'm hoping things will pick up soon...  The Masters was a great event, so many story lines and I liked everyone in contention.... It sure was a fun weekend following the NFL draft as a Gator fan...  Until next time.