Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Kicking ass in the PNW


Well, what can I say, but the last three days have been amazing here in Washington. Saturday was a long day, beginning well before sunrise to Crystal Mountain, Washington, where I had the best lift served day of skiing I have ever had. With guide services provided by the Mullah himself (also known as Bruce or Buster), I made some sweet powder turns, and skied into the steepest line that I have ever dropped into. Of course I'm telling my mom that I stayed on the bunny slope, since I've had a few bad injuries in recent years.

After skiing Crystal and chowing down on some seafood enchiladas, we headed up to Glacier, WA, to get a jump on the way to Mt. Baker. We were given the tour of the Baker backcountry by brilliant ski photag Grant Gundersen. After a day of skiing pow, we had a few pints at the Tap Room, Baker's watering hole.

Monday was spent skiing with a very well known professional skier. I won't reveal their identity, lest I seem like some sort of name dropper. But I will say that hiking and skiing around the Mt. Baker backcountry, while trying to keep up with one of the best big mountain skiers in the world makes for one hell of an exhausting day. Courtney, if the Straightline Camp is as strenuous as these last few days I've had, I wouldn't worry one bit about missing any workouts.

Today was reserved for laundry and checking out record stores and restaurants in Seattle's Capitol Hill district. This is one hell of a cool city, despite the fact that nobody here seams to know how to drive in the snow. I heard that people were abandoning there cars on I-5 during the snowstorm last week. And I have seen a ton of people who look like extras from the movie "Singles". The grunge look is still going S
strong
on the Puget Sound. Tomorrow I plan to ski again, and this weekend I'll be riding a mile of vert at Whistler/Blackcomb, BC. Trip report of sushi and Kokanee to follow.

4 comments:

damn surfer girl said...

Welcome to Seattle!!! I am so bummed I missed you!
Isn't the powder something amazing to behold? The pics you sent out make me all misty. I have one as my desktop.

You will LOVE Whistler... I hate you. hahahaha

If you can, remember to partake of some Labbat Blue.

all my love~ rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

rpthrom said...

you sound great, nils. can't wait to see you in san francisco...10 days!
ps. took the xmen quiz...jean grey!
see you soon,
love,
rachel

Iabalki said...

I am so jealous... And the fact that I skiied last weekend and will be skiing in the following one.. does nto fix it :)) Have a lot of fun! and make me even more jealous.. itis all good.

Dances with Corgis said...

Looking forward to the sushi TR. I broke my own "No sushi on Mondays" rule and ordered some tonight after yoga.