thom space

Day 17: 25,790 feet; 14 runs; the YC
Day 18: 23,890 feet; 13 runs; the YC
Day 19: 24,400 feet; 14 runs; the YC

Total vertical feet skied to date: 271,210

Day 15:10,000 feet
Day 16:10,670 feet

Total vertical feet skied to date: 197,130

For the ast two days I have been a ski schooler, which means I have had the joy of playing on the bunny hill all day long, which has really been quite fun. I very much enjoy teaching people how to ski. It has not, however, helped me very much in my quest for vertical. soon enough I will see my millons accumulate.

I am back to being a ski guide, yesterday and today marked my first days with clients, so I am officially back in the game. I am quite surprised that I was able to get as much vertical in as I have these two days given that my client was, at a very generous evaluation, a low level intermediate. Any who, not a bad way to make a living.

Day 13: 11 runs; 21,240 feet; 7.5 hours; the Yellowstone Club
Day 14: 13 runs; 23,960 feet; 7.5 hours; the Yellowstone Club

Total vertical feet skied to date: 176,460

Today was my first day of skiing at Moonlight Basin which happens to be Montana’s newest ski area. It has the feel of a very small mom and pop opperation, but with a very fast high speed six person chair and the entire north face of Lone Peak, which, to put it very lightly, is sick.

I was a bit dissapointed that I was only able to ski for 2 hours, but they were quite productive hours. I do rather like Montana.

Day 11: 9 runs; 11,960 feet; 2 hours; Moonlight Basin
Day 12: 7 runs; 9,810 feet; 3 hours; Big Sky Resort

Total vertical feet skied to date: 131,260

Today was my first day of work where I was actually on my skis. It was mostly a mountain setup day, so I did a lot of shuttleing and fixing of pads to ensure that the lift towers will not be a hazard to the skiing public, very important work indeed. it was a lot of fun, I love work.

Day 10: 9 runs; 16,980 feet; 7.5 hours; the Yellowstone Club

Total vertical feet skied to date: 109,490

Day 8: 4 runs; 5570 feet; 1.5 hours; Big Sky resort.
Day 9: 7 runs; 10,270; 3 hours; Big Sky Resort.

Total vertical feet skied to date: 92,510

Today there was a high temperature quite near 50 degrees, wtf. so depressing. All I want for Christmas is an arctic cold snap and a blast of pacific moisture. is that to much to ask for? I think not.

Today was the day that I was born 25 years ago in the small small town of Van Nuys California, from which I moved to Evergreen Colorado, and Bremen/Fredrichshafen Germany, Mt. Vernon Iowa, Providence Rhode Island, Salamanca/Granada Spain, Big Sky Montana, Juneau Alaska, and finally, where I am now and again, here back in Big Sky. I am happy and healthy, and working on wealthy and wise, all in all, so far so good.

Day 6: 5 runs; 5,840 feet; 1.5 hours; December 7th, Big Sky Resort
Day 7: 17 runs; 21,540 feet; 5 hours; December 8th, Big Sky Resort

Total vertical feet skied to date: 76,670

Day 4: 11 runs; 14,790 feet; 3 hrs 30mins; December 5th, Big Sky Resort
Day 5: 12 runs; 14,330 feet; 4 hrs; December 6th, Big Sky Resort

Total vertical feet skied to date: 49,290

The snow cover is a little bit thin, but the mountain is skiing, what I consider to be, really well. It is so nice being on a mountain that is not even close to it physical capacity in terms of the people who are using it. I have not had to slow down to get onto a chair a single time since arriving, and more importantly, unlike in Colorado, I have not had to look over my shoulder fout of fear of being run over by masses of weekend warriors. Montana is AWESOME.

So the time has come again for me to recount my skier days to the general non skiing public.

Day one: 6 runs 7,000 feet, Big Sky resort.
Day two: 10 runs 13,170 feet, Big Sky resort.

Total vertical feet skied to date: 20,170

I got a fancy new Sunnto watch that tells me all sorts of intelligent stuff about my ski day, so now I have the pleasure of being a supreme ski nerd. oh what fun.