You know that first day that you head out and you feel like spring is coming for the first time? That happened to me yesterday. The old pass road was filled with slush, and there was one of those warm winds blowing through Trail Creek Ranch that said in a calm but stern voice “get your butt in the backcountry.” I’ve had inclings that the end of the season was here, but yesterday spelled it for me in plain, slush-covered Helvetica.

Now that the place was empty and kind of on the back-slide of a solid thaw, it was fun thinking back to Sunday and the last local race at Trail Creek.  The conditions were the best they’d been all year, and I finally got to use some more flouros here in Jackson Hole (sorry, wallet. I’ll make it up to you). The turnout was minimal just as it had been all year in this incredible powder year. One thing’s for sure, if there’s 12-24 of fresh in JHole, ain’t nobody showing up at the no’dick races! Don’t ask me why, but I think it’s cool to annihilate yourself before going powder skiing. Kind of like throwing an interval session in before a big party, ya dig?

The race went well. Patrick Gilroy led me up the first 3K and two climbs then got a bloody nose after shoving some phat tele turns in my face down Gut Flop, so I ended up skiing alone. My family was visiting and was there to watch, so I figured I should probably throw down big in the last race. You really get an idea of what it means to be fit when you stop thinking about getting fitter and just go skiing – I mean holy moly I V2′d the entire climb back to the finish, that’s not something I could have done last year!

Once the warm wind hit me as I stod there in the melting tracks I immediately relaxed and the year started to pass by as a string of  memories. The drive, the van (**sniff, sniff**), 5-hour neon roller skis at Burning Man, no sleep at West yellowstone, half-naked WC cheering in Canmore, they were all there. I took off alone as usual and started to reflect on my first year of focused training. The conditions were horrible and my skis were slow, but it was really nice to cruise out there and just enjoy some good technique for a change. One thing I’ve learned about skiing is that the number one way to improve your technique is to get super fit and to focus on your core strength. You can’t pull your legs up under you or reach further over your skis unless you’ve got the core to back you up. You also can’t stay on each ski as long or get that ankle flection (thanks Chris) without those ankle and shin-builders I was doing with the balance ball. So don’t worry, there’s hope for all of us gapers, and it’s waiting in the weight room!

So with the winds of change come new decisions, like what to do next year. If y’all could train and work from anywhere, even potentially from your camper van, what would you do? Remember that there is only one rule – it has to be awesome!! It was a total blast driving around to different races and places, and seeing what the rest of the skiers do while we are tearing up the Anchorage Cup. After chewing on many ideas for far too long, it occurred to me yesterday that every place is just a place until you make something great happen there, so everywhere you go can be awesome as long as you are awesome in it! That makes landing on an idea a lot easier.

If my 10-year-old brother was still visiting I’d be sure to tell him that the most important things in life are to play sports, get ripped, and chase women. Now, I’ve heard that all three of those eventually find their end with age, but at this juncture, I’d say that’s pretty much today’s special on the menu! Once again, the sun is setting over directly over the backcountry ski mecca of Teton Pass. There’s nothing like a warm run during a spring sunset to shake the apres out of your quads…

Hey! I finally got this blog together, and just in time for some exciting stuff. I bought a new VW camper last week in Tucson and drove it straight to the Rendezvous 50K in West Yellowstone. After some scary loan check stuff and some time with a nice but stubborn seller, there was barely enough time for 7 hours of sleep and burritos at the Aphton gas station before starting the race. One piece of advice about racing – gas station burritos, of the breakfast variety or not, are *never* a good idea before a race. I’ve never been more uncomfortable in an event before, but by the second half I was feeling a lot better, and started to put the hurt on and ended up with a good result. Following about 15 minutes of kissing the ground in the finish chute and a nap in the EuroVan, I busted up to Bozeman to hang out with friends that were up there for some regional races. 

After two days home in Jackson Hole to get some work done and ski the sick pow pow with some Alaska buddies, I headed out to Reno for the great race. What an event! If you like going uncomfortably fast for about 20K and using your tuck muscles more than your breathing muscles, this race is for you! My Buddy Lee and I sported the Team OIA suits and finished strongly after the pack of factory skiers with a full-on knock-kneed and white-knuckle side-by-side gaper-style finish. Awesome!!

So after some sad good-byes to good friends I’m writing this from a Battle Mountain, NV casino/restaurant, and back on the road to Jackson Hole. The local Sandbag Series final 10K is this Saturday and I’ll be looking forward to hammering with my JHole training buddy Erich Wilbrecht one last time before some Colorado Sun and Tele-skiing fun in Crested Butte for Saint Paddy’s Day. Keep it real folks! I hope you enjoy the blog! P.S. I can’t stop listening to Ramble On by Led Zeppelin. Still Awesome!