skiing and bouldering (both in November)

It has been a few weeks, so here's some catching up...

Potpourri:

• If I had a good enough excuse to wear Patagonia Capilene every day, I would.
• This week I had my first physical exam in a decade. I got a Tetanus shot, had blood drawn, and scheduled an appointment with a cardiologist. I've never had a cardio stress test, but I'm kind of excited to see how my heart performs and be able to put together some goals for improving it.
• I thought for a very long time that using the word "microclimate" when talking about clothing was bogus, but over the past couple of months I feel like I've been able to dial that in really well and truly recognize and appreciate getting it right. It really does make a big difference.
  
• Welcome to the Big Ten Dick Rod!!! Well done, Tress :)
• Austin, ready or not here I come. I expect Rudy's and Chuy's to be fully stocked on all my favorites...
  

Ok, enough of that. Last Saturday I went skiing for the first time this season with my Colorado Pass. I went to Breckenridge with Ryan, Allison and Andrew. Although the 24-hour report had 4" of new snow, due to the lack of storms in CO thus far, the snow was primarily man-made. Ahh well... it was nice to get out and test out my ski legs again. Overall I feel like it was a decent day, leaving plenty of room for improvement this season. Breck is a large resort with a great view in all directions, and I'm sure the terrain will be enjoyable once opened. Ryan and Allison took lessons all day so that left Andrew and I to explore the 2 open lifts. We enjoyed the snow, but eventually decided the early season snow was not worth the lift lines, so we headed for the lawn chairs and bar. I look forward to many days this season with those 3 companions and whoever else ends up joining me/us.

Quick side story: "you might be skiing in the early season if..." Some poor girl gets dragged up to Breck by her boyfriend and is apprehensive to even put her skis on in the lift line. She makes it off the lift ok, but then points her skis downhill on the beginner slope without thinking about gaining speed. Soon enough, she's going way too fast and headed directly for some guy sitting down. Despite observers yelling "FORE" the inevitable occurs and she plows into the guy's back. I hope both that he has fully recovered and that she doesn't put skis on for a while.

Quick commentary: I don't want to sound like a snob here, but I have to point out an observation of the difference in crowds between Breck with the resorts I went to last year (Steamboat, Winter Park, Copper and Loveland). Hopefully I don't sound like a jerk when I say this, but I prefer the crowds in the latter group because of my desire to take skiing seriously. Maybe it's because I'm not a great skier and not content with my skiing yet, but I feel like I should be focused on how my day is going rather than making fun of the guy who just ate it below me. Granted, I've laughed at or felt bad for people before, but not the entire day. I just enjoy a conversation like the following more than pointing and laughing which seemed to be the main objective of the people around me on the lifts (excluding Andrew):

Hi, how's your doing going?
So far so good. Isn't the snow nice this morning?
Yeah, I was just over at __insert name of nice run here__ and it's just starting to soften up nicely over there.
Cool, I'll check it out. Boy, I hope we get more days like today this season.
No kidding. I was up here last week and it is only getting better.
Yep, I hope my skiing keeps getting better as the snow does.
Definitely. Enjoy the powder.

Maybe it's just because it's too early to take this season seriously yet... I hope my first impression turns out to be wrong. Anyways...

Last weekend I also went Christmas shopping for myself, picking up a skiing daypack, an avy shovel and a bouldering crash pad. (When life hands you 20% off at Neptunes, I suggest making lemonade.) Today was such a beautiful day (where the heck is winter?) I decided I had no choice but to put the new crash pad to good use. I used my (apparently controversial but so far meeting my needs) Bouldering Colorado book to find a good boulder nearby with a relatively safe landing zone and beginner problems. Although I consider myself a fairly competent climber indoors despite plenty of room for improvement, bouldering outside (as was reinforced this summer in a morning on Flagstaff) is very different (primarily twofold; a: you have to leave enough stamina to be able to accurately jump to a crashpad or downclimb anything you go up if you get stuck because there are no padded floors below you i.e. the consequences force you to be more conservative especially when alone, and b: the rock chews up your hands much better), so beginner problems were definitely what I needed. I found a good rock on Flagstaff with a range of problems from V0 - V2 called Tombstone Spire which also had good information on the Flagstaff Mtn bouldering blog. There are several other rocks for the same parking area, all described at the previous link.

I ended up focusing my efforts on the beginner problem called West Side (apparently V0 / VB depending on who you ask) number 22 in the above photo. The first several moves were nice but it then the ground ("call it the deck, brah") gets slightly further away and the problem gets just enough blind and overhung to be interesting. (There is a huge "Thank you Jesus" chip and bucket at the top which you can't see, but keep reaching and you'll find it.) I ended up getting stuck a time or two and having to do some recon work from the top before completing the problem start to finish. It's a somewhat long problem and worked my forearms adequately. It was enough to give me a good workout, but I was able to ascend several times. I wouldn't call it highball by any means, but the tree branches add to the overall aesthetic :) The view from the topout, by the way, is as good as most in the Flatirons area. My photos of Tombstone Spire can be found at http://flickr.com/photos/brett_burch/sets/72157609770257754. I have to say there is something really nice about being on rock instead of plastic and not having colored tape to tell you where to go (even though the white chalk stains give you a pretty good idea). Here's hoping I get more days in when the weather gets warmer (if it ever gets cold enough to stop for the year, that is). Next time I'll go with a spotter (and maybe another crash pad) and test out my endurance on Pinnacle Colada, which looked really good but too high for going alone.