Jan 31 Island Pond Ski Team

In case we failed to mention previously, Mike and I have been officially designated as the Island Pond Ski Team from Washington, NH, by a subset of the WLA directorship. We take this designation very seriously and hope we are accurately representing the skiing talent and clean living of team membership. At our very first competition today, we scored a victory at Alta's Sitzmark!

The photos below illustrate the seriousness of this competition. We had to recruit two additional team members for the event. The team members from left to right are: Heather Kluk, "Mad" Mike Kluk, "Mean" Jean Kluk, and Marie Corbin. No Massholes were allowed to compete despite their team sponsorship. Please note that the "equipment" includes one vintage ski, 4 Bode Miller shot glasses (how New Hampshire appropriate) and Maker's Mark!

Here's a little victory dance!!

Jan 30 Sundance-ing

So we took the weekend off from torpedoing our bodies downhill. Who would have thought fighting gravity could take such a toll! Saturday was a sleep-in, do nothing except laundry kind of day. But on Sunday, in keeping with our age, we decided to go for a Sunday drive! No, Mike doesn't wear a driver's cap yet, but just wait till he turns 60!

We headed to Sundance Resort, original home of the Sundance Film Festival, and current home of my very first movie star infatuation. Oh, my heart was beating fast at the mere thought of a Robert Redford sighting. The only sightings of course were the RR photos on the walls of the lodge. It was a pretty neat place, wonderful rustic character compared to Alta/Snowbird and a real focus on the arts. We brought back lots of real estate brochures just in case we win powerball. I'm surprised Mitt doesn't buy a place there with his Swiss bank account.

We also checked out the Nordic ski center at Sundance which has a great reputation according to TUNA (The Utah Nordic Alliance). It looks awesome! Nestled up in the mountains and forests. Looking forward to actually skiing here when the Nordies arrive! Here is a photo of their lodge:

Anyway, it was the last day of the Sundance Film Festival and I kept thinking I might see a star, not that I would recognize one since you all know how non-film-fluent I am. Surprise!!!! Here he is!!!!!!

After this incredible "star" sighting, we headed out of Sundance and on up to Park City via the eastern side of the Wasatch range. Nice drive through horse country, Heber, UT. We walked main street of Park City doing an art gallery check. Our final destination was back to SLC for dinner with Marie Corbin at an awesome Mexican restaurant, The Red Iguana. (yes, Linda S., I had the Mole Negro!). Quite delicious.

It was back to the slopes at Brighton today. All the great powder has been abused so we are looking forward to more snow on Wednesday night this week.

Jan 27 Powder Pigs

Just call us powder pigs! Another 8+ inches last night up at Alta and a super day in the pow and sunshine. Hit Ballroom just right again as they opened it. Watched massive black powder induced avalanches on the back side (East Greely) as the ski patrol blew up that side of the ridge. There's a job that you couldn't pay me enough to do! Mike finally broke down (or I beat him down!) and rented a pair of powder skis today. What a difference! He can now keep me in his sight. Although he's contemplating buying me a new ski jacket in some florescent shade of pink or green so that he can get a fix on where I am. Light blue just fades into the powder.

Heather blessed us with a hug when we ran into her in the lift line today. We even met several of her male ski buddies at the top of the lift. Of course it was a powder day so she wasn't about to ski with her 'rents - she prefers the company of 6 guys (no other girls),

What a week! Six straight days of skiing and 2 of them were powder days. I think we deserve another Corona! Here are a few photos of the views:

Jan 26

Boy, it's hard keeping up with the blog when the skiing is fantastic! Last entry was on Sunday morning when Little Cottonwood Canyon was closed because of an avalanche over the road. We had 22 inches that Saturday night. We sipped our coffee and tea for 2 hours watching the road block below us. As soon as the police removed the block we jumped in our car and headed out to get in the line of cars heading up canyon. Skiing was superb!

We've skied every day this week mostly at Alta and once over at Brighton. On Tuesday, I joined the Women's Ski group that skies together every week. What a bunch of super skiers of all ages! The group leaders are awesome skiers that have worked at Alta for years and they have inside info on terrain openings. Ballroom had not yet opened from the 22 inch dump on Sunday, but the word came over radio to our group leader that ski patrol was about to open it. We jumped in line at the gate and traversed over to a perfect line. Yeehawed all the way down making fresh powder tracks!! Sometimes you just get lucky! Fighting all those twenty-something lodge employees for first tracks can be exhausting! (Note: Heather occasionally hollers from the lift when she has a "parent sighting.")

Today we changed things up a bit and took our tele gear up to Alta. Arrived at noon just as the snow started to fall. Spent the afternoon up in Supreme trying to improve our telemark turns. The snow kept coming and coming. Looks like another 12 inches by tomorrow morning. We had our first white knuckle trip down canyon at the end of the day - but safely back at the house it was only rain. Off to bed early for an early powder day tomorrow IF the road is open. Livin' the ski bum dream!

Jan 22nd

What can this mean??

CanyonAlerts UPD Canyon Alerts

Jan22: Updated estimate for opening the road in Little Cottonwood is 11:00 am. Additional delays are probable for Alta -CanyonAlerts.org

12 minutes ago

CanyonAlerts UPD Canyon Alerts

Jan22: Little Cottonwood Canyon is closed. Est. open time is 10:30am. Vehicles will not be allowed to stage on the road -CanyonAlerts.org

2 hours ago

CanyonAlerts UPD Canyon Alerts

Jan21: Little Cottonwood 8:30PM Is closed until Sunday morning. Slide across roadway -CanyonAlerts.org

13 hours ago

Only good things if we can get up the road. It is 10:15 AM and Alta is still shutdown and in interlodge after 22" in the past 24 hours.

_____

Jan 18 Holy Moose Day!

Yahooo, yippeee, woooohoooo! We had a near sighting and close encounter with TWO bull moose today while snowshoeing in Mill Creek Canyon (next canyon north of Big Cottonwood Canyon). Almost wet my pants when I looked up and saw these behemoth guys venturing out onto the main trail from the side trail just 50 feet in front of us. Unbelievably they started duking it out butting antlers right there in the middle of the trail. My heart beat faster - yes - could be my opportunity to claim a rack if they knocked off some of those antlers!

Well, dearest husband started scrambling up the icy slope at the trail edge heading for cover in the trees while dear wife stood there taking pics. Then when I realized they had me dead on in their sight, I thought maybe I should head for the trees too - just perhaps this one time (chuckle) Mike had the right idea. Har, har, he slipped on the icy slope - splat, face down and slid right out onto the trail! OMG, if I only had a picture!! LOL. So, I suggested that we head to the other side of the trail where there was a small narrow foot bridge that just might collapse (wishful thinking) if the behemoths decided to actually chase us. Well, here are the photos. These dudes passed us as while we were on the other side of the foot bridge and of course my hands were so frozen by then that I took some awesome photos of - nothing!! So, the first photo will be Mike, not a moose in a red jacket, snow shoeing up the trail. The rest will be my attempt to point and shoot while scrambling for cover from the moose.

Jan 17th

While waiting for the snow, 3+ feet are expected through this coming weekend, for those wondering if it would be worthwhile to come out, we attended an Avalanche Awareness seminar at the local REI. It was presented by the folks at the Utah Avalanche Center and was very interesting. Links to the video used in the presentation is below along with links to other information. The main point of the presentation is that the snow pack is the most unstable they have seen it since the early 1980's and they expect much avalanche activity. Jean said she thinks she'll stay inbounds but I doubt that!

Links:

Class video

Utah Avalanche Center's Know Before You Go program

Take care!

Jan 14

Here's Mike, livin' the ski bum dream. Thank goodness for slope-side beginner-rated (green circle) Adirondack chairs! And some of you thought you might not be able to ski with us!! So, four days of skiing Alta (one was a tele-ski day in the novice/intermediate area) and one day over at Brighton. Both areas have only partial terrain open, but what is open is still better than eastern conditions. Very pleasant first week as we acclimate to the altitude and attitude. The skiing frenzy may kick up a few notches next week as there is finally snow in the forecast! We may have to get out of bed before our usual hour (any guesses?) in order to beat the locals to the first row of parking.

The views are awesome, and yes there is some snow!

Here is a photo of the inside of "our" house - quite spacious and full of light!

Our view of the evening lights of the SLC megalopolis that we overlook.

Jan 9

Today was our first ski day at Alta. Although the ski area has the lowest snow base in 20 years as of this date, we still found some great conditions and runs. We skied with Marie Corbin, a childhood friend of mine from Fenwick Island, DE, and one of her friends visiting from Texas. As some of you know, Marie just relocated from Dallas to SLC this past fall and she is excited to have us out here for a few months. We're headed to her place for dinner tomorrow night after another day on the slopes. Livin' the dream!!

Jan 7

Arrived safe and sound at our "home away from home." Although packing for the trip seemed to take almost a week, we were able to unpack and fumigate the Subaru in a matter of an hour! Within 2 hours of arriving Mike was already out in the driveway blowing snow as about 5 inches had fallen during the day. The house is great but the view isn't quite Island Pond - we'll just have to "suffer" with this one during our ski bum days here (see photo below!).

The night view transports you from a mountain resort to a highrise overlooking Manhatten. With any luck we'll get a night time exposure shot one of these nights. The lights of Salt Lake City seem to go on forever.

Jan 6th

Arrived in Moab, Utah, last night and set out early this morning to visit Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. Moab is a mountain biker's mecca, so maybe next trip we will spend enough time for biking. If you have not visited either of these parks, add them to your bucket list! Neither words nor pictures can adequately describe or transport you there. Thanks to a flukey Mother Nature this winter (warm and no snow) the parks are very accessible and beautiful. We hiked the Grand View Point Trail in the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands (see photo). This is definitely a "hike at your own risk" adventure as nothing prevents you from standing with your toes hanging over 1,000 foot drop cliffs except your desire to keep living. In the Arches, we hiked into Delicate Arch (the best known arch in the world - see photo) and watched the sunset turn the arch into a glowing shrine. We almost needed our headlamps to hike back out (which amazingly we had with us!). We will post a few pictures once we settle into our "home away from home," so stay tuned. We met some delightful folks on these hikes who were skiers that bagged skiing because of no snow and headed to the canyons. One couple were "rock hounds" and they have excited us to explore for geodes which are apparently abundant in Utah.

Jan 5th

Back on the road again: Santa Fe, NM, to Moab, UT, via Durango, CO, and Mesa Verde National Park. Oh wow, yet another bucket list item for anyone who hasn't visited Mesa Verde, home to the historic cliff dwellings. After Mike finally re-opened his eyes and released his grip on the door handle at the top of the Mesa (Jean was driving the hairpin-turning cliff-hugging route to the top trying to make the 1:00 pm tour on time), we hurried down the trail to join the tour of the Spruce Tree House (see photo). Simply amazing to view and touch such well preserved history. Anyone want to wager on who drove down from the Mesa? Thank goodness we had our brakes done before this trip! Well, it was on to Moab next. Oh, we've forgotten to mention that Jean doesn't nod off in the passenger seat anymore - the views and landscape are far too exciting. In fact, she's building new arm muscles holding the camera ready at every bend in the road!

Jan 4th

Our final day in Santa Fe and it has been almost 36 hours since being buckled into the Subaru! For fear that Mike's driving skills might diminish, we chose to keep them sharp by driving out to Taos, NM, for the day. First stop was the Mabel Dodge Lohan House where the likes of Georgia O'Keefe, D. H. Larence, Carl Jung, and many other "notables" socialized and stayed. Us non-notables found the architecture and history quite interesting, right down to the ceramic roosters on the roof top (see photo). Second stop was really remarkable, perhaps another bucket list item for those who have never visited an active Indian pueblo (small village). We entered the Taos Pueblo, the first Living UNESCO World Heritage site. Our tour guide was a member of the community who was attending college outside the pueblo. It was incredible to enter some of the homes of the natives living there (see photo). Our next stop was of course another art gallery (hey, 24 hours had passed since the last gallery). This time it was love for an artist! Check out the work of Teruko Wilde . Ironically as I was gushing over her paintings, the sole staff person in the gallery introduced herself as Teruko's daughter. Net, net, we had a invitation to go over to her mother's home and studio that afternoon - which we did! Yikes, all you creative people should see this home. It was one of the Greater World Earthship homes originally (but had been enlarged with an addition). This personal meeting with Teruko was really a neat ending to another awesome day in NM.

Jan 3rd

A full day of exploring Santa Fe under clear blue skies and mid-4o temps. Finished off the galleries, well actually overdosed on galleries, but have selected a few favorite artists to hopefully someday return for a workshop with one of them. So much creativity in Santa Fe. Who would have ever thought of a desk chair made from stone (see photo). We definitely did the touristy stuff and visited the Loretto Chapel that has the famous circular staircase with no supports (see photo). Free (awesome for fixed-incomers) wine and cheese back at the inn for cocktail hour. Another grand day in one of the most unique towns in the country.

Jan 2nd

The temperature in the hot tub was a perfect 105 degrees and there was not a cloud in the sky overhead tonight. Wow, do we love Santa Fe! Arrived early afternoon and we might stay forever. The heavenly scent of burning mesquite as we strolled from art gallery to art gallery was like an aphrodisiac. The crisp air at 7,200 feet elevation with snow covered peaks in the background was icing on this New Mexican cake. The inn is gorgeous and we were able to easily find a restaurant that served food that was NOT fried or the side of a cow. How come we've never been here before??

Wouldn't this look great next to the Kenworth in the driveway??

Jan 1st

I'm thinking that Mike should get his CDL and buy a Kenworth since he amazingly can auto pilot and keep his eyes open! He'd also then have a man cave in the driveway in NH. So, we spent our first day of 2012 logging over 600 miles through Arkansas and Oklahoma and part of Texas. First 400 miles resembled the rolling hills of upstate Pennsylvania, but cross that line into Texas and the scene changes! Tumble weeds, deserted buildings, emaciated cows, and hundreds of windmills (just like the ones on Lempster Mt.). The power line poles are lined up like toothpick soldiers for miles and miles, all leaning at the same angle. Don't think Amarillo will be on our "re-visit" list.

When was the last time you saw either of these things?