The day trip up to Steamboat was much anticipated for a couple of reasons. First, and primary, our dear friends had just gotten engaged the day before and we would get to see them and celebrate in person. So exciting!
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| The happy couple |
Secondarily, we were going to be heading into the backcountry for the first time this season, getting to enjoy the special combo of peacefulness and powerful skiing. I was so excited that i spent at least an hour getting our gear ready the night before; beacon - check, probe- check, ski stuff-check, shovel-check, AT skis- check, dry boots-check, food-check, skins- check, water-check.
About 30 miles outside of steamboat, I had a sinking realization in the deep recess of my brain; you stupid idiot you forgot your ski pants. It was pleasant out, but not so warm as to be able to do a multi hour tour in jeans. Hence i had to scramble to find some new, or new to me, ski pants. Of course, the item that I needed is an item that i already have 3 of. Buying a duplicate of what we have is not what we needed in this time of mindful consumption, let me tell you. Thankfully the damage wasn't too bad as the guy in the bagel shop keyed us in to a second hand ski store where i got a workable pair of bibs. Still, there was some significant mental pain for having to put everyone through the hassle and buying something that was totally unneeded in the grand scheme.
This small experience with the ski pants really drove home a subject that has been getting a fair bit of consideration in our household, how much stuff we have. As a couple, we lived in a smallish 1 bedroom apartment in San Francisco, and then we divested or gave away about 50% of all our stuff when we moved. How much stuff can we still have?
Apparently the answer is still too much.
We are living very happily and comfortably in the (furnished) condo, with a tiny percentage of our clothes, books, and gear. I have way too much ski gear already, how many jackets, pants and base layers are really necessary? It seems to me that we could basically start over with the stuff we have with us now and be perfectly fine. Instead, we have a pile of stuff at Muriel's mom's house and then a growing pile of boxes at my parent's house. This after spending some serious thought and time distilling our possessions down to the things we thought had value, either emotionally or practically.
Back to the ski tour, we headed to the trailhead with the weather improving. Colorado avi danger has been quite high, so Justin had selected a tour that was safely low angle. It felt amazing to be out in the Rabbit Ears wilderness and feel the slight burn of the thighs as we headed uphill. After a couple of hours, we reached the summit of our tour and took our skins off and clicked in our bindings. It was kind of blustery, but we had time for a celebratory bottle of bubbly and a well deserved lunch with views to multiple massive Colorado high country mountain ridges.
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| Congrats! |
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| View from the top |
The descent was sublime, the snow a little crusty on top but our skis broke through and the stuff underneath the crust was soft. We stayed off the most avi-prone face and kept eyes on each person's descent. There was some whooping. The rest of the day was cruising lower angle stuff out to the car, very pleasant. I did not once think of the 'new' pair of pants and the frustration I had felt a few hours before. They are still adding to our Stuff, but so what when the end result is a memorable day with great friends.
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| Our tracks |
Editor note: I know it has been quiet for a few weeks on the blog front. Everything has been going swimmingly here in Summit County, we are skiing most everyday and the conditions have been sublime. I am already over 270,000 vertical feet for the year, basically all of which have been off piste in either powder or secondary powder. In contrast to the continual movement of travel, we have taken to the contrast of settling into our very comfy condo and having days that are quite similar, wake up, get out of the house to ski (alpine and nordic), maybe climb at the gym and then come home to make dinner and chill out. Hence the reduced posting schedule, our apologies.
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