Doing it all in Moab

As we reluctantly departed CO, it seemed like a good idea to stop in Moab, an outdoor mecca in southern Utah, for a few days of sun. We left lovely Blue River on a monday morning, with a good 6 inches of snow having fallen on our car overnight and temps WAY below freezing. 5 hours later, and one tricky last run up and over Vail pass, we were pulling into Moab for a casual outdoor lunch. That would certainly not have happened in CO during our time there!

True to form, we did not just hang by the pool at our hotel for the 2+ days in Moab. Shocking I know. One of the big draws of moab for me was the diversity of stuff we could get into, way more than we could hope to fit in for our time there. We got lucky with the weather, it was sunny but not too hot.

Climbing

First on deck was climbing at a crag called Wall St. This crag is right off a little state road that heads along the mighty Colorado river. In some spots, it is just the width of the road between this huge river that carved the Grand Canyon and many hundred foot sheer cliffs.

The climbing was good, not amazing, but certainly worthwhile. It is true desert sandstone, which meant a fair bit of the always tenuous slab climbing as opposed to the more physically challenging, and obvious, face climbing that is more my forte. Still, we got on some really nice climbs and got a flavor for the area. The pic below was snapped by some friendly CA climbers that we chatted with, right as i top out on a classic for the area.

As a bonus, the climbing is next to some really cool native american cliff art, some which is believed to be over 3,000 years old. It is amazing to view the art and think to how different the world and humanity were when it was created. I also enjoyed the similarity between this art and some done at an equivalent time in human history in Zimbabwe that we saw several months ago. Here were two groups half a world apart, in totally different biomes, yet both were creating similar art to enrich and explain their existence.

Trail runs

After climbing, we drove a mile up the road to a trailhead elevated off the Colorado river for an evening trail run. The next day we went for another beautiful run in the Arches national park. Both runs had vistas that seemed to go on forever. For both we had these great views of snowcapped mountains, which rise to over 11k and yet also transition quickly on their slopes from snow to sun baked sandstone pillars. Impressive stuff.

Mt Biking

The next morning, I had reserved a mt bike to get after the trails. Moab is probably best known as a world class destination for biking and the plethora of options reinforced this title. I am a very competent mt biker, but far from a world beater and was curious how my skills would hold up on the famous slick-rock. I got a nice 27.5'' frame, my first time riding this tweener size bike and headed out for some trails on the other side of the CO river from where we climbed. It took a mile or two to readjust to biking after skiing, and recalling both physically and mentally how amazing bikes are nowadays in their performance. Once I got readjusted and plugged in, rode for over 4 hours and loved it. All of the trails were spectacular, with my personal highlight one called Captian Ahab --opened only a month ago. This being a double black diamond trail, some of the drops were a bit over my head. Literally.

Hiking

We also got to do a couple shorter hikes around various arches and other natural wonders in Arches. These were super mellow, but the scenery was quite impressive. For example, one of the arches we walked under is over a 100 feet tall and that same distance wide. It as cool to observe the parking lot packed full for sunset one evening, these are our nation's treasures and people should be out enjoying them.

Photography

Finally, I got to restart my photography, mostly in anticipation of heading back on the road. For whatever reason, I never get around to taking my camera out and taking pics when we are stationary. I probably have more pics using my nice digital SLR camera from Malawi than the Bay Area. As our moab jaunt was the re-starting of our travels in my mind, my impulse for snapping some shots was kickstarted. The below shot is part of a series that mu and I have collaborated on, and this is a nice contribution.

You can really see the diversity of options in Moab, I bet we could go for a week and never repeat any activity. We left the next and headed for Vegas, tired in a good way and very glad to have worked in these play days.

 

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Reflecting back on two months in the CO high country

If you are fortunate to spend 2+ months living over 10,000 feet in summit county you will learn ...

- that 2 months can pass VERY quickly.

- that spring never came to Summit county in 2013. The day we left our condo in Blue River, we had 6'' of snow on our car overnight and nearly whiteout conditions on the roads. After a rough first half of the season, the snow started a week before we arrived and never stopped, which made for amazing skiing. The last week, i skied a day at A Basin in which the high temp for the day was 5 degrees and wind chill was estimated to be negative 20. In the middle of April. And yes, the snow was great.

- that you need boot heaters after awhile, even if you grew up skiing in Maine.

- that people enjoy visiting you when you live here. We hosted over twenty folks in these two months and are so thankful to the dear friends and family from near and far that went to great lengths and expense to come on out. We sure got to shred a bunch of the resorts together and create many wonderful memories. Relatedly, Denver seems to be about a 2 hour flight from most of the United States.

- that skiing nearly every day can cause the days and runs to blend together. I had separate stretches of 19 and 17 days skiing in a row, which was a physical challenge and exactly what i had hoped for when we made these plans. There is a pleasing fast tracking of the sharpness and precision that comes from repeating a loved activity hour after hour and day after day. This is unambiguously positive. On the less positive side, the concentration of the activity into such a condensed period of time does not allow for much reflection, nor anticipation. Having all your cake at once does make it harder to enjoy every last bite.

- that you can ski an absolute ton in two months, i put in over 850,000 vertical feet at the Vail resorts (Breck, Vail, Keystone, Beaver Creek) across 42 days on the hill, with another 7 ski days that were not tracked. That vert is almost as much as i skied the previous 2 years combined at vail resorts in Tahoe (Heavenly and Northstar at the time).

- that Breck is as nice of a town to live in as it seems when you visit. The town retains quirkiness and a great vibe, even though the ski mountain is one of the most visited in the US (last year it had the 2nd most of any resort). We loved exploring the town, as well as the surrounding trails.

- that the Korol household prefers Tahoe to Colorado. We prefer that awe inspiring lake and the warmer temps. But we would be very happy to live in Colorado for a few years, at least.

- that a soccer game in the snow is an epic night. Attending that US men's national team World Cup qualifier in denver was a trip and one of the most memorable sports viewing experiences i have had in a lifetime of innumerable games.

- that the CO snowpack is as bad as advertised. Coming here, we knew that the avalanche danger is generally higher than almost any place in the US, primarily due to the low temps that persist through the entire winter and never allow windows for the snow to settle. This year was the worst in 30 years, according to the avalanche forecasters in the state, and there have been 11 deaths as a result thus far. The high avalanche danger was primarily driven by a deep persistent weak layer in the snowpack that dated back to the start of the season. For example, last weekend this weak layer precipitated an avalanche last week that was eight feet deep and hundreds of feet across, killing 5 experienced riders in summit county. As a result, we did not get to do as much backcountry touring as we had hoped, because the risk outweighed the reward for almost 100% of our time in CO.

- that going backcountry with a float bag (basically an airbag you wear on your back to buoy you in the event of a slide) is comforting, even though the system is far from foolproof in the event of such an incident.

- that going on a ski tour from your house door is a special thrill.

- that bagels are super expensive in summit county. Twelve bucks a dozen expensive.

- that you can really cover some ground in a day with modern 'miracles' like airplanes and highways. We had two separate days that reinforced how diverse, yet close, this country can be at any one time. One day, we woke up in Austin, Texas and went rock climbing and trail running in 90 degree heat. Then, we went to the airport and took a flight to Denver, walking out of the terminal to our car with temps hovering in the teens and a huge slab of snow on top of our car. Mu wanted to turn around and head right back to Austin, while i was foaming at the mouth for the fresh pow. Either way, the contrast between these two palces separated by less than a 2 hour flight was so stark. Then, last week we left Blue River for the last time and drove to Moab, UT. This is a roughly 4.5 hour drive, and we left in that snow while arriving in Moab to desert sun and heat by the mighty colorado river. The contrast in the face of such proximity had the same disorienting affect.

- that skiing is one of my favorite activities ever.

- that i am already looking forward to the next ski day, whenever and where that may be. Chile? Peru? Tahoe?

 

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Going South: Deep South and Deepest South

***Editor's note: the majority of the below photographs were taken by Jen Avery.

I am now focused on the South. We are going and we went. In the midst of our ski time out west, I've ventured South to Louisiana and Texas for the bachelorette and wedding respectively for our dear friends Aisha and Shalaby.

Louisiana

Where I went (New Orleans, Mansfield (suburb of Dallas), and Austin), some might argue is not truly the South. Definitely not the Deep South. That is probably fair. New Orleans or "Nawlins" as the locals call it, is truly its own special place. From free music festivals with big brass bands, a transgender palmist named Angelica with an affected british accent, and delicious spicy cajun seafood, Nawlins is not the Deep South that I sometimes imagine of bland overcooked veggies and people with long drawls that I may wrongly fear will judge me as an outsider.

Photo Credit: Aisha Gayle Turner

Texas

My experiences in Texas do not fit any of my Southern stereotypes either. To be fair, in Mansfield Texas, I didn't get much farther than loved ones' neighborhoods. I chilled with my childhood friend, Sara, and watched her mothering skill with her three children (twins age 5 and one 3 year old). These children get up, get themselves dressed, make their beds, and get themselves breakfast. Amazing. We also visited Sara's mom, Mom Monks, twenty minutes away and ate delicious, Blue Bell ice cream -- caramel turtle cheesecake. (Did I mention that I love the US?)

Austin

Austin is a pretty incredible city -- we stayed there courtesy of our ski house friend, James, and for the wedding, our friends, Sohair and Sergio generously offered us a bed in their hotel room. We loved Austin -- we saw many friends, we celebrated at a beautiful wedding, we trail ran, we ate from food trucks, we swam in Barton Creek, water straight from an aquifer, and we rock climbed on limestone. But Austin, even as the capital of Texas, it is not always claimed as Texan and it is definitely not claimed as a Deep South city. ("Keep Austin Weird")

The Deep South -- we are going!

On Friday, we fly to Nashville (this is probably not a Deep South city either) and then after a few days with my sister's family, we drive to Birmingham Alabama. Finally. After Alabama, we will camp in forests in the Mississippi Delta, and make our way to Pass Christian, Mississippi for a wedding of one of Wilson's duke hockey friends. (There is a brief day break in there because we will go back to Nawlins for Jazz Fest).

So I am not sure what this Deep South exploration will yield. It is somewhat short (9 days including Nashville and Nawlins). It is also focused on outdoor activities. But I hope that our visit will take us partly out of our echo chamber of Bay Area aficionados and lovers of the Western US, past stereotypes of overcooked food, and to an appreciation of the Deep South.

Deepest South -- we are also going!

After the Deep South, and a brief jaunt to the DC area, we are going international again. We head back towards winter as we make our way very very south of the equator -- Patagonia.

Here is our rough itinerary after we leave the US. Any recs would be greatly appreciated.

May 9th -- Argentina

Fly to Buenos Aires,then down to Ushuaia, Patagonia and spend two weeks trying to hit the highlights of:

• Los Glaciares National Park
• Fitz Roy
• Torres del Paine National Park

May 24- 31 -- Enjoy Santiago, Chile and environs

June 1-18 -- Argentina and Uruguay

• Mendoza
• Buenos Aires
• Colonia, Uruguay
• Iguazu Falls

June 18-24 -- Paraguay (?) and Bolivia

• Salar de Uyuni
• La Paz

June 25-July 14 -- Peru

• Arequipa (the White City)
• Macchu Pichu
• Lima

July 15th - July 25 -- Ecuador

• Galapagos, maybe. Have to see if we can afford it -- money and time.

July 26th - August 6th -- Colombia

August 6 & 9: Return to the U.S. and see where life takes us.

Some friends are making plans to meet us along the way. If any of this tickles your fancy, then come join us too!

 

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Metrics in Action: EpicMix on the Slopes

Our ski season has drawn to a close, which is bittersweet. I am thrilled that we had such great timing for our couple of months in Colorado. A few weeks before we got to Breck, the resort and all of its peers in Summit and Eagle county were really struggling. Then, it all switched and the snow starting coming in amazing quantities. It did not stop until we left, with Breck actually re-opening last weekend because it was in such stellar condition from all the spring snow. On the last day of the season, we closed out the best parts of the mountain with some great friends and finally, finally the spring skiing we had anticipated.

One tech tool that made my time on the mountain more enjoyable and engaging was a Vail Resorts app called EpicMix. This app is tied to each season pass and ticket on the mountain, and is used by skiers/riders to track their daily ski performance, store their pics in one place and allow people to connect with their friends and family around a shared interest.  I have to confess to firing up the ipad every ski day within 5 minutes of walking in the door, to see how i did in vertical that day.  Did i break 20k, what about 25k?  It was amusing how those numbers drove my impressions of the specific ski day.

EpicMix was started 3 years ago and i was openly mocking of its purpose. The app works by a unique radio frequency (RF) locator tagged to each ski pass, which is then logged at each lift on the mountain. Then, as with so many other developments in our modern life, i was full borne addicted within about a month. Of course, the app has gotten markedly better over the last years, with fewer false positives and negatives and hence a truer result. That increased accuracy has made it easier to trust the results, which is key for any performance data set.

I can happily report that all three of the purposes of the app have proven true in my experience. When we got back from traveling, one of the first things i did was check out our buddies' EpicMix from Tahoe, to see how their ski season was going. After i put in a string of 7 days skiing in a row and really kickstarted my season, i was getting messages and emails from those same buddies, commenting admirably on my initial burst of skiing. This connection over our shared love is exactly why i enjoy the social function of the app, it brings us together without any overt push or pull.
Furthermore, the tracking of my skiing has been a motivator, giving me a little extra incentive to keep skiing on days when i might have been dragging. I have had great runs at the end of the day as a results, memories i very easily might have missed had i called it quits when my toe were cold or the snow seemed less than perfect.

My season: below is a summary of my season, one i am quite happy with overall.

162.4 miles (54% of the Earth's atmosphere)
20,420 feet: average ski day
49 days on the mountains, 42 on EpicMix
Top single day: 37,296 vertical feet at Beaver Creek
Most frequent resort: Breck

Daily summary: here is an example of a daily report, this is for the last day of the season. You can see it captures the vertical feet (this is the number i track closely) and some other data points.


Lifetime summary: here is a lifetime summary for the last 3 years of skiing at Vail mt resorts that have the RF technology. I am stunned by the total lifts for the 94 days, 1,395 total and an average of about 15 a ski day.



Pics: lastly, here is sample picture from one of the photographers on the mountain. All of the pics from this and the past 3 seasons live in the app, with cool shots from our tahoe ski house, skiing with my lovely wife, my dad and sister and others.

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The Memory Index

It continues to snow here in Summit County, we had a serious snow squall/storm come through this afternoon, kind of peaking as i was Nordic skiing after the mountain closed and for the drive a few miles south of Breck to our condo. Nice! Tomorrow should be a genuine powder day, which is very exciting to have getting into April and is more than i had expected when we made our plans to be in CO for the 2nd half of the season.

I couldn't be happier, as the quantity and quality of the skiing we have had these last 6 - 7 weeks has been sublime. Still, both Mu and i have this nagging feeling that the mid 30's ski bum life leaves something a little lacking when compared to our days traveling.

In that vein, it has been interesting realizing that we aren't creating as many new and unique memories while here as opposed to traveling. Those 6 months of traveling abroad created the most memories per day/week/month of any period of my life. While things are amazing here, that ratio has dropped back to its historical norm. As a result, i came up with the Memory Index, basically the number of distinct and important memories divided by a set time period. In general for my life, when the Memory Index is high, my life is going well and i am excited about what is around and in front of me. When that index drops off, things are probably in a lull or i am going through a tough time.

As i have thought about this a bit more, i keep coming back to an econ concept that i studied in great depth back in undergrad, that of reference points. In essence a reference point frames people's perception of various experiences, and the findings in behavioral econ have shown that we react more dramatically to pains, things that drop us below that reference point, than to gains, those events that bring our utility above the starting point.

As it applies to our experience here in Breck, my reference point for this time was higher than when we traveled. Here, i expected to ski, one of my absolute passions, nearly every day. So, when i ski every day, i am just 'merely' fulfilling those expectations. Of course, i have had unforgettable memories here, with amazing runs both in and out of bounds. For example, here are some turns i took on Sunday, on a back country tour on the ridge above our condo. But, the turns and days can run together when they come so fast and furious.

On the road, my reference point was decidedly lower, in that uncertain environment it would have been irrational to expect or demand much on a day to day basis. As a result, everything cool and memorable that occurred came as a bonus. And we certainly had a ton of things happen that we will remember forever.

Right now, it is off to bed, that powder won't ski itself and need to make some enduring memories tomorrow.

 

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A Day in the Life: Blizzard Soccer

It remains a bit quiet on the blog front, for some reason day after day of skiing does not seem to lend itself to the same degree unique experiences to share.

We have been ever busy, i ski pretty much every day and have just gone over the 500,000 vertical feet mark for the year on my season's pass. Have started doing a little side-country tours out of the gates at Breckenridge, which has been wonderful. For those not up on the ski lingo, side-country is a type of skiing near, but not inbounds at resorts. In essence, you get a healthy head start on the run by using the resorts' lifts and then head outside of the boundaries to ski stuff that is not part of the resort. This terrain is not patrolled by ski patrol for avalanches nor safety. It combines nice parts of the two types of skiing that i love, at resorts and in the backcountry, and has been really enjoyable.

Anyway, i wanted to share a truly memorable experience that i had with a number of friends last week. We were fortunate, or fools, depending on your point of view, to attend the epic U.S. Mens National Team soccer game against Costa Rica in Denver last friday, March 22nd. This was a huge match for the USMNT, which had not been playing very well for a long time and was in danger of falling behind in their quest to qualify for next year's World Cup in Brasil.

One classic international soccer trick to for teams/countries to schedule their games in locations that are most favorable for their particular players. Sometimes this means playing games in sweltering heat, other times at dizzying altitudes to exhaust non-acclimatized teams. The US Soccer federation put this particular world cup qualie in Denver to try and get some of that altitude benefit, while also hoping for colder temps to frustrate Costa Rica's players who are not used to winter.

Well, they got what they were looking for, and more.

A few hours before the game, Nordy, Greg and i were chilling in a great bar/restaurant watching March Madness. We noticed it started to snow, which was going to make things interesting. I had been monitoring the weather, like a good ski bum, and knew a big storm was coming in. In fact, the previous 2 days had been amazing skiing with powder up to my knee in spots. In my mind, i thought, 'and so it begins'.

As the afternoon turned to evening, the snow picked up a bit, but nothing crazy. We bundled up and headed to the game with a couple other friends. I was wearing ski pants, long underwear tops and bottoms, a sweater, a puffy jacket, my favorite shell for the wetness, a beanie and gloves. Everyone was similarly prepared and as we got to the game, it was obvious everyone in teh crowd was equally prepared. Well except for a few crazies in t shirts.

Getting into the stadium, there was an incredible energy, with a certain majestic quality as the moderate snow was framed nicely by the high powered lights. The field had been cleared, sort of, and it was game time.

The game started well, with the US getting a timely follow up goal from their captain, ol' Clint, at about the 15th minute. At this time, we could mostly make out things going on at the other end of the pitch. The snow slowly picked up however, and things were getting tougher to see. Amazingly, some of the US players were wearing only shorts and t shirts, true tough guys. The field started getting a little covered, and the play fell off as a result, leaving us all feeling good about the US's 1-0 lead at halftime.

As the half time whistle blew, Nordy took off his gloves and was dismayed to see that part of his hand was a disturbing pale color. He headed straight for the bathroom to get them under the air dryer. It was a full on party in the bathroom, with a NOLA style marching band belting away and about a hundred dudes using this time to get out of the elements temporarily. I was battling a little numbness in my feet, since i had not brought my most rugged boots down to denver. Whoops.

The crowd for the entire game was amazing, singing chats and very attentive. Even though it was well below freezing and the snow was now puking down at an impressive rate, the energy never flagged. There was a shared bond over both the USMNT and the crazy situation we all found ourselves. The second half started and the field was starting to get quite covered in snow. At one point about fifteen minutes into the 2nd half, all of the players came together with the coachers and refs and apparently debated whether to continue. This is America, so of course the game continued.

By the last bit of the game, the snow was literally inches high everywhere, and maybe up to 5' in the less used corners. Players were slipping around like kids, even though there are athletes at the pinnacle of their profession. We could no longer see the other end of the field clearly, and the i can't imagine how the players kept their focus. The Costa Ricans scored a goal that was ruled offside, how did the ref see through the blizzard to tell? Who knows, but he did and it was a key moment as the US held on for a critical 1-0 victory. The players were jubilant, and i think i saw a snow angel out there.

Overall, it was an unforgettable sports moment and memory, so fortunate to share it with Nordy, Greg, Jos, Dave and Jamie, and thousands of our closest friends.

 

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Surprising lesson in Stuff from a Backcountry Ski Tour

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!

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.

Congrats!

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.

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.