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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