Saturday Chainsaw and meeself headed out to Caribou (terminus of Tickler 2) for a wee backcountry tour under splitter skies and warm spring temps. Having woven thru the woods after a chance encounter with Steve-O Gabbard (who warned us of dubious snow-conditions) Chainsaw now digs into the final slope. Snow was solid as advertised and the skins got a bit slippy in spots but we were hoping for a mid-day softening. Not to be but super-fun anyways!

The cat-bird (no, I don't know what this means either) seat near the summit ridge of Bald Mtn. Beautiful day for a little exploring in the local hills...

...and the view from the top looking back at the old Caribou townsite. Thanks to all who came out for the Welcome to Colorado feasting for little sis Jen...time to start planning (if I can use that term) a spring jaunt westward for some desert camping and much mucho riding...stay tuned!

Brendan catchin' a wave!

happy new year! The latino men at the party had a hard time with Dash's hair piece. I think they are less in touch with their feminine side 

push on its tail and you get... 

Uh huh! 

Breaking wind, er, trail as we head up towards Old Monarch Pass. Chainsaw pulls ahead stylin' her new bc pack

Ripe for plunder!

When in doubt, go higher!

Here comes trouble! Chainsaw sits squarely in the shooting gallery as Highroller hits the sauce.

Highroller initiating bailout procedure B-11 coming down from Old Monarch

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Originally uploaded by shZo.

And then up a demented skin-track from hell. The skiing down was so good no one took pictures. So much for a "little tour."

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Originally uploaded by Loni Sue.

The next day saw the commencement of Dash's birthday outing - "a little ski tour" out of Hessie.

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Originally uploaded by shZo.

Deeper and deeper into the Indian Peaks Wilderness area we forged.

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Originally uploaded by shZo.

Sean finally got the Camelback hose thawed...

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Originally uploaded by shZo.

Sean and I arose to -8 temps in Boulder but persevered anyway to find Bright Sun and Funky Conditions but tons of Future Skiing Potential at Berthoud Pass.

Chainsaw fights her way thru the gale to Old Monarch Pass yesterday. Great escape to points south, deep powder and solitude. Chainsaw is about 1/4 mile from the Monarch ski area in this shot yet we only saw 1 other person during this ski tour and got to break trail most of the way...fun!

I interrupt this Dashfest for an important announcement. These are mine all mine! Let the games begin! 

 

 

 

Sit back, relax, let me grab you a wine spritzer... 

Its that time again! More great photos of Dash. 

Birthday Dinner

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Originally uploaded by shZo.

This is how it all begins...

Dash & Dog

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Originally uploaded by shZo.

And this is usually how it ends....

Dash Beating

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Originally uploaded by shZo.

Anne wants to beat Dash on his birthday, apparently.

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Originally uploaded by shZo.

Pete said he'll buy you a beer for your birthday! Happy Birthday!

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Originally uploaded by shZo.

Remember this? Just think - you'll be a year older when Tickler III rolls around....

Happy Birthday DASH! Hope you have a year full of fun and freakin' great times with your wacky Peeps! 

Got up and around St. Mary's Glacier on Sunday under beautiful clear skies and warm temps. Yesterday Highroller scooted in on Chocolate Thunder Pussy for the first commute of the year in a blistering 1:25. Contemplated walking several times but ground it out up 97 and then held on thru the ice, snow and gravel into town...fun!

Wednesday Night racing baby! Highroller took his cumulative 2 months of tele experience to the race course last night and walked away...what? He walked away, which is a miracle in itself. Got the bad juju out of the way by breaking a carbon pole and wrapping his shinbone (almost impervious to pain by now) around a gate on his warmup run. Then pulled down a blistering 29.5 second run. For comparison little kids in lycra pajamas were doing 19 seconds. Run two the speed went up (just look at the picture!) and 2 seconds were shaved off...fun, fun, fun!

After a couple hours of reacquaintance turns at Eldora on Saturday Chainsaw and I hit the backcountry Sunday for our first real tele tour. Just a casual romp thru the trees but the whiteout conditions at East Portal made for a mini-epic just getting out of the car. Rocking back and forth as cascades of wind driven snow covered the windows I was sure we'd be making a quick skeedaddle for points East but Chainsaw lit up the handwarmer packets and eclared herself game for the attempt, and so we were off! Sandblasting terror until we hit the shelter of the trees but worth it after that! Perfect terrain for a tour, not really interesting enough as a snowhshoe (at least not to me) and not steep enough to bring a snowboard but perfect for the teles...fun!

Crazy beautiful in the trees with snow covered Spanish moss dangling from every branch, and blessed respite from the wind. Highroller powers uphill...

Chainsaw crosses a log bridge. We hit this thing at full speed on the way back...yikes!

Skins worked like a charm with the new tips and in the trees the snow was nice and soft (and deep!). Chainsaw is a happy girl!

Those handwarmer packets really do work!

Banzaii! Chainsaw coming down the mountain in total control. She's standing next to the Highroller impact crater but besides that mishap we had a couple miles of sweet rolling descent, skating and double poling back to the car...and the tailwind didn't hurt either!