AtomJohnson Blog

WARNING: The following video is incredibly hilarious.

NOTE: It uses some potty language….

On Saturday morning Jess, Ronnie, Anne and I drove up to the mountain to ski.  Jess had warned me that she was not in love with skiing, but wanted to give it a try.  If my goal was to impress her with my natural abilities on skis, the fact that I fell off the first ski lift while trying to get onto it probably was not a great start.  I rode up two chair lifts later with only one pole and spent the entire ride trying to repair my shattered ego.

The day was the most gorgeous day I had seen on the mountain.  The skies were indigo blue and all of trees had a thick layer of snow coating their branches.  The contrast was stunning.

After skiing, we met the rest of the group at Strawberry Hot Springs.  This is a huge, all natural hot spring about 20 minutes into the mountains in Steamboat.  It is $10 cash to get in and worth every penny.  We arrived just before dark, so we were able to see and appreciate what a spectacular setting these hot springs are in.  After heating up in the spring, a bunch of us jumped into the icy creek next to the hot spring pools.  I chickened out the first time, but eventually jumped into the creek pool.  As expected, it was bitterly cold.

The trip overall was fantastic.  I think I was ready to be off of vacation though , which is a weird place to be.  I think after spending so far away from home and my routines, I was a bit haggard.  Once again…its good to be home! (though I could return to Strawberry Hot Springs in a second)

This morning I woke up early to the sound of snowshoes being fastened to feet.  We took a brief walk outside the cabin with the dogs before the sun graced us.  This area is so peaceful.  The cabin sits on 42 private acres, so there should be no shortage of places to hike.  Dogs and humans alike are completely in heaven…

As one trip ends another begins.  After a half day and single night in Boulder, I packed up the Civic again and headed back to Steamboat with a bunch of friends from the neighborhood.  We’ve rented a gorgeous log cabin about 15 miles outside of the town.  We all carpooled up here yesterday about 1pm.  Aside from Diggy puking in the back of Ronnie’s car and Ronnie almost flipping his vehicle into a ditch, it was smooth sailing.

Upon arriving, we unpacked amazing amount of food, gear, people and dogs and settled down for some homemade green chili stew (thanks to Ben and Amy).  The rest of the night was spent in the company of bourbon, beer, friends, Rock Band, cards and some real guitar and drums.  I was quite envious of those who could jam on the real thing.  My guitar solo on the fake, plastic instrument impressed nobody.  Tripp’s performance of an original song that he wrote garnered a house full of applause.  Oh well ; )

The Banks and Shane Steamboat Ski Trip 2008 is now officially over.  I packed up and drove out this morning around 8am.  It was sad to leave everyone behind in that amazing place, but what a great week we had!  I can’t say enough about how great it was to have my father and uncle out there skiing with me.  I hope that more of my family can make it on future trips to Steamboat….Scott, Mom, Amy, Alan….get yer’ butts out here! ; )

The drive back was as breathtaking as anything I’ve seen in Colorado.  The roads were a bit slick and I went through some whiteout conditions, but the mountains to each side draped in snow, clouds and early morning light made the drive home very enjoyable.  At one point I saw a single-file line of cows that must have stretched for a mile.  I stopped to take a photo, expecting to get the stinkeye from the Rancher, but there was no Rancher….these cows just decided to hitch up and march.

I arrived back home about 11:30am to a giant hug from Jess and plenty of hugs and kisses from both dogs.  Jess had done a deep clean on the house to make room for a ‘welcome home’ card, a giant mug of green M&Ms, a jar of homemade pickles and a box of Sweethearts.  The vacation was amazing, but it sure it good to be home!

I declared Sunday as my best day of skiing this trip, but of course I had not yet seen what today held.  Last night at dinner, Banks offered me his spot on the “first tracks” program for this morning.  For $50, you basically rent the a guide and the untouched mountain for an hour before the masses of humanity embark upon the powder.  The fresh 6 inches of snow last night made gliding down the mountain absolutely effortless.  It was amazing!

Afterwards I met up with Jimmy, Dad and Jeff and skied as much of the rest of the mountain as we could fit in.  At some point the sun managed to burn its way through the clouds and shine down upon us.  The half day of rest yesterday ensured that I felt no pain and never missed a turn.  I left everything I had somewhere up on the hill at Steamboat.

For dinner we walked over to La Montana at 4pm and drank margaritas until they opened for dinner.  Several margaritas, too many chips and a plate of enchiladas just about put me to bed at 6:30pm.  I left the group after dinner to walk home from the restaurant in hopes of digesting some of the meal before dinner.  It was a nice, peaceful end to an absolutely incredible day….and an absolutely incredible week!

We’ve gone from heaven to hell in a matter of a day here at Steamboat. This morning was decently clear and after a few runs I began to get my ski legs back under me. After yesterday’s full day of skiing, my jello legs did want to cooperate. After a few runs, they realized they had no choice and gave up resisting. This was just in time for the storm to move in and cut visibility to zero. You could hardly see your glove in front of your goggles. So, I decided to pack it in early, catch up on some work, and save my ski legs for my last day of skiing tomorrow.

I saw this guy earlier today on a very steep and bumpy run. His ski chair was beat to hell on all sides and proudly displayed his attitude towards life on the back….”Die Living”. I love it!

Today was one of the legendary ski days where the snow seems fresh and deep all day long, but the sun shines down and the air never ventures away from warm. We hooked up with a local guy that Todd had been skiing with who knew where to be and when to avoid the crowds and find the fresh snow. Except for a few rough tumbles in the snow, my body seemed at one with anything the mountain could throw at me. Right now my body is exhausted and my face hurts either from sun and wind exposure or from the permanent grin that was affixed to it all day.

Matt and Rachel showed up yesterday from Denver to stay with us for the weekend. Rachel informed me upon arriving that she had puked on Rabbit Ears Pass due to a “bun in the oven”. She also said the would slow her down, but there was no evidence of this on the slopes. I guess that is what happens when you grow up skiing in Colorado your entire life.

The day started out with 5 inches of fresh snow and it fell steadily all day long. After a full day of skiing the bumps and trees with Matt and Rachel, I was left completely exhausted again. We walked down to Bear River Bar again for some post-skiing singing, dancing and drinking to our favorite band Banks & Shane. Afterwards, we decided to skip a third night at the Tugboat and instead opted for The Cantina downtown. The place was a total mad house on Saturday night, but I eventually settled into a few margarhitas and some delicious tamales.

We attempted some late night Wii golf, but I unfortunately passed out on the golf course and was immediately disqualified and sent to bed.