Bump a knuckle, brobra

C.W. McCall – Wolf Creek Pass

Three guys who really really like beer and were really really thirsty all paused in the ice-covered parking lot of the Pagosa Brewery to listen to the end of this song. Then we crammed into the restaurant-nee-quonsetHut, celebrated 2 perfect powder days, and watched all health violations freeze to death as the waitstaff walked meals across the yard from the kitchen in a nearby trailer. whatevah… I wash my hands and drink liquor from a flask, I’m anti-Vail, i’d eat Cliff bars for 48 hrs if the lifts kept running. Even vigorous sex is second to a sunny, 25 degree day of fresh powder.  gliding through the trees, floating on pillows. i’m still in post-coital bliss.

moonshine and bluebird

Here’s a new way to do Wolf Creek: leave comfortably after work, drive through the night, and nap in the car. 3 is the perfect number, enough to split the gas but not offset the single hotel room, leave spaces in the car and the conversation. Is it a coincidence the lifts at Wolf Creek are mostly triples? We 3 sluffed into Pagosa Springs at 4:30am, bought coffee at the only open gas station so we could gear up in the baffroom. Then we passed out for 2 hours in front of a ski shop. Snow cred for guys who average 3.7 houses having-owned.

The shop mechanic rolled up at 7:30am on a Turner DHR, and left it unlocked out front while JB dropped off his new powder planks. It was still out front that afternoon.

Us: nice $4k bike
Brobra: this is the safest town in the world, i haven’t seen my house key in 12 years
Us: We lock our bikes in our garage, to a gigantic deadly python. and worry if the humidity is right. For the hand-made tire sealant…not the python.

These are first-world problems. Midweek early-season dumps puff them softly away, leaving us in the ecstasy of the moment.   So rare for me to simply be,   in the exquisite simplicity of inner and outer peace.   Everyone here feels it and is so hopelessly nice.   We left all our gear in the back of the F150, and contemplated uprooting and moving to a mountain town.

i filled my 6oz flask with 12 yr old rum. We had half left at the end of each day. Who wants to give up their balance after driving all night and inflicting chiropractic chaos sleeping in a jump seat? The warm nips are something i hope to never be without again. Next trip will be butterscotch schnapps.

my brobras

First run of the first day was sketchy, alien, stance too tight and edges waaaaaaaaaaay tighter. I wadded up, knocked it out, got skeered, got comfy, and somehow got to the bottom thinking ‘its just a board…ride it.’

So James and I hiked up Alberta Peak, to hit the fresh 35 degree pitch. First time hiking from the Treasure lift, which is much gentler than up the Alberta lift side, except for 350 wheezing steps at the end. James slid up mild grades, then nimbly dropped his skis into his pack and trotted up the approach. i took back all the nasty stuff i said about boarders crushing skiers in the sprint tris. This was my secret plan all along to encourage him to take more stunning pics.

The Artist

that is a long fucking short walk

~17 minutes of crucifixtion. We did it 3x. pic courtesy of James

I dropped Alberta face on the 2nd run of the day, of the season, ever on my new board. The rockered design ate up the pow, I’ve never been so at-ease on a steep&deep. and it was way more stable – albeit a bit slower – on the cat tracks.   I can’t elucidate the details, but i know it when i see it. Buyer’s remorse and trepidation transition to tickled tenacity.   its just a board…ride it.

So we did for 2 more days, and by the next lunch I had surpassed what I could do on the old board.

new FB profile pic courtesy of James, i’m going to have to start paying royalties.   More pics on James’ blog

James coming down Alberta

on top of me

oww. my boot hurts my shin.   and the farmer’s mart was out of organic arugula. i have first world problems.

Bony conditions, bruises, and Lindsey-Vonn-shin put us on the road instead of the slope the next morning, with time to enjoy Durango. I connected with a buddy from high school i hadn’t seen in 20 years. Thanks Adam! James got a pair of boots that will rock Mardis Gras. We took my bud’s recommendation and enjoyed stellar food at Gazpacho’s.

enchilada with xmastree salsa and posole on the side

bueno.