Monday February 4th, 2008 Steamboat

Date & Location: Monday February 4th, 2008 Steamboat

Snow & Weather: 20 degrees FRESHIES!!!

Vertical feet & runs: 18,470 feet 12 runs

Season Total: 166,610 feet 249 runs

Comments: Rode with Pete, Terra, and Vicki. Weather and snow report said 4-6" of new snow but that was so wrong, it was freshie powderlicious!! Tons of powder!! I should have ridden the Fish. We did lots of trees and lots of powder. I almost choked to death. I was riding some deep pow with my mouth open and powder flew up over my head and it went in my mouth and I almost choked. I had a boner all day! I was hella impressed with the girls powder skills except one run. Pete and I took Vicki and Terra down Kuu's Cruise/ 3 O'clock, it was deep powder. On the top half of the run the girls tore it up like champs. Not so much on the bottom half, it was like someone turned the switch off and they totally forgot how to ride. I don't know what happened. I heard Vicki make monkey noises on Fawn. Pete made me go back in the Closet and it was freshie awesome! Pete and I ripped Rolex trees and once we finished we looked up and thought "Holy shit did we just do that and not only do it but rip it." I had to give a bumps clinic yesterday and a powder clinic today. Pete took me down the "trees of death" to end the day. It was the only time today where I was in more of survival mode instead of ripping it fun mode. Let's hope for snow again tonight. We are now on our way to naked hot springs. EPIC Day!

Vicki: Powder, powder, and more powder! Today was the best. This was my first real experience with powder and I loved it! Felt really good except the end of the first run which Matt wrote about- definitely was like a light was switched off and skills went away for a little bit. Matt and I found kick ass powder run where powder was pretty much waist deep and flying over our heads at times. We did that run two more times to bring Pete and Terra there. Terra and I found a great run down to end the day, went by the superpipe and rode over the grind box. Definitely my best day ever with all the powder!!

Terra: Pow! It snowed all day long! And the powder was deep before we even took our first run! We were a little foolish and didn't think we needed to hit first lift up. Vicki and I rode awesome...taking some powdery steeps in the trees with Matt and Pete and then cruising along the tree lines on some blue cruisers. At times, the snow was waist deep! Those were the best runs except for... last run down Heavenly Daze to powder run by the superpipe. The powder was so light! And then we both rocked the grind box. Woo hoo! Woo hoo!

Peter: Pow...18 inches of fresh, white fun laid down for my riding enjoyment. I rode waist deep powder in the Closet. Managed to get "lost" around break time so I got in 3 more lifts than the rest of the team. Watched a roller coaster day for the girls... they were good, then bad, then good, then scared, then good. Matt and I ended the day in steep tight trees. YEAH!!

Blog Addendum: Matt, Terra, Pete and Vicki: Strawberry Springs Adventure...it started about 15-30 minutes late. We were greeted at the door by "Stoner Joe" (that's what we will call him) and climbed into a non-lighted green van. There was a dude already in the passenger seat (Slestak) wearing a white bathrobe and brown mamuska hat made out of racoon. We made a few stops...after a few wrong turns...after southern drunk blonde lady rudely noted that "weren't we already on this road"...and same drunk lady then noted "does your gas gauge work E means empty." So we continue, pick up another couple and head up to the springs. We were about 1/2 way there...even saw signs for the hot springs, when Stoner Joe slammed his head against the steering wheel and said "Fuck, I forgot to get gas." So we turn around and luckily Stoner Joe pointed out there was a liquor store next to the gas station. Score. Vicki went in (I buy you fly) to get Matt a Sparks unsuccessfully due to no ID. Meanwhile Stoner Joe was cursing, trying to pump gas into a leaky tank..."No wonder I get shitty gas mileage" said Stoner Joe. Pete guessed that the gas leak was about 1 gallon per hour after his inspection. So he puts in 6 gallons of gas and we're on our way. So we get to hot springs and unfortunately the other driver had all the flashlights in the other van so Stoner Joe bought the group (14 people) two pen lights and gave us his head lamp. We head down to the dark springs and soak for an hour and a half (with Pete and Matt taking full advantage of the clothing optional rule after dark) and when we head up the whole group is anxiously awaiting our arrival back as they had been done for a while. Then we were leaving and Vicki realized she had left her watch back in warming cabins so Matt and Vicki head back to get it and come back to the van exploded in flames- oh wait that is what Pete and Terra thought would happen due to the leaking gas tank- they thought Vicki and Matt strategically planned to delay their entry into the van. Our ride homes goes smoothly and when we tip Stoner Joe generously after nobody else tipped except for one couple, he says "Damn, thanks guys, the Europeans only gave me a $1 tip." The question lingering in our minds is Who exactly were the Europeans? as the only other couple that tipped was from the south.