Ships Log: Fat Aircraft carrier war games
- Thread starter UtahJoe
- Start date
So after coming home, we quicky showed and then drove to highland to have dinner with my HS friend Mindy and her family....Sadly I didnt take any pictures, but we had a great time. This year makes 30 years that Mindy and I have been friends and its awesome that I can show up at her house after a year and its like no time had past.
On monday we planned to hit Alta.....however, 6er only had the base ikon pass which covers snowbird. Well my wife hates snowbird...and if you have ever been, you can probably understand why. There is great terrain at both snowbird and alta, but there is almost 0 beginner friendly terrain at snowbird. So my plan was to ski with the family at alta, then eventually ski over to snowbird and ski with 6er for a while.
It has been snowing all night and when we got there, it was still DUMPING snow....cant see much but this was going to be awesome.
Spent the morning with the family, then explored around a bit....I tried to go meet up with 6er but the lift to get me back to alta was closed due to high winds, so I was kinda stuck for the day. @Chris26er who like me is a HUGE Better off dead fan.....was stoked to go hit the K12 (aka Great Scott) at snowbird. I was a little bummed I couldnt join him for that one. While he was doing that, I hit the collins lift where I met a crew from BC. They invited me to join them and im glad I did. We headed out on the high traverse so find some fresh snow and it wasnt too hard.....even on this powder day, the place was a ghost town.
I made this video with my insta360....and whoops, I added some music that youtube said no too....well fuck them, you can watch it from my google account
https://photos.app.goo.gl/uYP9ccXwrqyJgH6R8
Couple notes on this....I have been traversing in utah for a long time now.....but as someone who is very afraid of heights, I have never gotten used to it....its just one of those things you have to do to get to the good stuff, so I do it and try to manage my fear as best I can....but while I wont think twice about skiing this hill im looking down....for some reason I have an irrational fear of falling down it, go figure
if you are not familiar with what traversing is.....its simply following these narrow paths high on the edge of the mountain to get out to the far regions...generally something you never have to do on an east coast mountain....since they build lifts to every inch of the place...because the snow is already shit, so who cares how fast it gets tracked out. Usually longer/more difficult traverses are met with better snow at the end.
Eventually we got to the top of the ridge where we are now on the spine between both sides....and I really dislike this part lol. But im with this crew, so whatever....and in my head...I know I can ski all of this stuff....but it gives me this vertigo feeling.....so the little orange sign you see me pass....well the other guys didnt read it, but I did....it said "traverse ends, cliff area".....this is usually where you find GREAT snow...so it lures you in, then you are ontop of a cliff....Thankfully, the dude up front found a way thru as I was never much of a cliff jumper....This was properly steep, but beats walking back up the hill anyway. I like to think of this as technical skiing, not unlike riding Fugawe with @JimN finding lines and ways around things.....so fun!
Anyway, after getting out of this, we headed around to the front side of the mountain and hit the hourglass chute, one of Altas famous sections.....snow was just awesome....I mean perfect....its just so fun...making big turns on something really steep in the fresh snow...holy shit is it tiring. Did a few runs with these guys, then back with the family for a few more.....god what an AMAZING day.
Later that night we went to my stepmothers for dinner... @Chris26er got to meet my some of my stepfamily...and now he probably understands why im all messed up lol.
One really cool thing my step mother had found was this hat.....She thought it was my dad's...."Landing Gulf" was his gas station @iman29 you probably have driven past it on landing road in roxbury across from the old train station....I think its mostly tore down now. Anyway....This was not my dad's hat...I recognized immediately...This was my 1985 little league baseball cap....my dad sponsored the team, thus it was named landing gulf.
one more day and the best is yet to come
On monday we planned to hit Alta.....however, 6er only had the base ikon pass which covers snowbird. Well my wife hates snowbird...and if you have ever been, you can probably understand why. There is great terrain at both snowbird and alta, but there is almost 0 beginner friendly terrain at snowbird. So my plan was to ski with the family at alta, then eventually ski over to snowbird and ski with 6er for a while.
It has been snowing all night and when we got there, it was still DUMPING snow....cant see much but this was going to be awesome.
Spent the morning with the family, then explored around a bit....I tried to go meet up with 6er but the lift to get me back to alta was closed due to high winds, so I was kinda stuck for the day. @Chris26er who like me is a HUGE Better off dead fan.....was stoked to go hit the K12 (aka Great Scott) at snowbird. I was a little bummed I couldnt join him for that one. While he was doing that, I hit the collins lift where I met a crew from BC. They invited me to join them and im glad I did. We headed out on the high traverse so find some fresh snow and it wasnt too hard.....even on this powder day, the place was a ghost town.
I made this video with my insta360....and whoops, I added some music that youtube said no too....well fuck them, you can watch it from my google account
https://photos.app.goo.gl/uYP9ccXwrqyJgH6R8
Couple notes on this....I have been traversing in utah for a long time now.....but as someone who is very afraid of heights, I have never gotten used to it....its just one of those things you have to do to get to the good stuff, so I do it and try to manage my fear as best I can....but while I wont think twice about skiing this hill im looking down....for some reason I have an irrational fear of falling down it, go figure
if you are not familiar with what traversing is.....its simply following these narrow paths high on the edge of the mountain to get out to the far regions...generally something you never have to do on an east coast mountain....since they build lifts to every inch of the place...because the snow is already shit, so who cares how fast it gets tracked out. Usually longer/more difficult traverses are met with better snow at the end.
Eventually we got to the top of the ridge where we are now on the spine between both sides....and I really dislike this part lol. But im with this crew, so whatever....and in my head...I know I can ski all of this stuff....but it gives me this vertigo feeling.....so the little orange sign you see me pass....well the other guys didnt read it, but I did....it said "traverse ends, cliff area".....this is usually where you find GREAT snow...so it lures you in, then you are ontop of a cliff....Thankfully, the dude up front found a way thru as I was never much of a cliff jumper....This was properly steep, but beats walking back up the hill anyway. I like to think of this as technical skiing, not unlike riding Fugawe with @JimN finding lines and ways around things.....so fun!
Anyway, after getting out of this, we headed around to the front side of the mountain and hit the hourglass chute, one of Altas famous sections.....snow was just awesome....I mean perfect....its just so fun...making big turns on something really steep in the fresh snow...holy shit is it tiring. Did a few runs with these guys, then back with the family for a few more.....god what an AMAZING day.
Later that night we went to my stepmothers for dinner... @Chris26er got to meet my some of my stepfamily...and now he probably understands why im all messed up lol.
One really cool thing my step mother had found was this hat.....She thought it was my dad's...."Landing Gulf" was his gas station @iman29 you probably have driven past it on landing road in roxbury across from the old train station....I think its mostly tore down now. Anyway....This was not my dad's hat...I recognized immediately...This was my 1985 little league baseball cap....my dad sponsored the team, thus it was named landing gulf.
one more day and the best is yet to come
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The final day!
So this time, @Chris26er said fuck it and just bought the ticket for Alta.....it had snowed all night and we opened the place at like 9am....the snow at alta...my god...its like when you lay on the $12,000 mattress at the store and think...I have never felt this comfortable....im floating on air....Anyway...after a few runs with the family, my son needed fuel, so sixer and I hit the supreme lift and check out the Spiny chutes.
This is not a great edit, I just did it quickly with my phone...I truly love skiing out west with 6er....he's a great skier, totally fearless, and we love the same stuff. Best of all, while my fear of heights makes me cautious around cliffs....6er doesnt give a shit.. So he's a fabulous point man....He goes first...WHOOPS IM ON A CLIFF! Meantime im still high enough to get myself around.....Im guessing if we lived in Utah we would probably die after a few weeks. Well he might die, I would just be up above him going "SIXER ARE YOU DEAD???" One of these days I need @Wrong Way Dan to join us.
Goddam that snow was amazing....we made our way around the mountain, eventually over to the wildcat side....not sure why my head is more shaky in this one...I only just got this insta360 so im still figuring it out....im thinking the selfie stick might have been hitting my helmet
The other awesome thing on this day was skiing some black diamonds with Bob....I always figured bob would never be able to be as good of a skier as me.....I started at the same age, but literally ALL I ever did was ski in my youth....However, I can remember being 9 years old at Alta and I wouldnt do the things he is doing now. More importantly, im happy that he likes it.....And huge shot out to my wife, who has really worked hard to learn how to ski...its not easy when you are in your 40s....She is great about letting me hit a few fun runs and dealing with bob when hes being a pain.
We had like 5 min at alta when it stopped snowing
I have to say....as much as I LOVE snowbird...I kinda left Alta thinking.....this might be the greatest place I have ever skied.....The snow is just unbelievable. The terrain might be a little less scary than snowbird in some spots, but I think you could call it a wash overall....The vibe at alta is the best....people are there to ski and thats about it. Not much else on the mountain...there is really good beginner and intermediate stuff at alta which makes my wife happy...mean time, pretty much everything at snowbird is either steep or a cat path....my wife hates this. I mean I love both of them...maybe recency bias is making me give the nod to Alta....but if you are a skier and you havent been to Alta, get off your ass.
Anyway, that was a wrap....7 straight days of skiing...so proud of my wife and bob for hanging in there all day everyday......My ankle felt great and by the end of the week, I felt like my old self on skis again. God I actually lived in Park City and moved back to NJ...what a fucking idiot.
So this time, @Chris26er said fuck it and just bought the ticket for Alta.....it had snowed all night and we opened the place at like 9am....the snow at alta...my god...its like when you lay on the $12,000 mattress at the store and think...I have never felt this comfortable....im floating on air....Anyway...after a few runs with the family, my son needed fuel, so sixer and I hit the supreme lift and check out the Spiny chutes.
This is not a great edit, I just did it quickly with my phone...I truly love skiing out west with 6er....he's a great skier, totally fearless, and we love the same stuff. Best of all, while my fear of heights makes me cautious around cliffs....6er doesnt give a shit.. So he's a fabulous point man....He goes first...WHOOPS IM ON A CLIFF! Meantime im still high enough to get myself around.....Im guessing if we lived in Utah we would probably die after a few weeks. Well he might die, I would just be up above him going "SIXER ARE YOU DEAD???" One of these days I need @Wrong Way Dan to join us.
Goddam that snow was amazing....we made our way around the mountain, eventually over to the wildcat side....not sure why my head is more shaky in this one...I only just got this insta360 so im still figuring it out....im thinking the selfie stick might have been hitting my helmet
The other awesome thing on this day was skiing some black diamonds with Bob....I always figured bob would never be able to be as good of a skier as me.....I started at the same age, but literally ALL I ever did was ski in my youth....However, I can remember being 9 years old at Alta and I wouldnt do the things he is doing now. More importantly, im happy that he likes it.....And huge shot out to my wife, who has really worked hard to learn how to ski...its not easy when you are in your 40s....She is great about letting me hit a few fun runs and dealing with bob when hes being a pain.
We had like 5 min at alta when it stopped snowing
I have to say....as much as I LOVE snowbird...I kinda left Alta thinking.....this might be the greatest place I have ever skied.....The snow is just unbelievable. The terrain might be a little less scary than snowbird in some spots, but I think you could call it a wash overall....The vibe at alta is the best....people are there to ski and thats about it. Not much else on the mountain...there is really good beginner and intermediate stuff at alta which makes my wife happy...mean time, pretty much everything at snowbird is either steep or a cat path....my wife hates this. I mean I love both of them...maybe recency bias is making me give the nod to Alta....but if you are a skier and you havent been to Alta, get off your ass.
Anyway, that was a wrap....7 straight days of skiing...so proud of my wife and bob for hanging in there all day everyday......My ankle felt great and by the end of the week, I felt like my old self on skis again. God I actually lived in Park City and moved back to NJ...what a fucking idiot.
I went to Switzerland!
I still can't believe I made this trip....very big thank you to @2Julianas who was the one that really made this happen....I mean I have always wanted to go to Europe, but like...where to go? whats its like? how to plan it? I would sit and think about it and then go....fuck it, lets ski alta again. Anyway, Alex did pretty much all of the planning...from planes to trains to air bnbs and food....if im honest, I can't really think of a single I planned....maybe a little here and there navigating the ski areas. I think one day I planned to eat eggs in the morning, but I ended up having yogurt and musli instead.
So what do I know about Switzerland? Well good cheese, great watches and coo coo clocks, lots of money...and as an engineer...Im very familiar with the term "like a swiss train"....as in something that works properly. In 1970, my mom took a trip to Switzerland with some coworkers, saw a bunch of the sights....she brought home this little pendant necklace with the matterhorn on it. When I was a kid I found it in her jewelry box and asked her if I could wear it.....so I used to have this little necklace of the matterhorn....all I could remember was her telling me that you could go next to it, but not on it.....So I grew up thinking you werent allowed to climb the matterhorn....I mean this is my mom, this is not her area of expertise. But I always thought the matterhorn was so cool looking...never thought I would get to see it.
This trip would only be the 4 of us....my first adult vacation in a very long time....well ok, ill leave out my yearly gypsy trips across vermont with the crew...
Anyway, so after driving to Alex/Marks house...we headed to JFK for the overnight flight to Zurich. Alex doesnt fuck around on the plane...she comes fully prepared for the apocalypse
The plane ride was uneventful, I slept for maybe an hour or so....the most exciting part being the landing....I was in the middle section, so I couldnt see too well...but we were in the clouds....I heard the landing gear go down......so i knew we were close....kept looking and looking out the window...all clouds, could see nothing...than BAM we were on the runway. Well ok then, we are in Zurich.
Got our bags, thru customs, then into the airport to wait for our train....goddam the Zurich airport is nice....There was a full on supermarket in the airport. We got down to the platform and waited for our train....So this is a ski trip and we have alot of shit to haul around...ski/snowboard carriers, bags, etc. I noticed...there is no place to put bags on the train....I mean this little tiny area about the sice of the trunk of your car...for a train car that can hold like 100 people. So ok, we just had to stack it up in the entry way and have people climbing over it to get to their seats. Ok, this is odd....However, the train itself....at 120mph...you could have layed on the floor an assembled a house of cards, it was that smooth and quiet. Amazing, im used to the NY subway system which is like riding inside of a washing machine thats broken and smells like pee.
Poor @MurderBort is holding his snowboard bag here...finally we said fuck it and just left everything in a pile in the entry way
3 hrs on this train that ended in Visp after going thru a 21 mile long tunnel which was pretty wild. From there I did the farmer carry run from hell with my 50lbs duffel bag and 50lb ski carrier across 2 platforms to make the Glacier express train to zermatt.
This train was so cool....snaked its way on the edge of cliffs thru the valley to Zermatt....up some steep hills.
it was a cog railway, and going up steep hills in a train felt pretty weird
the views on this ride were really stunning I must say
After an hour or so we arrived in zermatt.......there was a line for taxis that we waited in....im trying to make out the address for our air bnb, meantime the taxi driver is talking and moving full on NYC warp speed but in German. This is where @2Julianas whipped out her super power and started rattling off where we needed to go in German.....The people in line behind us were from PA and I said "see thats why we brought her" guy replied..."Dam...do you rent her out?"
JFC the taxis are as nutty as NYC or maybe even India...I thought we were going to mow down at least 4 people and a few bikers for good measure. We finally got to our Chalet, unpacked at little then walked into down to the supermarket. never had these chips before, but Alex hooked us up and they are money
from there we just to find dinner, but in Switzerland...either you have a reservation, or, well your fucked. After trying a few places we found a restaurant that did Pizza take out. Pretty good and after many hours of traveling, I was very happy to pass out....it was a hell of a first day.
I still can't believe I made this trip....very big thank you to @2Julianas who was the one that really made this happen....I mean I have always wanted to go to Europe, but like...where to go? whats its like? how to plan it? I would sit and think about it and then go....fuck it, lets ski alta again. Anyway, Alex did pretty much all of the planning...from planes to trains to air bnbs and food....if im honest, I can't really think of a single I planned....maybe a little here and there navigating the ski areas. I think one day I planned to eat eggs in the morning, but I ended up having yogurt and musli instead.
So what do I know about Switzerland? Well good cheese, great watches and coo coo clocks, lots of money...and as an engineer...Im very familiar with the term "like a swiss train"....as in something that works properly. In 1970, my mom took a trip to Switzerland with some coworkers, saw a bunch of the sights....she brought home this little pendant necklace with the matterhorn on it. When I was a kid I found it in her jewelry box and asked her if I could wear it.....so I used to have this little necklace of the matterhorn....all I could remember was her telling me that you could go next to it, but not on it.....So I grew up thinking you werent allowed to climb the matterhorn....I mean this is my mom, this is not her area of expertise. But I always thought the matterhorn was so cool looking...never thought I would get to see it.
This trip would only be the 4 of us....my first adult vacation in a very long time....well ok, ill leave out my yearly gypsy trips across vermont with the crew...
Anyway, so after driving to Alex/Marks house...we headed to JFK for the overnight flight to Zurich. Alex doesnt fuck around on the plane...she comes fully prepared for the apocalypse
The plane ride was uneventful, I slept for maybe an hour or so....the most exciting part being the landing....I was in the middle section, so I couldnt see too well...but we were in the clouds....I heard the landing gear go down......so i knew we were close....kept looking and looking out the window...all clouds, could see nothing...than BAM we were on the runway. Well ok then, we are in Zurich.
Got our bags, thru customs, then into the airport to wait for our train....goddam the Zurich airport is nice....There was a full on supermarket in the airport. We got down to the platform and waited for our train....So this is a ski trip and we have alot of shit to haul around...ski/snowboard carriers, bags, etc. I noticed...there is no place to put bags on the train....I mean this little tiny area about the sice of the trunk of your car...for a train car that can hold like 100 people. So ok, we just had to stack it up in the entry way and have people climbing over it to get to their seats. Ok, this is odd....However, the train itself....at 120mph...you could have layed on the floor an assembled a house of cards, it was that smooth and quiet. Amazing, im used to the NY subway system which is like riding inside of a washing machine thats broken and smells like pee.
Poor @MurderBort is holding his snowboard bag here...finally we said fuck it and just left everything in a pile in the entry way
3 hrs on this train that ended in Visp after going thru a 21 mile long tunnel which was pretty wild. From there I did the farmer carry run from hell with my 50lbs duffel bag and 50lb ski carrier across 2 platforms to make the Glacier express train to zermatt.
This train was so cool....snaked its way on the edge of cliffs thru the valley to Zermatt....up some steep hills.
it was a cog railway, and going up steep hills in a train felt pretty weird
the views on this ride were really stunning I must say
After an hour or so we arrived in zermatt.......there was a line for taxis that we waited in....im trying to make out the address for our air bnb, meantime the taxi driver is talking and moving full on NYC warp speed but in German. This is where @2Julianas whipped out her super power and started rattling off where we needed to go in German.....The people in line behind us were from PA and I said "see thats why we brought her" guy replied..."Dam...do you rent her out?"
JFC the taxis are as nutty as NYC or maybe even India...I thought we were going to mow down at least 4 people and a few bikers for good measure. We finally got to our Chalet, unpacked at little then walked into down to the supermarket. never had these chips before, but Alex hooked us up and they are money
from there we just to find dinner, but in Switzerland...either you have a reservation, or, well your fucked. After trying a few places we found a restaurant that did Pizza take out. Pretty good and after many hours of traveling, I was very happy to pass out....it was a hell of a first day.
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iman29
Well-Known Member
i never went skiing in Swizterland (since well I dont ski) but I spent the better part of 3-4 years traveling back and forth for work there back pre covid when traveling was the cool thing you did in Corp america that made you feel important. My first trip to Basel (about 1.5 hours outside of Zurich) in 2006 was the first time I even had a passport. During a time in 2010-2012 I was there at least once a month. I was pretty spoiled traveling back then I was always in Business Class. and I could navigate the Zurich airport and customs like a tour guide I am pretty sure i have it permanently in my memory.
I've spent so many hours on the SBB train you are right its the smoothest you can ever ride at 120+ mph. I once got in trouble on the train because I didnt realize i sat in a designated "quiet" car and I was typing too loud on the laptop.
I do miss the great food and restaurants, even the pizza places which served mostly thin crust were always awesome in Basel or anywhere you might go. looks like it was a great trip.
Day 2...
So we got up and Alex made us some poached eggs with this amazing bread we got at the supermarket. There was no coffee maker, but there was a Kurig like expresso machine....so with some added hot water I had something like my regular coffee.
It had been snowing for the past 2 days and our first day, it was still snowing....so looking at the map, we planned to start on the sunnegga side (far left side) and try to start figuring this place out. You can look at maps all day, but figuring out how to navigate is another matter
Well we got on the bus in town and didnt realize it but we went right past the stop for the Sunnegga Funicular and ended up at the train station....this would be the first of several happy accidents thru out the week....So at the train station is also the starting point for the Gornegrat bahn...or the train up to the Gornegrat which is in the middle of the Zermatt area at ~10,000 ft. This is where as a skier, Switzerland starts to bend your mind.....Like in Zermatt, you are low in a valley, totally surrounded by EXTREMELY steep mountains in every direction....how the fuck is a train getting out of here? I mean the cog railway thru the valley was a bit uphill, but not ski hill uphill.
Oh but it does...right up the mountain...I stole this from the internets
So we hopped on the train...which is on our Ikon passes....And hey, when you used to sitting on a lift...outside in a heavy snowstorm trying not to freeze your ass off....A comfortable heated train car was pretty sweet.
After we got out we skied down to the next lift and started lapping it and checking out the area.....We saw this open bowl that was fairly untracked, so @2Julianas and I decided to check it out.....I have been skiing a LONG time...seeing a fucking train when im about to hit some powder in a bowl at 10,000ft....that was a sight.
Visibility was not good the first day, we never could see the matterhorn...but the snow was excellent! If this was utah, that bowl would have been tracked out in 90 seconds....In Switzerland, people are far more likely not to venture off piste
At one point we decided to make a run down down the Riflelap to the lower gondola station....in Zermatt terms, this was only like 3500ft of elevation, but holy hell, I mean this takes a while. These runs are LONG. You pass restaurants, hotels, a ski shop, I mean its really wild. The only bad part was Alex getting stuck at the bottom of that bowl on 1 lap and she lost one of her poles....but more importantly, she was able to get herself out...which is harder than it sounds when the snow is like 10ft deep. So that was a good end to this day, we deicded, lets head for home.....Which in the US....Ok, the final run down....maybe 10 min and you at the car....um, not here. Back to Zermatt, and this was the shorter way...about 6 miles! Pretty hard to do that any where in the USA....I could remember listening to people crow about the great eastern at killington which is like 3.5 miles. On the way down I pass a guy standing on the side with ski patrol with his arm in a sling...The sled (or as my dad used to call it "The hearse") was there so I assumed he hurt himself and was maybe meeting up with a snowmobile to get down the hill.....Then as we are stopped for a second....this happens
They actually did a hot landing and picked this guy up off the mountain for his arm being in a sling....I have never seen anything like that before. Few times I have ever seen choppers at ski hills in the states, usually the people were either dead or close to it.
After skiing we hit up a bar for some "kinda" Apres....as in we went home and changed first...you are supposed to show up in your ski gear, but fuck walking around in ski boots all night. I wore my name tag...I love that my wife buys me this shit lol
We also finally got our first glimpse of the Matterhorn....and when you see it, my god it is far and away the most striking mountain I have ever seen.....its like wow, thats really here, its not a picture or a painting.
From there Alex got us reservations at a Swiss restaurant that I can't remember the name of...Very old building, really cool looking inside. I decided to order some meat fondue....Which I didnt fully understand how this operation works. Im thinking its meat and you dip it in cheese? Well no...you get the raw meat, they give you a pot of boiling oil and you work the fryolator....Then a whole bunch of different sauces.
First day in the books, it was a success outside of Alex needing a new set of poles.....
So we got up and Alex made us some poached eggs with this amazing bread we got at the supermarket. There was no coffee maker, but there was a Kurig like expresso machine....so with some added hot water I had something like my regular coffee.
It had been snowing for the past 2 days and our first day, it was still snowing....so looking at the map, we planned to start on the sunnegga side (far left side) and try to start figuring this place out. You can look at maps all day, but figuring out how to navigate is another matter
Well we got on the bus in town and didnt realize it but we went right past the stop for the Sunnegga Funicular and ended up at the train station....this would be the first of several happy accidents thru out the week....So at the train station is also the starting point for the Gornegrat bahn...or the train up to the Gornegrat which is in the middle of the Zermatt area at ~10,000 ft. This is where as a skier, Switzerland starts to bend your mind.....Like in Zermatt, you are low in a valley, totally surrounded by EXTREMELY steep mountains in every direction....how the fuck is a train getting out of here? I mean the cog railway thru the valley was a bit uphill, but not ski hill uphill.
Oh but it does...right up the mountain...I stole this from the internets
So we hopped on the train...which is on our Ikon passes....And hey, when you used to sitting on a lift...outside in a heavy snowstorm trying not to freeze your ass off....A comfortable heated train car was pretty sweet.
After we got out we skied down to the next lift and started lapping it and checking out the area.....We saw this open bowl that was fairly untracked, so @2Julianas and I decided to check it out.....I have been skiing a LONG time...seeing a fucking train when im about to hit some powder in a bowl at 10,000ft....that was a sight.
Visibility was not good the first day, we never could see the matterhorn...but the snow was excellent! If this was utah, that bowl would have been tracked out in 90 seconds....In Switzerland, people are far more likely not to venture off piste
At one point we decided to make a run down down the Riflelap to the lower gondola station....in Zermatt terms, this was only like 3500ft of elevation, but holy hell, I mean this takes a while. These runs are LONG. You pass restaurants, hotels, a ski shop, I mean its really wild. The only bad part was Alex getting stuck at the bottom of that bowl on 1 lap and she lost one of her poles....but more importantly, she was able to get herself out...which is harder than it sounds when the snow is like 10ft deep. So that was a good end to this day, we deicded, lets head for home.....Which in the US....Ok, the final run down....maybe 10 min and you at the car....um, not here. Back to Zermatt, and this was the shorter way...about 6 miles! Pretty hard to do that any where in the USA....I could remember listening to people crow about the great eastern at killington which is like 3.5 miles. On the way down I pass a guy standing on the side with ski patrol with his arm in a sling...The sled (or as my dad used to call it "The hearse") was there so I assumed he hurt himself and was maybe meeting up with a snowmobile to get down the hill.....Then as we are stopped for a second....this happens
They actually did a hot landing and picked this guy up off the mountain for his arm being in a sling....I have never seen anything like that before. Few times I have ever seen choppers at ski hills in the states, usually the people were either dead or close to it.
After skiing we hit up a bar for some "kinda" Apres....as in we went home and changed first...you are supposed to show up in your ski gear, but fuck walking around in ski boots all night. I wore my name tag...I love that my wife buys me this shit lol
We also finally got our first glimpse of the Matterhorn....and when you see it, my god it is far and away the most striking mountain I have ever seen.....its like wow, thats really here, its not a picture or a painting.
From there Alex got us reservations at a Swiss restaurant that I can't remember the name of...Very old building, really cool looking inside. I decided to order some meat fondue....Which I didnt fully understand how this operation works. Im thinking its meat and you dip it in cheese? Well no...you get the raw meat, they give you a pot of boiling oil and you work the fryolator....Then a whole bunch of different sauces.
First day in the books, it was a success outside of Alex needing a new set of poles.....
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Day 3
Woke up, looked out the window and saw this....
Holy shit...I think this might be what is in the briefcase in the movie "Pulp Fiction".....Sitting and drinking my morning coffee with this view was pretty spectacular.
So THIS time we were actually going to try and make it to the Sunegga side of the mountain....So after breakfast, we hopped on the bus for a short ride to the Sunnegga funicular....This one doesnt look like your regular funicular....this is more like an underground, uphill subway...
.it was a little packed on this morning
This thing hauls ass up the mountain at 25mph and bring you up 2000ft in a couple of minutes.....its pretty wild. Stepping outside we got our first clear view of the area
I mean in terms of views i have seen while skiing, this was really jaw on the floor kinda stuff......It also was the first time it really hit me how utter fucking MASSIVE this place is. ill try to give the picture a little scale....
The red line is where the matterhorn express gondola is....hard to zoom in enough to make it out....The circle at the end is the Trockner Steg station at 9500 ft...not the top, there is another tram after that which goes to 12,700....but according to google, where that circle is....its 7 MILES from where I am standing to take this picture. And there is ski area in between where I am standing and the red line....then behind the matterhorn is the italian portion known as Cervinia. Vail and Park city are big places....7000+ acres....this place makes them seem like my backyard.
We spent a little time staring at this view....then started checking out the terrain in this side....It had snowed overnight and the conditions were excellent! they had just opened up the "Obere National" black diamond run and it had few tracks in it yet...so we sent allison the easy way around and hit the powder....
Like if this was in the west, this would be totally tracked out in 60 seconds
off to the side of the "piste" was this huge area.....very few tracks....at first I had assumed it wasnt open....then I realized...oh, people just arent skiing it. I think I hit it, then convinced @2Julianas and @MurderBort join me for the next one
God what a view this was....way down you can see a cloud layer....ill get to that later...
I made this with my insta 360.....I have to say, I really like this camera and the editing software is really excellent.
So this was an awesome start to the day.....we did some laps of this area, then went to see if we could get across the mountain to "the middle" ill call is.....This required us skiing down and into the aforementioned clouds....holy crap
One of the trails to get across was closed so we decided to head back up to sunnegga and ski back into down.....near the bottom alex took this video which gives you a sense of lower 1000ft or so of this place as you get back to town and are now skiing into the houses and such....
We then stopped at Cervo, which is this fancy resort near the end of the run.....had some drinks and truffles fries in the warm sun
Then we decided to make a run on the other side of the mountain nearer to the matterhorn....so for this we hopped on the bus for a short ride to the matterhorn express gondola....It is possible to ski to it, but not in 1 run and the trail that takes you across wasnt open...not sure why exactly, but whatever.
So we got on the matterhorn express gondola....Funny you get on this one in town and you can't at ALL see even where it goes.....In all there are 5 different stations it goes thru....Just for a comparison....The skyship gondola at Killington...the one that starts out in the parking lot...that goes about 1.5 miles and up about 2500 ft.....This one goes for almost 5 miles and up 4300ft....and there is still another tram after this that goes 2500ft more ft up......Its like watching those videos of Shaq picking people up like they are little GI joe figures.
When we finally reached the end of this gondola, you are at the "Trockner Steg" at 9600' which is a huge, flat is area near the matterhorn....Several lifts converge here, more restaurants, etc....Looking at the map im like....whoa...this is going to be a LONG run back into town.
So this is not like regular skiing....where ok, the views are a nice bonus...Utah and colorado mountains are beautiful....but im usually more focused on the skiing.....This was more like being on a hike in Zion, overwhelmed with these stunning views...but you were on skis rather than foot.
To be continued.....
Woke up, looked out the window and saw this....
Holy shit...I think this might be what is in the briefcase in the movie "Pulp Fiction".....Sitting and drinking my morning coffee with this view was pretty spectacular.
So THIS time we were actually going to try and make it to the Sunegga side of the mountain....So after breakfast, we hopped on the bus for a short ride to the Sunnegga funicular....This one doesnt look like your regular funicular....this is more like an underground, uphill subway...
.it was a little packed on this morning
This thing hauls ass up the mountain at 25mph and bring you up 2000ft in a couple of minutes.....its pretty wild. Stepping outside we got our first clear view of the area
I mean in terms of views i have seen while skiing, this was really jaw on the floor kinda stuff......It also was the first time it really hit me how utter fucking MASSIVE this place is. ill try to give the picture a little scale....
The red line is where the matterhorn express gondola is....hard to zoom in enough to make it out....The circle at the end is the Trockner Steg station at 9500 ft...not the top, there is another tram after that which goes to 12,700....but according to google, where that circle is....its 7 MILES from where I am standing to take this picture. And there is ski area in between where I am standing and the red line....then behind the matterhorn is the italian portion known as Cervinia. Vail and Park city are big places....7000+ acres....this place makes them seem like my backyard.
We spent a little time staring at this view....then started checking out the terrain in this side....It had snowed overnight and the conditions were excellent! they had just opened up the "Obere National" black diamond run and it had few tracks in it yet...so we sent allison the easy way around and hit the powder....
Like if this was in the west, this would be totally tracked out in 60 seconds
off to the side of the "piste" was this huge area.....very few tracks....at first I had assumed it wasnt open....then I realized...oh, people just arent skiing it. I think I hit it, then convinced @2Julianas and @MurderBort join me for the next one
God what a view this was....way down you can see a cloud layer....ill get to that later...
I made this with my insta 360.....I have to say, I really like this camera and the editing software is really excellent.
So this was an awesome start to the day.....we did some laps of this area, then went to see if we could get across the mountain to "the middle" ill call is.....This required us skiing down and into the aforementioned clouds....holy crap
One of the trails to get across was closed so we decided to head back up to sunnegga and ski back into down.....near the bottom alex took this video which gives you a sense of lower 1000ft or so of this place as you get back to town and are now skiing into the houses and such....
We then stopped at Cervo, which is this fancy resort near the end of the run.....had some drinks and truffles fries in the warm sun
Then we decided to make a run on the other side of the mountain nearer to the matterhorn....so for this we hopped on the bus for a short ride to the matterhorn express gondola....It is possible to ski to it, but not in 1 run and the trail that takes you across wasnt open...not sure why exactly, but whatever.
So we got on the matterhorn express gondola....Funny you get on this one in town and you can't at ALL see even where it goes.....In all there are 5 different stations it goes thru....Just for a comparison....The skyship gondola at Killington...the one that starts out in the parking lot...that goes about 1.5 miles and up about 2500 ft.....This one goes for almost 5 miles and up 4300ft....and there is still another tram after this that goes 2500ft more ft up......Its like watching those videos of Shaq picking people up like they are little GI joe figures.
When we finally reached the end of this gondola, you are at the "Trockner Steg" at 9600' which is a huge, flat is area near the matterhorn....Several lifts converge here, more restaurants, etc....Looking at the map im like....whoa...this is going to be a LONG run back into town.
So this is not like regular skiing....where ok, the views are a nice bonus...Utah and colorado mountains are beautiful....but im usually more focused on the skiing.....This was more like being on a hike in Zion, overwhelmed with these stunning views...but you were on skis rather than foot.
To be continued.....
So from where we started, this is where we had to go to get back.....Zermatt was that far away lol
So the run down was something like 6+ miles...between the ride up and down....we skied from about 2:30 until almost 5pm....Granted my wife is not the fastest skier yet, but some of these intermediate runs are as steep as any east coast double black diamond, so I was SO proud of my wife for hanging in there and not getting rattled by anything we took her down
Absolutely awesome day! Really got a sense of what skiing in Europe was like on this day....It is really a different experience!
We went home, showered, then Alex got us reservations at some place I forgot the name of......Whatever it was...it was in town on the Bahnhofstrasse
and we were having cheese fondue...sounds good to me.
I have never had cheese fondue that I can recall.....wow, this was truly amazing....Alex ordered us FOUR of these pots...which was probably like 3 times what we needed, but you can never have too cheese in my opinion...
we mopped up all 4 pots using every piece of bread, meat, potato we could find......then finally at the bottom you get to the crust....not THAT was like a religious experience!
Went home in a cheese coma and to bed
So the run down was something like 6+ miles...between the ride up and down....we skied from about 2:30 until almost 5pm....Granted my wife is not the fastest skier yet, but some of these intermediate runs are as steep as any east coast double black diamond, so I was SO proud of my wife for hanging in there and not getting rattled by anything we took her down
Absolutely awesome day! Really got a sense of what skiing in Europe was like on this day....It is really a different experience!
We went home, showered, then Alex got us reservations at some place I forgot the name of......Whatever it was...it was in town on the Bahnhofstrasse
and we were having cheese fondue...sounds good to me.
I have never had cheese fondue that I can recall.....wow, this was truly amazing....Alex ordered us FOUR of these pots...which was probably like 3 times what we needed, but you can never have too cheese in my opinion...
we mopped up all 4 pots using every piece of bread, meat, potato we could find......then finally at the bottom you get to the crust....not THAT was like a religious experience!
Went home in a cheese coma and to bed
Pöstli Stübli and I swear that cheese is still digesting… 🫠
When we get to a flat spot and @2Julianas or I give him a tow, we ask the same questions 😂
Day 4....
On this day @2Julianas suggested we hike....It was really cloudy and while I'm always down to ski more, seemed like it would be interesting. So we took our time getting ready, then walked into town.....First time was a shop so allison and I could by spikes for our shoes.....Then we started off the hike with a scenic tour thru old zermatt....
Then we headed up the mountain on this trail above Zermatt.....the spikes were money here....you can see the train line in the distance that takes you to the Gornegrat
Something about hiking in Switzerland....you just feel like that little cartoon character from the price is right....Like I needed to be yodeling while carrying a pick axe
eventually we went over a bridge...thankfully it was an actual bridge and not like some of the super sketchy temple of doom bridges that also exist around zermatt
So after 6 miles of hiking in the snow we made it to the stafelalp....which is this beautiful restaurant that is technically on the ski hill. The food at this place was ridiculously good....
Alex, Mark and Allison were drinking this hikers tea....not sure what was in it, some kind of alcohol....I thought it tasted god awful, but they seemed to like it
After our tea and some fries we put our spikes back on and talked the ~6 miles back.....one short bit we hopped on the gondola down for.....but that was probably the longest hike I have ever done, I think anyway.
From there we went back to the supermarket....one of the different/interesting things in all swiss food store that I saw....holy hell....do you like cold cuts? Maybe the way you make a sandwich in Switzerland is rather then bread, you use meat...so its meat, with meat inside?
Then we went home and watched a German CSI show.....German to me is not like Spanish where I can figure out like every 4th or 5th word and kinda get a since of what is happening....German makes no sense to me at all...but thankfully we had Alex sitting with us for live translations.
On this day @2Julianas suggested we hike....It was really cloudy and while I'm always down to ski more, seemed like it would be interesting. So we took our time getting ready, then walked into town.....First time was a shop so allison and I could by spikes for our shoes.....Then we started off the hike with a scenic tour thru old zermatt....
Then we headed up the mountain on this trail above Zermatt.....the spikes were money here....you can see the train line in the distance that takes you to the Gornegrat
Something about hiking in Switzerland....you just feel like that little cartoon character from the price is right....Like I needed to be yodeling while carrying a pick axe
eventually we went over a bridge...thankfully it was an actual bridge and not like some of the super sketchy temple of doom bridges that also exist around zermatt
So after 6 miles of hiking in the snow we made it to the stafelalp....which is this beautiful restaurant that is technically on the ski hill. The food at this place was ridiculously good....
Alex, Mark and Allison were drinking this hikers tea....not sure what was in it, some kind of alcohol....I thought it tasted god awful, but they seemed to like it
After our tea and some fries we put our spikes back on and talked the ~6 miles back.....one short bit we hopped on the gondola down for.....but that was probably the longest hike I have ever done, I think anyway.
From there we went back to the supermarket....one of the different/interesting things in all swiss food store that I saw....holy hell....do you like cold cuts? Maybe the way you make a sandwich in Switzerland is rather then bread, you use meat...so its meat, with meat inside?
Then we went home and watched a German CSI show.....German to me is not like Spanish where I can figure out like every 4th or 5th word and kinda get a since of what is happening....German makes no sense to me at all...but thankfully we had Alex sitting with us for live translations.
THATmanMANNY
Well-Known Member
Aw this is so cute. This makes me want to ski with Mrs which I'll give a 0% chance. Thanks for your time for the share
Well switching gears a bit.....
So it has now been 18 months since my ankle injury.....Last year I spent half the year getting back on my feet, the other half being mostly lop sided from all of the muscle atrophy that came with being 1 legged for 4 months. In the fall I decided to find a specialist in muscle imbalances since I was having major hip pain and my ankle would still not bend. This was not something my insurance would not cover, so it was a bit of a leap of faith. But I worked with this guy 3 times a week for a month figuring out how bad I was jacked up and the best way to fix it. He gavae me a number of static and dynamic stretches to do every day, and a few different gym routines that had alot of focus around fixing my hip and imbalances. After 6 months of doing this, I feel MUCH MUCH better....my ankle has finally stopped hurting and I feel like it bends at least as good or bad as it did before.
So last June, if I tried doing a squat, I looked like this....
This June, I can now do this....I mean, ok, still not great, but much much better
Anyway, I really felt totally off with regards to riding my bike last year.....Not only with one leg being weaker, but just my ability to ride downhill. My right leg would get tired very easily and I ankle would bend over forward causing my tow to point down. So I was just all kinds of jacked up and not feeling like myself.
So now that im feeling better, I was looking forward to the Glen Park ESC. Especially since this was going to be my sons first ever real enduro race. I got him a fancy new bike this year and he has been really flying with it. Bob is kinda meh on racing....He gets the pre race butterflies...which I mean after racing cars, motorcycles and bikes for 30+ years now...hell I still get them. So I get it, but I really wanted him to try it at least....So since Bob does jujitsu usually at least 3 days a week...I had heard of something that Helio Gracie had used on his son to get him to enter a competition.....He offered him $5 if he won, $10 if he lost...The point being...just try it, nobody cares how you do. So I made this offer...(prices adjusted for inflation of course) and I got him on board with the idea. We did some pre riding at Glen Park and I even got him to ride the meat report line
Which is probably the hardest thing you might ever see in a glen park race. So I was REALLY stoked to be doing my first race with him.
But then unfortunately he got a little too sendy at creek a few weeks ago and broke his arm. 🙁
While I fully anticipated this happening eventually, I was hoping not before the race. Anyway, he's totally fine about the crash, didnt seem to bother him in the least.....Since he broke both his helmet and his neck brace, I let him pick out any new helmet he wanted....Of course he picked out a Troy Lee D4 and didnt go cheap on me lol.
So with bob out for the race, I guess I didnt have any excuse for not having a good day....I was going to have to prepare...And I if I am going to spend $100 to race an ESC, im not going to just show up and whatever, wing it. Plus I got @Meatball Mia who is just DYING to beat me in one of these races....and this isnt like the old days where I could put a minute plus on her at a race....Now shes doing jumps and faster than ever. We did some pre ride laps together and while I never power thru the pedaly sections when I pre ride, I could not shake her anywhere anymore.
I did my usual prep for the race....for me that is just learning the course and getting the bike dialed....I probably do this to the detriment of my legs, but whatever. I swapped out my DHX2 coil for a X2 fox this week and I needed to get it all dialed and set right, so took a little extra time.
ready to go...swapping out the coil for the x2 took almost a pound off the bike
They made some notable changes in the course and while there is only so much "new" you can make Glen park...it was certainly the most new I have ever seen it since I started racing there. Most notable was on stage 1 where you you would typically drop right into this high speed flowy section....which is great fun...but to start a race with it...I find it hard to go from sitting for hours, to "ride the fastest you have ever gone on loose dirt" in a matter of 1 second. For me, ideally, I would LOVE if I could do two stages before the race to warm up, then start the race...I would do better.
Heres the new bit of stage 1....now its a super slow start and a whole bunch of off camber and fresh cut for the first minute or so
The race:
So I actually got a somewhat early start time this year at 10am...usually they don't start us old people until like 11 or later....which means, you get your chip at 11, pedal to the top, so thats like 11:20....then you wait in line...so you might actually start at 12:00. Its a really LONG day. I met up with @zrg_mtb on the start of the climb and we ended up riding together for the whole race. Which is great...its always nice to have a good traveling partner in an enduro...outside of the maybe 15min you are actually racing, the other 2 hours...its nice to have someone to just ride and bullshit with. And Zach is like me...I don't like to stop...down and back up...maybe not fast, but just steady. Plus I also know Zach is a better rider than I am, so if he goes first, there will be no chance I catch him during a stage.
I got out of the gate on stage 1, and right away...I just feel like im not moving...Its just a slow awkward start with this new off camber stuff...I get thru it and finally most of the fresh cut stuff....onto the pavement....sprinted across, but I am just feeling slow and a little disconnected....I got back in the woods and finally im feeling a little better...Im riding fine, but the entire stage I just had this feeling of "you are moving TOO SLOW!" This often happens to me on stage 1....its when i would be most likely to make a big mistake, so I find I ride too conservatively. I made it thru fine, but just felt slow.
Stage 2....this stage was very long for glen park....I hit it once in my pre ride without any hard pedaling and came back with 4.5 minutes...for GP, that is an eternity. It has a couple of flats and one actual uphill...which I love...more uphills I say! Then it has a totally new fresh cut section with a good bit of off camber hillside. I wanted to really nail this one....Pedaled hard right out of the gate....first 2 or so minutes of this stage have a ton of sections where you need to throw in short out of the saddle bursts.....by the time I got to the hill I was really gassed, but put my dropper up.....spun maybe 10 pedal strokes or so to start it, then really exploded out of the saddle as hard as I could to the top. From then on, several steep fast turns into the new loamy stuff.....felt slow, but I got thru it cleanly...Made it to the finish....Felt pretty good about that one, last bit of it is a really tight section in rhododendrons where you can really see ahead of you very much...so its kinda easy to hit something
Stage 3: This one would I thought would be the shortest, and in the end, it actually was. Now I was really feeling good...I felt like I nailed all of the turns...There were a couple in this stage that are abrupt that I will unclip and try to drift thru.....got thru all of those really nicely i felt...then headed to the meat report line where the photographer got this pic....which I looked at and thought....( I have ridden that line ???? 50times...100 times)....there's a tree there? huh, ok.
Got thru the meat report line without issue...met up with Zach at the bottom...As we were sitting there chatting we heard a giant crash that sound like a bulldozer just knocked half the forest down.....Thankfully, we then heard a voice stating that they were ok. The meat report line will take its flesh! No its not that hard, but if you carry speed into it, its very easy to fuck it up.
Stage 4. I really love this stage.....very fast, few really fun steepish sections....this cool rock feature up top that you ride over, thru, then jump off of....oh and I was able to call ahead on this run and arrange my heckling crew to have the chainsaw and booing ready ready
That was also me totally botching the left hander
But that turn aside, run was good.
Stage 5....also really fun...especially the twisty section...
Got thru the turns pretty cleanly and once again got heckled in the rock garden....I could hear the chainsaw from quite a ways away, and its really the best sounds you'll ever hear in bike racing
I actually hit that section really good...for me on that one...I can tell when im carrying enough speed to actually jump the log at the end. Got the turn after pretty well, sprinted to the new fresh cut stuff.....the end was a bit blown out and I rode it upclipped and drifting...but all good.
I'd say in all, a clean race. No real big mistakes, just times where I wished I was going faster.
After everyone came in, I wound up 4th of 24 in my class
Really is crazy how close these races get....on stage 2, I ended up beating Tim by .001 seconds....thats crazy shit. My stage 1 was really my downfall....if I just cleaned that up a little, the rest of my stages were in the "noise" I think. But this all comes with racing more, and quite frankly I have done all of 2 races in the past year and a half, so im kinda rusty. Anyway....what I was happy about is that for the first time in a VERY long time...I kinda felt like my old self again. Ok, im not as strong as old, XC peak utah, (especially since I dont train anymore) but I feel like im riding my bike about as well I as ever have.
Oh I did end up beat @Meatball Mia but this time only by 23 seconds...(WHEW!!!!) which is by far the closest she has ever come to catching me...and for me...that was my best ESC race, certainly the closest I have ever been to winning one...so I don't think im any slower, shes just getting faster and faster.
Thanks to the heckling crew for all of the boo'ing and chainsawing....it was quite enjoyable.
So it has now been 18 months since my ankle injury.....Last year I spent half the year getting back on my feet, the other half being mostly lop sided from all of the muscle atrophy that came with being 1 legged for 4 months. In the fall I decided to find a specialist in muscle imbalances since I was having major hip pain and my ankle would still not bend. This was not something my insurance would not cover, so it was a bit of a leap of faith. But I worked with this guy 3 times a week for a month figuring out how bad I was jacked up and the best way to fix it. He gavae me a number of static and dynamic stretches to do every day, and a few different gym routines that had alot of focus around fixing my hip and imbalances. After 6 months of doing this, I feel MUCH MUCH better....my ankle has finally stopped hurting and I feel like it bends at least as good or bad as it did before.
So last June, if I tried doing a squat, I looked like this....
This June, I can now do this....I mean, ok, still not great, but much much better
Anyway, I really felt totally off with regards to riding my bike last year.....Not only with one leg being weaker, but just my ability to ride downhill. My right leg would get tired very easily and I ankle would bend over forward causing my tow to point down. So I was just all kinds of jacked up and not feeling like myself.
So now that im feeling better, I was looking forward to the Glen Park ESC. Especially since this was going to be my sons first ever real enduro race. I got him a fancy new bike this year and he has been really flying with it. Bob is kinda meh on racing....He gets the pre race butterflies...which I mean after racing cars, motorcycles and bikes for 30+ years now...hell I still get them. So I get it, but I really wanted him to try it at least....So since Bob does jujitsu usually at least 3 days a week...I had heard of something that Helio Gracie had used on his son to get him to enter a competition.....He offered him $5 if he won, $10 if he lost...The point being...just try it, nobody cares how you do. So I made this offer...(prices adjusted for inflation of course) and I got him on board with the idea. We did some pre riding at Glen Park and I even got him to ride the meat report line
Which is probably the hardest thing you might ever see in a glen park race. So I was REALLY stoked to be doing my first race with him.
But then unfortunately he got a little too sendy at creek a few weeks ago and broke his arm. 🙁
While I fully anticipated this happening eventually, I was hoping not before the race. Anyway, he's totally fine about the crash, didnt seem to bother him in the least.....Since he broke both his helmet and his neck brace, I let him pick out any new helmet he wanted....Of course he picked out a Troy Lee D4 and didnt go cheap on me lol.
So with bob out for the race, I guess I didnt have any excuse for not having a good day....I was going to have to prepare...And I if I am going to spend $100 to race an ESC, im not going to just show up and whatever, wing it. Plus I got @Meatball Mia who is just DYING to beat me in one of these races....and this isnt like the old days where I could put a minute plus on her at a race....Now shes doing jumps and faster than ever. We did some pre ride laps together and while I never power thru the pedaly sections when I pre ride, I could not shake her anywhere anymore.
I did my usual prep for the race....for me that is just learning the course and getting the bike dialed....I probably do this to the detriment of my legs, but whatever. I swapped out my DHX2 coil for a X2 fox this week and I needed to get it all dialed and set right, so took a little extra time.
ready to go...swapping out the coil for the x2 took almost a pound off the bike
They made some notable changes in the course and while there is only so much "new" you can make Glen park...it was certainly the most new I have ever seen it since I started racing there. Most notable was on stage 1 where you you would typically drop right into this high speed flowy section....which is great fun...but to start a race with it...I find it hard to go from sitting for hours, to "ride the fastest you have ever gone on loose dirt" in a matter of 1 second. For me, ideally, I would LOVE if I could do two stages before the race to warm up, then start the race...I would do better.
Heres the new bit of stage 1....now its a super slow start and a whole bunch of off camber and fresh cut for the first minute or so
The race:
So I actually got a somewhat early start time this year at 10am...usually they don't start us old people until like 11 or later....which means, you get your chip at 11, pedal to the top, so thats like 11:20....then you wait in line...so you might actually start at 12:00. Its a really LONG day. I met up with @zrg_mtb on the start of the climb and we ended up riding together for the whole race. Which is great...its always nice to have a good traveling partner in an enduro...outside of the maybe 15min you are actually racing, the other 2 hours...its nice to have someone to just ride and bullshit with. And Zach is like me...I don't like to stop...down and back up...maybe not fast, but just steady. Plus I also know Zach is a better rider than I am, so if he goes first, there will be no chance I catch him during a stage.
I got out of the gate on stage 1, and right away...I just feel like im not moving...Its just a slow awkward start with this new off camber stuff...I get thru it and finally most of the fresh cut stuff....onto the pavement....sprinted across, but I am just feeling slow and a little disconnected....I got back in the woods and finally im feeling a little better...Im riding fine, but the entire stage I just had this feeling of "you are moving TOO SLOW!" This often happens to me on stage 1....its when i would be most likely to make a big mistake, so I find I ride too conservatively. I made it thru fine, but just felt slow.
Stage 2....this stage was very long for glen park....I hit it once in my pre ride without any hard pedaling and came back with 4.5 minutes...for GP, that is an eternity. It has a couple of flats and one actual uphill...which I love...more uphills I say! Then it has a totally new fresh cut section with a good bit of off camber hillside. I wanted to really nail this one....Pedaled hard right out of the gate....first 2 or so minutes of this stage have a ton of sections where you need to throw in short out of the saddle bursts.....by the time I got to the hill I was really gassed, but put my dropper up.....spun maybe 10 pedal strokes or so to start it, then really exploded out of the saddle as hard as I could to the top. From then on, several steep fast turns into the new loamy stuff.....felt slow, but I got thru it cleanly...Made it to the finish....Felt pretty good about that one, last bit of it is a really tight section in rhododendrons where you can really see ahead of you very much...so its kinda easy to hit something
Stage 3: This one would I thought would be the shortest, and in the end, it actually was. Now I was really feeling good...I felt like I nailed all of the turns...There were a couple in this stage that are abrupt that I will unclip and try to drift thru.....got thru all of those really nicely i felt...then headed to the meat report line where the photographer got this pic....which I looked at and thought....( I have ridden that line ???? 50times...100 times)....there's a tree there? huh, ok.
Got thru the meat report line without issue...met up with Zach at the bottom...As we were sitting there chatting we heard a giant crash that sound like a bulldozer just knocked half the forest down.....Thankfully, we then heard a voice stating that they were ok. The meat report line will take its flesh! No its not that hard, but if you carry speed into it, its very easy to fuck it up.
Stage 4. I really love this stage.....very fast, few really fun steepish sections....this cool rock feature up top that you ride over, thru, then jump off of....oh and I was able to call ahead on this run and arrange my heckling crew to have the chainsaw and booing ready ready
That was also me totally botching the left hander
But that turn aside, run was good.
Stage 5....also really fun...especially the twisty section...
Got thru the turns pretty cleanly and once again got heckled in the rock garden....I could hear the chainsaw from quite a ways away, and its really the best sounds you'll ever hear in bike racing
I actually hit that section really good...for me on that one...I can tell when im carrying enough speed to actually jump the log at the end. Got the turn after pretty well, sprinted to the new fresh cut stuff.....the end was a bit blown out and I rode it upclipped and drifting...but all good.
I'd say in all, a clean race. No real big mistakes, just times where I wished I was going faster.
After everyone came in, I wound up 4th of 24 in my class
Really is crazy how close these races get....on stage 2, I ended up beating Tim by .001 seconds....thats crazy shit. My stage 1 was really my downfall....if I just cleaned that up a little, the rest of my stages were in the "noise" I think. But this all comes with racing more, and quite frankly I have done all of 2 races in the past year and a half, so im kinda rusty. Anyway....what I was happy about is that for the first time in a VERY long time...I kinda felt like my old self again. Ok, im not as strong as old, XC peak utah, (especially since I dont train anymore) but I feel like im riding my bike about as well I as ever have.
Oh I did end up beat @Meatball Mia but this time only by 23 seconds...(WHEW!!!!) which is by far the closest she has ever come to catching me...and for me...that was my best ESC race, certainly the closest I have ever been to winning one...so I don't think im any slower, shes just getting faster and faster.
Thanks to the heckling crew for all of the boo'ing and chainsawing....it was quite enjoyable.
So I got (2) 2nds, (1) 3rd, (1) 4th... Then 7th on stage 1 which really hurt.... Tim put 13 seconds on me on that stage, the rest we were less than 1 second apart
Dave Taylor
Rex kwan Do
Nice work dude!!
Well switching gears a bit.....
So it has now been 18 months since my ankle injury.....Last year I spent half the year getting back on my feet, the other half being mostly lop sided from all of the muscle atrophy that came with being 1 legged for 4 months. In the fall I decided to find a specialist in muscle imbalances since I was having major hip pain and my ankle would still not bend. This was not something my insurance would not cover, so it was a bit of a leap of faith. But I worked with this guy 3 times a week for a month figuring out how bad I was jacked up and the best way to fix it. He gavae me a number of static and dynamic stretches to do every day, and a few different gym routines that had alot of focus around fixing my hip and imbalances. After 6 months of doing this, I feel MUCH MUCH better....my ankle has finally stopped hurting and I feel like it bends at least as good or bad as it did before.
So last June, if I tried doing a squat, I looked like this....
View attachment 240301
This June, I can now do this....I mean, ok, still not great, but much much better
View attachment 240302
Anyway, I really felt totally off with regards to riding my bike last year.....Not only with one leg being weaker, but just my ability to ride downhill. My right leg would get tired very easily and I ankle would bend over forward causing my tow to point down. So I was just all kinds of jacked up and not feeling like myself.
So now that im feeling better, I was looking forward to the Glen Park ESC. Especially since this was going to be my sons first ever real enduro race. I got him a fancy new bike this year and he has been really flying with it. Bob is kinda meh on racing....He gets the pre race butterflies...which I mean after racing cars, motorcycles and bikes for 30+ years now...hell I still get them. So I get it, but I really wanted him to try it at least....So since Bob does jujitsu usually at least 3 days a week...I had heard of something that Helio Gracie had used on his son to get him to enter a competition.....He offered him $5 if he won, $10 if he lost...The point being...just try it, nobody cares how you do. So I made this offer...(prices adjusted for inflation of course) and I got him on board with the idea. We did some pre riding at Glen Park and I even got him to ride the meat report line
Which is probably the hardest thing you might ever see in a glen park race. So I was REALLY stoked to be doing my first race with him.
But then unfortunately he got a little too sendy at creek a few weeks ago and broke his arm. 🙁
View attachment 240303
While I fully anticipated this happening eventually, I was hoping not before the race. Anyway, he's totally fine about the crash, didnt seem to bother him in the least.....Since he broke both his helmet and his neck brace, I let him pick out any new helmet he wanted....Of course he picked out a Troy Lee D4 and didnt go cheap on me lol.
So with bob out for the race, I guess I didnt have any excuse for not having a good day....I was going to have to prepare...And I if I am going to spend $100 to race an ESC, im not going to just show up and whatever, wing it. Plus I got @Meatball Mia who is just DYING to beat me in one of these races....and this isnt like the old days where I could put a minute plus on her at a race....Now shes doing jumps and faster than ever. We did some pre ride laps together and while I never power thru the pedaly sections when I pre ride, I could not shake her anywhere anymore.
I did my usual prep for the race....for me that is just learning the course and getting the bike dialed....I probably do this to the detriment of my legs, but whatever. I swapped out my DHX2 coil for a X2 fox this week and I needed to get it all dialed and set right, so took a little extra time.
ready to go...swapping out the coil for the x2 took almost a pound off the bike
View attachment 240309
They made some notable changes in the course and while there is only so much "new" you can make Glen park...it was certainly the most new I have ever seen it since I started racing there. Most notable was on stage 1 where you you would typically drop right into this high speed flowy section....which is great fun...but to start a race with it...I find it hard to go from sitting for hours, to "ride the fastest you have ever gone on loose dirt" in a matter of 1 second. For me, ideally, I would LOVE if I could do two stages before the race to warm up, then start the race...I would do better.
Heres the new bit of stage 1....now its a super slow start and a whole bunch of off camber and fresh cut for the first minute or so
The race:
So I actually got a somewhat early start time this year at 10am...usually they don't start us old people until like 11 or later....which means, you get your chip at 11, pedal to the top, so thats like 11:20....then you wait in line...so you might actually start at 12:00. Its a really LONG day. I met up with @zrg_mtb on the start of the climb and we ended up riding together for the whole race. Which is great...its always nice to have a good traveling partner in an enduro...outside of the maybe 15min you are actually racing, the other 2 hours...its nice to have someone to just ride and bullshit with. And Zach is like me...I don't like to stop...down and back up...maybe not fast, but just steady. Plus I also know Zach is a better rider than I am, so if he goes first, there will be no chance I catch him during a stage.
I got out of the gate on stage 1, and right away...I just feel like im not moving...Its just a slow awkward start with this new off camber stuff...I get thru it and finally most of the fresh cut stuff....onto the pavement....sprinted across, but I am just feeling slow and a little disconnected....I got back in the woods and finally im feeling a little better...Im riding fine, but the entire stage I just had this feeling of "you are moving TOO SLOW!" This often happens to me on stage 1....its when i would be most likely to make a big mistake, so I find I ride too conservatively. I made it thru fine, but just felt slow.
Stage 2....this stage was very long for glen park....I hit it once in my pre ride without any hard pedaling and came back with 4.5 minutes...for GP, that is an eternity. It has a couple of flats and one actual uphill...which I love...more uphills I say! Then it has a totally new fresh cut section with a good bit of off camber hillside. I wanted to really nail this one....Pedaled hard right out of the gate....first 2 or so minutes of this stage have a ton of sections where you need to throw in short out of the saddle bursts.....by the time I got to the hill I was really gassed, but put my dropper up.....spun maybe 10 pedal strokes or so to start it, then really exploded out of the saddle as hard as I could to the top. From then on, several steep fast turns into the new loamy stuff.....felt slow, but I got thru it cleanly...Made it to the finish....Felt pretty good about that one, last bit of it is a really tight section in rhododendrons where you can really see ahead of you very much...so its kinda easy to hit something
Stage 3: This one would I thought would be the shortest, and in the end, it actually was. Now I was really feeling good...I felt like I nailed all of the turns...There were a couple in this stage that are abrupt that I will unclip and try to drift thru.....got thru all of those really nicely i felt...then headed to the meat report line where the photographer got this pic....which I looked at and thought....( I have ridden that line ???? 50times...100 times)....there's a tree there? huh, ok.
View attachment 240313
Got thru the meat report line without issue...met up with Zach at the bottom...As we were sitting there chatting we heard a giant crash that sound like a bulldozer just knocked half the forest down.....Thankfully, we then heard a voice stating that they were ok. The meat report line will take its flesh! No its not that hard, but if you carry speed into it, its very easy to fuck it up.
Stage 4. I really love this stage.....very fast, few really fun steepish sections....this cool rock feature up top that you ride over, thru, then jump off of....oh and I was able to call ahead on this run and arrange my heckling crew to have the chainsaw and booing ready ready
That was also me totally botching the left hander
But that turn aside, run was good.
Stage 5....also really fun...especially the twisty section...
Got thru the turns pretty cleanly and once again got heckled in the rock garden....I could hear the chainsaw from quite a ways away, and its really the best sounds you'll ever hear in bike racing
I actually hit that section really good...for me on that one...I can tell when im carrying enough speed to actually jump the log at the end. Got the turn after pretty well, sprinted to the new fresh cut stuff.....the end was a bit blown out and I rode it upclipped and drifting...but all good.
I'd say in all, a clean race. No real big mistakes, just times where I wished I was going faster.
After everyone came in, I wound up 4th of 24 in my class
View attachment 240343
Really is crazy how close these races get....on stage 2, I ended up beating Tim by .001 seconds....thats crazy shit. My stage 1 was really my downfall....if I just cleaned that up a little, the rest of my stages were in the "noise" I think. But this all comes with racing more, and quite frankly I have done all of 2 races in the past year and a half, so im kinda rusty. Anyway....what I was happy about is that for the first time in a VERY long time...I kinda felt like my old self again. Ok, im not as strong as old, XC peak utah, (especially since I dont train anymore) but I feel like im riding my bike about as well I as ever have.
Oh I did end up beat @Meatball Mia but this time only by 23 seconds...(WHEW!!!!) which is by far the closest she has ever come to catching me...and for me...that was my best ESC race, certainly the closest I have ever been to winning one...so I don't think im any slower, shes just getting faster and faster.
Thanks to the heckling crew for all of the boo'ing and chainsawing....it was quite enjoyable.
Great recap and long enough i wonder if it is AI
If it was AI I would have at least come in 2nd