Loving the longer days...

Getting to the top of Snow King on my daily hike up there and having the sun still up after work is a very, very nice thing!

Early morning storming...

It seems like days and weeks can get away from you sometimes without you really realizing that you haven't done something in a long while that you love.  Des and I went up the pass early yesterday morning for a dawn patrol lap.  I hadn't been in way too long and as always, the conditions, the journey, and the workout were all top notch.  

Des, getting some sweet pow turns.

Winter has kicked it into high gear...

 It literally hasn't stopped snowing in the mountains since we got back from Europe three weeks ago!  We have received 11' of snow so far this month with more on the way next week.  Needless to say, the sledding and skiing has been unreal!  

Chels might be the only person I know who maintains the biggest smile ever while powder skiing.  It makes me happy to see this!

Yea buddy...

 Wednesday is almost over....one more day until scenes like this happen again.  Yes, so pumped.  

Me, sending warm snowpiles at 8,000rpm!

Kinda tough to see what is happening in this one.  Suffice to say, it was a three dude half hour plus dig out from the beauty.  My plan was to slide with the sled into the creek bed then hop on my inside rail once in the creek bottom then "give'r hell" aka, full throttle and come on out of it.  Well, I got the slide down a super steep slop into the creek bottom part of the equation, but after that, things didn't pan out.  Ooops. 

Thank You Presidents

 Four day weekends are the coolest!  I was pretty sled focused the past weekend with all the new snow.  Today it FINALLY got sunny.  It felt really good to get some Vitamin D and see more than two feet in front of your hood.  

We went up Cache Creek, of which, the trailhead is literally in town.  We dont ride it all that much as you tend to get a lot of nasty looks from the xc skiers, dog walkers, etc, but......, the National Forrest's motto is "Land of Many Uses", so, might as well make it happen.  It is a two minute drive from town to the above goodness.  

The rest of the weekend was a bit unusual for this time of the year in that we went "ALL THE WAY" up to what many see as the best place to ride in the lower 48, Togwotee Pass.  We normally only go up there early and late in the season as the drive is too far and we like other terrain better.  But...., it has been so warm in the valley of late that Togwotee was the only place high enough to not experience a rain/thaw cycle.  

Scuba Steve, no rain in sight!

 

 Drew snapped this one of me tonight up Cache Creek.  Deep pow, setting sun, good buds, ten minutes from town, unbeatable. 

 Laying squiggles.....

 It was super stormy early in the weekend up on Togwotee, so, we road close to the road at times to get definition. 

 Drew almost landed on top of me, and damn it, not even worth it, the shot was blurry!

The long way home...

 I think it took us the better part of three plus days to get from Kitzbuhel back to Jackson with stops in Innsbruck, Munich, Atlanta, and Salt Lake City.  Lizzy modeling in beautiful downtown Innsbruck. 

 Our last night in Europe we stayed in Munich and had the awesome opportunity to go what turned out to be an 8 hour dinner at the famous Haufbrau House.  It was a fitting end to a spectacular trip.  We ate lots of huge pretzels, traditional Bavarian food, and of course, sampled the suds that the HB house is world famous for. 

 WeisBeer, Das Good!  I last went to the HB when I was 16 years old.  It is just as I remember being, a gathering of fun loving people from all over the world having a good time.

 Our renegade crew, that once numbered 10 had been reduced to 4 by the end of the voyage.

 Downtown Munich.

Easily the biggest treat of the night was meeting up with our German buds Manni and Andrea.  We met them skiing in Kitzbuhel in 2009.  Proof that the world is very small, they have a second home in Victor, ID and we ended up hanging out quite a bit when they would come stateside for trips to the Jackson area.  They live in Munich and joined us for dinner and libations.  Such good peeps!  Can't wait to see and ski with you guys in Jackson in March. 

That's it.  That is a wrap.  Europe, man I really hope we come back to you again in the winter.  You are truly like no other place to soak in winter ski culture. 

Kitz....You rule.

 It literally snowed the entire time we were in Kitzbuhel which was pretty awesome.  It made for killer combo days of skiing ripping powder in the morning and then watching the best World Cup ski races in the afternoon.  Impossible to beat.  The last day of races will be one I salt away into the permanent memory books.  We ripped knee deep pow in the morn, watched the Super G in the VIP zone, then Timbo and I took the last gondola back up to the start of the DH to try and get on the course and have a look at it.  Not only did we get on the famed Hahnnenkam course, we got to ski it all by ourselves with boot top deep fluff against the b-net while it got dark.  One for the ages!

Me, towards the bottom at the most famous jump on the course which was blocked off for the DH due to lack of snow.  

 Timmy grabbing the bullet on the only mellow part of the whole course.  Like I said, literally had the holy grail of ski racing all to ourselves.  

 Lizzy ripping turns pre-race.

 Me, my skis, and a whole lotta respect for Marco and anyone else who pushes out of this start.  It's the real deal!!!

Timmy, the So Cal surfer showing his renaissance ways.

 

 Chels, the NorCal skitown babe showing us her ways.

 Timbo, waiting in a blizzard for the bus to show up in Going, Austria.  We stayed about a half hour from Kitz and took buses and trains to get to Kitz everyday.

 Adam, neck deep diving for the goods.

 Timmy on the bottom part of the course that was re-routed 5 days earlier due to lack of snow.  As you can see, it snowed a lot after they made that decision.  Note to readers, this section of the course is a massive fallaway that is normally so insanely sketchy!

Fellow JH's that we met up with. 

Kitzbuehel the Great: Europe Marco Rocks Tour Part Awesome

After St. Anton, we traveled on to Kitzbuehel, Austria, home of the famed Hahnenkamm downhill race. Yahoo, we made it to Kitz!!!

 

Katie, Adam, Trevor and Jason taking it all in as we walk through Kitzbuehel's maze of streets.

 

 

Finally glimpsing a view of the downhill in the distance

Up on the hill, the first thing you see when you get off the gondola is the start house...eeek!

  Hard to find anything on this stormy day, except...

 Powder!!!

 

Keelan bringing home a round of gluhwein, warm spiced wine, during our little ski break to watch the first run of the Kitz slalom from the lodge.

 

Second run of slalom was at night under the lights, so we hiked up the hill for some amazing views up close and personal. So fun to be this close and hear the gates whacking as the racers go by.

  Love the fans over here, I mean look at this crowd!

  

Catching up with Marco

 

Liz modeling our favorite street food...fried dough with sauerkraut! Yummmmm!!!

 

No shortage of meat to eat!

 

 

Downhill day...Marco Man making his Austrian debut.

 

Definitely everyone's favorite superhero!

 

Me and Trev soaking it all in in the finish of the Hahnenkamm.

 

Marco in the start! My brother is such a badass, so proud of him.

  

And this is what happens when an Austrian wins the skiing superbowl in Austria! Congrats to Hannes Reichelt with smoke bombs and flares galore!

 

 

People, people, people! 50k strong filling the streets of Kitz.

 

 

Liz and Katie holding on tight.

 

 

Oh, and Innerhofer recognized me in the finish from when we met him a couple years ago. Blushing. "Shhh, don't tell Marco" he says. : )

 

 

Also found Travis in the finish...congrats on an awesome 7th place finish. Tahoe representing!

 

Walking back to Marco's hotel with him after the race. Love my brother.

 

And watching the slalom portion of the Super Combined from the stands...another fun night race.

 

Trev and his Uncle Tim capping the night off right. Wow, Kitz you are crazy and wild and amazing. Nothing quite like it.