Weekend Warrior

It doesn't take a whole lot for Chels to upstage most all of my blog posts, but the video she put together for the last post pretty much takes the cake. So, sorry to hit you up with some mundane sled shots from as far back as last weekend, but too bad, not every post can be creative Chels posts.
Shots from sledding up Pritchard Creek in the Snake River Range. We were riding over sagebrush and dirt down low with the big melt on.

High above the Jackson valley. You can see some of the lower south facing hillsides prematurely loosing their snow.

On top of the divide looking into the imposing Indian Creek drainage. Everywhere we were riding was part of the local heli ski operations terrain. They charge $950 for a day, we got it for the price of a fill up of the sled ($20)! I rode with the pilot for the heliski operation, so, he was essentially the encyclopedia of knowledge for that area.

What, snowing? No, couldn't be. Our last storm came in January.

Looking back at the big bowl that we played around on for hours.

Late is better than never, right?

A little while back I started thinking about what a great year 2009 was and how much we did, but I almost couldn't remember it all. So, I decided to do a video montage to sum it up, something we could watch over and over to just smile and reminisce over.

I managed to sum up our whole year in 13 minutes and if you saw us last year, you are most likely a star...check it out. Hope you like!

For my new business, Eleven 30 Design, I am including videos as part of my services. If you are local to Jackson, I can take video footage and photos of an event (birthdays, anniversaries, parties) and make it into a take-home DVD for you to enjoy forever.

If you are not local, I can still design a family documentary-style film for you! All you have to do is send me your videos and photos and I will do all the hard work for you! Just think of the memories you can share with friends and family in a grandparent-friendly format, a DVD you can just slip into the VCR! If you are interested, please email me at, eleven30design@gmail.com for more details.

View more Eleven 30 Design videos here.

And ENJOY!

Tele Date

Chels and I had a date on Sunday skiing at the Village. It is the only day every week that we get to ski together unfortunately, so, it always becomes my favorite ski day of the week.
It was close to 50 degrees, the sun was out, it was slushy, spring skiing at its best.

Me searching for a line not too badly littered with rocks in the Expert Chutes

Chels is a damn good tele skier! She has a blast doing it, but seems to never have enough time to fully devote to dropping knee. Next year I am pushing hard for her to get some new, stiffer gear to better charge on.

This kiss if for you Spring and Daylight savings, because we love you!

A week in Casper, WY

I got the pleasure (ha ha!) of spending the last week in Wyoming's largest town, Casper (60,000) for work. I was there learning an interviewing technique called "Motivational Interviewing." It is a technique of interviewing that social workers, therapists and law enforcement are all now starting to use to help better elicit material from clients.

Having spent a week in Cheyenne for work in the fall, I never thought I would say this, but I would rather spend a week in Cheyenne than in Casper. Regardless, both have some nice attributes, however, suffice to say, it was awesome to get back home to the friendly, mountainous confines of Jackson on Friday night!

This is a shot of Casper Mountain. There is a ski area, snowmobiling, and x country skiing opportunities just 10 minutes out of town.

I was excited because they didn't have much snow and the weather was nice enough to run outside for the first time this year.

One of the nights I was there I met up with one of my favorite kids I have ever worked with, Craig Wilson who is from Casper but went to school in Jackson for a few years. Craig is a high functioning Autistic guy who never fails to have everyone in a room laughing. I worked directly with him for 3 years and was so stoked to hear from his mom that he is doing really well with his adult life there in Casper.

The last night I was in town I managed to catch the start of the Wyoming State Basketball Championships. It was at the Casper Events Center just up the road from the hotel I was based out of for the week. The Jackson Broncs boys and girls team both won their opening games on Thursday night!

Jackson lady Broncs en route to a win over Torrington.

Jackson Broncs hit the court before beating Wheatland.

Thank A Mom

Check it out guys, when you pledge to say, "Thank you, Mom," P&G will donate $1 to Team USA for Team USA athlete training! Go say Thank You right now!

You are the best, Mom! Love you!
thankyoumom.com

Spring?

If it isn't officially spring yet, Mother Nature has sure done a good job fooling us. It has been SO nice out this last week (that is if you have resigned to the fact that winter is over)...temps have been in the 40's and the snow is slop and don't tell anyone, but I think I am kind of liking it.

Self-portrait on the chair. I have to admit, I love skiing by my lonesome sometimes.

Took the tele-skis out of hiding this weekend and almost forgot how much fun I have on them and how much I actually enjoy a little leg-burn!

This lone flyer has the right idea, I think I want to try that one day. Throughout the year, but especially in the spring and summer, Jackson Hole is littered with paragliders who ride the gondola or tram up the mountain with their chute packed in a giant backpack and then they lay it out on the mountain, start running or skiing down the hill until it fills with wind and then they are off!

Aahhh...I love it here.

Anyone want to visit?

So this weekend the Village seemed extra crowded and Trev and I couldn't quite figure out why. We figured maybe everyone just decided to come skiing because it was beautiful and sunny and warm out, it seemed like spring had arrived and people were loving it. Then I saw this...

Aha, that could be the reason.

Buy two tickets to Jackson Hole and get two free for March travel!
Damn, that is a good deal. Anyone want to come visit????

Even more tempting is the end of the season line-up, the last weekend of March, the 27th-28th, is the time to come.

Not only is that Trev's favorite weekend of the year the Snowmobile Hill Climb up Snow King (admittedly, very fun to watch)...

There is the Pole Pedal Paddle event which is a fun group relay event (or you can do it on your own) consisting of a downhill ski leg, a nordic ski leg, a biking leg and a boating leg.

But...it is also the Mountain Festival at the Village which means an awesome free concert (Michael Franti and Ozomatli headlined the last two years) and this year, it's Grace Potter and the Nocturnals!

So who's up for it? See you at the end of the month?