BACK TO THE ROOTS, FOR A DAY.....

Somewhere up on the East Wall in Radly conditions

We all have very special places that we like to call home, some of us have great summer homes on lakes, some of us have beach houses in exotic lands, some of us have shacks in the woods of the Carolinas. I have Arapahoe Basin, The Legend, the place I just feel at home everytime I go back. After spending 14 years skiing every inch of the place, everyday of the ski season, it just makes me smile to go back, and have everything be the same and familiar, including some of the old "crew". And the beauty of Arapahoe is the more brutal the weather, the more I love skiing there. Big wind is the Basin's friend, and it's the skiers friend who braves it, for when you find the APs, which are all over the mountain, you have found skiing bliss. To top it all off, with ice cold temps, the mountain skied like it was February today, April 30th. It dumped and blew and was bitter ass cold, perfect. Pali was insanely good, Gauthier does not ski better. But the oober treat was the East wall being open both from the Lenawee gate as well as the stairway up Willie's, which drops you off close to 13,000 ft if you take er to the top, just like the good old days. The hike and the skiing still have me smiling, for you can feel no more alive than I felt today. The same steep ass hike, the same rock outcroppings from 28 years ago, the same buttery turns coming down, and the same smile I had when I was a young man skiing the same freekin lines. I love Arapahoe Basin, and I hope it felt some soul while I was there feeling young again today. Awesome. Damn it was a good day. Unreal skiing and so good to see OLD friends.

Sitting tight in a cool zone in foul weather.
Did someone say something? The wind was RIPPIN.


40-50mph winds with heavy snow? PERFECT. I've been told there is an idiot born every second, well, I guess I was that guy when my second came up, but damn this was fun.

Pretty high pooh factor on the otherside of this, you CAN'T fall in here.

The drive home was fairly entertaining on Vail Pass..