Woa

In 1910, only 1/3 of all American children enrolled in Elementary school. In 1910 the male life expectancy was 51. In 1910, the first suffrage parade was held. In 1910, Morris, my great grandpa was born. Morris just recently passed away, less than a month shy of his 100th birthday, but I'm pretty sure that he is OK with that. He had the chance to go to college at a time when only 10% of kids graduated highschool. He lived through both world wars, ragtime, the prohibition, the evolution of film, and the invention of the model T ford. He read about the titanic real time in the newspaper, then saw the movie as an adult. His life was damn full and did 50 situps and 10 pushups every morning until the very end.

Here's to enjoying every moment to the fullest!

The Skiing Season is over

At least for me it is! Even though it snowed on me yesterday morning, I have transitioned to summer sports. I'm ready for long bikes, paddleboards and hikes through spring foliage. The only problem with my plan is that the spring foliage needs to bloom so that I can hike through it. The snow melting wouldn't be a bad thing either. Either way, even if I have to go back to mexico to find it, my summer has begun. First thing I needed to do was to put all my skis away for the summer. After a long spring season of skiing on dirty snow, I hotwaxed all my skis and put a layer of storage wax to keep the bases from drying up. While I was going, my entire family walked through the tuning room and decided that now was the perfect time to ask me a favor.


Finally done with all nine pairs of skis that my family used this winter, I am definitely ready for a trip back to mexico!

Lesson learned

The first day I was in Mexico, I forgot to reapply sunscreen to my back all day. The resulting burn is the worst that I have ever gotten and is pretty damn painful. Just last year my tennis coach and friend died from skin cancer, so even though this burn probably won't make a huge difference for me as it was my first peeling burn, I am definitely not going to let it happen again.


I've decided that UV rash guards are the way to go. I'll definitely be wearing one the next time that I am out on the water. C4 Waterman makes a really cool one that I hope to be sporting soon.

Happy Birthday Ben!!

For my brother Ben's 21st birthday, we went fishing with Jose in the morning. As soon as Gillian threw out the first cast, we knew it was going to be an epic day. Fight after fight, we reeled in more spanish mackerel. With 12 (palindrome for 21!) in the cooler, we called it a day. I really never want it to end, but a too short vacation is better than too long. After giving 6 fish to our captain, good fish in the freezer for a month or so will make the transition back to the real world a little less jarring. If only it would stop snowing in the mountains!

Here's a toast to a good trip, food and birthday Ben.

Salud!

Getting my feet wet

Now that the nausea has subsided from my local eatery, it is time to go back into the surf! Ocean paddleboarding is a whole different experience than lake and the new challenge is really a blast. The full body workout is super accessible and everyone had a blast even with the occasional splash. Every wave, I cam figuring out surfing more and more. I have successfully figured out how to arc on the wave and now I just wish that we could stay a whole month so I could really whip back and forth.

revenge

By Montezuma

I love being in Europe during the winter. Since it is the off-season, you get a local flavor that you just can't get during the heavy traffic season. The same is true in Mexico, and since it is right before rainy season, the beaches are almost devoid of other tourists. Unfortunately, Gillian and I got a little too into the local flavor and went for lunch where the locals eat. The food was good, but since it was a local's for locals stand, the water was normal tap water. I don't think I have slept for 20 hours in a long time!

Comida Espanola

Naturally, the foodie that I am, I have become momentarily obsessed with Mexican food. Right near the plaza there is a homemade ice pop stand with everything from ground coconut and water to yaka (a local acidic fruit). The chocolate and water bar is my favorite. Mexican chocolate has less sweet and more goodness than anywhere else I have been (including Switzerland) and the combination of the cinnamon and vanilla that they grind into the coca makes is extremely addicting. After a long day in the sun it is the perfect pick me up.

Room With a View

Now that my hands are all but minced meat from my new addiction to bouldering, it looks like I will give them a much needed break in Mexico! Believe it or not, with all the travel I do for ski racing, this will be my family's second vacation for a vacation's sake. We are renting the beautiful Casa Higuiera in Sayulita. I can't wait to drown myself in fish tacos and good surf!

WaSUP?

I have the best lunch routine ever. Except when I fall in.

I get an hour lunch break where I work, so I eat while I work then take my break paddleboarding on Boulder Reservoir. It refreshes me for the afternoon, especially the first time I went out when I fell into the 68 degree water. The looks that I got when I returned to work were priceless!

Switchin it up!

Every once in a while, I need to feel like a beginner again. Being dumbfounded at watching others make something I struggle with look easy is a centering experience. The small bursts of satisfaction I get when I copy a move (or a piece) that I studied from someone else is exhilarating. Then there is the point when I start getting fatigued enough where I start relying more on my technique than my brute strength. Those are the sensations that hooked me on telemark and now I hooked to a new sport: bouldering.

Yesterday, some of my friends from work took me out to the spot gym. It was one of those experiences where I was having so much fun that I forgot the time, how hungry I was and how much my arms were shaking. I didn't eat dinner until 8:30! If you know me, then you know it takes a lot to distract me from my food.

Since I'm still hooked even though I need to concentrate a lot more than usual to get my fingers to hit the right keys, I would say that I have another hobby.

Shopoholic

No need to be alarmed. I admit it. I'm a shopaholic, shop rat, and family handywoman. If something needs to be built out of wood, (I can put down a really ugly welding bead too) I'm the person to go to. The latest project is a buffet table for behind the couch. That, and impart some of my shop expertise to my dad. The problem with the latter task is that since I learn by doing, I don't know all the true names of any of the shop tools. So when my dad walks into the hardware store looking for the shaver thingy, you can blame me :)

My inspiration for the piece is to make it look like a really distressed table in some high alpine European bar/restaurant. We used pine from our cabin in Clark to add to the appeal. It took three days of drilling cutting and chiseling, but the table is ready to be distressed stained then sanded; repeat.

What would you do?

If you had magical sewing skills and all the latest jacket features at your disposal?

I had the chance to explore that at this winter's Outdoor Retailer show in Utah for outdoor industry newsletter, SNEWS. Check out the article and more here.

Powder Day in May

In Steamboat the only thing that April showers make is more snow!! There may not be any flowers here May 1st, but the snow was deep! My dad and I hiked Walton Peak to get a first look at the freshies. I would say it was deeptastic. The nicest part was by the end of the day, back in the valley, it was warm enough for shorts!