Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Life in the Fast Lane

Wow, does the time fly. I can't believe how fast the time goes not just by the minute but also by the day and year. As we just celebrated my daughter's 5 year birthday with a party of her fiends here at my house I reflect back through some of the years. Not only the time with her but also with my son and and all other friends and family. How the memories are great and I reflect on how blessed I have been through the years. I look forward to the many many more years that I have to make more memories!

Some recent memories of lately are being out in the mountains and have included some great adventures here in South West Montana, my other travels have been good too but the best ski days so far this year have been here in snowy Montana. Too many things to recount so I will try to highlight a few events that really made this year a great one so far; Incredible skiing in Middle and Beehive Basins in the Big Sky Backcountry including skiing the 4th of July Couloir in early January, skiing near waist-deep powder in the Big Couloir, thigh deep first tracks in the North Summit Snowfield, skiing with 18 Mountain Goats in the Lost Lake Cirque, getting first tracks in First Fork of the Headwaters Bowl, Straight-lining A-Z chutes and Bert's Main at Big Sky Resort and more. Some other great moments of this year so far would be ripping around on the new Icelantic Nomad RKR (my new fav ski!), SIA, Winter on the Rocks at Red Rocks, CO, hanging with Erick of Atmosphere out and about in the big city of Denver, and of course skiing with my kids and Briahna's 5th birthday!!

As with all things there are the pro's and con's to life and some of these con's have been losing some of the greatest people in the ski industry this season to the other side. Please everyone be very very careful out there this season the snow is incredibly variable so please use your heads and come back alive so us as your friends and loved ones can enjoy life's greatest moments together! Thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by these tragedies!!

I highly recommend getting knowledge of backcountry travel and not expect your equipment to keep you alive only smart decisions can do that!

For the most innovative of Avalanche Survival Tools check out Mystery ranch Backpack: BlackJack Avalanche Air-Bag at  http://www.mysteryranch.com/recreation/skiing-snowboarding-packs/blackjack-pack.