Well, I have a whole backlog of stories to post from this past few weeks of Canadian, Utahan & Idahoan travel. But, here is a quick update from my last set of venues for the fall, right from the heart of an Arizona winter.

I had the opportunity to chat with Channel 3 news here in Phoenix about ski bumming, growing up shredding, and how everyone needs a ‘Wintervention’.  Enjoy!

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I always knew I’d make it to this point in my life, where my college loan-paying needs and ski bum desires begin to equal out.  Yet, while some things have drastically changed, many of my habits have grown quite well formed.  Years ago, when I began rafting, my only income throughout the calendar year was comprised of meager paychecks and saved tip money from the summer’s commercial raft trips.  Living more than part-time out of my van, I would thrive off of leftovers from the raft lot fridge and drink the free beer requisite of a chance swimmer or raft flip on one of the day’s trips.  Life was cheap, easy, and I found myself floating free, constantly forsaking bill payments in order to nest egg enough funds to keep the TatsVan on the road for another winter.

As the seasons changed, so did my spending habits.  No longer were the cheap eats and drunk; it was getting colder outside and winter was quickly approaching, rafting trips falling at the wayside as the temperatures dropped.  A long fall would drag on, with the brilliant burst of color the deciduous leaves bless upon the Roaring Fork Valley being the cheapest form of entertainment this ski bum could afford.  No more was the income for the year, and I was forced then to purchase food and booze on my own, perpetually stressed about the mountain of piling bills and no way to pay them.

Well, I finally did it…I stuffed my bandaged and padded toe into my ski boots and found myself skinning up Snowmass. At this point in the season, I am re-acclimating to mountain elevation after spending close to two months at sea level. It’s nice to breathe the fresh air up here in Colorado, but the air definitely felt a little thin upon my return.

Now, with a few days of skinning and skiing under my belt, I feel once again like the ski bum that won Powder Highway’s Ultimate Ski Bum contest. Snowmass has limited coverage, so it’s mostly groomers, but that just makes the ascent that much easier. Typically, I would go find some backcountry tours to mission, but the snowpack here in the Roaring Fork Valley is the worst its been in years. There are reports of a hoarfrost layer 13 inches deep. The worst part? …it’s the bottom layer in the snowpack, making things really unstable and scary.

So, inbounds touring has allowed me to get after it in a controlled environment and build my climbing/skiing muscles up for the rest of the season. I even had a great day skiing on Aspen Mountain with my good friend, Mike Glock, and his liftie co-worker Keith. We ripped around the mountain looking for whatever soft snow stashes we could find. But, due to my sad big toe (see previous blog entry), I’ve been relegated to my Agent AT alpine touring boots. They’re nice and soft for comfortable climbing, but a little mushy for inbounds lift accessed shreddage. This leaves my ankles a little worn out after a dozen runs, so I ended up calling it quits by 2pm.

Tomorrow, I will skin up Buttermilk with Jamie and then head over to Breckenridge for some Winter Dew Tour action. I will crash at the POC house, where some of the athletes will be staying.

It’s been a full two days since I received the best call of my life.  I was sitting at an early dinner in Irvine, CA with my mom.  She was planning on coming to the Warren Miller ‘Dynasty’ show we were playing on the UC campus, and we met up ahead of time to hang out and grub down at a café just across the walking bridge from the theater.  We ordered some turkey/avocado/chorizo sandwiches with side salads, and took our time to chat up a storm about all sorts of topics.

Trust me, I'm a ski bum.

Patagonia Half Mass Bag

Ever wonder how I manage to stay connected to the internet while Im on the road? Its all because of my Patagonia Half Mass laptop bag.

I carry so much equipment with me: laptop, external hard drive, helmet cam & mount, DC/AC power inverter for the car, etc. So its nice to be able to stow it all in a durable bag with clean design.

If you wanna be a ski bum, get this bag.

Click here to see what I do with all that equipment!