La Nina has been a cold nasty lady this winter…well, at least for the shredheads in B.C burrowing through their streets en route to the snow encrusted mountaintops. We in Aspen have had it lucky.  We haven’t had the slightest issue with parking in town or with having to decide if the furnace room or the fireplace is the best way to dry your ski gear. Yep, instead of shred outfit maintenance protocol or busy, snow filled parking spots, folks in Aspen – along with the entire lower 48 – have carried on spirited conversations debating which process is better in order to apply ample sunscreen to your sun-chapped face without sacrificing millimeters of the goggle tan.

But all that is about to change.  The storm pattern is dropping further south, the promise of La Nina’s sloppy, snow-filled kiss about to planted all across the Western U.S.  Places like Mt Hood, Oregon are about to find themselves bedding down with this moisture-laden lady for the better part of the week.  Even Aspen, with its beautiful 40F and sunny weather, might find itself blanketed with some new snow.

The Trewth is in the numbers

All I know, is that it is time to start the van up again, see if she runs, and prepare for the biggest winter of storm-chasing I’ve ever known.

Recently, I had the pleasure of joining Angel Collinson, Re Wikstrom, Grant Gunderson and some homies from the Backcountry.com media team on a road trip through the Southern Utah desert.  We rallied the TatsVan, packed full of gear from the Backcountry.com warehouse, and after a few pit stops for photos and pie, we set up camp outside Boulder, UT.  The next few days included hikes to waterfalls and slot canyons, where we posed like really good-looking monkeys for the multitude of camera lenses all vying for the shot.  Our nights consisted on pass-the-whiskey-handle and jokes around the campfire; one night was a little rainy, so the TatsVan hosted one its most epic parties as the desert monsoon drizzled out the campsite.  All in all, it was a solid trip, and I have to thank Angel, Re, Grant, Sam, Josh, and Brenda for such a memorable experience.

The whole trip was filmed, so there will be a series of road-trip, back-to-school videos posted in the Backcountry.com email letters over the next month.  Click the picture below to visit the website and add your name to the email newsletter.  Cheers!

I think I passed a future version of myself on I-70 today en route to SLC for some spring skiing. I have always threatened my friends and family about buying a bus and retrofitting it to both live in and transport the nefarious ski bums and river rats I meet along the way. However, that dream has been placed on the back-burner, and the TatsVan has continued on as the road-trip vehicle of choice.

That is, until I saw this beauty on the open road.

There was a young woman driving the bus with her man standing and rocking out at 75mph down the highway. Awesome.

I sent this pic to my gf and her reaction?  ‘Can we live there?’ was her immediate reply. I love my life.

Good friends are what make the world go round. They are who inspire us to get outside and play. They keep us laughing and are worth more than any powder day. A ski bum’s friend is of the most generous and kind sort… probably because they’re ski bums too!

Some friends from the past couple of weeks:

Parker Olsen and Me. TREW Twins!

CollinK gets a little soul shine on the Aspen Mtn gondola.

Spencer & G.R. aprés at Willow Creek Bistro. $5 bbq pork sandwiches at the base of Highlands?! Yes, please.

Jerry rocking a T-shirt of his own creation. Radical!

Hobbsie, me, & pSewell in a foggy gondola.

Gettin digital with Digi Dave!

Anders and his hole. Digging deep for that snowmobile!

Parker and pSewell checking out the Spring Jam dates. 3rd annual FALLEN FRIENDS MEMORIAL this Spring!

Johnny Nicoletta schralping a turn. Found this pic at Hamilton Sports.

A bad elf chugging beer at a Bad Santa party.

Thanks for clearing the snow off the seat, Flor! 1A on a powder day.

Sharing is caring on a powder day.

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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.