Sometimes when you come to a stop your legs feel like wet noodles and your feet hurt so much you don’t want to stand anymore.
Then you look back at the mountain side you skied…
Saturday, 26 January 2013
Wednesday, 26 December 2012
Ski Touring – Jones Pass
I’m in the midst of my move to California and using the it as a way to visit friends and family. My first stop was Boulder to see Mike and Katie. With winter almost in full swing there we planned for a couple days of skiing. Day 1 was at Arapahoe Basin where only a few runs were open on man-made snow. While not the best skiing I have had, it was the first turns of the season, so one can’t complain!
The bitter cold put a slight damper on things and we found ourselves in and out of the lodge to defrost. But, hey… great to be back on skis!
The next day there had been some snow in the mountains and we decided to work for our turns off I-70. After a leisurely start we headed up to Jones Pass for a few hours of skinning and skiing.
Sunday, 23 December 2012
Saturday, 31 December 2011
Skiing at Sierra Nevada
I took my camera along for the ride as I spent a few days skiing at the Sierra Nevada ski resort near Granada. I was observing at the IRAM 30m radio telescope, which is conveniently located in the middle of the resort, making access for skiing about as easy as it gets. I was able to spend three mornings skiing towards the second half of my trip, and although the snow conditions left something to be desired, I had a lot of fun at Europe’s southernmost ski resort. Here are a few of my favorite pictures.
There are more photos in the Skiing in Spain set on flickr.
Wednesday, 28 December 2011
Sometimes you just need to go out and do it
The past month has been packed full of work. I am certainly not complaining, I picked it. But sooner or later most people (myself included) need a break. Sitting in the telescope control room on Christmas Day, I realized I was reaching that point. With 4 more days of observing ahead and the travel home, a work-free day would take a bit of time to materialize.
One perk of this particular observatory is that it lies right in the middle of a ski resort. There’s even a lift that goes right to the telescope. In anticipation of some work-free daylight hours, I had hauled my skis across the ocean. But the first half of our observing run was during the day (radio telescopes aren’t limited to nighttime like optical telescopes).
The day after Christmas was also full of observing. We were collecting good data, but I occasionally got to peek out the window at the ski resort.
I was feeling the pull of the snow and the need for a short break. But, the lifts would close just as our our observing session ended at 5pm. So, out of luck?
Fortunately, I had brought my alpine touring gear along (in case the lifts closed due to weather and I had to get back to the telescope!). So I had the equipment to ski down a run and then climb back up it, but would I?
