More from Aspen!

Did I mention that there is a cambro of coffee for the employees in the locker room and lots of computers with free internet?
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Aspen Mtn the next morning with about 6" of fresh. On our way to the early AM clinci with Kip.
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Starting the clinic.
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Megan and Shannon find Pow!
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Kip, the man with a plan!
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We played a great game on perfect courderoy called "bullshit!". Ski behind someone and when you see them out of balance say "bullshit!" and they have to shuffle their way through the rest of the turn. Its a great way to feel how out of balance you are. Next, call it out at random different points in the turn to see if the skier has to make a move to be able to shuffle. If they do, they are out of balance! Nothing like a group of instructors in uniform skiing down the hill yelling bullshit at each other!
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Kip watches Shannon make her turns. Did I mention the lovely Lady Shannon skis like a rock star??
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Every once in a while, you meet a coach whom you would be willing to give everything you have to every day all day. This man is one of them. Squatty, we love you!
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Shan on the top of Aspen Mtn.
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Early morning at Aspen Mtn.
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Happy Valentine's Day! These three (Heff, a bunny and their valentine skied in the NASTAR race in costume!)

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more pics in a minute!

In which Spuhler tries to break Kate

I got to train with Josh yesterday! Guess what he made me do? Ski in North Bowl with my eyes closed. I'm not kidding. Then we skied with our eyes closed on a side hill and tried not to get sucked into the fall line. We skied Flippers, and a bunch of other fun stuff. From what Josh said, it sounds like I am on track to have a good crack at the 3 if I keep working hard. Whew!

HOT DOG.

Yesterday, after skiing with this cutie in the morning (Sierra RIPS her little parallel skis...) I fulfilled a skiing dream! I know that sounds silly, because lots and lots of people do this, and do it well, but I skied Super Coular at Bridger Bowl, and I felt confident and happy in it. It was FUN! Thanks, Jeff A. for taking me in there!!

I spent the rest of my training time trying to stay ahead of Doug Monger, who was right behind me going "loodle doodle doodle!" really loud as we skied non stop laps down Abelan's, a very steep pitch off the Bridger chair. Every time we got on the chair, I had to pound my fists into my thighs to try and get the lactic acid out, they were numb by the end of the day. All in all, a spectacular day of very sweaty blue bird skiing.

Aspen really IS extreme!

Shannon and I spent the most amazing week in Aspen. I am DYING to write all about it, but my schedule is insane!! Here is a photo album look at the incredible experience of Aspen.



Driving through Wyoming on the way to Aspen. It took 21 hours for us to get there after skiing through our Level 3 Prep at Moonlight Basin for the three days prior!

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Sleepin in the van...

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about 100 feet from Megan's house on Red Mountain we had to put our chains on. Aspen apparently hasn't had a winter like this in 30 years.
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The view from our bedroom that night. That's the town of Aspen and Aspen Highlands across the valley. We watched the cats groom the slopes from our bedroom.
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The beautiful and talented Cindy Lechtenburg who broke her elbow and couldn't ski with us. Thanks for the tickets and for going out with us, Cindy!!
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Megan adjusts Shannon's bindings on her new AC 4's. Thanks for the skis, Megan! You ROCK!
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Then she tried to adjust mine, but they wouldn't come loose... "KENNY!" We need a big strong man.

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"Don't worry, Kate, these bindings are really durable!" as my binding falls apart on the snow...

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Cat Ride to the bottom of the Bowl hike at Aspen Highlands. EPIC!

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In the Cat
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Hiking the Bowl for the first time at Aspen Highlands. All runs are double black up there.
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Megan Tops Out
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Kate Tops Out
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Shannon tops out
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At the Fundeck, a great spoof on the membership only Sundeck at Aspen Mtn.
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At the very tippy top in a total white out. The view is really fabulous, I promise! From here we skied a 1000' 42 degree pitch called G4.

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You gotta dress right if you are gonna work at Aspen. This is Reiley. He rocks the high fashion. But he actually skis well enough to pull it off!
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Welcome to the best locker room in the industry.
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Shannon checking out the shower in the private women's bathroom in the instructor locker room. I kid you not.
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And the private women's restroom in the locker room...
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The ladies changing room...
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the locker room.
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yes, they have laundry.
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got the skis fixed! now we can ski like ourselves again.
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the next morning the view from our window was amazing...
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Thats the bowl that we hiked all lit up by sunlight! We could see it from our room.
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Shan and I got to join the trainer clinic at highlands, led by Squatty, one of the most inspirational coaches I've ever worked with. The man gets results.
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One of the many D team members working at Aspen, Andy Docken, joins the clinic. I was still skiing like an idiot all day.
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watching the short turns come down the hill in the trainer clinic. got an amazing tip from Reiley on how to do them, I'm trying to get him to send me a video clip for you of this super quick teaching progression. Ive never ever done more than three short turns in a row before that!
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A great example of leaning inside the turn vs. leaning into the next turn... although I am not sure this was the point of the exercise...
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We love this man!!
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that night we hit the largest hot springs in the world with Kurt, Cindy, Reiley, Tommy, Stacy and Shannon. Ahhhh...
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Hot Springs Coma...
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Stay tuned! More coming tomorrow.

Hard to Post at 100 mph...

Hi! So we have been going non stop for... I forget how long. Since the adventure women started. My email is stacking up. My REGULAR mail is stacking up! I got some great pics of the Level 3 prep, and today is the last day. I'll try to get the posts written tonight in the car on the way to Aspen, where Shannon and I are going to ski with Megan Harvey and Andy Docken of the D team for a few days. Ahhhhh... I also have a hop turn epiphany to share, but I need five seconds to sit down to write it down!!

In the few minutes that I have before they pick me up to drive to Moonlight, I want to say THANK YOU to Liat, who has coordinated all the babysitting, and who has been watching Ethan and Bodhi (who are both sick sick sick with a nasty chesty cough and low fever)and to Tom, who did the same, while sick himself. Tom also put me back together when I was so so rattled and freaked out by a strange tune on my skis, and I wouldn't have skied well at all yesterday if it weren't for that. Thanks, babe!!

More soon!

For Now This Will Have To Do!

I'm studying, so I don't have time to post all the amazing photos from the very VERY fun time that was my Level 2 test clinic, but let me put it this way: today, my first day back, I skied Test Face, Bull Chute, Exit Chute and a bunch more gnarly steep stuff AND I SKIED IT WELL!! (for me) YAY! I actually made linked turns! FINALLY! Steve Hill, you are a genius. Of course, at 3:45 after hiking up the high traverse four times, I skied Bronco face under the lift while the freakin' examiners were riding up and basically looked like a wet noodle on skis. BUT I DON"T CARE!! HAHAHAHAHA!

Here, you can see a picture of Steve and his incredible instruction in action:

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And this is what happens when Ski Instructors have prep clinics that overlap Fat Tuesday:

On the way to Red Lodge….

Superbowl 42 was happening while Randy Wall, Joe Newcomb and I were driving to Red Lodge for our Level 2 prep clinic. And we are thinking to ourselves, well.. at least we can hear the game on the radio. Of course, we get to Absaroka and loose the radio station with 3 minutes to go!

But we drove by the Chrome bar and errrrr! Pulled over to watch the last three minutes. Grabbed a beer and watched David Tyree bring what turned into the game winning catch for the New York Giants down on his HEAD! Unbelievable. Incredible. It got close, the Giants scored with 35 seconds to go, and the bar went INSANE. I guess it was full of Giants fans, no? We were pretty sure Tom Brady would make an amazing drive in the last 35 seconds, but five Hail Mary passes later… and the Giants win it. We were in the bar just long enough to drink a beer and watch the end, pee and get back on the road. What a game! WHAT A GAME!!

Stay tuned, fun and excitement ot the Level 2 prep clinic coming up!

Links to Red Lodge, Absaroka, Chrome Bar, Level 2, photo of Randy and Joe in the bar.

I didn't break my face!

So yesterday, after skiing really hard and seeing if I really could tip my ski over on its edge (wow, I don't think I've ever gone that fast and felt in control!), I skied down the cat track under Pierre's Knob chair. There is a little kicker jump on the cat track there, which I'd skied off four or five times that day, and something went weird, and I went off the jump and the next thing I remember, I was sitting cross legged in the middle of the run with no skis on.

I asked Alyssa, "am I bleeding?" and she said no, and then I asked her if I had all my teeth. Yes. Excellent. Apparently I did a big belly flop, landed on my chin to stop myself. Apparently I didn't skid or slide at all, just WHAM! Thank GOODNESS the snow was soft or I would have broken my jaw, a rib, and my right arm at least.

Today, my jaw is swollen and sore to open, and the rest of my body feels a bit like I hit a brick wall, but I feel okay, and I'm alive. Tom's kinda pissed, but we went to the Bozeman Hot Springs last night (after a course of ibuprophen, darvocet and beer), and then I felt MUCH better, so we gorged ourselves on sushi at Dave's in town. Ahhhhh...

Let the insanity begin, I leave for Red Lodge at 4 today for the Level 2 prep clinic!!