March 2029, April 2, 2022
Happy belated Vernal Equinox, my fellow Earthers!
I hope you are ready for springing into seasonal activities. I am certainly ready to begin some gardening and maybe some extra outdoor activities like camping and some longer bicycle rides. After all, I do need to get some miles in to be ready for BRAN.
Prior to the arrival of spring, I was pleased to be able to spend some time with my friend Rich trying out some backcountry lite skiing with the good folks from Bluebird Backcountry, near Walden, Colorado. It is a beautiful area and doesn’t involve quite as many people and fees as the resort.
A trip of this magnitude is not particularly common for this curmudgeonly 50-year-old, so I will provide a relatively in-depth recap of the journey as I recall it. So make yourself a nice cup of tea and prepare to kick back and read in amusement and/or bemusement. Alternatively, you could just kind of skim a few of the paragraphs that seem most interesting.
Rich and I got a pretty early start with my old telemark skis and boots and a couple bags of luggage. On our way from Omaha to Steamboat Springs we stopped at A Taste of India restaurant at the Overton exit. It is a unique stop and one that I recommend. If you want to limit your wait time you can call in your order. Last time it took about 30 minutes from call-in time to food-ready time. The folks there are nice. I like everything I’ve ordered there except the malai kofta. They’ve also got some Indian grocery items for sale. Upon Rich’s realization that he did not have a swimsuit, we also stopped at the Ogalalla Walmart which had an excellent selection of swimwear. We also decided to stop at the Sportsman’s Warehouse in Cheyenne to buy some poop bags, based on Bluebird’s recommended equipment list. It is a nice establishment and one that I certainly recommend. There is also a Nepalese restaurant called Durbar in the same shopping center area that I look forward to trying at some point. We made it into Steamboat Springs by around 7 p.m. and went to How Ya Doin’ Pizza, right next to Storm Peak Brewery, which we enjoyed last time we were in town. I had a tasty pizza with a delicious combination of vegetables and a tasty brown ale of some kind. The next day we got up early, ate some oatmeal mixed with trail mix (great combo, except the peanuts didn't seem too harmonious) and headed out to Bluebird Backcountry whose pre-arrival directions indicated we should arrive about an hour early to allow time for getting rental gear, making sure our various passes were in order, etc. The road in to the basecamp area was relatively well-plowed and fairly easy to travel. But it was a dirt road with no gravel to speak of and just a few rocky and icy areas. My car is a 2014 Hyundai Accent.
Anyhow, we arrived and got situated, met our instructor – an affable fellow named Aiden – and chatted with Charlotte and Amy, who were also signed up for Backcountry 1. It was a beautiful day. Most participants seemed to have rental skis: I think it is what is referred to as an alpine touring (AT) setup with Dynafit bindings. Those skis were a bit wider than my old tele skis. However, I bought my skis back in 2005 or so, and I would be damned if I didn’t give ‘em a chance to do some climbing before it was all said and done! Well, they mostly worked just fine. I brought up the rear and fell down a few times on the downhills. No one seemed to mind and we had a good time learning the basics and even getting fed bacon by a very kind fellow from London who was manning the hospitality hut at The Perch area. I bought skis on the long side based on some kind of chart I found online back in 2009: 179 cm when I really do much better and feel more in control with 165 cm; however, I didn't know that back then and I liked the idea of more stability based on a longer ski. Anyway, after completing our course we were encouraged to tool around as much as we liked. I confided to Aiden that I was somewhat concerned about hitting a tree. He mentioned that we might want to take the direct route back down to the basecamp. However, he seemed pretty enthusiastic about a forested route called “The Shire.” So, after some “skinning” up onto a ridge we got to a slope that headed down towards The Shire where we were pleased to note our new acquaintances, Charlotte and Amy, calmly and assuredly navigating their way through the relatively dense trees. Their speed control was admirable and it did not look daunting in the least. That sets the stage for this video, which follows the trials and tribulations of two Nebraskiers making their way gradually back towards the basecamp.
So it wasn’t easy, especially for Rich who kept sinking into the snow down to his crotch. Mostly one leg at a time, but occasionally both. I also fell down and it was quite a struggle to get up due to the powdery nature of the snow which allowed you to sink in pretty easily. After a few of these types of incidents and some considering of the pros and cons, we applied our skins to limit our sliding and to improve our control. We eventually made it back to basecamp at around 3:40 where, it turns out, they liked everyone to be off the slopes by 4 p.m. My feet were a bit sore from pushing myself around most of the day, but I was generally feeling pretty good. Rich had a sore ankle and was clearly tired from digging himself out of the snow repeatedly, but still his usual upbeat self. Overall a great introduction to backcountry skiing.
The day had warmed significantly. The sun's warmth felt great while we were out there skiing; however, the road consistency had become pretty slippery and boggy in places. I watched a few vehicles get towed out by a patient, good-humored, and proficient Bluebird employee or possibly just a friendly frequent skier. Although that seemed like a good option for the Accent, I soon realized the Hyundai was not equipped with a tow hook/clevice or a front bumper that could accommodate a strap. I walked up the road for a ways and formulated a general strategy that I could summarize thusly: don’t stop, choose a good line, and stay out of the deep puddles. So, after coming to terms with this general approach, I planned on firing up the Accent and backing up to an icy area that was pretty flat and appeared to be pretty firm. However, my front tyres had found a slippery, icy depression that did kept me from achieving this modest goal. Rich pushed. Rich pushed again. A couple of beer-toting fellows walked past and affably returned my greeting. After it was agreed upon that my vehicle was not ideally suited to its current circumstances: “Sporty!” quipped one of our soon-to-be-saviors, our benefactors set their beers down in a convenient snow shelf and had at it. Repeatedly. There was a whole zone of icy hummocks. The Accent slid from side to side. She bucked. She whinnied. We (and by we I mean everyone who was actually exerting themselves, which did not include me) stopped, rested, and agreed upon a good line to get onto solid ground. Eventually, our team's efforts were rewarded! Rich and I profusely thanked these good Samaritans.
This whole time, I was kind of locked in on the road conditions and the exit. I had not realized that I hadn’t yet returned my expertly designed ski backpack with avalanche kit compartments. I say “expertly designed” because it seemed to have enough capacity for plenty of items (i.e., 70-oz Camelbak, heavy fleece, outside/stowable straps for helmet, several Clif bars) and yet didn’t extend laterally or vertically enough to interfere with my range of motion. I don’t recall even noticing the pack during my adventure. So I took it back to basecamp where the staff was undergoing their after-hours meeting/debriefing. I also chatted with an employee who helped solidify my strategy. His recommendations?: go fast on the straights and slow around the corners. He also provided two general options: 1) wait until the sun sets and things firm up a bit, or 2) if you go now, there will be many employees leaving soon thereafter so, if you get stuck, there will be some people behind you who may actually need to push us out so that we’re not blocking the road. Since we didn’t have any beer (I know, the shame is rekindled) or satisfying meal-worthy foodstuffs, I decided that option 2 was preferable.
So I gunned it! We made it through the early stretch with some moderate banging of the undercarriage on some mud and ice. I just picked my lines and punched it! Bam! Bam! Things got intense. Then they got real intense when I got to a soupy corner. I came in hot. I started sliding downhill to the outside of the turn, down into a soupy void/ditch. I kept the wheels turned, slowed a bit and then accelerated evenly as the car seemed to be sliding inevitably towards the muddy maw of the thawed road. Rich was ahootin’ and ahollerin’ either “No! No! No!” or “Go! Go! Go!”, which we did. The rest of the 2 mile course featured just a few more turns, which I took a bit more slowly and gradually, and a whole lot of rutted, puddly dirt which I hit pretty fast and tried to find the shallows. There were some impacts to the undercarriage, and some mud splashing every which way, but visibility remained and we eventually made it back to the highway! Huzzah!
We decided we weren’t going back the next day, even though I had imprudently purchased a 4-day pass. Dang it!
So, that evening we had a delicious meal and a couple beers at Dude & Dan's, a bar with some delicious gourmet menu items. A nice soak in the hot tub felt good that evening and the next day we were ready to hit the resort. First we watched a ski tutorial by Jens, which I highly recommend.
One $245 lift ticket and a $40 ski rental later and we were on the slopes! Although we hadn’t been out there for two years, I felt like my skiing had improved since then. Rich and I started on the greens, but finished up on some pretty steep and challenging-to-us runs. The last one we did was called “Heavenly Daze” and featured a beautiful view of Steamboat Springs below.
It almost looked like you could fall off the slope in some places and, defying gravity, perhaps with a slight boost from an updraft, plummet down into town. All in all, we had another great day and enjoyed some excellent, warm skiing conditions. There were just a few icy spots on Vertigo, but they weren’t bad: skiers in the eastern part of the U.S. probably wouldn’t even consider it worth mentioning.
Whilst enjoying the wintery sliding fun I mentioned the snow forecast in the afternoon to some of my fellow lift riders; however, they poo-poohed the potential precip, suggesting one to three inches. Indeed, as we were leaving Steamboat Springs, there wasn’t much more than a dusting. The same up by Rabbit Ears Pass. However, once we got down into the lowlands between Cowdrey and Laramie it got a bit icy and slushy. On the other hand, the visibility was poor, so there was that. Traffic wasn’t bad, and it seemed to have emboldened the local apex predators in the vicinity of the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest because we beheld a couple of healthy-looking wolves hanging around out in the pastureland. No, we didn’t get photos because we were too busy gawking and keeping my eyes on the road. A short stretch of Interstate 80 was closed, but we had a fairly easy detour just outside Laramie along Highway 210. We stopped in Cheyenne for some breakfast, but I didn’t want to stop to eat inside because the snow was wet, heavy, and piling up fast – not the Accent’s forte. So we drove on as I ruminated upon my Subway Veggie sub and cookies. The traffic along I-80 was a bit of a jumbled mess, with packed down snow, snow plows, as well as numerous truck trailers overturned and resultant lane closures. The snow gradually tapered off as we headed east. Somewhere between North Platte and Gothenburg we were pretty much snow free. A scraping noise from beneath the vehicle reminded me of the snow and ice: I figured it was probably some ice stuck in the wheel wells or something similar. Well, I guess it was, if you consider a broken, dragging undercarriage-protector something similar. I tore off the broken piece and stowed it in the boot (i.e., trunk). We stopped in Overton for some more Indian food (phoned it in this time to expedite the process) and that’s where I removed part of the undercarriage armour. Unfortunately, that piece was not a big part of the problem because, as we were leaving the Taste of India, the dragging sound persisted. I removed the rest of the undercarriage plate. This part was bigger, so I decided to lay it to rest in a handy Overton dumpster.
I’m not sure if I’ll replace that part, since I don’t drive on gravel roads much, but I’ll be sure to let you know how that all turns out. I guess it's called a "splash shield."
Here’s another thing I’ll let you know about: looks like there’s an e-bike shop that just opened down at 144thand F or so: Pedego Electric Bikes!
I was a bit surprised to see this impending business model, as I guess I always figured the e-bikes would just get incorporated into the existing bicycle/velocipede shoppes. But, I guess there is a potentially different demographic that doesn’t really care if it's associated with the traditional bicycling model.
No matter how you roll, we all can agree it’s the heart that brings you back. I ain’t telling you no lie.
May the road take you somewhere beautiful and/or may your engine be undamaged by debris/water/minimum maintenance roads.
Springly regards,
BSO
