Skiing was Great today!

We woke up to some wind and 26 degrees.

Before we left the condo deciding a few runs at Keystone was going to do the trick, the temp had dropped to 17, and kept heading south for the time we were out.

Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow showers. Areas of blowing snow. Very windy. West winds 35 to 45 mph with gusts in excess of 80 mph above timberline. Temperatures falling into the 5 to 15 degree range by 5 PM.

Frostbite warnings for us, we both had a couple white spots that we took care of fast enough. 2 runs, one warming stop, and back to the condo.

Hourly Forecast	6AM	12 Noon	6PM	12 Midnight
Temp. | Dew Point	21 | 12	20 | 3	10 | 3	7 | -2
Wind	24 mph WSW	19 mph West	18 mph West	11 mph West
Humidity	64%	54%	70%	61%
Chance of Precip.	0%	70%	70%	10%
Cloud Cover	64%	51%	55%	13%
Conditions	Chance of Snow	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Clear
Sunrise & Sunset	7:24 AM 4:49 PM

Source: National Digital Forecast Database View Detailed Hourly Forecast

Calming for the evening:
Mostly clear. Very windy. Lows 2 below to 9 above zero. West winds 25 to 35 mph. Gusts up to 60 mph decreasing to 45 mph after midnight.

So Karyn and I headed for the Gym. She got her swim workout, and I went to the weight room. Just love that Copper Mountain req center.

Finally time for the red raspberry pie cookoff

We've been listening to Barb and Dad heckle each other for years about how good their red raspberry pies are. So we finally got a chance to have a cook off!

We showed up last night at Russ, Becky and David's place in Dillon for the event. Russ' friend Brian showed with his chips in tote and BPR in hand...

Russ filled in the blanks with Swiss Chard, Spinach and Gruyere Gratin. Here he is hard at work in the kitchen.

Time for the Pie! The competition was for standard red raspberry pie. Both options came with French Vanilla ice cream to top. Both were full crust top pies both fresh from the oven that afternoon.


Karyn kicked in a third option but did not compete for the top spot. She offered up Avocado cheesecake with Walnut and red raspberry sauce.
The damage was done. Dad's pie, nothing but scraps.
Barb's pie, nothing but shrapnel.


It was a great feast! Thanks everyone for contributing and especially to the competitors in the cook off!

The Twin's First ski day!

Sperry and Laura decided to take the twins out skiing.

I picked up some video, but didn't collect any from others for this clip.

Enjoy

Christmas dinner.... with the Smiths!

Since the snow at the hut was so poor we decided to go home and crash Christmas dinner at the Smith's house!

The Browns and Smiths have been sharing Christmas dinner together since Tucker was in Junior High (20-ish years ago). They were neighbors in Michigan and now have moved to Boulder. I had my first Brown/Smith Christmas dinner in 2000 (in Michigan!). So.... 12 Christmases later we have managed Christmas Eve or Christmas dinner together for 11 of those!
In true Smith style the neighbors were invited and everyone welcome.

Tucker and Catherine plated the turkey.

Catherine made gravy in Bill Brown's absence.

And, as traditions go, we went home with 2 new xmas ornaments for our tree!

Photo Card

Merry Christmas! If you haven't gotten the card... this is it!

Have a great holiday season!

Sparkling Snowflakes Christmas

Turn your favorite pictures into personalized Christmas cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Xmas Hut 2011

Merry Christmas!!!


As most of you know (maybe?)... we go to a backcountry hut every year for Christmas. We have been doing this for several years now.

This year we went to Fowler Hilliard Hut - which burned down in 2009 so this is one of the newest in the 10th Mountain Hut system.
It was VERY cold but a fun trip in! There hasn't been much snow though so we came out a day early (12/25). Tucker couldn't get his sled into the hut due to lack of snow so he turned around about 2 miles into the hike in to return home to get a backpack, :(

To our surprise he put his Jeep to work and met us about 1.25miles up the trail from where he had left us! I had my 'hut buddy'!!

He left the Jeep on the trail where he met us

and skied in the rest of the way with us (plenty of snow up high). We had great meals

and laughs and a puzzle......

There were great views.....
We took some pictures and left the hut early on Christmas morning...

Pheasant hunt 2011

Finally got some video editing working on my PC.

It has been cold...

Handsome is trying to get warm on the floor register...  it was 8 degrees outside.