pcABQ

i have moved from denver to albuquerque, and i want to get out some info on carving from ABQ. 6 months ago i would have had trouble locating ABQ ona map; now i iive here -- quite happily. first item: ski sante fe. has a nice, local feel. no fast chairs. excellent grooming and solid carving. updates to follow.

First and last ABQ carving update. First, come on down anytime. Bring your mountain bike, because you can ride year round, and I live 1 mile from a trailhead. Bring a carving board, because ski santé fe has high quality carving. 2 lifts of 1500+ vert. local riding, 90 minutes from our house. Bring an all mountain set up – unless you are Kevin, of course – because if it snows we can ride some steep trees and you can huck yourself off some rocks. And bring a fast car, because the speed limit is generally 75, and I drive 65 – 90 mph every day, most any time of day. ** December 11. I was trying to meet Breaking Brad, possibly the only other carver in ABQ. Who knows. In the meantime, I went up the first lift with an older guy wearing a red POC helmet – same as mine – and riding some Atomic slalom skis. He had very little to say to me, snowboard trash that I am. His gang of skiers were hanging out skier’s left ¾ of the way down Gayway, a terrific intermediate run, well groomed, very carvable. I carved a heelside turn well away from them, but close enough to get their attention. One guy “clapped” with his skis poles as I went by. At the lift, Red Man said to me, “Nice Turns.” When I saw him at the lift next run he smiled and said, “Show off,” and we went up the lift together. This time he had a lot to say: he wanted to know all about the carving set up. At the top of the lift I said, “You should see my friends in Colorado carve turns.” Red Man: “I would like to see that.” So come on down. You've got a reputation already. pcABQ

always good to hear the news from loveland. keep carving!

greetings from ABQ. we are settling in, living in the SE near the foothills. bottom line: the ice hockey leagues are good fun (i'm subbing once / week or so), the mountain biking is great fun, the road biking is solid. the weather is hot, yes, but we have ample AC and sunscreen. My wife likes her job and my boy likes his school. all good. come visit. once you get past colo springs, it's a fast, easy drive. missing you folks. pc

i am moving to albuquerque this summer. my wife has a new job at sandia national labs, so we are heading south. i've had a pass at loveland since 1995, the year i moved to colorado, so it's been a good run - first, it's been great. carving with you guys is the most fun i have. thanks for tolerating me, mostly, and making all those turns together. second, if you have any links to any new mexico carvers, i'm interested. we will be an hour away from sante fe, and it appears there is some carving there. third, you always have a place to crash if you are in the area. cheers - pete cogan

thanks for the kind thoughts. this should be a solvable problem. make some quality turns for me -

i've got a thyroid issue, so my season is officially over. prognosis should be fine, but at the moment the doc said i'm a "time bomb." noted. it's been great fun, as usual. my advice to all: get the yearly physical. do the blood work. that's where they caught the problem. cheers -

knuckle draggers

hillB: "cold"? nice, yes. windy, yes. but far, far colder than "cold." at the very least, wicked cold.

full disclosure: i was playing monopoly, snowboard edition, with my boy, and i purchased vail. i'm still not going there -

yo marvin - ??? the parking lot was full, every chair on 8 was full, there was a line on 4 . . . i've never seen so many people on a week day at loveland --- (and it was still terrific)

i've been skiing with my boy at keystone -- "we take the fun out of skiing" -- but that could change next year. i'm ready to end the lessons there and avoid the madhouse that defines weekends at keystone (mid week it's superb carving).

will be at river run keystone, wednesday, 8:30, if anyone is interested / available for some AM carving

mario - can't wait to see the new ride. you are a high end guy -

Carver vs non-carver Had an altercation at Loveland, CO today with a competent skier, maybe late 20s, early 30s. He almost hit me from behind as I was carving across the hill. Blue sky beautiful day, no one but us on the trail (weekday riding), and I’m wearing my standard very orange coat for maximum visibility. His angle was that I was “taking up the whole goddam trail,” which I thought was interesting. I told him 1) the downhill skier always has the right of way, and I’m the downhill skier, 2) my board (coiler nirvana) is designed to go across the hill, just like some giant slalom skiers will carve across the hill, and 3) if it comes to a choice between bailing into the woods or crashing into him, “I will hit you and this board will go straight fucking through you.” That last comment didn’t help the conversation much, admittedly. I thought it interesting that carving across the hill was what made him angry.

kiteP - update on keystone? i can go wed AM if it's good - thanks.

my phone didn't register your name (somehow i screwed up) so i don't have your #, but you know who i'm talking to. about the flow bindings, i checked with my welding buddy and he said, "because the metal is most likely heat treated I am very wary of touching it. The liability isn't worth it."

saturday: opening lift 2 spread out the people. Lift one, esp richard's, was quality.

fascinating. thanks for posting. will be curious to follow this if other carvers use it -

some days you win

arne - i thought you were kitesurfing in TX. i should have checked your blog -

john e - don't look at the snow stake today, friday april 21. if you do, note that it is wrong: there was more snow than indicated. I was testing that new Sims board . . . (which i traded for a Sims Blade) . . . works fine in powder.

jay and i found 2 big eggs while hiking the ridge. the new ride is a Sims Juice, manufactured by Never Summer, 157cm According to one review: Carving ***, Jumps ***+, Pipe ***, Jibbing ***+ in other words, i'll be selling all those silly custom coilers and will now be riding exclusively in the pipe, dudes. Most importantly, this board matches everything i wear. my favorite easter ever.

"It could happen to any of us at just about any time." really? if i felt that way, i wouldn't be riding.