AccidentalChef

Nice brain, Kimo. Too bad they wouldn't let you keep the extra piece. I would have complained more; it's your brain, after all.

Wow, highlights... too many to list this year. Late December: My first real day on hardboots, if you can call it a real day. Just went up to the mountain to help out a couple friends who got snowboards for Christmas. Made my first real toeside carve on the last run of the day, and was completely addicted. January: Another day at Loveland, then a trip to Jackson Hole for MLK weekend. Epic? Just look at the car in our condo parking lot after 2 straight days of snow. Also, on Monday when the snow stopped, my first real heelside. February: Took most of the month off because of a mild knee injury in January, but met up with the Loveland crew towards the end of the month. In addition to making some good friends, they taught me how to actually link my carves. Also, folded the nose on my Alp. That felt good. March: More riding, more improving. Got a Prior WCR Metal 187 for my birthday, way too much board for me at that point, coming from a Burton Alp 163. Did a week in Utah. Bola sent me out there with a Dupraz, which I used on two good powder days. Couldn't give the Dupraz back to Bola. April: Breckenridge and Keystone at the beginning of the month, first consistent decent turns on the WCR, partly because of trying softer bindings. Got my Loveland season pass, and spent the rest of the month there meeting most of the local hardbooters and getting even more comfortable on the WCR. Learned to love how fast that board is. May: End of the season at Loveland, and I rode 3 days. Friday, May 2, it was dumping, and the Dupraz got a workout. My first day on softies since the '90s, too. Saturday, some practice softboot carving, which helped me learn to initiate turns more with my ankles. Sunday, end of the season. I was so worn out that I didn't get too many runs in, but the bbq afterwards was worth the trip for sure. Ok, I guess there weren't too many to list. I got in 23 days this year, and I can't complain about it. I wish I'd had a pass the whole season, instead of just the end, but I only paid full price for lift tickets 3 days. Next year, I want to hit 50 days, and keep improving my carving. One of these years, I need to be able to keep up with the rest of the loveland crew.

Not quite beer, but they're now making a 100 proof version of 1800 silver tequila. I want to stress how bad an idea this is. Common sense should have told me before I bought it that tequila was strong enough, and stronger tequila isn't necessary. Instead, I wake up in the morning, still a bit tipsy, with an epic headache. Stuff tastes great though.

Thanks for the support guys. Kind of amazing how these guys truly become part of the family. Even if you don't live with them for years, losing them hits you pretty hard. I'm glad my mom has another dog and a cat to cheer her up a bit, or I'd really be worried how she'd deal with it.

I don't remember the hops, I just remember the overwhelming sweetness. I'll give it another try this summer, my local shop carries it.

I'm a huge fan of both Stone and Dogfish beers... Probably my two favorite American breweries. I like everything Stone makes (especially the oak aged Arrogant Bastard), and everything Dogfish makes... ...except the 120 minute IPA. I've only tried it once, and I plan on giving it another shot, but I felt like it was really unbalanced. I tried it out of a couple different glasses, and just didn't get what the big deal was. I found it overly sweet, so much so that the hoppiness was almost completely missing. The sweetness probably comes from having to add sugar to get the alcohol content so high, since there's not enough in the grain. The alcohol content wasn't obvious, but that may be the only good thing I can say about it. Hate to say it, but I was really disappointed by that one. If you want to try some really high alcohol beers that are a bit better, try a couple from Avery. They've got 3 beers in the 15% range that I know of. Mephistopheles is a monster stout that changes drastically in flavor with even small temperature variations. Pour it cold and drink it slowly as it warms up for the full experience. Samael is amazing as well. It's oak aged, and doesn't really taste like what I expect of beer. If you can imagine, it tastes more like a carbonated mead made of caramelized honey. I'd serve it as a dessert beer with creme brulee. The third of their monster beers is The Beast, a belgian style. I didn't care for it at all, I found it unbalanced like the 120 minute. At $7 for a 12 ounce bottle, I don't drink those much, but it's a treat when I do.

Technically, my mom's dog, I guess. We got him when I was 13, so I still consider him mine. His name was Dante, he was an Italian Spinone. He was the best dog I've ever known, even if I am a bit biased. He stopped eating and drinking two days ago, and my mom had to have him put to sleep today. It's pretty tough for me, so I can't even imagine what my mom is going through. On the plus side, we know he lived a good life. He was loved, not just by my family, but by everyone who knew him. His groomers liked him so much, they'd offer to take care of him for free when my mom was out of town. The average life expectancy for a Spinone is 8.7 years, and next month would have been his 15th birthday. I know I should be happy for all the time we had with him, but it still feels like losing a friend.

Looks like Friday will be my day up there this weekend. I've got friends in town, so my schedule isn't as flexible. If we can move things to Sunday, I'll definitely meet up with you guys. In any case, I'm just hoping I remember how to turn after a month without carving.

I was just doing some google searching for trails in Denver I can ride around on and get used to the bike and the clipless pedals. Any ideas what are some good ones I could check out? Something with a few hills here and there would be nice, so I can get the legs working a bit more.

I've got company in town this weekend, so biking is out for me. That's probably a good thing, though. I'm trying to ride as much as I can around here, plus do some running and swimming, to get my lungs working reasonably well. I've also got to pick up either a couple water bottles and cages or a camelback as soon as I can so maybe I can actually enjoy more of the ride. Maybe I'll be ready for a slightly smoother and mellower ride a week from Sunday. I gotta admit, all those rocks sticking up out of the trail on Apex made me a bit nervous, with such limited recent experience on a bike.

Gecko, I agree with your list completely, but I'd like to add Gin to it. Life is way, way too short to drink gin.

Awesome ride, even though I was hating life the last 5-10 minutes before the top of the trail. I'm in a lot less pain today than I expected, but then I slept over 12 hours last night so maybe that had something to do with it. Can't wait to get out again, though hopefully a slightly mellower trail next time. It's gonna be a couple of days before I can sit on the saddle (or anything else) again without wanting to cry, though. :o

Damn, sorry to hear that. That was my excuse for cracking open this bomber of Arrogant Bastard.

The final is Abstract Algebra. That class should be renamed Pain and Suffering 101. Man, I thought I was good at math until I got to this one... Email sent to you though the forums.

Congrats on graduating. The end is finally in sight for me, and now I'm thinking about picking up another major and staying in school a bit longer... then I think about how many snowboards I could buy with what I pay for just one quarter at my school, and I wonder if maybe I should just take my diploma and run next year.

Mountain biking sounds awesome. Not sure if I could make it though, mainly because I don't have a bike. I've also got probably the nastiest final exam I'll see in my college career on Monday. Rough weekend, this one.

Allee, Have gone on any trips through that company before? There are some that look absolutely amazing.

I just finished my last day of regular classes of my junior year... I finish my math major next spring, and could even conceivably graduate a year from now. To celebrate, I cracked open what is possibly my favourite beer... Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. Mmmm, the nectar of the gods, right there. And if you're wondering about my spelling of 'favourite', my spell check dictionary somehow got switched to British English, so I've decided to just run with it.

Looks like I'll be up there one day that weekend. I've got a friend flying into town for the occasion, to get one last day on the slopes. Not sure what day I'll be there yet though, but I'm sort of tempted to go Friday to try to avoid the crowds. Also tempted to go Sunday to close the season, but one day is going to be my limit.

Beer pong is most definitely a sport.

I've got a PS3 and HDTV setup, and would love to test it out with this. Can't wait for the final release, especially if it's coming on Blu-Ray.

Oh man, just got back into town and saw this thread. I just met Kimo at Loveland, really cool guy. Kimo, get well soon. I wish you the best possible recovery from the surgery, and the fastest too. Good vibes heading your way.

Oh, I forgot about the tele hippies. Never mind about it being a good day :lol:

Loveland was amazing today. I had a permanent smile the entire day, which usually turned into uncontrollable laughter by the end of each run. I was starting to worry I'd seriously overslept and it was next January. Anyone who can make it to Loveland this weekend should do it. Should be some hardbooters up there the last two days.

Epic day at lovey today... absolutely epic. I rode the dupraz with softies, and it was just dumping snow all day. I'm too stoked for words. If I can recover my legs I'll be up tomorrow, too. Should be some amazing snow all weekend.