trent

always looking for new member bobd, glad you could join us! speedzilla, where are the picts? i didn't see them on smugmug. proof please. :D i'm guessing / hoping everyone and all equipment are undamaged. -trent

ugh, sucks to be back in mn! rode for 1.5 hours this morning with powell1.8. 4 inches of snowcone covering ice. not fun times. went down chair 2 one time, then we headed over to 7. the middle was ok, but the top and bottom were tough. buried the nose on 16 so hard that i ended up rolling a few times. i'm sure the chair loved the show! boy, do i hope it gets cold again, and soon. not really ready to have the season over. awesomo12000, good to meet you this morning! sorry we didn't get to chat, but i was on a very tight schedule. plus i was grumpy about how quickly the conditions have turned to junk. hope you had fun riding with all your friends. it had to be better than school! -trent

great picts in there dave! some good ones from the half pipe too. i see "coach joe" has had a fashion influence on the g-team kids. ;)

perfection! blue skies, nobody there, and exceptional grooming. not a ridge, nor a seam to be found. lookout was amazing! :biggthump i even went to the office at lunch to compliment the groomers. dan's dive rocked too, as did bakki and chicken. although with the snow this hard, bakki and chicken resulted in some major speed! only able to make pencil lines in the snow today. if you can, get out and ride! -trent

whoa! holy smokes erik!! great shot dave! i'm sure you crashed right after though... as it seemed at MES that you'd taken over the camera curse from bob! ;) -trent

ok, finally figured out a few songs that wouldn't get shut off. recycled one song. someone's got to tell me a better way of figuring out what's allowed, and what isn't. <iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="640" height="510" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/r8aaHr1mcvw" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe> -trent

the remainder of what i got. thanks again to everyone who came out to play! sorry if i didn't get anyone on camera. those that came late, i missed. sorry. looks like one of my rap songs flagged something on youtube and they disabled the audio. i'll see if i can find some other songs you've never heard. ;) see below for video, with music... -trent

here's the first half of the video i took. my camcorder was having lots of focusing problems i think due to the light that day. bionicman gets the speaking credit at 2:08. <iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="640" height="510" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/UFCQ6y-nVsw" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe>

joe managed to get 4 lift tickets yesterday! he texted me that he was on the chair at welch by 6, leaving buck at 8:15 (6 runs), and leaving hyland at 9:05 (1 run). what i want to know is... how bad did hyland seem after everything else? karl got the silver medal with 3 lift tickets! he hit hyland for g-team practice, then buck (where i'm sure he a joe crossed paths). i'm just happy i was the first carver on the chair and had first tracks yesterday. it's the small things that make me happy. ;) i'm not sore... but my stomach hurts! y'all need to eat more treats next year! i had one full container this morning.... let's just say there's only 4 left, and i haven't been sharing. oof. not feeling so hot right now. candy and playing in snow are my two addictions i'm unable to control. i too have video. had 45 minutes worth when i uploaded it, which seemed like a lot more than i thought. oh wait, there's a 15 minute black clip... left it recording, put on the lens cap, then put it in my pocket. brilliant! i'll try to get it edited and online soon. but most of the capture wasn't too hot due to the flat light. lots of focusing problems by the camera. @futahaguro - yeah, i tend to do the kill-you-face for the camera. otherwise you'd see my "oh, ****!" face or some other goofy look. i think i may have you eating it behind tom too.

thanks to everyone that was able to come out and play today! i think we had 23 people! glad i could convince tom, scott, bob, and greg to stay late and play in the lights. bob and i made it until 8:15, and the legs gave out. my adult beverage(s) were all the better in a cool glass. thanks to dave for the great design. :biggthump -trent

let's eat around 12:30. upstairs level in the main chalet (same place as usual). group photo after lunch by chair 2. for people not familiar with afton - chair 2 is some of afton's steeper runs. if you want more mellow terrain, while still riding chair 2, there are a couple options: heidi's playground (skiers far left off chair 2), is a blue run that has a top steep section, and then mellows out for the bottom 2/3; or straight off the lift will take you down a green run that merges with the bottom of heidi's, skipping the steep section; and belinda's bowl (skiers far right off chair 2) is a nice bowl. just stay away from the moguls on the left side of the bowl. if you have any questions, just wait at the bottom of chair 2 and ask the next carver you see. here's their map: http://aftonalps.com/map.php click on what kinds of runs you want to see. i was out this morning, and conditions were great. visibility sucked.... at least until there were some trenches on the hill. i could see much better after a few runs! chair 2 was good, some soft spots here and there. chair 7 was excellent. super smooth. that's all i had time to check out. snow guns were blowing on chair 3, by the moguls. hoping for the same conditions tomorrow, with more sun! -trent @mr. t - i knew you'd like it. don't you remember helping pick it out? you got the matching lavender one. heh. bring business cards. fillings will be pulled out and cavities made. chewy, sugary goodness.

here are the ingredients for one reason not to miss lunch. but only if you eat all your veggies first. ;) although if you have a nut allergy, you won't like what i cooked up. speaking of cooking... mmm, smells good! could use a bit more butter. -trent

cdm here, safety speech time. hopefully there will be a lot more carvers than you're used to on the hill wednesday. i know most of you know this, but in the excitement of the day, sometimes we forget. let’s all give each other some room. there’s plenty of runs, and plenty of time for everyone to get their carves in. no reason to crowd one another, and definitely no passing next to someone else. look uphill before starting down and before switching runs. hey you! the one playing slalom with the lift towers! that’s switching runs, and you should make sure it’s clear before you do so. i’ve seen lots of near misses, and even one crash that occurred during this kind of maneuver. if you’re wondering what you should be doing while giving your fellow carvers their space, here are some suggestions: watch in awe as some serious trenches are dug; cheer for your fellow carvers enjoying their playtime; when someone crashes, and we saw and captured some great ones last year, yell “do it again!” (if they’re unhurt, of course). and now a word from our technology department. it’s a pretty new development, but some super duper smart people have figured out how to make zoom lenses for cameras! i, know, cool right!? so, you no longer need to get close to the camera for a great shot. in fact, if you get too close, there won’t be a shot. maybe your jacket, or lift ticket, but that won’t impress anyone. 30 feet is plenty close to any of the cameras. so, have fun and be respectful of everyone else trying to do the same! oh, and don’t miss lunchtime…. more on that later. -trent

great day! cold, but bearable. snow was slow today, and would push away at times. but the grooming was good! and.... the place was empty! guess yesterdays temps still had people shivering at home. even though i saw otto hollaus and skijammers there, it was never crowded. 4 carvers out today too! me, scott, michelle, and randy. randy and his dad ian were down from the st. cloud area to play today. scott and i both plugged a certain event this wednesday. ;) -trent

wait a sec... she was there last year in soft boots, but now that she's joining the club she's not coming?! @erik - i hope your boss / clients are buying your excuses. -trent

thought i'd get a rough idea of who's coming. here's who i know, and if you're written down, you better be there! we can get you a note if needed. doctor, dentist, docter, or carving den mother (guess who'd that be, and don't make me pull this van over you little chits!). :D bobble powell1.8 jessie scuff scott.creer michelle.girlfriend.creer futahaguro thebionicman bobd joed callmejack bob beck bonzo icarve flock of seagulls

planned on 2 more runs... turned into more like 10! i wasn't too cold, and on a run that was to be the last... i chattered a little. no effin way was i leaving on that run. next 3 were great, and on the last one my legs had nothing left at the bottom. last run was at 7:45, wish my legs could've closed the place. holy crap, just watched the smoking teeth. that's some bad stuff there.

the fun is next week! we ride ALL day. warn your spouse, kids, boss, or parents - you'll be home late. greg thinks a few of us rode until 8 last year. i couldn't remember, but i do remember the fun we had!

yes, today was super nice. blue skies and sun all day. great snow. even convinced the boys to stay a while and ride in the lights. best visibility of the day, but holy crap did it get cold! more love than haters today. a trio of women, who commented on our riding last week or weekend were out again today. more pointing and more compliments about how they enjoy watching us on the hill. the lifty who said she wished she could just watch us come down the hill. and finally, parents of a former us ski team member & olympian stopping us twice to talk about our gear / sport. good vibes today. -trent

shameless threadjack and plug for the best carving event of the season.* if you'd like to see most of the people bobble listed... be at afton on wednesday, the 26th. http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=32570 -trent * fine print - best carving event held at afton alps on 1/26/11. :)

finally got my trip booked! i'm in for the whole week. -trent

bobble, joe d., powell1.8, and i played all day today. lots of smiles from both us, and the chairlift! bobble had some freeride snowboarders woo-hooing from the chair as he went down lookout. all the runs were in decent shape. it was getting scraped down to ice in spots, and very loose granular in other spots by the time we left.... at 3:45! lift lines didn't get too crazy, so we stayed until the last 2 runs were bad - a little because we were tired, a lot because the light was super flat and couldn't see anything. bobble and i also met dan in the afternoon. welcome to the club! -trent

lookout was excellent today! sunshine from 10 - 11:30. flat light until after lunch. then it was blue skies and sunshine! we took maybe 6 runs not on lookout today. the other runs were soft, hard, or a combo of the two. at least they had lookout right. i stayed until the sun was behind the hill and the light was flat. after the great light all day, i was really having a hard time getting down the hill on my feet (but it was easy sliding down on my arse). -trent

last years camera curse! my head still hurts watching scuffs flyswatter. watch carefully the last one.... wish i would've caught more of it. <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stTwrLw7M8E?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stTwrLw7M8E?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

some good riding yesterday! powell1.8 and i played until noon. had the hills mostly to ourselves. 2 and 7 were solid and good. 12 was also good, but softer. highlands was all soft. seemed like they all got a morning groom. we didn't get on 16 because there were little kids running gates. i had to leave to rest up for round 2... came back from 4-6:30. i was only on 1 and 2, and it's like scott said. still nobody there, we had the place to ourselves. and michelle was going for it! chair 2 on second day out. crazy! @scott - thanks for setting the course. much bumpy fun. not icy though... wide and late = nice snow! ;) -trent