2010 Ski Season: Day 5-Heavenly (Plus MC Hammer)

Location: Heavenly
Date: 1/9/2010
Conditions: Variable

This was my first trip to Heavenly in two seasons. Some friends organized a birthday cabin trip to South Lake Tahoe for a long weekend. We loaded up our car and headed to Oakland to head up Friday afternoon. Our two friends board while we both ski. That made for an interesting packing process with five Dakine bags, boots, food, and games. Our hosts wanted to strap our gear to the roof of their VW Toureg. I was not having it. We folded down the seat to save our gear from getting ripped off the roof through the mountain pass.

We got the the Tahoe Keys Friday night and discovered an awesome rental cabin right on the waterfront. We hit the Fire and Ice at Heavenly village for dinner. The place is a ton of fun. Drinks were 22 OZ's. After three of these, I spilled raw fish into the buffet line's Alfredo sauce bin.

The next morning we headed out by 9 AM. We scored some free lift tickets from Warren Miller's Dynasty premiere.

The place was jammed. All the lines were long. Skiers and boarders dotted the slopes like human pylons. One of our skiers got separated from the group after missing a turn, a common problem at Heavenly.

We managed to get some great runs in over on the Nevada side including laps on Orion. Lunch was at the East Peak Lodge. After chowing down we lapped the blues on the Neavada side before taking the California Trial back to the Gondola.

After a trip back to the Keys, a quick shower, and wolfing down some pasta, Jodi and I headed back to South Lake to the Harrah's Casino where MC Hammer was scheduled to perform at 7:30.

Yes, MC Hammer, as in U Can't Touch This. You may not know MC Hammer is a social media expert. He gave the keynote speech at the Snowcial conference on snow sports and social media. We arrived to learn the concert was sold out. I had 6 extra tickets which I sold to the first 6 people in line.

The show was an absolute blast. Let me say this, MC Hammer still has all the moves and stage presence to rock the party. By the end of the show, Hammer had come out down the isle spitting rhymes right in front of us. He had over 100 people up on stage dancing and showing their moves for U Can't Touch This. My favorite performance of the night was Turn This Mother Out.

After the show, we headed back to the Tahoe Keys for some R&R. I was so excited about my MC Hammer photos I couldn't wait to get them uploaded.

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2010 Ski Season: Day 4-Sugarbowl

Location: Sugarbowl
Date: 1/4/2010
Conditions: Packed Powder

Introducing the MantraCam:

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2010 Ski Season: Day 3-Alpine Meadows

Location: Alpine Meadows
Date: 1/2/2010
Conditions: Packed Powder

We headed up to Lake Tahoe Friday, New Years Day, for a long weekend at the new Bay Area Ski Bus cabin. After chowing on some lunch at ToGo's our host and BASB owner Brian picked us up in Sunnyvale in a converted 15 passenger van. We loaded up my trusty Volkl Mantra 184s on the roof rack and met up with 4 boarders who were going up with us, Gary, Justin, Kosgey, and Emily. We chatted with Brian as we headed to SF to pick up Diane, the 8th member for the inaugural cabin trip.

We got news of the the Kirkwood Fire some tasty margaritas at Truckee's La Bamba. To avoid the disaster, Brian wisely re-routed his 6 buses scheduled to hit the fire-damaaged resort over to Alpine where we would ski the next morning. We came back to the cabin where a wood-burning stove warmed the entrance and a heated hot tub waited for us on the back deck.

Saturday morning, we were up and atem by 7:00 AM. A quick breakfast and we loaded up the van to hit Alpine Meadows for our first trip of the new year. Alpine has definitely upped their customer service game. Before we even got out of the van we had lift tickets in hand and a mountain host offering to carry our skis to the mountain. I took a few warm up laps on Hot Wheels while Jodi sorted out her rental skis. She got some nice Volkl all-mountain skis and we quickly headed to Alpine's back side to enjoy the sunshine.

On the way back to the front side, I had a minor slip that almost cost me dearly on Expert Shortcut. I caught an edge about 10 feet above a large exposed rock cliff and lost a ski. Luckily, I knew the boulder was there so I dug my ski poles into the ground to arrest my slide over the face. It took a long while to click back in but I skied down to the base where Jodi was waiting with a quizzical look wondering what took so long and how she managed to beat me down.

After a quick noon break we hooked up with Brian for some turns in Alpine Bowl, where the photo of Jodi and me above was taken. Brian rips, so any of you who want to try to keep up with him, I suggest you sharpen skis and prepare for an all-out assault on the mountain. We also met up with host Mario and Sliding on the Cheap creator Daryl.

We skied the rest of the afternoon with Brian and Diane and tackled some mogul runs as well as some easier stuff before wrapping up for the day. On the last run of the day we ran into David who runs the Alpine website and saw him shooting his little ripper kids in the terrain park.


Alpine is a fantastic mountain. If you make it there, be sure to find your way to the backside and explore Sherwood. I'm still looking for fabled Munchkins. Next time I'll track down one of the locals to show me the way.

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It's Good to Warm my Bones Beside the Fire

It's Good to Warm my Bones Beside the Fire
Originally uploaded by dmourati

First day of flickr 365 for 2010.

Bayareaskibus cabin in Tahoe Donner.

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2010 Ski Season: Day 2-Kirkwood

Location: Kirkwood
Date: 12/20/2009
Conditions: Packed Powder



Kirkwood is my favorite Tahoe resort. I love skiing there and I've had some of my greatest runs in the Thunder Saddle. We were in luck on Sunday as Kirkwood's lift 2, Caples Crest had just opened two days prior. Conditions were generally very good. We missed the powder the past weekend but most of the mountain was open and snow cover was decent. The backside was a bit "bony" in spots especially at the top of 4.

We had our best runs of the day on Canestoga. Another experience that stood out was our somewhat delayed start to the Sentinel Bowl. Lots of people were coming to the top of Sentinel and complaining about the conditions and steepness of the terrain. That never inspires much confidence in other skiers who overhear blurted assertions like: "Oh my god, its the freaking Ice Capades over here."

We wrapped up about 3:30 - 4:00 and headed back to the Bay Area Ski Bus for some Ace beers and snacks. On the way out of Kirkwood, our host Anthony asked a "gimme" question: "What's the name of the peak and the elevation of the highest point at Kirkwood." Thimble Peak, 9876' scored me a free "Experts Only" sticker for my helmet, which I bought, fittingly, at Kirkwood several years earlier.

One of my favorite parts of the trips on the ski bus is stopping for dinner on the way back. Loomis leaves a lot to be desired as far as options go. We dashed in for some takeout chinese and munched on it watching the tail end of the latest Star Trek movie which was actually really good.

Next trip up we're tentatively scheduled to hit Northstar and Alpine for the New Year. Word is that the ski bus has a 12 passenger van to shuttle skiers to and from a new cabin. We were the last two to signup for the overnight trip leaving New Years Day and returning Sunday. Some logistical difficulties may prevent this trip from coming together so we're crossing our fingers for a New Years powpow miracle.

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5th and Santa Clara

5th and Santa Clara
Originally uploaded by dmourati

5th and Santa Clara

Jacob boneless off the water feature.

Strobist: SB-900 left, SB-80dx right
triggered via RF-602

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Turning Wheels for Kids

Turning Wheels for Kids
Originally uploaded by dmourati

Ever see 2200 new bikes in one place? I did today. Volunteers unloaded two semi-trucks (oddly enough sporting the Beautyrest logos) tonight in San Jose at the Convention Center. Tomorrow, local charities arrive to pick up the bikes and deliver them to 2200 kids.

That's a lot of new cyclists on the road. If you see a sweet Diamondback on the road, compare it to the picture and you'll know the back story.

http://www.turningwheelsforkids.org/

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Carlos

Carlos
Originally uploaded by dmourati

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