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Top: Patrick, Foday, John, Joel, Andrew, Bryan
Bottom: Adam, Jordan, Lange, Sean |
Saturday morning, we all woke up early to get ready for the big skiing day at the resort. After a quick breakfast, Adam and I left early to rent some skis. Our boots are almost identical so we could swap out different skis with no problems. We elected to try a pair of Rossignol S3's to get a little more float for the somewhat powdery conditions. Once everyone else arrived, we all jumped on the tram and squeezed together for the 4,000ft climb in under 10mins. At the top, the conditions were very windy with a temperature around 12 degrees with limited visibility. We quickly found out that the conditions at mid mountain were a lot better. We took a few tram laps and a few runs down the Hobacks before turning in for lunch. During the day, many heavily trained athletes were competing in the US National Ski Mountaineering Championship at the resort, where they skinned and climbed to the top of Rendezvous Mountain then skied back down to the base. They each performed 3 laps achieving three different peaks. It was amazing to see these men and women climbing up what we were all skiing down.
After refueling, we headed over to Apres Vous and spend a few hours skiing the trees and cliffs of Saratoga Bowl. The powder on this back section was pretty amazing, and it was nice to have skis with a little float for once. Definitely need to invest in some better skis over the summer when the prices are lower.
All in all, we had an amazing time at the resort, and definitely got our $91 worth. We all met up at the Mangy Moose for a few pints of moose drool before heading home for a power nap as the day was far from over.
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| At the Mangy Moose |
That evening, we treated ourselves to some delicious burgers at a place that I think was called Billys. We followed that with some whiskey and pints at Cassidys, where Lange somehow sweet talked his way into a free glass of Pendleton Whiskey on the rock. Lange has a thing for female bartenders that we are all very aware of. We attempted to hit up the Cowboy Bar but quickly backed off after noticing the $5 cover. We ended up at another local tavern where we squeezed into a corner booth. Unfortunately, an obnoxious waitress persistently kept trying to get us all to order a round of overpriced shots. We stuck with our PBR, while Foday indulged himself with the usual Long Island. It wasnt long before Foday was feeling frisky and tried to get our annoying waitress to give us free shots. She didnt take kindly to Foday's banter and proceed to leave us alone, but not before Foday repeatedly called her, Heather (her name wasnt Heather), a name Foday associates with unpleasant women. After the tavern, one group headed back to Cassidy's to act as unnecessary wingmen for Lange, while the rest of us headed back to the cabin to open the bottle of Nob Creek.
The night gets blurry from this point on, but the morning consensus agreed that many shots of whiskey were passed around, lots of food was consumed and shots of brine from Lange's pickled salmon were thrown back by all but Andrew. Apparently, he doesnt give in to peer pressure, but is now no longer considered part of the group.
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Patrick indulging in a swig of brine juice
"Who's more Norwegian?" |
Ideas were thrown around about the next mathering (man gathering), but the most readily agreed upon option involved Whistler in mid spring assuming conditions are ripe for skiing. Time will tell. Let the snow gods be gluttonous in their offerings.
UNT
Bryan
