Heading deep into the Northern Range with one: black motorhome and one: smoking hot Asian for 36 hours of much needed r&r. All mobile broadcast devices are shutting down promptly @ 9am Wednesday morning. When we come out on the other side I will be 34 and no less for the wear.

33 is wrapping itself up nicely and Ive lived to tell the tale.

the misty past...

Robots attack the Fridge

Another super short weekend in Stokeland, but a good one nonetheless, (mostly). Here’s the breakdown:
left Seattle at 5pm, got to the Brig at 7, pissed at the traffic. Switched out of the suit and into riding gear, fired up the ship and set sail…stopping at the Dutch as usual for a few minutes. Got to the Mtn at 8:30 pm and dropped anchor, discovered that my flag was busted and had a few beers with some buddies, then rode from 9 to 10. It was really cool riding alone at night, its been a long time since Ive done that, alone and late….ripping around in the dark by myself. On the way back to the Moho I picked up a ride with some bro’s that were headed down to the Lot to have a few drinks with us……and sat around til midnight talking stories and talking about jobs…
Saturday morning was harsh, really really harsh. I lost my ski pass, my favorite gloves, a knee brace and a set of skullcandys. Super lame and it had me in a bad mood. I didnt get out on the hill til 11am, trying to get it all sorted out. I started riding and stayed out all afternoon, but getting more and more irritated with idiots on chairlifts and mindless conversations so I decided to dump lift lines all together and start riding trees, then hiking back to the hill so thats just what I did. I had a huge 7 rip session in the trees above and around the lower moho lot, then would hike back to Chief and do it all over again. It was good and soon the Mountain was in my lungs and I began to feel more normal. There are alot of cool drops, kickers and slides back there that I really enjoy riding and the further back you go, the more you find. On the second to last sesh I was doing a Mike V through the brush and managed to put a hole in my treasured yellow pants but I guess I had it coming, riding like that……and at any rate, duct tape just makes everything cooler in the end.
I was pissed about losing my pass……I didnt think my days would roll over or that maybe some douchenozzle was rocking it, so the girls at the desk dialed me in and shut it down, then got me a new one. Its very obviously the end of Season out there and now we all get hard-ons about how many days weve notched so I was pleased to keep my number.
Since you asked: I have just under 40 days for the season. Yes Im proud.
It hasnt been the best of Winters, but its been better than no Winter and frankly Ive loved every second of this one, halfassed or however you may call it. We really didn’t get any objectives met this year, from the hiking to the hardcore backcountry but we did get killer days here and there that we will never forget because they werent so regular as we are used to, and we did have one hell of a time in Motorhome Country. None of it is over yet of course, but when your riding up Tye Chair, if you lean back just right………you can smell the undeniable beauty of Spring cracking her knuckles. Its a warm but formidable scent tinged with icicles, fir and the threat of rebirth.
Next year, if we are at Stevens Pass, I will ride Tunnel Creek and I will hike the Power Lines all the way back. Speaking of which, I wanted to mention how nice the girls were at the desk this weekend, they really made my day and it reminded me of how much I like this place, or why ive enjoyed it so much in the past. With the Motorhome Lot being treated like a Leper Colony on the edge of the village this year, it has been easily overlooked; the hospitality that has made this palce so great in years past. The core value of any Mountain should be Hospitality, and nothing less. The better they do with that, the more revenues they will rake in; Stevens overall has utterly failed at that this year, in our case at least. I laugh every weekend at the irony of the Lower lot, and the reasoning’s of making it a parking lot, or a lift accessed lot like Silver Fir…….because the only people that park back there are people who typically refuse to speak English and just want to sled, but have nowhere to go. Its a shit-show every weekend back there with the parking……but I digress.
My thoughts on this whole lower lot deal are well known, and also put to pen, but that day hasnt come yet…….

Saturday afternoon, within 30 minutes of the start of the big rainstorm, all of us mustered in the lower lot under awnings and canopies, passing flasks, cooking steaks and cracking beers…most of us laughing about my failure of a morning. Sunday morning I only had an hour to ride before I had to leave for Seattle so we made a blistering 13 run set off of Tye with 5 minutes to spare, a good way to start the day.
32 hours in the Mountains is all I get this week, and next weekend is the first weekend I will miss all Season but I might hit up Snoqual some night this week since I haven’t been up there yet this year.
We will see.
Here’s some Caribou for night listening:

Thanks for reading….
Hench.

(get the hell away from me)

yeah, i DID file that under food porn.