The Return of Powder Skiing to SW Colorado!!!!!!!

I am extremely glad to announce the return of powder skiing to Southwest Colorado. We have been getting a regular cycle of storms that is keeping things fresh. We had snow last weekend that provided for the shots below and it has been snowing all day here today with an epic looking forecast. Stay tuned for more pictures from the latest storm. I don’t have any playtime until Tuesday. So there should be more showing up in the next week or so. Cheers and enjoy for the moment. Keep thinking snow!!!!

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Biggest fish of my life…So far!

Now I know that I just posted a bunch of stuff relating to fishing and hiking and everything except skiing, but when you catch the biggest fish of your life you feel like you have to tell somebody (everybody). I was fishing down in the Animas River on the South end of town.

I thought that I had initially hooked a piece of moss (there is a ton of moss growing in the river right now and I had to clear my hook after most casts), but then I felt the tip of my pole take a dive and heard the zzzzzzzzz of the drag letting line out. After a few minutes of fighting this angry beast I landed him and had my buddy snap a couple photos for proof.

Biggest fish of my life...so far!

Approximately 23" and 4 lbs.

Remember…If you don’t have proof, it is just another fish story.

Red Bull ‘Final Descent’ 2011 Winter Park

This past weekend we made a quick venture up to Winter Park for the Red Bull ‘Final Descent’ race. It is a 12 hour endurance downhill race. It was an amazing time to say the least and I would like to thank Red Bull for putting on such an awesome event.

We raced in the 3-4 person team division and managed to pull a third place out of our hats. Our team consisted of myself (Kevin Smith), Ben Devoti (one of the Ski Barn’s main techs.), Rob Nichols and Max Loewenstein. Also along for the ride was Adam Bojan. He is the Student Brand Manager for Red Bull in our area and the reason we got to go race this weekend. Thanks Adam. Adam is also one of the main ski techs. here at Ski Barn. Most of the credit should be given to Rob and Max. They were definitely the fastest two on the team and they pulled out 22 of our total 32 laps.  This was the first time I had ridden the big bike this year and Ben’s first time ever on a downhill bike, nevertheless, Ben saddled up and ripped with us.

It was also awesome to Eric Bojan and Ryan Appleton (two former Ski Barn employees) at the races. They both now work for Red Bull professionally showing people how to have a good time. Cheers Bros!

Team Brojangles (from L to R - Rob Nichols, Kevin Smith, Max Loewenstein and Ben Devoti)! 3rd Place at Red Bull 'Final Descent' Winter Park 2011!

A quick look at the past year!

So it has been a while since we have posted anything here on Following the Frozen Water so I am going to do a quick glance at the past year and some of the more memorable things that have happened!

Moab sunsets are pretty cool.

I went to Moab last August. Needless to say it was hot! Really hot. We had planned on riding bikes the entire time, but wound up hanging out in the river for the most part. We did get to pedal Slickrock the first morning and did a hike through Negro Bill Canyon the second morning. Next time we will venture in the fall!

The Southwest Ridge of Mt. Sneffels

We climbed the Southwest Ridge route up Mt. Sneffels last summer. It looks a lot worse than it actually is. It was a fun class 3 scramble to an incredible view off the top. This was the first 14er I had climbed in many years. It was the first 14er for the other 3 in my party. They loved it!

The view of Blue Lakes from the summit of Mt. Sneffels. The San Juans are amazing!

Starting late summer and into the fall I did a ton of fishing. It is cheap and a great way to pass the time… Especially when caught inbetween skiing and biking (even though you can bike here almost year round) sesasons.

Fish caught on a fish caught on a lure!

 I don’t know that I have ever been as stoked as when I caught this 22″ Brown Trout. I was pulling my lure back across the river and hooked a small rainbow and I thought..”oh great, another puny little fish to deal with”. However he got heavy about midway back and when I pulled him around a rock this big guy had grabbed him and didn’t let go. I got the big one all the way to shore without ever even hooking him. He sure must have been hungry because he wasn’t letting go of that little fish. Stoked!

Yeah...he was at least a foot!

Beautuiful Brown Trout. He was about 18" and fat!

Roy caught a beauty this summer! Probably 19″ and very fat!

 Roy was so pumped when he pulled this guy out of the river. Roy does not fish a whole lot and this was only his second fish of the day! The stretch of the Animas River that we fish here in town is classified as Gold Medal Waters. There are a lot of big fish in here. This is also why I spend so much time down there walking around in the water.

Telluride offers free gondola rides all day long, all summer long. When we heard about this we took advantage and took the big bikes out for some lift serviced downhill. Gotta love it!

Ramping right off the mountain.

Braappppless bikes!

If we fast forward a bit to winter, there were several days that were just beyond epic. The first happened at Wolf Creek. It had dumped and dumped for almost three days. When we got there first thing in the morning The skies opened up and we had one of those unbelievable bluebird powder days. I think they were reporting 49″ in the past 48 hours. EPIC.

49" in 48 hours! DEEEEP!

Lone Patroller on the Knife Ridge. Notice the slide in lower left.

The next picture was taken about a month later. We were fortunate enough to be the first ones out the Knife Ridge this morning and caught the cat out to Horseshoe Bowl. We had first tracks in about 36″ of snow! Once again…EPIC!

Powder party on the Cat!

 In between these two epic days at Wolf Creek I got to go to Silverton with my older brother, my dad and a couple of his buddies. The conditions were awesome and better yet…I got to ride in a helicopter to go skiing for the first time! Beyond stoked. The feeling of riding in a helicopter is really similar to that of skiing in powder. It was oddly and eerily similar.

The stoke is very high!

There I go!

Myself (Kevin) left, My Dad, My Older Bro (right).

 Unfortunately, everyday cannot be as epic as the two at Wolf Creek and the one at Silverton. However, if we are skiing, we are usually having a pretty good time. We spent many days at Purgatory messing around in the park and on the rollers. Sometimes we are fortunate enough to dip out of work mid-day and go ski for a few hours before the evening rush hits the shop.

Kevin with a little shifty late 180.

Ben Devoti (one of Ski Barn's main ski tech's) with a truckdriver 180. Steezy!

 The ski season starts to wind down at this point and the bikes and fishing poles come out again. The frozen water leaves us just as quickly as it came. Fortunately we live in SW Colorado and there is fun to be had no matter what the season. Sometimes though you have to venture further. It is easy to get stuck in a ‘bubble’ here in Durango so I had been saving all winter long and my girlfriend and I got to spend 3 weeks down in Costa Rica.

Myself and Girlfriend Liz on secret beach in Costa Rica (near Mal Pais).

 During this trip I figured out that the only way I could survive without my precious mountains and snow would be to move to a beautiful warm beach with great waves for surfing. Being born in San Diego, I think surfing is in my blood. It is something that I could spend a lot of time doing. The lifestyle just seems to suit me. Laid back.

About the time we got back from Costa Rica the Animas had swollen and all the frozen water we chased all winter was swiftly rushing past us. A lot of the Ski Barn employees spend a lot of time in the water during the summer.

Corner Pocket Rapid.

Summer quickly flies by and the next thing you know we have to celebrate our countries independence! I love 4th of July. It usually means something cool is going to happen. This year several of us backpacked into Emerald Lake in the Weminuche wilderness for a long weekend. We slayed Cutbows all weekend long. It was awesome to say the least.

The Weminuche Wilderness might be one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

One of many Cutbows slayed on the trip.

There are so many amazing bike trails in and around Durango. Phil’s world (right outside Cortez) happens to be one of my favorite places to ride.

Ryder Okumura getting steezy.

 Ryder Okumura is my roommate here in town and happens to be one of the best bike trials riders in the world. As I write this he is at the World Championships of Mountain Biking in Champery, Switzerland. He is the only American trials rider there this year! He also happens to be pretty good at riding a mountain bike.

Most recently a couple of us went to hike Wetterhorn Peak. We happened to catch one of the most amazing sunsets I have ever seen.

Amazing sunset with Mt. Sneffels in center.

Wetterhorn Peak to the left. Umcompaghre peak to the right. We climbed the right hand ridge of Wetterhorn.

The ridge that runs from Wetterhorn to Matterhorn.

Our friend Alexi hanging out on the final pitch of Wetterhorn Peak. 14,015'

 The final pitch of Wetterhorn was steep and had some pretty serious exposure. It was amazing. That climb was a lot of fun.

This brings us to today. It was not exactly a dull past year and the title “quick look’ was not so quick. A lot has happened in the past year.

This coming weekend several of us are going to Winter Park for the Red Bull ‘Final Descent’ 12 hour downhill race. Stay tuned for pics. from this.

Also in Ski Barn news…Congratulations are in order for several of our family members.

Eric Hanson (a long time employee of Ski Barn) and his wife gave birth to a son, Zotique Hanson.

Jake Holland (one of our main tech’s) also gave birth to a son, Owen Emmet Holland.

Kenny Malara (our hardgoods buyer and manager) got engaged to his girlfriend Robin.

Stay tuned for more Ski Barn shenanigans.

Cheers to all!

Spring…Mountain Biking

So the inevitable has arrived… No more skiing!!! (For most of us anyway.) What is a person to do with themselves when they dedicate an entire lifetime and focus to a single sport, but find themselves cut short on a yearly basis?  (I say this only because there are a select few with the proper knowledge and skill that it requires to stay out longer than the rest of us and seek out those last turns of the season.) Well… if you live in Durango, you break out the bike, most of who probably did months ago, and start to pedal!

It is summer training season. Time to get in shape for the first of turns to come next year. Some people see this in the opposite way, where skiing is a way to stay in shape for the bike season, but that is neither here nor there. Let us talk about why this article was really written..We follow the frozen water.

I was supposed to be spending the weekend in Fruita, CO for the weekend with a couple of family members and friends. Plans do not always seem to work out in your favor, and due to several imposing factors I did not make it. I was bummed, but I was determined to not let that destroy my weekend.

I wind up going out on Friday night and diving a bit deeper into the abyss than was planned. Everyone else seemed to do the same, because all the people that said they wanted to go biking… did not make it biking.

Saturday morning rolls around and I feel extremely lazy as I lay in bed. It doesn’t matter. I have places to be. I told people we were biking last night. Time to get moving.

After all was said and done it was Ryder and I. We decided to ride up the Colorado Trail via. Hoffheins connection. This was the first that I have ridden in this area of Durango. Do not ask me why… I have been here for 7 years and just never managed to make it (riding bikes in Durango is a new adventure everyday. there is always something new to check out right in your own backyard.).

We made it to the trail debating whether or not wind would be a factor. It was not. As soon as we started ascending, we dipped into the trees. We also dipped into some of the most fun, smooth, and manicured singletrack that I have ever ridden. This is the type of trail that you dream about… hooking your tires up around mini-berms and wheeling through dips at ridiculous speeds. We pedaled for a solid three hours. Straight up Hoffheins and then right on up the Colorado Trail.

Ryder and I pedaled a lot further than I ever would have imagined that we would make it this day ( I was extremely hungover mind you…that disappeared after about an hour of pedaling). We pedaled about eight to nine miles up today, and finally have to call it quits when we reach snow that we can no longer pass. We were pretty bummed out at this point. Neither of us were ready to turn back, but after several snow fields every 50 yards, you just can’t pedal anymore.

Silver Mountain

After a short break we turn the bikes around and start to descend. This section of trail is amazing. We attempt the no pedal-no brake, but some corners are just too tight. The singletrack is amazing though. Smooth and flowing. The descent never seems to last as long as I want it to. It is over much quicker than I had anticipated. We were moving pretty fast though.

We retire to the house and BBQ some dinner, and start talking about the next ride for tomorrow. We really come up with nothing. Maybe we are too tired to think?

We wake and mill about the house as we talk about where to ride. We decide that we are going to try and access the Indian Ridge trail at the top of the Hotel Draw road to the west of Purgatory. We quickly find out the access gate is closed and we cannot make back there. Our original plan is shot.

We decide to take a drive up Coalbank Pass and over to the top of Molas Pass. We do a little scouting and decide that we will have to drop in elevation to get any pedaling in.

The view looking west from the top of Molas Pass

We finally pull over and check out the Engineer Mountain Trailhead. Looks dry. We start unloading bikes and throw on a couple extra layers. The wind was howling and the temperature had dropped. Off we go.

The climb up this trail is not exactly friendly. It is steep and it is long. Combined with the wind, this made for some heavy duty pedaling.

Gorgeous Views & Great Singletrack. Ryder Okumura pedaling.

The top of Engineer Mountain in the distance

Ryder pedaling round the pond.

We keep at the pedaling for a while and really start to gain some elevation. For some reason my chain decided that it would best to snap and cover itself in dirt about halfway up. So we break, fix my chain and eat some snacks.

Broken Chain

Myself fixing my chain.

Back to it. We continue climbing for about another hour or so, and then it happens again. The trail disappears into a snow field. We climb through several of them, in hopes that the trail will open up into a meadow again, but just like the previous day the higher we go the more snow drifts there are to pass.

Not an enormous obstacle, but when trail disappears into these every 50 yards...Time to turn around.

It is somewhat anticlimactic at the top. We were hoping to pop out of the forest and have a clear view of Engineer, but it just never happened. I was somewhat disappointed, but knowing that I have miles of amazing singletrack to rip down brings the stoke right back up.

Looking east to the Needle Mountains. Some of the most gnarly and beautiful mountains in there.

Looking south. Purgatory is the last horizon on the right. HWY 550.

And so it begins again! Our descent. This is one of the first times that I have ever stopped and taken pictures on a descent. I am usually having so much fun that I just keep going. Don’t get me wrong…I had an awesome time on this one too, but felt like this ride needed some documentation.

Myself demonstrating the proper way to split seas.

Ryder ripping down.

Super smooth singletrack. Brraaaaaapppppp!

We messed around a little on the way down with some follow cam footage, but quickly figured out we need something more stable. Watching the video later almost made me sick. It was quite dizzying.

We got back to the car and had a few post-ride beers before heading back to town. We decide that there are so many more rides that need to be done before the summer is over so we plan to try and mission every single weekend. There is so much to ride here with so little time. There is a plethora of trails in the San Juan’s, the La Plata’s and all surrounding areas.

Post-Ride Beers are delicious!

At this particular time in the season we unintentionally find ourselves Following the Frozen Water!

What the shop guys are riding!

Here at the Ski Barn, we take skiing quite seriously. We work hard so that we can play hard. Fortunately, the wonderful companies we represent help us out and get us into gear so that we can thrash it and talk it up to customers. Our decisions on what we buy for ourselves are not influenced by the companies. We do not take bribes so that we sell more of one brand over another. For the most part, they are influenced by what we find works best. We get to take all the gear out and demo equipment all year long so that when the time comes to get our own, we know exactly what works best for us.

Here is a look at what the 2009/2010 Ski Barn crew is rocking and destroying this year.

Kenny “Spicy Meatball” Malara

Title: Retail Manager      Age: 31

Kenny is our know it all product guru! He has been with the Ski Barn for appx.  10 years and knows more about skis and ways to tweak a boot than Stephen Hawking knows about astro-physics.

All Mountain Ski

Volkl Bridge w/ Salomon Z12ti

http://shop.skibarndurango.com/10-volkl-bridge.html

Powder Ski

Volkl Gotama w/ Marker Duke

http://shop.skibarndurango.com/10-volkl-gotama.html

Kevin “Coach” Smith

Title: Online Sales Manager      Age: 25

Kevin is the author of this article and #1 product destroyer. He has been with the Ski Barn for 4 years and has a huge problem with keeping bindings mounted to skis. If he thinks it can be jumped, he will probably try.

All Mountain Ski

Dynastar 6th Sense ‘Distorter’ w/ Look PX 12 Jib

Powder Ski

Dynastar Huge Trouble w/ Look Pivot 18

Yep. Thats Ross Anderson's speed suit!

Eric ‘tha boss’ Bojan

Title: Part time minion (master of all trades)   Age: 22

A mouth like a motorbike and complete lack of respect for anyone he works with. Quality control expert and full time hell giver. Also will try to jump just about anything. Also the only guy that will fit into Ross Anderson’s speed skiing suit!

All Mountain Ski

Salomon ‘Suspect’ w/ Salomon STH16

http://shop.skibarndurango.com/2010-salomon-suspect.html

Powder Ski

Volkl ‘Chopstick’ w/ Marker 12.0 Free

http://shop.skibarndurango.com/2010-volkl-chopstick-ski.html

Not so much Frozen Water in Moab!

On Friday the 9th of October I didn’t have to go to work and got to take some early season turns in Silverton’s Velocity Basin. Only a week later, Friday the 16th of October, I got out of work early only to go the opposite direction and get in a late season bike shred in Moab. We left in the late afternoon to catch a sweet sunset traveling west out of Durango.

We were hard pressed to find a campground at 9:30 on the Friday night before a marathon, but we got lucky and scored a sweet campground in the bottom of the canyon on Kane Creek Road. We quickly set up camp and proceeded with the usual camping antics. Fire. Beer. More fire. More beer. Sleep!

We wake, eat a quick breakfast and run to the Poison Spider for some bike shoes because Ryder couldn’t seem to locate his at home. Bummer, but apparently needed anyway. Just minutes later we are shredding around the famous rocks and slabs of the Slickrock trail. This place is biker heaven. We take the day milling around the 13 mile loop and sessioning natural half pipes and rock drops.

I wasn’t exactly looking for the rock drops, but I came out of this a little too hot and missed the light sweeping left and lost grip on the right. I wound up blowing through that tree at the bottom. Several branches and about 10 feet lower, I crawl from the mangled bike and start laughing unscathed. Lucky. A few more feet to the right and I would be hugging the trunk.

After all was said and done…No Harm…No Foul. Continue the shred. I don’t know what it is, but it seems like the miles in Moab are a little longer than the miles Durango. There were no gnarly, long up-hills or even anything out of the ordinary other than the slickrock, but by the time I made it back to the car I was wiped out.

We wound up meeting four others (Vaughn, Kelly, Blake and Laura) in the parking lot and they joined us at the camp that night. We all shared dinner and talked over many (let me express that again MANY) beers. Good times were had by all. We awake again and set off on another ride. We shuttle cars and ride the Porcupine Rim Trail. I can honestly say that this is my new favorite trail. EVER. Period. 3 miles of grueling technical uphill only to be at the top of a 12 mile Moab style downhill.

A quick break at the top and we shred hard all the way down. There are some of the most fun sections of trail I have ever ridden on this trail. Also some of the most technical downhill sections. They are not fast moving sections, but what you lack in speed you make up for in having to balance and essentially ride trials through some of the sections. Needless to say…We had an awesome time.

We finished the out the ride and rallied up the shuttle vehicles and convened at the Moab Brewery for a final meal and well deserved beer. All in all it was a successful weekend. Lots of shredding. Lots of fun. New friends. And to top it all off… Ryder and I were not passed once on a trail (we did manage to pass quite a few others though).

Early Season Silverton

It starts flying in the high country long before it hits the valley floor in Durango. So when I peek out and see the La Plata’s covered in snow I really start to itch for a good shred. So what does one do? Do I hold out until they fire up the lifts at DMR? Nah! I find a couple friends and head to the high country for some early season turns.

I was skeptical about the ski-ability as I traveled north over Molas & Coalbank pass. It was looking thin. To my surprise though, we pass through Silverton and up into Velocity Basin to find an ample amount of snow for being only the 9th of October.

We geared up and took off up the hill. 2 hours of post-holing up the mountain we made it to the top and opened a celebratory beer cheersing to the first shred of the 09/10 season.

So we chug. Then we shred. The first half of the chute was wind-loaded and we were ripping through face-shots. I just wish that were the case for the second half. The second half was slowly sliding over rocks covered in 3″ of snow. My skis hate me, but I got to shred. One more storm or so and we should be in a bit better shape.