6/3 - The Luckiest Person on the Planet.

Eight days of some amazing skiing quickly came to an end about a week ago. The main thing, which you can’t do anything about when on a skiing holiday – the weather and snow set-up – ended up being more perfect than I ever could have imagined. The first day with telemark boots on my feet in almost two years, gave me some of the best snow I’ve ever skied in. Then it just continued on the same path – constant snowfall and fresh powder every morning. Hard to see where I was going at times, but luckily there were plenty of trees to aim at if alternative methods to slow down were required. The forecast showed that the snow seemed to be keen to stay for the rest of the week, which made me hesitate a bit to go through with my initial plan of booking a backcountry guide for one of the days. Finally decided to go for it, worst thing that could happen was that I’d have another day of skiing in the clouds, just a more expensive one than skiing in the clouds at the ski resort. And what happened? As on order, the snowing had stopped overnight, the clouds were gone and I got a sunny, picture perfect Saturday in Teton Pass, with skiing the deepest powder I’ve ever experienced. As already stated, couldn’t have directed the weather in a better way even if I tried. 

The evenings in cowboy land were easily passed with newfound friends and good food. Buffalo steak and wine with Italians, beers and burgers with local pilots and photographers and an undefinable experience at The Bird with a bunch of Memphis boys. Located slightly out of town, the talkative owner is making sure that the hottest chicken wings and most innovative and fresh burgers in the area are served from his kitchen. And if you don’t feel like eating and drinking, just reading their menu would make the drive worthwhile.

The only place, which got a second visit throughout the week, was the excellent Italian style restaurant and wine bar Nani’s. Even James Franco and Anne Hathaway lost the battle for my attention to a bowl of fresh pistachio-orange and olive pasta and a glass of Italian white on the last night. Next time in town, I’ll also make sure to pay the Pearl St Meat & Fish Co a few more visits. A shop full of the nicest delicacies, proper coffee and a carrot cake from a different planet

Being sore, worn and tired, but on the pink skiing clouds still, the last day up the hill was a relaxed story. The proper camera got to come along and extra coffee breaks were easily fit in to enjoy the sunshine. It was also nice to see all the mountains and the stunning views around on the last day. Every now and then I ran into someone in the lift, who had their first day on skis and were just about to start their holiday. They were are lyric about the conditions, how good the snow was, all the good backcountry skiing and how few people were out. Didn’t have the heart to tell them that this was the busiest day people wise and poorest day snow wise we’d had in a week.

Left a Jackson Hole covered in high clouds, without any snowfall and without any sun - just grey, windy and cold – with some of the best skiing memories in my mind.

The world must really like me.

22/2 – Ok, how do I…

…do this tree skiing thing? Those tall solid things are like ski magnets. Perhaps someone could help me confirm the basic tactics? I’ve always thought it would be comparable to any other obstacle course you do, slalom for example, i.e. to avoid the things that might hurt hitting. However, until now I’ve tried this orienteering tactics instead. Treating the trees like the check points with orange and white triangles which you should all physically touch to be allowed to continue. Suspecting that this is not the best way to do it though. Will try something different tomorrow.

Also, does anyone know a rock star called Sam? He must have been staying in my room before I got here on Saturday since I had groupies banging and kicking on my door for the first couple of nights. Must be a popular guy, this Sam.

If I’d been a 22 year old male, I might have found it a bit interesting having drunk blondes kicking on my door trying to get in at 01:11 in the morning. But since I’m a 30+ year old female, young girls looking for Sam don’t appeal that much to me.

Oh, just for your information, it won’t stop snowing at this place.

Jackson Hole 2011

19/2 – Bye Bye Albuquerque – Hello Jackson!

Time flies when having fun and if also being busy at the same time it not only flies but rockets past. Two weeks of loading the brain with drilling theory in Albuquerque came to an end in no time. 

On my way to the airport, I made a last pit stop in Old Town, just to make sure I had actually filled my monthly quota of shops with souvenirs and handmade thingies. Old Town is the number one tourist trap in Albuquerque, but as one of the locals stated – a nice trap to be caught in. The same instant you’ve made a left hand turn at the traffic light from the main road running through that part of town, it’s like you’ve also made a left hand turn back in time, back to cowboy time and land. Only thing reminding you of the present year would be the gigantic pick-ups and flash cars. Hilux has gotten a competitor on my favourite list by the way. The Toyota Tundra might be slightly more attractive in my eyes. However, they do look suspiciously similar, so might just be a name change sales trick for the American market. Back to the time travelling again… 

The old Route 66 town has got picturesque front porches, verandas and signs swinging in the wind everywhere you look. Small cafés, a pretty church at the main square, bead shops, Peruvian and Ecuadorian specialities, native American handcraft and jewellery boutiques, rattlesnake museum and New Mexican chile shops on every corner. And yes, it’s called chile in this end of the world. Green or red style and the main ingredient of the local kitchen, makes some amazing salsas. You can also find the fairly cool Vintage Cowgirl shop. After being even more indoctrinated with cowboy hats and buckle belts since the transfer in Salt Lake City, I had to have a look. No hats in there, but boots. Proper cowgirl boots with decorative stiches and patterns, just standing on the shelves waiting to be used in Copenhagen in a few months. Eventually managed to control myself and left with the same amount of money as when I entered the store.

Talking about boots, uneducated me thought boots were made of cows, oh sorry, I mean bull hide, or possibly of snakes, alligators or other semi extinct reptiles for the special occasions. But man, I’ve got things to learn about boots. During the ten days of lectures, our Louisianan instructor made sure to display about half of his boots collection. Not only including the standard bull hide and reptile ones, but also the ostrich leg ones, ostrich body ones, the authentic colour elephant ones, the dyed elephant ones and as a Friday treat, the stingray ones. Not really politically correct to make boots out of some of these animals in my opinion, but have to admit that the stingray ones looked pretty cool with their black, glistering texture. And supposedly they’re very good for wet weather.

While walking back to the car after having had the best club sandwich ever for lunch, I realised my eyes were stinging. Strange. Ok, a little bit tired from the Malbec and GTs last night perhaps, and yes, I should have brought my sunnies, but it shouldn’t sting this bad. Almost felt like someone had thrown sand in my eyes. A few second later I had connected the dots, windy weather in a city in the middle of the desert, what would that give you? Sand in the wind of course. Finished the workweeks off in sand storm and started the holiday week in a snow one - nice.

20/2 – Haag, Hellner, Olsson…who’s next?

Ok, Norway is still ahead of us in number of medals...but I don't care, it's the cross-country skiing that counts! I’m sure they’ve sneaked some stupid ice skating or Nordic Combination in there as well. Hard to tell if my heart beat is getting close to max due to the cold or due to Hellner and Olsson...but considering the goose bumps all over I've decided it's thanks to Mr Gold and Mr Bronze :-D Just missing the Swedish commentators, even though the Brazilians seems to be quite keen on the Swedish skiers it's not really the same having the excitement being commented on in Portuguese. Oh, ice-hockey counts as well...once we get to that far in that...and perhaps some downhill skiing...

13/2 – Carnaval 1 & Risky Business.

First day of enjoying the party of the year. After a slow morning, a gym session and some grocery shopping, Band Ipanema and mingling with the crowd were on my schedule for the late afternoon. Just crazy with all these people everywhere, young, old, tall, short, skinny, fat, straight, gay, carioca or gringo, the best mix of all – everything, everyone, everywhere. The only people missing were the sad and angry ones, - wherever you turned, smiles, smiles smiles and some more smiles.

Caipirinhas were served on every corner by anyone who brought enough to earn some money and had some plastic cups to serve it in. Music, singing, dancing, drinking and outfits that would move a proper American Halloween costume to the B-team right away. Normally, I wouldn’t put pictures of people on the internet, unless I’ve checked that they’re ok with it. However, I’m making an exception from that rule today though and somehow I don’t think the ladies above will mind for a single second.
For two months and 3 days I’ve managed to resist the temptation, but today I couldn’t handle it anymore. My eyes have been longing, my mouth has been watering and my stomach has been screaming for it for so long. Corn on the cob with butter and salt…mmm…as close to heaven as I could get on a sunny Saturday afternoon and as good (and fast) as fast food would ever get. The people serving it are everywhere with their small wagons, a big pot with hot water, the cobs, some salt and a container of butter is all they need under their umbrella. Definitely risky business considering gringo’s ability to handle carioca food at times, but hey, let’s live life on the edge and take the risk. Could be a good check to see if my stomach has toughened up a bit or if I will need to feed it some concrete.

Thanks SPORTV2 for keeping us snow loving people in mind. I hope the Swedish performance picks up a bit after today’s Biathlon disappointment though.