Fall is here and the riding is great! Two days ago in Park City I thought I wouldn’t need a head lamp since I started at four and was only planning an hour ride. Three and a half hours later I certainly would have felt better with my Black Diamond Spot Headlamp (apparently Ned had his according to his blog entry). That being said, I learned my lesson, AGAIN, and packed my head lamp for my next ride–the Wasatch Crest Trail http://trails.mtbr.com/cat/united-states-trails/trails-utah/trail/PRD_170654_4583crx.aspx This trail is a prime Utah ride and starts with PUKE HILL a 1100’ vertical rise with one switchback and no shade. Once that is done it’s pretty much x-country and downhill for a bazillion miles, yes I did use the word bazillion. Regardless it was amazing and so are the fall colors—this is Big Cottonwood Canyon here in Utah and that handsome devil is me wearing Kaenon glasses, Osprey pack and a Icebreaker jersey.
Frankly, I think that I heard the distant noises of the movie Psycho in the background on my descent since I was killin’ it but it faded away when I arrived at the Cotton Bottom Bar for a fine American yellow beer, Coors and a garlic cheeseburger—best one around.
Enjoy and I’m sorry I haven’t written in a while.
MTF,
Alby
alby Alby's Playpen, General News
I just made the best panini sandwich ever. French roll, peanut butter, Nutella and banana. I am fine with any restaurant using this recipe as long as the sandwich is called the www.tetonvillagesports.com and I get a free one everytime I purchase something else of the menu.
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Today’s bonus post was inspired by a former Jackson local. Dennis Whitechurch has sense left for the warmer greener climate of Southern California. He still likes food and drink though. He forwarded me a thread from a Robert Parker blog.
I consider myself a reasonably sophisticated man. I try not to wear linen after Labor Day and my claim to fame is that I once bought a case of ’03 Whispering Dove for less than the sommelier at a prestigious Newport Beach Chop House. The simple fact that I know who Robert Parker is ranks me amongst the classiest ski bums in history. I can’t for the life of me figure out how a thread about Bacon Fat Mayo made it onto his blog though.
Someone explain this to me. I guess it just boils down to the fact that everyone loves bacon.
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Last night I found myself riding my bike home from a dinner party. It was a cold, crisp, fall evening. The smell of woodsmoke and autumn made it a pleasant ride and I thought to myself, boy if I didn’t have a gigantic SUV and gas didn’t cost $3.76/gallon I probably would have missed out on this ride.
Since it was 10:30pm the roads were clear in Wilson Wy. As I peddled the Sasquatch done Highway 22 I marvelled at my Black Diamond Spot Headlamp. This thing is really bright. If you are afraid of the dark, you need one of these. My thoughts and praise for the Spot were echoed by an oncoming car when the driver must have mistaken me for a motorcycle or something because it flashed his high-beams at me as if to say, “hey buddy turn your high-beams off”. I chuckled aloud as the car passed. I just hope he caught a glimpse of me and the Sasquatch as he went by.
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In an effort to bring you the latest and greatest we sent three of our own to Las Vegas for a trade show this week. Today was the first day of the show and preliminary reports show that they have once again come up with a winner.
This is the Aqua-Skipper. It is a 6 foot long 7 feet wide hydrafoil that you stand on. I agree it looks awesome. Stay tuned for more amazing products.
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Working for the premeire ski shop at the rowdiest ski mountain in the lower 48 puts me in the sometimes awkward position of answer questions about the products we sell. I say awkward because suggesting gear to people is not an exact science. We do our best to know all of our products and I think we do an amazing job concidering our product line. The difficulty comes in not really knowing exactly what the customer needs. Well, here is a product that I am 100% confident that every woman in the world needs. Not only is it good looking and extremely warm, but it has fur for crying out load. I don’t know if it chinchilla or not, but it just makes sense to me. The best part of this jacket is the name. I would honestly by it for a special someone (if there was such a person) just because of the name. “What is it”? you ask. It is the name of one of the truly great characters in American cinema. “La Fonda”
For those of you not familiar with the classics La Fonda is Kip’s girlfriend in Napolean Dynamite. This is the kind of creative marketing I think we need more of. The Everest Jacket or the Secret Slope Coat mean nothing to me. Product names need to be fun, witty and different. Otherwise why name it anything. I will always remember the “La Fonda” jacket, but I honestly can’t think of the name of a single ski jacket from my past. I remember the Steep Tech Line from The North Face, because of Scoot Schmidt and because of the people who still wear Steep Tech one-pieces, but I can’t remember the name of any of the hundreds of ski coats I have owned.
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This just in! The Head Monster 88 has won the prestigious PlanetSNOW ski award for the Off-Piste Category. For those of you hard-core PlanetSNOW readers (like us) You already know that this is the second year in a row that the Monster 88 has received this award. For those of you not familiar with this incredible German publication here is an excerpt singing the praises of the Monster 88 as well as link to there sight.
“Der Monster fährt sich im Tiefschnee sehr angenehm. Darüber hinaus glänzt er durch seine sensible Schaufel und den satten Kantengriff auch in rauem Geläuf. Sogar auf der Piste geht er super. Ein top Freeride-Allrounder für alle Tage.”
http://www.planetsnow.de
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Fall has decended upon us here in the Tetons. The Aspens are turning colors, I’ve even seen a few that have lost a substantial amount of leaves. For those of you who have never seen Aspen trees in the fall (mom) here are a few shots.
Not the best examples, but it they show the yellow and red colors.
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I don’t know how you spent your weekend, but I decided this would be the weekend for my once a summer backpacking trip. I am not much of a hiker. It depends on the trip, but for some reason I just don’t get fired up for a hike like I do other activities. I was excited for this particular trip though. I had some new gear to try and I was going to a section of Grand Teton National Park that I had never been. The hike took us to a ranger patrol cabin near the top of Upper Berry Creek which is essentially the northern most point in G.T.N.P. The Cabin was very impressive for a backcountry cabin. The trail was very well maintained. Most importantly, we didn’t get eaten by any bears. I only bring this up, because once on trail the hike organizer let me know this is were they relocate problem bears. It bothered me, but I was pretty sure I could beat her in a foot race and she was carrying most of the food, so I wasn’t too worried.
The weather was terrible, but my new Osprey Kestral pack was equal to the challenge. It has a built-in rain fly that was very quick and easy to apply. Even in the face of the driving rain and hail that we encountered, all my gear stayed nice and dry.
Long story short, cabins are great! I look forward to seeing this one in March!
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