A season in a week

We took the boys to Copper Mtn for their first Rocky Mountain snowboard trip ever. We had been planning this trip since they were tiny little snowboarding nuggets.   Now they are 17 & 14x2.  They are threatening to grow up and move on to college and other real-world pursuits. So we figured it better happen now.

As fortuitous luck and climate change would have it we are in uncompassionate El Niño year where New England is continuously taunted by snow storms that we know will never materialize. El Niño has abusive tendencies. As he punishes he Northeast he whispers love in the ear of the Sierras. And they are oh so willing to accept it.  They forgot what love is.  They've suffered. And not just the silly skiers...the farmers,  And the gardens,  A the pools, And fire departments,  and the thirsty, and the trees. The niño will kiss it and make it better. And the Rockies, they won't complain.  They get the scraps, and these scraps are mostly fat.

The preparation was a process of days,  weeks,  months, years. Testing skills on icy Cannon Mountain, gearing up at Lahouts in Lincoln, assembling the crew in Marshfield,  then off to Colorado.

L- and I had worked at Copper 20+ years ago and have been back a few times since. So even though the mega-resort-village was new to us the terrain wasn't and were able to move around the mountain efficiently and hit all the old stashes at the right times. Our AirB&B condo was about 30yrds from the Super Bee high speed 6-pack, so we were easily able to be in line for opening bell each day and making fresh turns 10 minutes.

With only 4 days of riding available you always hope for the best and that's what we got. We were able to show the kids a microcosm of a Colorado ski season in only 4 days.....

We got in late Saturday night to reports of no recent snow but possibly a few inches on the horizon. Sunday morning we caught one of the first chairs and headed straight up. I was a little disappointed that the sky was socked in and the kids weren't getting the epic Rocky Mountain views I'd been hoping to show them. Conditions were firm but edgeable groomers. The woods were crusty and mostly out of play. It was basically Nov-Dec conditions. Still fun but nothing special. By noon it started to snow and everything changed in an hour. 1-2" made all of the difference and it turned into a playful, frontside day. By the end of the day the kids were stoked by the huge Colorado runs and I knew they had a lot more in store.  The Super Bee gets you 2,225 vertical feet FAST. We lapped that thing about 5 times with fresh lines every trip. It was a full on late January powder day! Avalanche work was going on in all the bowls and the kids were totally in awe of the big BOOMS. Resolution Bowl was loading up with the blowing snow and was the hit of the day.

Monday morning we were standing at the lift 15 minutes before opening staring up at ~6" of overnight snow on top of the 2" from the previous day. And it was still coming down! We didn't do pushups while waiting,  But some people did.....








Tuesday morning we were again in at the lift before opening. The sun was coming out and it was already 30 degrees. Total snowfall from the past 2 days was 10-12" with heaving loading in the back bowls. It was turning into a classic late February bluebird powder day. We headed straight into Resolution were we had left off the day before. Runs like Drain Pipe were deep, soft, and heavenly!

After some early avy work, Spaulding bowl opened up and we headed straight for it. This had been where I worked and it was always my favorite. It's the steepest part of Copper and it was loaded up with some amazing snow. Considering that the kids had never seen something like this terrain I was happy and impressed that they attacked it like old pros with no hesitation. Copper Bowl, Union Bowl, and everything else were equally good that day.

Wednesday was blazing sun and hit the high 40s. It was full on late March Spring conditions!

North facing runs in the trees and shade were still soft fluffy pow shots. South facing back bowls were luscious spring bumps. We went coast to coast from Far East under the A-Lift to the Far West on Union Meadows and the deep woods at the western boundary.

It perfect 4 days of western riding. On Day 5 we went up to Leadville to hang out with my family there and give the kids a taste of real (non-resort) Colorado.

Valle Nevado, Chile Jul-Aug 2014

We arrived in Chile on July 26. We spent 3 days visiting with friends in Santiago, plus a side trip to Valparaiso. Valparaiso is one seriously wild city. I had been there early this year but definitely wanted to visit again. Here's a just a typical mural on a typical house in 'Valpo'....


On Tuesday we headed up to Valle Nevado. The road to VN is by far the most insane mountain pass I have been on. It FAR outdoes the Colorado passes that I always thought were pretty hairy (Tennessee, Independence, Rabbit ears, Berthoud). There aren't a lot of options for getting up the pass. You can rent a car but there a lot of restrictions on travel and requirements for chains etc. Plus that's not a cheap option when the car will just be parked there for 4 days. You can take a private car or a helicopter, both are pretty expensive. So we went against some advice and took the most popular option of a shuttle van. Having been forewarned, we at least knew enough to get there early and snag the front seats. This made all the difference because L would have been hurling all over the van if she had been in the back. The most significant downside to taking the van (puking aside) is that with all the stops and BS it doesn't get you to the mountain until ~11:30.

So, arriving at VN at 11:30 on Tuesday with still bags to check, gear to rent, etc, we opted not to snowboard at all that day. I was a little disappointed about that but in the end it was definitely the best call. With a base lodge at ~9,000' we pretty happy to get some acclimation under our belts. Although I did break all the altitude rules with a couple of beers and a Pisco Sour. We knew it was going to be good though....

July 30. Weather: socked in, ~35 degrees. This season has been pretty crappy for Chile. They got off to a huge early start in June but haven't had much love in awhile. The snow was old and well worn. There was a lot of bare ground and several options including the inter-mountain connections were either closed or unwelcoming. This day probably would have sucked except that it was so warm. It was basically spring skiing conditions in the middle of their winter. New England skiers no how to make the most of any conditions and that's exactly what we did. Even though the terrain was limited we found the best of it and had a blast.

July 31. Weather: ~2" fresh, snowing lightly, ~25 degrees, strong winds. We knew there was some snow in forecast so we were up early. We skied down from our apartment before the lifts opened hoping to catch first chair....which we did. But we probably could have slept another hour and still got first chair. Nobody there is gung ho about getting at it. So we had a solid hour with the mountain basically to ourselves. You know how even 2" of fresh can make a difference when things have been stale. And the strong winds had created drifts of boot+ deep. Still, the conditions weren't fantastic. The flat light, wind, and blowing snow made it very difficult to read the treeless terrain (I really miss trees!!). But again we made the most of what was there, riding on the narrow strips of windblown fluff as only New Englanders can appreciate.

August 1. Bluebird, 4-6" fresh, ~35 degrees. Amazing! Once again we were up early. Again we got first chair. And this time it was fresh first tracks, and second, and third, etc down wide open faces. There was seriously nobody there to take advantage of an absolutely perfect day. There are stray dogs that live on the mountain, and besides us they were the only ones enjoying the freshies. It was so damn good the words aren't coming to me, so I'll wrap this up with a few more pics and some video....

Andes Express Chairlift

Making friends with the local powder hounds

Little bit of video. Damn those crowds....

The Mellow Urgency of March

March is my favorite month of the year. The days are longer, the sun is warmer (usually), the storms are frequent. There is a certain mellowness to it that comes from apres beers in the sunshine. But there is also a sense of urgency. The end of the season is always lurking around the corner and you never know when it might hit. I start to get itchy to do all the things I put off throughout the winter. The past 4 days I've taken care of a lot of that.

First Burke, Friday 3/21. JC and JB were coming up and they were looking for deals and someplace new. I knew Burke was the spot for that and I hadn't been there all season. What a great decision! They had picked up a half foot on Wed night and a few more inches Thursday night. There were virtually no people on the mtn. We hit skied boundary to boundary and everything in between. 6-8" of untouched over a super soft base made for some of the most fun conditions I've ever experienced. I slightly regret choosing my board over skis since Burke's layout is really unfriendly to to snowboards. But the traverses were worth the freshies and I have no complaints. It was so good that I forgot to pull out the camera much. So not any worthy video and only a few stills. Screen cap from a highlight run....

If you want to hide, you're going to need a bigger tree....

Then Cannon, Saturday 3/22. Holy hurricane!! 50MPH, multiple lift closures, horrendous visibility.

Then Loon, Saturday 3/22. After bailing on Cannon we found that the wind was non-existent in Lincoln and snow was coming down hard. I was hoping I convince JC & JB to make some turns at Loon. As soon as I stepped out of the car the started trying to convince me of the same thing! It was on. Fantastic conditions and no crowds!! The snow was ultra carveable and was filling in even more run by run. High speed top to bottoms at South Peak rack up vert at 1,500' per run. With the place to ourselves it was ski-on every time we managed to pack a decent days worth of vert into a short half-day. A really, really great day with longtime friends that I hope to see on the hill more often. I think these past 2 days were the inspiration they needed.

Then Cannon, Sunday 3/23. This might have been the sleeper day of the year. Headed north way early to guarantee catching first tram. It was full on blizzard conditions in the Notch with snow accumulating fast. At the top we ran out of the tram and headed for Vistaway. We knew there would be 2 possibilities there: 1) completely scoured ice from the previous days wind, or 2) plush drifts. We gambled and won! First tracks on an absolutely perfect 3-4" fresh with soft drifts. Being ahead over everyone else coming off the tram we didn't want to give up our first tracks opportunity so we ran it top to bottom. A perfect untouched canvas the whole down Bypass, Paulie's ext, Avalanche, and Banshee Lift line. WOW! Possibly the run of the year. Beat the tram by a solid 5min. And it was non-stop from then on. Met up with JR on the next run and did another T2B. Then up-down-up-down-up-down....... L had to leave by 11am for school work, but she managed to cram in a dozen amazing powder runs first. She was KILLING it! Staying ahead of me at every turn to guarantee the untracked all for herself.

She left...I stayed. JR offered my a ride home so it was too good to refuse. Feeling that March urgency again we hit many lines that I hadn't touched yet this season. JR is a great ski partner. Basically he shrugs and says "sounds good" to any madness you suggest.....

Then Mount Eustis, Monday 3/24. I was seriously worked after 3 days of going hard. I needed to stretch my legs and slow it down a bit. Mount Eustis in Littleton operated from the 1930's to the 1970's. Since then it was grown over and mostly forgotten. I never even knew it was there despite the fact that it sits right next to I-93. Over the past few years a grassroots group in Littleton has put on a big push to revive it and make it operational again as a town hill. You can find out more here http://www.mteustis.org/ . I knew about those plans but hadn't given it much thought lately. But driving to Burke on Friday I was captivated by the newly cleared trails that loom over the town.

So on Monday a packed up the splitboard to check it out. The skinning was extremely easy on snowmobile tracks that lead to the summit.

For a tiny hill it has some of the best views in the Whites. Littleton down below, Presidentials off to the right

The snow was a little heavy and slow. But it was mostly untouched and made for some great riding on fun narrow trails

My first lap was solo. At the bottom I met a few skiers on their way up. I caught them again at the summit just before the headed down. We chatted for a bit and they were kind enough to share some of their supplies. Which made the 2nd and final lap all the sweeter.

4 days and 4 mountains makes me love March even more. I'm ready now for whatever happens.

Valparaíso

I only had about 2.5 hours to spend in Valparaíso, Chile so I am wildly unqualified to describe it. But lack of qualifications has never stopped me before so here we go. Besides, this seems like the kind of enigmatic place you could unravel for a lifetime, so I'd probably never be fully qualified anyway.

There's always a desire to describe a place in relation to other places people are familiar. Such as "Seattle reminds me of Boston, but more rainy and with a different type of people." It always reminds of the scene from Altman's The Player. "It's like The Gods Must Be Crazy except the coke bottle is an actress. Right. It's Out of Africa meets Pretty Woman". Valparaíso may be too unique a place to describe in those terms, but again, that won't stop me so here we go. This city is like if you took the narrow, twisty alleyways and bright colors of Venice, and mashed them with the wild, dangerous, artistic, eclectic culture of New Orleans, then draped it over the hills of San Francisco, only steeper.

My gracious hosts Thomas and Sophia had taken a big chunk out of their precious weekend to take me up here. Thomas had a marathon training run in the morning, I had a flight home in the evening. That didn't leave a whole lot of time. Sophia made some calls and found THE restaurant to check out. After a wild (unplanned) driving tour of the various neighborhoods we finally ended up right at Espiritu Santo . We were warmly welcomed by the owner Laura Moreno who quickly and easily identified the gringo. When I told her I was from MA she laughed and revealed that she had lived in Cambridge for 11 years. T&S, of course, had just returned home to Chile after 3.5 years of living in Cambridge so we all had a lot to talk about. She walked us through the menu with specific recommendations to our taste. It was ceviche for me and it was by far the best I had ever had. More importantly, after 2.5 weeks in Chile I finally got a exceptional pisco sour.

There is a definite edge to Valparaíso. Like New Orleans there are sights and smells that aren't welcoming and it's clear that not everything is safe. But like NO that edge also comes with a huge freedom of artistic expression and deviation for the norm. Virtually every vertical surface is covered in color.  Whether it's a brightly painted hotel, a commissioned mural, or fantastic graffiti, personal expression is literally splattered all over the city. That edge also brings other wild activities. One of the first times I had heard of 'ValPo' was in this insane video of mountain bike downhill race through the streets http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIe6hYAdw_I.  If I hadn't already been blown away by that video, walking the streets and imagining riding them just made my jaw drop. While we were there the Dakar Rally was coming to finish line in downtown. The 5,824-mile route leads from Rosario, Argentina across the Andes and the Atacama desert to Valparaíso on motorcycles, buggies, cars, and ridiculously huge trucks.

That's about 2.5 hours worth of my understanding of Valparaíso. But I can pretty much guarantee that I'll be back. So more next time.

All work and no play

You don't get to understand a tourist town by  sitting in an office all day.  So a big part of our "research" is getting to know the place.  Fortunately, getting to know this place includes sunsets, beer, wine, taca taca, kayaking, bingo, playing with stray dogs, and eating empanadas.  In fact the empanadas is the monetary indicator in Dichato.

Underwater Laboratory

But only if they are designed and intended to be underwater.  

This was the Marine Science lab and shellfish hatchery for the University of Concepción. The tsunami completely obliterated everything. All equipment, samples, archives, data, etc was destroyed. Their research vessel the Kay-Kay was found on a hillside 2km inland.  I met with the PI here, Eduardo Hernandez, and it was pretty sad hearing him describe the losses.

But there were a couple of upsides.  First of all the lab (but not hatchery) is being rebuilt and is really nice, and the boat was recovered and repaired.  Secondly, he has one of the most amazing research projects in the world.  He is a benthic ecologist and was already several years into an extensive sampling program throughout this Bay when the tsunami hit. For example, he had an ADCP deployed at the time and it survived the tsunami. So he has an incredible data set from that.  He also had several years of benthic infauna and epifauna data.  So now he's tracking long term community recovery.  It's an iincredibly unique and amazing opportunity to look at benthic process after the entire community is 100% removed.  He also captured an intense hypoxia event resulting from Humboldt current upwelling in 2008. So he's able to compare water chemistry die offs to physical process (tsunami) die offs and assess the differences in community response and recovery.

Natural Resource Curse

The concept that abundant natural resources can actually be detrimental to a country's economic development is counter intuitive.  It would seem that the harvest and sale of natural resources would be an overall economic benefit.  However, it has been shown in many cases that in economic dependence on large-scale exportation of natural resources can actual hinder a country's ability to thrive. The concept and case studies are pretty easy to find, and I'm no economist, so I won't get into that much here.  But I am an ecologist and it doesn't take much more than talking to local fisherman and looking at the surrounding hillsides in the Bio Bio region of Chile to understand that excessive natural resource extraction is not ecologically sustainable.

Mining is king in Chile and the major environmental impacts of extraction have well documented.  Here in Bio Bio the issues are fishing and forestry.  

This many boats tied up idle at the dock is never a good sign for the state of a fishery.  Sardine, anchovy, and jack mackerel stocks are depleted to the point that it's not even worth taking your boat out.

On virtually every hillside the native trees have been completely removed.  Non-native eucalyptus and Monterrey pine  now stand in neat rows sucking up outrageous amounts of water and nutrients.

 If it's not ecologically OR economically sustainable it's a very short sighted vision and truly is a curse.