Walker Ranch Cross-Processed Cell Phone Pics
It’s been quite a crazy busy week for me. It’s taken me almost a whole work week to even get some measly cell phone pictures off the phone and onto the blog. The boys and I took out our first Walker Ranch mountain bike ride of the year on Tuesday. There was a little bit of snow on the clockwise descent on the north facing slopes, but it was actually pretty fun. It made the descent a bit more exciting :>) And overall, the conditions were stellar. We spent quite a bit of time sessioning the technical parts, trying to repeatedly clean them. Overall we weren’t all that successful, I need to work on the uphill trials hopping skills.
I’ve been thinking about a way to distinguish my cell phone pictures of marginal quality from my pro-pictures. I don’t want people to look at the top post and see some marginal images and think that it’s indicative of my paid work. So I got this idea and I shot a picture of my phone and now I have a new frame. We’ll see if I like it after a while. I think it’ll be OK as long as I don’t use it too much.
The Trapped in Vail Adventure
It is always important to bring extra clothes when you go skiing in the mountains. You never can be 100% sure that you are going to make it back when you think you will. Monday started out normally enough, and Davidson, Byron and I headed up to Vail for a half day of spring snowboarding. There was a Winter Storm Watch in effect, and Vail was already calling 13 inches mid-mountain. Being Vail, there was actually a lot more snow than that, so much that we were getting stuck a lot. It was a pretty epic day. My favorite part was the last run of the day down the Frontside Chutes. I found a very tight and steep chute through the aspens, and was shooting up such a big curl of snow in front of me that I had to stop because I literally couldn’t see where I was going.
We tried to leave around 2, but found that Vail pass was closed because of a huge pileup and generally hazardous conditions. So we hung around Vail Village and did the only thing that there was to do, eat food and drink beer. Personally I was praying that the pass wouldn’t open, so that we would be forced to stay the night and get some more great runs in the morning. We were walking through the village when I happened upon a sign that said there was a fashion show starting in fifteen minutes. We walked in and found a pretty small event; the snowstorm was keeping most people away. I wound up introducing myself as a photographer, and was subsequently asked to take pictures! I of course obliged and we met some cool people. Eventually we procrastinated finding a hotel long enough until someone felt sorry for us and offered us lodging for the night. It turned out perfectly as the house was huge and we even each got our own beds. Big thanks to Prisca and Rick!
This morning awoke clear, calm, and cold. We didn’t have a lot of time to spend riding today, but we were right there at first chair and got two hours of great runs in the back bowls. Mmmmmmm, it was soooooooo amazing, and there was hardly anyone there. So from now on I’m always going to make sure and pack an extra set of clothes; I’m hoping to get stuck in the mountains more often!
First ride of the year
The temperature hit 65 in Boulder today and the roadies were out in force. It has been pretty cold since I’ve been back from Florida, and I haven’t ventured out from behind the computer too much. I couldn’t deny a day this nice in January, especially on a Sunday. I ventured out on the road bike up Lee Hill and back down Old Stage. It was definitely good to get out there and sweat out some of my sins. Mid-ride I decided to take a couple pics for the blog with the ol’ cell phone. Check out the sun flare!
The Florida Cell Phone Self-Portrait Collection
The Snow Bird. Usage of the word is often intended to be derogatory. After 3 weeks of mostly perfect 70 degree weather in flip flops and sand in the toes, I’m growing sympathetic. I found myself playing with the cell phone camera a little more than i usually do. I realized today that I had a decent little collection of images! So since I don’t have any of my other big posts ready yet, I figured that I’d post a quickie.
The first photo in the top left was when I was enjoying a little guitar playing around the holidays. This last year I’ve sacrificed too much happy time in the name of work. I’m going to change that in 2008. Below that is me feeling a little freaked out by my one excursion to the mall this holiday season. Yeah, I went to a mall, and it had a freakin’ carousel in it! My only excuse for going is that I procrastinated getting my presents (photos, duh) and had to do it in Tampa, where the only nearby photo lab was in the mall. Top right is me enjoying fresh grouper fish and chips and an adult beverage while escaping the heat in Key West. The hat is super cool, weaved by a tattooed, skateboarding, beach bum dude and normally sold to tourists unloading off the cruise ships. The stuff behind me is a cool rusted out old truck with a mannequin in it. I tried to capture the whole scene, but you know, it was a cell phone. Bottom right is another tough day at work, scoping locations at Fort Desoto.
I didn’t miss skiing much. Hmmm.