A Day at Monarch

Yesterday I made a good last minute decision. I headed over to Monarch Ski Area with Pashley, Pashley's better half Erin and Gary Wyman. Having driven past this place hundreds of times and never stopping in, it was nice to finally check it off the "to do" list. We showed up to Bluebird skies, an almost empty parking lot and tons of fresh snow to track up. I have to say this place is pretty darn sweet. From the road you might not think too much of it. Probably what I have been telling myself for years, but man am I glad I finally stopped in. Like Wolf Creek it gets a lot of snow, however I have to say that there are more sustained pitches than Wolf Creek, less flats, the lifts are shorter and therefor you can make many more runs on a better pitch. There was also a lot of varied terrain for popping ollies over trees and rocks, and there was hardly any one else out on the slopes to compete for the freshest of lines with. All in all I had a blast and look forward to making it back down that way soon! A big thanks goes out to Greg Ralph in the Marketing Department for taking very good care of us! Enjoy some pic....

Headed out of Breckenridge early, but hey it's only a two hour drive, so not that early


Gary didn't want me to take a photo of his long underwear but I did anyways


Breakfast at Lodge and Spa


The drive down


First chair ride at Monarch



Frosty trees are good


Pash, getting barreled


The other chair we rode a lot of


Some of the backcountry options that exist


BOOOOM! Pashley


Wyman


Sick custom Civic!


More frosty tress


gettin artsy I guess


The top


The end


Just a few days in paradise....

So, if you read my previous post from Monday I was heading back up to the Bonnie Bell Cabin for a few days of snow, beer, whisky and shredding. Well the shredding didn't really happen as much as I would have liked but that'll come soon enough. The real goal was to test our new snowcat (which passed with flying colors) drink some whiskey, watch the snow fall, and maybe even get some turns in. So stoked on the new cat. Well it was actually built in 1964, but its new to us, and it absolutely kills it, especially since we got it for free. It rallied up the steep road with supplies and about 7 or so people no problem, and it had to break trail, in the dark, in a snow storm. SO STOKED! The next day we ventured out a bit but only to find avalanches everywhere. We managed to kick a few off our self's too. Mostly small slides in the sense that they weren't traveling very far, but some of them sporting 4-5' crowns, so in the same respect, the mountains demanded respect. Finally, by Wednesday the skies cleared, and everyone eventually trickled back to society. Skylar and I decided to stay an extra day to take care of some repairs on the cat as well as the cabin. I managed to take a late afternoon solo tour to make some turns. Its nice to pick a line from your living room, skin to it, and shred down back to your living room. This will never get old. Dusk fell, and more whiskey was consumed. Sleep, then breakfast, and then work on getting Skylar's sled working which had some frozen fuel lines. Even with a nice sunny day, things happen slowly at 12,000 feet. Finally after damn near pulling 1/2 the sled apart, standing it up on its side, shaking it, we got it started. It too was time for us to head back to civilization. Leaving this place is the hardest thing to do. I can't describe what this place means to me. I feel very, very lucky to own such a property. I Can't really describe it, so until next time, enjoy some video and more photos and stay tuned for more.....


The beast from 1964



Check some footage of the cat in action...



So cold even the Wolf wants in.



Love this f'n place...



Cup-O-Joe



Home....home on the range



Misty right?



Sunset



Breakfast....

The view from breakfast

Interior Designs


The interior has come together at the Bonnie Bell Cabin and we are pretty much ready for business. A few more legal things to take care of, then we'll be offering this lovely shred hut for your renting pleasure. We also got the plumbing in place with a working toilet, gas lines installed for the stove, and beds or futons to sleep about 21 people. As soon as the website is up, I will post the info here. Stay tuned

Self Portrait

Nothing artsy or anything, but this was a really fun climb up Father Dyer Peak (northeast route, Class 3) in Breckenridge, CO on August 22, 2009. There's something to be said about just going out on your own and getting out in the wilderness for a couple of hours. I really do enjoy routes like this. Class 3 and 4 routes that is. I hate to hike actually, if it doesn't involve some kind of scrambling I'm not into it at all. Another thing I like is the fact that there are no ropes to slow you down, but at the same time there is usually a lot of exposure and if you fell it would more than likely end in death. And if that were the case, being by yourself, nobody would ever really know just what happened. It keeps you on your toes, and makes you feel alive. A funny story about this particular day was that the second I got to the summit I received a phone call from my good friend DC. When he asked me where I was, I told him on the top of Father Dyer Peak, can you see me, I'm waving my arms? He replied, yes, do you see me? Jokingly I said yes, but of course I didn't. He then tells me that he is on the summit of Helen Mountain (The peak lower center in this photo) and that he indeed can see me. Now do you see me he asked? Laughing now, I said yes. He then proceeded to fly a kite. Pretty random to say the least.

Done Deal

After 7 months of tracking down owners, dealing with lawyers, finding the right partners, funds, blah, blah, blah.....It's ours. We signed the papers for the Bonnie Bell Cabin on Friday and have been working to get it ready for the winter since. What am I talking about you may ask yourself? Well I worked on a story for SNOWBOARDER Magazine about Silverton, Colorado last winter. The story is actually out in the September issue right now so go pick it up! Anyways while working on this story I was told about this cabin that was potentially for sale. After falling in love with the area in which the cabin sits, I knew I had to make it happen. Skylar Holgate, Silverton Mountain Guide and Chris Harrell, an old time Durango friend and business man extrodanaire are my two partners on this venture. Our concept is to eventually have a backcountry ski area complete with multiple cabins to stay overnight, snowcats for access, and snowmobiles to use once you are out there. There is also probably going to be some heli options for those with the cash. Off course when I say "Ski Area" it is not in the typical form. Our own personal interest will be looked out for first. Stay tuned for more to come.


This is what I call the front door lines. Just some off the options right out the front door


It was low tide when we were in town for the Magazine story, but you wouldn't really be able to tell if you go pick up the September issue of SNOWBOARDER Magazine. A closer look at the Front Door Lines


This is the living room. Lots of finish work to be done. Some day we will have flat screen TV's powered by wind and solar.


Propane Range and Refrigerater.


4th of July picnic. We hadn't signed the papers yet, but we cruised up early to reconfirm why we needed this property.


Working on a sick deck right now. The views are amazing...


This truck came with the property. I'm not going to lie. I'm a little scared to drive this thing down the road. Not sure the actual grade but it's steep as shit!


Stan and Max's snowcat (Treasure Mountain Hut). They have a cabin about 300 yards to the north of ours and already have a solid business in place. We will be working together to make the best of an already good situation.