Into The Wild

I LOVE THIS MOVIE. I read the book years ago and fell in love with it. I saw the movie for the second time last week. It always brings a rush of emotion for me. If you haven't seen it ... you should.

The following quotes by Chris McCandless are attributed to him by Jon Krakauer in Into the Wild book, through letters and postcards to friends, and excerpted from Chris McCandless' journal entries.

Two years he walks the earth.
No phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes. Ultimate freedom. An extremist. An aesthetic voyager whose home is the road. Escaped from Atlanta. Thou shalt not return, 'cause "the West is the best." And now after two rambling years comes the final and greatest adventure. The climactic battle to kill the false being within and victoriously conclude the spiritual pilgrimage. Ten days and nights of freight trains and hitchhiking bring him to the Great White North. No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild.
— Alexander Supertramp
May 1992

"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun."
— Chris McCandless

"Some people feel like they don't deserve love. They walk away quietly into empty spaces, trying to close the gaps of the past."
— Chris McCandless

"The core of mans' spirit comes from new experiences."
— Chris McCandless

"If we admit that human life can be ruled by reason, then all possibility of life is destroyed."
— Chris McCandless

"Rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness... give me truth."
— Chris expanded on the original quote by Henry David Thoreau

"Mr. Franz I think careers are a 20th century invention and I don't want one."
— Chris McCandless in Into the Wild movie, speaking to Ronald Franz.

"I have had a happy life and thank the Lord. Goodbye and may God bless all!" — Chris McCandless' journal from Alaska

"I want to go up to them and say Stop,
don't do it— she's the wrong woman,
he's the wrong man, you are going to do things
you cannot imagine you would ever do."
— Sharon Olds, May 1937
(In the movie, Chris reads this to his sister, Carine, outside the restaurant)

"I have lived through much and now I think I have found what is needed for happiness. A quiet, secluded life in the country with the possibility of being useful to people..."
— Leo Tolstoy

"...the sea's only gifts are harsh blows and, occasionally, the chance to feel strong. Now, I don't know much about the sea, but I do know that that's the way it is here. And I also know how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong, to measure yourself at least once, to find yourself at least once in the most ancient of human conditions, facing blind, deaf stone alone, with nothing to help you but your own hands and your own head..."
— Bear Meat by Primo Levi

There and Back Again

This is how Beaver Creek says Good Morning :)

We finished up our ski trip by doing the Talons Challenge. NOW THAT IS VACATION TO ME! I don't know why I enjoy torturing myself... but I do. This is the order we skied the runs in...

1. Lupine ♦
2. Shooting Star ♦
3. Loco ♦
4. Bald Eagle ♦♦
5. Falcon Park ♦♦
6. Osprey ♦♦
7. Ruffed Grouse ♦
8. Ptarmigan ♦
9. Raven Ridge ♦
10. Screech Owl ♦
11. Golden Eagle ♦♦
12. Peregrine ♦♦
13. Goshawk ♦♦

Bumps on Bald Eagle ♦♦


Self Portrait - Bottom of Bald Eagle

The Downhill Course was FREAKING AMAZING. It was really cool to ski it... of course we didn't ski it at 85 mph ... more like 8 mph :)


The Brink, Birds of Prey Downhill Course

The skiing was ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC ... it really couldn't have been any better.

ok.. ok.. so i love to ski.. i've shown you my pictures... you believe me.


The Flatirons/Boulder

I finally visited Boulder and I fell in love with it. There's a small pharmaceutical company called Array Biopharma there. Every time something rocks my world ... I say "I'm $%*#X##F moving to Colorado and working at Array". You know you've heard me say it.. probably sick of hearing it. In my heart, I THINK it's exactly what I NEED TO DO. However, I'm always afraid I'll miss my family and friends... and I never actually take steps to move. WELL... I picked up a paper in a cute little coffee shop in Boulder and read this article about about mountain love...

Mountain GAZETTE/Mountain Love/February 2008
THE SKI BUM - Stoner Flake or Transcendentalist?
But when's the last time anyone ever said he or she came to a mountain town to fall in love anyway? They come for the snow, the singletrack, the rock. They come to get away from the ex, the job, the family and the Rust Belt shithole that they can't stand to call home. People come to the mountains because the real working world sucks. Because there's nothing better than the narcissistic pleasure of doing nothing but getting good at mountain sports (except for hoping that someone else might tell you how good you are). And sure that might include fantasies about hooking up with an aloof, beautiful like-minded athletic soul. But is sure as hell doesn't include the tethers of a mortgage, long hours at the laptop or screaming kids and changing diapers.

That very sense of independence, of wanton wanderlust, is what makes all mountain town lovers essentially the same. There is some empty yearning in the gut as inexplicable as love itself that draws someone to a mountain town in the first place. As Rilke, that poest of the great, singular mystery of the yearning sould says, "Sometimes a man stands up during supper/and walks outdoors, and keeps on walking ... "

SO...if you happen to see me stand up during supper and walk outdoors... and I keep on walking ... make sure I go There and Back Again. There's plenty of narcissistic pleasure right here in NC.

Talons Challenge

[It's LATE... i'm in a hotel room with karen & syl ... they are trying to sleep. I'm trying to be vewy vewy quiet.... shhhh.]

All i can say is that we completed the Talons Challenge in 6 hours! 7 black diamonds... 6 double black diamonds... done.

Guess what? :) I'm sleepy again.

This is my last night in Colorado.

I'm post some pictures tomorrow when I CAN BE VEWY VEWY LOUD!

Vacation

It dropped mad snow balls today. It was a blizzard this morning... snowing side-ways... 30 mph wind gusts. So, we took today off (yes... that is correct - I didn't ski today)... I shopped, ate, slept and read. Some people would say that sounds like vacation. I definitely needed a day of rest because I was hurting so bad - but it didn't FEEL like vacation to me. I'm just looking at it as preparing for tomorrow. Karen and I are going to try and do all the Talons Challenge runs at Beaver Creek. Now THAT sounds like vacation! 13 black diamond/double black diamond runs ... do you think we can do it? There's one run that's part of the Birds of Prey downhill course... that was the site of the 2006 Men's World Cup Downhill Race... check it out. Bode Miller hit 85 mph on this course!

http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1029812821&channel=2621239

Blogs are boring as hell without pictures. These are the only pictures I took today. Self portraits in the condo... but I thought I'd share. Talk about boring.


Entertainment Stand in picture ... Take 2


Looks like Karen and I are having a ta ta contest... and it looks like I won. Crazy. Take 3


Much better.

Tomorrow should be a little more exciting. (If we wake up and leave the condo... it'll be more exciting).

[This trip has been good... but I can't really write about skiing all week and not mention the fact that I have missed Stephanie. I really wanted her to be here with me this year... but it just didn't work out. It's been hard on me because I do love to ski with her so much. She encourages me to ski better... she brags on my form... makes me work harder... constantly racing me to the bottom of runs... she even races me on the catwalks. I like that about her. I hope she knows how much I have missed her. Happy Valentine's Day Joyful.]

It IS Valentine's Day (for me and Cindy... it's actually over for the NC folks). I hope everybody felt some love today (yesterday). I've only given my blog address to a few people. So, if you're reading this... I loves you! Happy Valentine's Day to you.

Vail

It snowed all day today. It wasn't supposed to ... but it did ... because it's Vail - and Vail is perfect :)

Disclaimer: I'm really, really, REALLY tired tonight. I think it's a combination of caffeine deprivation, altitude, dehydration... and ALL the skiing. I'm tired... but a good story happened today... I have to share. (Hopefully all of the English majors reading this entry will cut me some slack on typographical errors and such).

SO... a few years ago Shanon Madrid nicknamed me U-Turn on a backpacking trip. I started to take offense to it... but I had just gotten us lost on a hiking trail... so what could I say... right?

WELL... today I suggested that we ski Outer and Inner Mongolia. Those are wooded bowls... a little remote area in Vail with hardly any traffic at all. Karen in the Mongolian Bowl.

Karen and I are skiing along having a great time in the fresh powder when i start noticing that there aren't any other ski tracks around us. I was getting kind of nervous but didn't really panic until we ran slam up against a rope marking the boundary of the resort and there were NO trails ... only a thickly wooded forest to the right. We had to ski into the woods... and it was scary. Really scary. We kept moving and moving... and NEVER getting out of the trees. I started thinking about the food that we had... the overnight temperatures... freezing to death. Seriously - I'm scared. I fell so many times. I face-planted in the snow... I'm talking snow in my mouth... powder in my pants ... wipe out in the trees. I apologized to Karen at least 10 times for getting us in that situation... she was freaking out too. Karen Freaking Out

Well... obviously we made it out of there... because I'm typing this story right now. We had a good laugh about it at lunch... especially when we got out the trail map and realized that we were ACTUALLY in the Siberia Bowl... not even the Mongolian Bowls... where I THOUGHT we were.

U-Turn... whatever.

Beaver Creek

The Talons Challenge
Ski 13 Black Diamond and Double-Black Diamond runs in one day. The Talons Challenge is a showcase of the best steeps Beaver Creek has to offer, 23,000+ vertical feet await on Beaver Creek's legendary World Cup Birds of Prey downhill course, in Larkspur Bowl and on the flanks of Grouse Mountain.

Beaver Creek hosts The Talons Challenge one time each year... challenging skiers to ski ALL 13 runs. We made a decent attempt to hit all of them... but didn't even come close. We did ski several of them though. I'm going to be seeing moguls in my sleep tonight. I'm thinking seriously about going to ski school one day this week. After confessing to being a professional mogul cheater... it bothered me all day today. Side-slipping and traversing felt so wrong. I felt ALOT of pressure to actually make turns... and I KNOW that's just going to lead to me getting hurt before the week is over.



First Double-Black Diamond run of 2008... and by the way, it did snow today.


I really loved Beaver Creek. It's one of my favorite places to ski now.

Beaver Creek, Colorado
Elevation 11,440 ft
Total Acres 1805
148 trails

1. Vail, Colorado
2. Jackson Hole, Wyoming
3. Beaver Creek, Colorado
4. Heavenly, California
5. Taos, New Mexico
6. Copper, Colorado
7. Kirkwood, California
8. Keystone, Colorado
9. Breckenridge, Colorado
10. Snowshoe, West Virginia
11. Seven Springs, Pennsylvania
12. Sugar Mtn, North Carolina
13. Appalachian Mtn, North Carolina

Guess what?

I'm sleepy again...
and when I wake up it'll be time to ski Vail.

I love Vail.

Copper Mountain

Well... it was a perfect day of skiing at Copper Mountain. It was an absolutely beautiful today. Temperatures were in the upper 30's ... absolutely gorgeous. We skipped the greens... went straight to the blues. Thing about Copper is that the base of the mountain is a freaking zoo. Everybody and their mama rides those lifts in the morning... so the best way to avoid the craziness is to go straight to the blue/blacks. Thank goodness skiing is just like riding a bike :)

I love black diamonds. LOVE THEM. The more moguls the better. We hit some blacks before lunch but saved the harder stuff for later in the day. We took a break for food (which was VERY GOOD)... and of course I topped it off with a Snickers Bar... you need Snickers Legs for endurance skiing :) We did some new stuff... blazed with "Caution - Hidden Obstacles" signs... that always makes me just a little nervous. The hardest run of the day was in the Resolution Bowl. We swished up to the edge of the "no return spot"... that last moment when you can bail... Karen & I ... just standing there staring at it... like it might get easier any minute. Finally we made the decision to go ahead and do it. We were preparing to "drop in" and we couldn't decide if we were on the Highline trail or the Sawtooth trail (buying those last few minutes of time... waiting to see who will be stupid enough to go 1st) ... so I appropriately renamed it the "Shit Your Britches" trail and made the plunge. It was incredibly STEEP and bumpy. Note: I am some where between a decent skier and a fantastic skier (most people are - right?)... which means that I have the ability to cheat like hell on the hard stuff. I can traverse and side-slip any trail on the map. I WILL get to the bottom safely and in control. I WISH I could float through the moguls... but I can't do it yet. It's a beautiful thing to watch - a graceful skier with real skills... but for now I'm just a cheater. Pictures can't ever really capture the difficulty of a trail. So, you'll just have to trust me. It was scary as hell... but I cheated ... and made it down without falling :) [That's Karen in the corner of the picture above me on the Shit Your Britches trail :)]



Today was Syl's birthday. We went to a little restaurant in Minturn (town nestled between Vail and Avon). It was a neat place. You actually cook your own steak. We didn't start drinking our good bottle of wine until AFTER we had cooked... so it all worked out. Happy Birthday Syl.







Not sure what we are skiing tomorrow. Beaver Creek? Vail? Beaver Creek? Vail? Life is hard.

I'm sleepy again.

Going to Nappers Town, Colorado.

Colorado

The Bucket List

1. Live in Colorado for at least a year... maybe longer.

This place is magic... the Fairy Dust floats in the air.

I'm exhausted... can't think straight :)

Going to Sleepy Town, Colorado.

Got lots of skiing to do tomorrow :)

Rivalry Week

Duke women's basketball isn't the same anymore. It just feels wrong! Sure... we still parked 5 miles away from the gym and walked 20 minutes in the rain to get to the game. We bought tickets from the crazy lady scalper that hits on everybody. We even successfully scurried past the guards on the floor and managed to get center court amongst the Crazies. The chanting between the fans was clever as always...

DUKE "Go to hell Carolina ... Go to hell!"
UNC "We're here."
DUKE "Go to hell Carolina... Go to hell!"
UNC "We're here."



















It felt like classic Carolina/Duke basketball... but it wasn't. Basically, two things were missisng Monday. The Sunshine Suit and The Sunshine.

I thought I was ready for Duke basketball ... minus Coach G ... but I realize I'm not. I am still sad. It absolutely breaks my heart to watch the staff parade into Cameron now. I feel like something special was stolen from Duke. Texas robbed Duke. It was a beautiful love affair gone tragically wrong. Coach G was heart broken by missed opportunities... championships slipped through her fingertips. Texas KNEW she was vulnerable and they took advantage of the situation. I like to think it's not too late for things to work out for Duke & Gail. I see Gail smiling and LOOKING happy ... but the saying is "money can't buy happiness"... and I believe in that saying. I don't think she's happy. The honey-moon phase is over between her & Texas and I think she's realizing she made a big mistake... burnt orange is not her color.

Stephanie (shameless Carolina fan) said immediately after the game, "If I cussed I'd text you - 'It's bad when you get an A.S.S.whooping in your own house'". I agree with her. It is bad. It's going to be even worse tonight at the Dean Dome :)

NCAAW
Carolina 93
Duke 76