Spring skiing pictures

Here are some recent spring skiing pictures. I'm really going to miss skiing when it ends.

I spent a lot of time on this lift this year, sometimes alone and sometimes talking to strangers.

Deer kissing

I guess everyone needs a kiss from time to time.

He's trying to think of something to say to her..

"What lovely ears you have my deer,.. They're so soft and fluffy.." he says,. "Is that musk you're wearing?" she askes as she moistens her lips..


And then they kiss..

The last ski race

My friend Reinhard who is a really good ski racer, talked me into doing a giant slalom this weekend at Lookout. Well sort of... I wouldn't have done it if he hadn't as he had a flu and cough due to cold. We had to get up very early to travel and get there on time to register for the race. In a Giant Slalom there there are two runs and the lowest combined time wins.

Looking up the course from the bottom. The snow was frozen solid and perfect for racing.

Looking down from the top of the course. It's steeper than it looks even though this one is easier than usual.

That's Reinhard off in the distance in the blue. They are checking the timing and getting ready for the race.

I won my catagory and got the "gold" medal. There were only two people in my catagory and the other guy was a better skier, but he fell in the first run and had to hike back up to the gate where he fell. He coudln't make up that time in the second run so I won.. (I don't think it's really gold,..) but I'll take it!

That will be the end of my ski racing this year. A nice way to go out on. Still a few days of free skiing left.

Idaho skiing pictures

Had another ski day in north Idaho today. Got to get them in while I they are still running the lifts. It was pretty nice out, cold air and warm sun above the clouds. Perfect for cruising.

This is what I looked like riding the lift. I know,.. I've taken this shot before but I can't help it... Those Atomic race skis are really fun for me to cruise on, and I might be racing this weekend, if I can get out of bed early enough...

These people are dropping down into the backside bowl. It's really steep down there, but you can't really tell in this picture. They are good skiers to go down in there.

Skiing pictures

Another beautiful day in the mountains. The wet heavy snow of yesterday gave way to soft fluffy snow today. Here are some Cyber Trees from today. I had to crop it in a little to give it that Sunday go to church feeling... I'm really going to miss ski season when it ends..

This person stuck their arm out at just the right time! :) I almost didn't take my camera with me after lunch. I realized I didn't have it and walked back to the car to get it. There's always something to take a picture of, I thought as I walked back to the car in the mud. And I NEVER go anywhere without my camera.. I don't even go to Walmart without my camera..

Shark attack of skiing

When you go surfing you have to watch out for shark attacks. But when you go skiing it's much worse. Wild turkey attacks are on the rise. And they single out people in Hyundais. If you drive a Hyundai, try to make it look like you're drving a Honda. The wild turkey has spotted me and is charging!

He's singled me out.. They get in front of your Hyundai and won't let you go. "Whatcha gonna do don!" The wild turkey taunts me... He wants my bird feed, credit cards and cell phone... If this happens, lock the doors and roll up the windows. Whatever you do, don't get out!

He has me right where he wants me!

The last thing you see before they peck is that eye...

Wild Turkey

What's that song?...

Wild wild turkeys,
Couldn't drag me away..

But this one tried to pick a fight with my Hyundai. I really need to get a bigger car... But it was me he really wanted.. He got in front of my car and wasn't about to let me leave. I honked and he just gobbeled back at me. I tried to get away once and he chased me down. I was afraid I'd run over him and really be the bad guy. I finally had to get out and shoo him away and he still chased me as I drove away.

I was attacked by an EVIL GROUSE back in 2008. That was bad enough, and now this..

I'm just not in harmony with nature, that's all.. This is a bad sign anyway. You know it's gotten pretty bad when even the turkeys are against you.

Skiing in the sunshine

Today was a nice day to be skiing in the mountains. Not many people and the snow was great. All of the people were happy. Well I didn't run into any unhappy ones anyway..

Here's a don's eye view picture I took of my shadow while I was skiing. I fell and hurt my arm last week so I told the doctor to just remove it. (I'm kidding,..) It looks like I'm skiing with one arm missing but I'm holding the camera.

Squirrel

This squirrel checked me out yesterday as I made my way through its forest home. We were both enjoying the morning sunshine. The forest is starting to come alive due to a short warm winter.

Wild Horse Island picture

On the subject of trees,..I was looking at my cyber tree photos and started to miss Montana and Wild Horse Island. I took this picture two years ago from a boat trip to Wild Horse Island. I've been going there my whole life and I still go there every chance I get. My gosh.. How my life is slipping away from me. I remember composing this shot like it was yesterday. I pretty much remember my exact footsteps. I kept moving around to get a nice shot as the sun went down. I remember how into it I was.

Trees in the fog

Here's a picture I took skiing down into the fog. Eventually the fog burned off and it was nice and sunny on the mountain.

***
One time I was talking to my grandfather. He was a ranger for the Forest Service. He was telling me about going in and out of the fog on a mountain. I can't really remember exactly what he said, but I always think about him when I go in and out of the fog like this.

I think that's a Grand Fir tree in the middle there. The pointy one on the right is an Alpine Fir. The bare one in the distance farther to the right is a Tamarack.

Waiting to ski race

Anyone who has ever ski raced knows that there is a lot of waiting around for a minute or so of extreme excitement when it's finally your turn to go. This lady waits for the the race to get underway as does the guy in the distance.

Harmony Rocket

I took a picture of my Harmony Rocket today as it was in the sunshine. Probably not the best for it. It's an H53 1 pickup probably made between 1959 and 1962. I found it in a good will type store and got it for $12 if I remember. The bridge and pickup were missing. I bought a bridge but still need the pickup. I don't know what else to say about it other than I like having it around.

Skiing and the Olympics

Sorry I've been so abscent lately. I've been skiing and of course watching the Olympics. (our US coverage of the Olympics is really lame BTW.) I thought this year it would be different but actually it still sucks. More about this later..

When I got on the mountain today I rode the bunny hill chair as usual to get to the other chairs. The ski school instructor hooked me up with a four year old girl to ride the chair with. I enjoy riding the chair with these little kids but I don't like the responsibility. There's no restraints on the chair so I put my poles infront of her and hung onto her hood/ coat from behind. Heaven forbid that a little four year old fall off of my chair... This girl was a little wiggle worm too. She was a talker too. We talked about the weather, cats dogs and also rabbits. She asked me if I had a rabbit. :) Well yes I do actually!.. How I wish I had a little kid of my own..

Here's a picture of me at the top of the ski hill taken by my friend Reinhard. He rocks a Nikon like I do.. He was rocking my Nikon in this pic actually.. He got the exposure exactly right, and that isn't easy when it's so bright out like it was today. I like this picture. You'd never know I weight almost 200 lbs.. :)

click on picture to see bigger..

And here's a good photography tip.. Make sure the horizon is level. I don't know how many people screw this up.. I see a lot of good photographers get this wrong. Honestly,..If you do nothing else in your pictures,. get the horizon level. It isn't that easy to do actually but that's why they call it the horizon,.. it's horizontal. Some cameras have lines you can impose on the screen if you don't have a good feel for it.

Some rules are good. :)

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day

Winter Olympic tickets

Let the games begin!,.. without me.. Well it's a long story, but I won a company vacation last year. It was money towards a vacation. So I thought I'd go to the winter olympics and watch a few ski races as it's so close to Washington State. But my winter olympic dream was soon put on ice.

I pre-registered with co-sport, and then waited and waited for months for tickets to become available to people in the states. When they did I was on the ready. I soon had two good ski racing tickets in my computer shopping cart. Women's combined and one men's race, I want to say it was GS but I can't remember now. While I had those tickets and before I checked out, I went on another computer to see about lodging. It soon became obvious that I couldn't afford lodging. What was available was totally out of reach for me even with the extra trip money I'd won. They weren't releasing hotels anywhere. What you could get was like $600 a night with 3 and 5 night minimums, and also a big lodging tax added on, not to mention I'd have to travel there and eat.

So I decided to forget going to the olympics and just go skiing instead. I'm still a little bitter about that. I guess the Olympics aren't for guys like me. I guess they've postponed the women's combined now do to rain and fog. So I wouldn't have gotten to see it anyway. I always knew that was a possiblilty.

I guess I'll be skiing in the fog myself this weekend,. Outside of the bubble..

Snowboarder picture

It was such a nice weekend for skiing and um,. in this case riding. Of course that's what snowboarders do, they ride. As a life long skier I have no problem with snowboarders. (even though one of them did paste out Samantha one time) The more I'm around them the more I like them. Some of the cutest girls on the mountain are snowboarders. I might even try it myself one day.

But only for one day... :)

Superbowl Sunday is one of the best days in the year to ski... and ride.. You heard it hear first.
(click on the picture to see it big.. go big!)

May peace prevail on earth

In fairness, here's another bumper sticker from North Idaho. I can't say for sure but I would suspect that this car belongs to an evil "liberal". Someone who would be P_'d off if you bought a gun.

Buy a gun

Easterm Washington and North Idaho is a beautiul place to live, but there are a lot small minded people who live here. The odd thing is that the people who grew up here don't think anything of it. They think it's just normal or just blow it off, but I find it really disgusting and shameful.

This is the sort of person who is likely to go to his or her work place and shoot former co-workers.. after getting fired for being such a creep.

Hate crimes are on the rise here and there's little wonder why.

Ski bum

I've been skiing a lot lately so I've gone back through some recent pictures and decided I should post one. I get used to this view looking east with Montana off in the distance.

(click on the picture to get the don's eye view)

Skiing is getting so expensive that it's kind of hard to be a ski bum anymore. That's kind of sad. I'd like to just drop out of everything and be a ski bum but I can't afford to..

Hm,.. I never thought I woudln't be able to afford to be a bum.