Other RED Highlights

One true highlight of our trip was meeting and skiing with Mattias Fredriksson. For those of you who don't know of Mattias, he is a world class ski and outdoor photographer, a super nice guy, and a wicked skier. Open any ski magazine and you will find the pages filled with photos and stories from Mattias. We spend a whole day with him and he took many photos. Here are a couple he sent us after our day. I will treasure them forever.

Driggs Idaho is one hot spot of a recreation area. What a mistake to wait so long in my life to go there. If you like the outdoors, this is the place for you. The town is cool and the skiing is an ELEVEN! I think we will become regulars. Thank you Paul Diegel for being such a great host and showing us the "goods".

Next we headed to the desert - Phoenix, Sedona, Moab. All cool. All great mountain biking,

Then onto Bentonville, Arkansas to find out what all the hubbub is about with regards to mountain biking. It is hard to describe, but essentially there was a lot of funding to create world class mountain biking. They have mountain biking for every age and every ability. They make it fun, interesting and safe. Plus there is a ton of art along the trail. Go there and see for yourself. You will not be disappointed.

One of our last stops on the way home was to visit our friends Adam and Alenda in Ashville, NC. Adam had a bad accident last December and he is making a remarkable recovery. You can read about it here. Adam is an amazing person with utmost determination and drive. His partner Alenda is right there supporting him and taking care of the family and all of life's million duties while he focuses on recovery. It was SO good to see them and re-connect.

RED came through with flying colors. We drove through very condition and camped in all sorts of odd places. We were warm and cozy inside and we were able to maximize recreation and minimize discomfort. I am happy to be home, but this was a great home-away-from-home for the winter months.

That's it for this year. It's back to living in a house with all the amenities - running water, a bathroom, more than one stove burner, a washer and dryer, and the ability to get to my gear without crawling under my bed. We are already talking about where we will go next winter. There will be more skiing, more desert time, and more meeting up with family and friends for sure. We are so happy to share with you.

A hui hou ("until next time" in Hawaiian)

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Epic Skiing

Roger's Pass Skiing in Roger’s Pass is any skiers dream come true. The mountains are big, beautiful, steep and numerous. You can get whatever you want: huge open bowls, glacier skiing, steep trees, and remote huts. This place has it all. Getting to the top of the mountains is challenging. Breaking trail t akes a lot of effort and burns many calories. Thankfully the scenery is stunningly beautiful on the long up tracks. As of my last post, we skied 4 days with our friends. After they left, we skied 2 days in Christiana Trees, which we had to ourselves. Each lap is 2300 vertical feet, so not many laps! If you are wondering how this area got its name, see photo below. Some major old growth here. I have literally become a tree hugger! Next we climbed Little Sifton. It was a bluebird day with lots of great views. Nice to get up high when the sun was shining and the wind was calm. ...

Road Trip

We made it to BC! January 17th: The day before our big departure, we got our covid PCR tests, which are needed to enter Canada. The results were valid for 72 hours so we had our work cut out for us to get across the border within this time frame. The clock was ticking…. Ready, Set, Go! January 18th : 5:00 am we hit the road - photo of Greg below who was so psyched! You can’t tell but he already has his ski boots on. We drove 17 hours, then hit a truck stop to sleep a bit. We were somewhere in Minnesota. The hum of the diesel engines was good white noise. January 19th: Windy day makes for jostling van. Sue tired. Greg not impacted in the slightest. January 20th: 3 days, 3 Wordle games, 8 PB&Js, and 12 fuel stops later, we cross the Canadian border with just minutes to spare. Phew. I am not experiencing the relaxing part of retirement just yet. Let the skiing begin! We met our friends Tom, Jeani...

Jumbo Hut

Continued greetings from British Columbia! The snow is still falling and the powder is still deep. We recently left to comforts of RED to go to a backcountry hut at Jumbo Pass. It is located in the Purcell mountain range, just south of the Bugaboos. This area was recently saved from the persistent efforts of the commercial ski industry who wanted to build a mega resort in this pristine wilderness. Thanks to the efforts of many groups, this area will be preserved in its natural state forever. To read more and see this area click here, Keep Jumbo Wild . This will give you a sense of the beauty and the importance of keeping it wild. Getting to the hut involves about an hour snowmobile and then a 2500 foot climb to the cabin. The access was a bit of a challenge as 3 out of 5 of us had to tow/ski behind the snowmobile on a narrow logging road with many obstacles along the way. I was fortunate ride the snowmobile both ways. Watching the guys get tow...

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