Snowmageddon This Winter

Well snow sports fans in Idaho and elsewhere. We're definitely headed for cold temps this winter and well above precip here in ski, snowboard, sledding land of the Northern Rockies. Though admittedly, the storm that we expected to dump 10 to 12 inches of snow at Bogus Basin in the next couple of days turned North and even South. But there is indeed hope for those of us afflicted with snow fever. We'll be at this years Warren Miller film on Friday November 18 to share in the revelry that is snow sports.

You probably read about Jamie Pierre getting flushed at Snowbird. I thought he had the record for the biggest cliif jump.

Evidently not . . .

Click on the title of this blog for the 300 plus accidental free fall by a French skier who survived while filming for a ski film. Amazing.

And Jamie, rest in peace, dude. You were one of my favorite extreme skiers and I am so sorry early crap snow at Snowbird underneath the first POW of the season took you from us, but more importantly, took you your wife and children. I hope you and Saucer Boy meet up with Speedy in the big free ride pie in the sky of extremely amazing people.

What a Difference a Day Makes

You know you're getting old when you spend so much time ruminating about the weather. But, let's face it. This has been a very odd winter indeed. Things started off like gangbusters at Thanksgiving here in Boise with nearly a foot of snow over a handful of days. And it didn't stop. It pretty much snowed some most days for the next 7 weeks. Snow on the ground the entire time, too and temps that rarely if ever topped the freezing mark. Whether you count in celsius or farenheit, it was way chilly. Then the Pineapple Express showed up, an odd weather phenomena that afflicts Idaho and the Pacific Northwest. Warm Pacific monsoons rained on our parade up to 8500 feet, washing away the snowpack, stabilizing the avalanche danger once it settled and making skiing pretty much such after awhile. It hasn't done much since MLKing Holiday mid January when the Express showed up. In fact, it's been downright mild. Last Saturday I went for a 17 mile bike ride in 61 degree weather. Then on Sunday I raked out 9 bags of pine needles, finished trimming broken branches from the earlier storms, pruned the fruit trees and enjoyed the fruits of my labor with a very sore back. Monday it was 68 degree. Well, it's Thursday morning and what a difference 24 hours makes. We're back to winter, and I love it! Nice bright clean snow on the ground.

Oh and in the midst of this, my daughter had her 8th grade winter formal dance; which simply put, means they dress up and don't look like gangbangers, like they do much of the time in Jr. High. It's a good thing it's been warm because these kids wear shorts all through the winter and typically no winter coats, either.

Next up is off to Bogus Basin to teach snow science to 4th to 6th graders. And there is 5 new inches of snow. Life is good, indeed.