Emily and I got a lot of great days in this year. It certainly wasn't the snow we had last year that allowed me to front flip a 30+ foot cliff but it was enough for me to finally land a 40+ one straight to flat without hurting myself (the cliff in the photo of two kids looking over the top of it) as well as stomping my first 360 off a cliff band. Emily upped her game considerably learning how to jump turn and even huck a small ledge on the Upper Bowl (she is wearing the red jacket in the photo below). I would often use her as a prop in photos jumping over her head (thankfully she trusted me - look for her in the photos underneath me). The first time I jumped her (the photo of her under me below) I sailed far further than I had planned (50+ ft) and almost landed myself in a tree! I skied most of the season with Chris Holm who absolutely has amazed me with his skiing ability only having started last year. He's hucking significant ledges at SkiBowl and has been a great friend in taking shots of me hucking my own carcass.
Two weeks ago the skiing community lost one of it's hero's with the death of Shane McConkey. He has been my favorite skier for about 10 years now progressing the sport beyond what was thought possible. He basically invented ski base jumping (how he died) and revolutionized the ski industry with the first reverse side-cut spatula ski. His K2 Pontoon ski is the best selling powder ski in history winning awards for several years now. I hope to pick up a pair for next season. It sucked hearing that he died filming for MSP in Italy. He was a local in Lake Tahoe and a Squaw native. I was fortunate enough to meet him briefly at a donut shop in Tahoe while skiing there on vacation in 2005. He was a great guy and near the age of 40 he gave me hope all the time that I could still do amazing things on skis despite almost being 30. He will be missed.
So, rather than post weekly the best shots from the season I've condensed the best ones of the season into this lengthy post. Enjoy!
We went up to Hoodoo with him and stayed two nights at his family's house at Black Butte Ranch (the house is friggin' amazing). We spent Friday night watching the 80's ski movie Hot Dog which seemed to me an equal mixture of naked women and skiing. Emily found it amusing. It was demo day at Hoodoo on Saturday so Emily was able to try a pair of fat twin tips and I was able to try a pair of reverse camber Line EP Pro's that I've been looking at. Emily loved her fat skis and since then has decided to completely revamp her ski setup with an AT 
setup and fat skis. The Lines I tried were super fat (twice as fat as my current powder boards) but the reverse camber in the tails washed out easily in the wet powder of the rainy day and I think I ended up twisting my knee from it. I definitely want a pair of powder boards but I'm thinking more along the line of the Pontoons which don't have much reverse camber in the tails. It rained part of the day and after being soaked for several hours we all left the resort and headed to the Sisters to pick up some local beef for BBQ'n back at Black Butte Ranch. Doug knows how to cook meat better than anyone I've ever met so I picked up two big sirloins for just myself as well as two others for Doug and Emily. We literally ate so much food my stomach felt like it was going to burst. It was so relaxing chillin' in his hot tub and watching ski movies all night after a long wet day of skiing. I definitely would love to head back there sometime with him to make use of the house again, perhaps even for some golf or hiking in the summer time.
event wineries come to town and give out tastings at tables set up within all the local businesses. This is such a great idea because it brings people town and money to local businesses that need it in this terrible economy. You bring your own wine glass and the tastings are about a buck each which is even better then the Newport Wine festival. We walked around town from about 5 to 7 which wasn't nearly long enough to try the 30+ vendors that were there. Afterwards we all met up with heather and her friends at the sushi restaurant for dinner. Although it poured rain heavily the entire time it was refreshing to see how cool Corvallis can be once again. I think it made Emily love this town and part of the country even more. :)
egg into his beer before chugging it down! Lauren passed out on a chair pretty quickly and Erik stopped by after he got out of work. Emily and I took off around 1am because we had to get up early for skiing the next day
