Having Fun in JH!

Saturday Jason decided to ski just a half of a day to give his body a bit of a rest. So, before he went out skiing, we went out to breakfast with Em and Hattie while Ryan took his parents out skiing. I stayed in on Saturday, hoping that my knee would feel better to ski on Sunday (and it did). Saturday night we went to the Four Seasons again with the Ritchie's to listen to live music and eat sushi. We had a hard time finding a place to eat because it was so busy, so we settled for the Mangy Moose bar to have some pizza. We watched the Carolina/Arizona football game, but the wrong team won.

looking down at the village from our place this morning...it is just down the hill.
Jason on the Werner run...."First Tracks" Sunday morning. 12 new inches of snow!
We were awaken this morning by loud booms and explosions. They were blowing up avalanches before the skiers got out. Sunday morning, Jason, Ryan, and I got out before 9am. We were so excited to get out because we had gotten a FOOT of snow. One of the videos below is the three of us riding up the lift and all the skiers were so excited to get "first tracks." (TO COME LATER). The snow was up to our shins....it was so awesome. I, myself, was a bit nervous because it is much more difficult skiing in the powder. After two long runs, our thighs were burning and we decided we worked hard enough to treat ourselves to breakfast at the Rocky Mt Oyster Bar. Jason says this is the best snow he has ever experienced out west and the first run this morning is the best run he has ever taken. Personally, my first run down today was a bit scary because the snow was so deep and I fell a few times. All I can say is "thank goodness for my helmet." The next two runs, Jason coached me a bit so I now feel a little more comfortable. After resting for a few hours, we made our way back out. In two hours, we made it down two runs. On one of the runs, Jason decided that he was going to jump over a huge bush/tree thing....well, he cleared the bush and took a good tumble (see pics below). Because this was our last day, I had to take the Gondola up to the top of the Mt and ski down. The top of the Gondola Summit is 9,095 feet. This was definetely the longest run I did and just 1,500 ft shorter than the Tram Summit that Jason did yesterday. Pretty much as soon as we got off the Gondola and had our ski's on, a great huge wind came and nearly blew us over...seriously! That did not help my anxiety at all. After a bit of time and a stop so Jason could "jump" over a huge boulder, Jason, Ryan, and I made it to the bottom. After our final run of the trip, Jason and I stopped at the outside firepit to watch the skiers and warm up with hot chocolate. We enjoyed and our sore muscles appreciated the hot tub after skiing. We checked out some of the shops in the village before enjoying a great Italian dinner and wine.
Nicole braving Werner run.

Jason and Ryan doing a little jump.

Jason jumping over the bush/tree and his great tumble landing.




Jason and Orlin in the hottub right outside our place and almost on the ski hill.

The Gondola and the runs down from the Gondola Summit. It was a great challenge.

OUR FIRST DAY IN JACKSON HOLE......SKIING!

This is the beautiful place we are staying at...right on the slopes so we just ski in/ski out.

We made it safely to Jackson, WY on Thursday afternoon. The flight from Mpls to Salt Lake was perfect, we think the best flight we have ever been on. We were delayed about 45 minutes from Salt Lake to Jackson, WY because the sensor on one of the airplane doors was broke. So, we had to wait for maintence to fix it, thank goodness they were able to get it fixed. It was about a 20 minute drive to Jackson Hole/Teton Village where we are staying. The townhome that we are staying in is to say the least....AMAZING! It is a 4,000 sq. ft place right on the slopes. The first evening, Ryan grilled some great steaks for us and we just stayed in and enjoyed the beautiful home and scenery. We made a stop at the store in the village and I found some homemade ROOT BEER. It is called Old Faithful Yellowstone's Finest from the Grand Teton Brewing Co. The Teton Mts within the Grand Teton National Park are the slopes we are skiing.
[l:outside our place; r; outside our bedroom window]


Friday....the snow for the first day was great because it snowed the night before. Jason, Ryan, and I went out first thing in the morning. We just had to get our equipment on and ski down the hill and the weather was perfect. We couldn't ask for anything better. We decided to go on a blue run (more difficult) so we had to take 2 lifts to get to the top (8,481 ft). The first run was Werner. It was obviously much longer than what we are used to in Minnesota, but a bit more steeper. I managed that okay.... just had to wipe out once so I could stop because I was going too fast. Then I decided since I safely did that, I could try, St. Johns ( a run right next to Werner). St. Johns was a bit more difficult and steeper. Come to find out it was a double blue. I truely think that blues in Jackson Hole are as difficult or more difficult than the Minnesota blacks. The only bummer so far is that I have not found any runs that are a happy medium between easy and difficult. After those two runs, we stopped back and picked up Emily. I had several falls during the day. We decided to go on a trail through the trees and again I was going too fast and almost t-boned a tree, so I wiped out. The trails through the woods are quick and narrow. Emily almost landed in some running water one of her times through. Emily was behind me and she avoided hitting me by tumbling off into the woods... sorry Em. The biggest injury of the trip and hopefully that is all there will be is when I was going along the edge of the run and my left ski caught the deep powder snow and I wiped out... hurting my left knee a bit. It just hurt for the moment and I was able to do several more runs including Werner again without any pain.
Jason and I at the top of the Mt.

Jason and Ryan at the top of our first run....Werner.






The biggest thrill of the day was riding the TRAM. All four of us rode the tram up. Now this thing holds 100 people and their skiis...we were squished. It was snowing when we got to the top...down right freezing. Now when we were at the bottom, it was so warm you didn't need mittens and at the top, your hands froze instantly. It was so scary at the top at 10, 450 feet above sea level. It was basically a ledge and you couldn't see anything else. There were only black runs down, so Em and I just took pictures and rode the tram down. Jason and Ryan braved the run and made it safely. On the way down, we saw people jumping off cliffs!
This is the run that goes right past the place we are staying in. We just ski down to get on the lift.

Friday evening, Jason and I went to the Four Seasons lobby bar (another great place) and listened to a local guitarist play until we met everyone else at the Mangy Moose for dinner. We just had to walk down the hill to get to the village. We were exhausted from a full day of skiing so we were in bed around 9pm. We tried to stay up longer, but we just couldn't. Hopefully tonight we can relax in the hot tub and maybe get in a game of Pictionary...girls vs. boys. GO GIRLS!

As I am writing this blog... I have a great view of the Mt. and I am just watching all the skiers race down the hill. My favorite is the little tikes and their mini skiis...they are so darn cute. I stayed in today (Saturday) because my knee was hurting more and I want to be able to ski all day on Sunday, so I decided to give it a rest. Jason is out skiing now. I think we took over 100 picures yesterday so I thought we would share several with you. (If you double click on the pictures, they will enlarge).

Spending Time with Family

This past Friday, Emily, Ryan, Hattie and I went to The Pebble Spa Co. in Virginia for massages. We all enjoyed the pampering. Hattie was again a good little girl while we took turns getting massages. We went out for Biwabik's famous Vi's Pizza on Friday evening. No luck on pull-tabs this time. We then watched the Gopher Hockey game and I think I was the only one awake at 8:30pm.

I love this picture of Hattie... she recently discovered her tongue and loves to mimic you sticking your tongue out. Auntie Coco knitted a new hat for Miss Hattie.
Uncle Jason and Hattie hanging out together in the Chalet.
Auntie Coco and Hattie in the Chalet.

This past Sunday we were back in the cities to celebrate our family Christmas with Jason's family. We enjoyed a great meal prepared by his sister and her family. They are always great hosts. It was nice to see everyone and to get to spend some time with our neices. We are excited to have a nephew on that side of the family when his brother Ryan gets married to his fiance Kari. We headed back to Biwabik last night to be greeted with LOTS of snow and -25 degree temperature. Jason and I have been fortunate to spend some time with our families over the past several weeks for the holidays and after. We always enjoy the time we get to spend with them.

Hap and Maryann with their kids (top: Jason and Andrew/btm: Ryan, Chad, and Shelly)
Grandpa and Grandma with the Grandkids...Ethan, Caryln, Morgan, Lauren, and Chandler
Jason with his crispy ONES! They used to get $100 in ones as young boys and they loved it. They used to spread all the ones out on the floor and count them.
Hap in his new Gopher jacket. I'm sure he will only wear it with an IOWA shirt on underneath (his first love). GO GOPHERS!
Hap and Maryann

New Year's Day 2009

The sign in the Chalet reads: "Welcome to Giants Ridge. According to Ojibwa Lore MESABI, A "Sleeping Giant," Lies Beneath this Area Forming the Hills of the Great Laurentian Divide.

Happy New Year's Day to Everyone. Emily, Ryan, and Hattie arrived about 7:30 last evening. After we got everything unpacked, we went to eat at The Lodge and then watched the ball drop on TV. Even Hattie made a good attempt at trying to stay up until the new year. We hit the slopes around noon today and skied until 6:30pm. We all got some practice in before our trip to Jackson Hole, WY one week from today. Hattie was such a good baby just hanging out in the Chalet all day watching all the people. I tried to capture on video Jason and Ryan Ritchie doing a few jumps, which are below. It is definetely 'home video' quality and it was getting dark when I took it. Emily and Ryan hadn't skiied in ten years and they both got back into the hang of it quickly. We tried a new recipe this evening and just took it easy. We are looking forward to our massages tomorrow to relieve some of our sore muscles.

Jason and Ryan's first attempt at the jump.

The 2nd attempt at the jump.
Emily and Ryan on top of the hill.
I was bored on the ski lift so I took a picture of our shadows.

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

We would like to wish everyone a very Happy and Healthy New Year! We are looking forward to 2009 and we hope all of you are as well. We hit the slopes for a few hours this late afternoon/evening. It sure is cold out today. Hey mom, the Smart Wool socks you bought us are great... they keep our toes nice and warm! I tried to take a picture of Jason jumping on one of the jumps, but I was too far away. If you click on the picture below, it will enlarge and you can kind of see him. I will try for a better picture tomorrow, maybe even a video! We are looking forward to my sister Emily, our brother-in-law Ryan, and neice Hattie to come stay with us for a few days and to celebrate the New Year together. We hope all of you have a safe and fun evening.

Jason landing his jump, but the camera girl was a little slow and far away!

Our First Time Snowshoeing!

We had talked about going snowshoeing today with the Wilson's, but Jeb was too sore after a long day of skiing. The Wilson's headed home this morning and we watched the Vikings game. I was sick of sitting in the house when the sun was shining outside, so I talked Jason into trying out snowshoeing ourselves. We rented some snowshoes at the Chalet and started on our journey to the Sleeping Giant trail. It was packed down snow initially to get to the trail and that was no problem. We decided that we would see how these things worked so we went off-path, sure enough I lost a shoe and didn't even realize it until Jason says, "Nicole, you might need the other shoe." So the Sleeping Giant trail goes up the ski hills in the woods through the deep snow. It was definetely a workout. It was about 16 degrees out and we were "hot". We were out for about 1 1/2 hours and had to head back because it was getting dark. It was definetely a neat experince. I feel that living Up North for a year has been a unique experience and one that we are trying to take full advantage of. There are so many things to do during each of the seasons in Minnesota. Maybe we will give Cross Country Skiing a try next. We are excited because the ski hill will now be open after work until 8pm. We plan on getting as much practice in before our trip out West next week.
Making the trail up the hill for us.
Half-way up the hill there was a X-Country trail and Jason was a bit exhausted. He had to stop for a quick breather and water break!
The Upper Sleeping Giant trail.
We decided to go off-path for a while. It sure is a lot of work in the deep snow.

Ski Weekend with the Wilsons

Jeb and Kaylan Wilson visited us this weekend for our own Christmas celebration.
We all went to the Pebble Spa on Friday. Nicole and Kaylan each had their toenails done along with a foot scrub, and Jeb had his hands done (yes guys, Jeb had his hands dipped in wax and his fingernails done). He wanted fingernail polish but I had to step in and put an end to it. :) Then all of us had massages. After a relaxing afternoon at the spa we came home and cooked a nice dinner. The Pictionary game was a split with the boys taking game 1, but getting blown out in game 2. We then played Tiger Woods Golf on Wii and the boys dominated.
Saturday was a ski day. After a slow start to the day (Friday night quickly became 3:00 a.m. Saturday morning) Jeb and I hit the slopes at about 10:00 a.m. Jeb, an accomplished ski racer in high school (10th in the state if anyone cares) did not look rusty at all. He is so big on skis that you would think he would be clumsy, but not even a little bit. He actually has a lot of skill on the ski hills and left me very impressed! The snow conditions that I had been bragging about turned sticky because of how warm it was both Friday and Saturday. We skiied for a few hours before the ladies joined us. Kaylan hadn't skiied in 10 years and she did just fine.
The ski hills were very busy and there was live music at the Chalet so it was an event filled day, and we had a great time.
We skiied until about 6:00 p.m. and then decided to head to Biwabik for pizza at Vi's. Jeb has not been to Vi's since it was redone in April (he remembered it as a dumpy bar), but it has been redone very nicely. Well, we decided to split $20.00 in pulltabs while we waited for our pizza. Kaylan picked the 20 tickets and then handed out 5 to each of us. Kaylan won $2.00, I was down to my 4th ticket and I opened it up to find a "nice winner". It was $150.00. We all were excited and examining the ticket while Jeb is quietly sitting with his tickets. We just assumed that since he didn't say anything that we had won with my ticket and with Kaylan's ticket. Kaylan was to collect the winnings and Jeb slyly says, what about my $106.00 winner. We couldn't believe it. Our $20.00 had turned into $258.00. Now, here is where it got interesting! Kaylan went to collect the winnings and the guy behind the bar asked for her ID. She gives it to him and he says that they can't pay out anymore than $50.00 to someone without a MN driver's license. Luckily Jeb met a high school friend who was sitting at the table next to us (totally random meeting too). He had a MN driver's license and went and collected the winnings for us. We were very excited about our good fortune. Out of curiosity when we got home that night we looked up the MN statute on pulltabs and no where in there did it say anything about a $50.00 max payout to someone from outside MN. We believe they were trying to take advantage of Mrs. Wilson, but we prevailed! Check out some of the pictures from the weekend!

Our beautiful wives, Jeb and I are the luckiest guys in the world!

We enjoyed some nice wines and mostly each others company!

Our golf coach and friend Brent Snyder would be proud that we are working on our games in the offseason!

Just one of the many races I won against Jeb!

The Red Baron