photo upload success

UGRR - on our way.

Huge thanks first to Mike and Joan in Cincinnati. They gave invaluable guidance, advice and encouragement on a whole lot of issues by email before we even left Asheville, and when we arrived in Cincinnati we had the most delightful evening with them at a charming Irish pub/ restauraunt just across the Ohio river from downtown Cincinnati. They had collected us at our motel ( recommended by them - it's sited just a few hundred yards from the UGRR trail and will be ideally placed when we reach there hopefuly in a month's time) - and helped us put the Buick, with all our non cycling gear, safely into self storage - again recommended by them and only a mile or so from our motel. Then the next morning they arrived, in a car AND a van, on the dot of 10 to ferry us and our boxed bikes and gear to the Greyhound bus station in downtown Cincinnati. Bus was there for scheduled departure at 12.05 , but no driver ! Eventually we left over 2 hours late and so missed our connecting bus in Atlanta. Thus a 4 hour wait in the rather grim Atlanta terminal from 1.30 to 5.30 am . But we laid our sleeping bags on floor in a corner and slept soundly , would you believe, despite the heaving mass of other travellers and 24 hour CNN news blaring above our heads. Next bus for Mobile left at 5.30 and we finally arrived in Mobile almost exactly 24 hours after leaving Cincinnati. Assembled bikes ( without hitch to our huge relief ) in the presence of amused fellow travellers at Mobile Greyhound depot . A young African American waiting to get on another bus asked us if we carried protection . What sort did he have in mind we asked . Well `a gun of course` he said and and then went on to express amazement that we weren't carrying at least a knife. Not an encouraging start.

Up and away fully laden ( 2 back panniers and light sleeping mats on Mary's bike) and 2 back , with tent on top, and 2 front panniers on mine. Plus of course easily removable front handle bar panniers for us both. An easy 5 mile ride down into downtown Mobile , saw the site of the old slave market at the corner of Royal and St Louis streets, and then over the bridge to the site of the historic USS battleship Alabama and world war 2 submarine. Had a fascinating tour of both and then booked into Best Western motel with a good fish restauraunt next door.

Only 1 hr 30 mins of cycling ( albeit against wind for much of way ) and a quiet 15 miles on 1st day . Being late on a Sunday afternoon the traffic was beautifully light. A gentle ` warmer upper ` . We head for Stockton tomorrow ( 35 odd miles ) and hopefully a campsite there. Then a longer day ( 70 miles ) to Grove Hill on Wednesday. We should be stronger by then . Hoping for South wind.

Mike spent some time ( some MORE time ! ) explaining how I can upload photos on to a motel computer . Will try , but early signs don't look hopeful . If not will get the help of librarian at some future small town stop .

PS to Season Draws to Close

The season ended on April 13 after a week with yet more brilliant powder skiing. On last day I cycled up Brush Creek Road in late pm and the photos above show the snow base still there with the ski slopes behind.

Official stastistics show 40 days of fresh snow falls of over 4 inches in the season - the celebrated ` powder day ` criteria.

We both finished work on Saturday night . Big relief for us that we got through season without incident either on the slopes ( albeit with a couple of close calls ) or at work . Particularly the latter as far as I was concerned. A lot of portential for ` incidents `.

Since then we've been clearing 270 Meadow Ranch and have been up to our necks in cardboard boxes -- builders move in tomorrow for 3 months. 6 feet of frozen snow at side and back of house where the work begins will cause a problem though. A lot of work behind us in terms of getting plans for remodel drawn and through planning and the condominium assn. We've taken a let of a studio flat just across the road from us for June and July . We hope to be back in Snowmass by June 1 . Work should be finished by Aug 1 when hopefully we can move back into 270.


We were due to get 4 or 5 hours towards Kansas tonight , but got 8 miles to El Jebel and were turned back - Hwy 82 closed in both directions due to a bad bush fire - remarkable given the amount of precipitation ( but of snow ! ) over last 5 months. Large scale evacuations , etc , but no fatalities we hear. Eventually, after returning to Meadow Ranch for a couple of hours, we set off for 2nd time to Glenwood Springs ( normally 1 hour and it took us 3 ) at 9pm only to find Interstate 70 east bound closed. Here we are in motel outside Glenwood with still 25 hours driving ahead of us.

Next entry hopefully from Asheville, NC.

season drawing to close

The 400 inches of snow in the season mark was reached on last day of March since when there has been an additional 2 feet of new snow. One more week of work and then the resort closes down ( despite the fact that there will be complete cover on all runs right down to base village and brilliant spring skiing). It's the US way - it's just time to get on with other things ! General consensus though that it has been one of the best seasons on record.

Bus driving has been terrific and suits me well . Interesting people , challenges on the road, gave 5 days a week to take advantage of fresh powder if I wished to , lovely team colleagues and a well run organisation with good and efficient supervisors. I aim to repeat next year.

Mary has also had a good season workwise and enjoyed being outside and having a wide variety of different jobs to do. Her whole department were taken up in a snowcat to Lynn Britt cabin ( quarter way up the mountain ) last night for a ` thank you dinner` where there were presentations etc . Most impressive. She hopes to be working for Skico again next year.

We had a good visit from my niece Nicola and her boyfriend Paul which included trips to the Hanging Valley Wall in Snowmass and ` the Bowl ` at Highlands. It was a rough day for Highland Bowl ( v windy and slabby snow ) with v testing skiing conditions. They won't forget the experience though. Reminded them a little of Glenshee at times I think. Goodness they did well . Altitude can be a serious problem for people coming for a week only and not many attempt the Highland Bowl trek after only a day or 2 of acclimatisation. The photo of Nicola from the top of Aspen Mtn looking across to Highlands and the Bowl ( taken on the day we skied with them on Aspen Mtn - otherwise known as Ajax ) gives an idea of what is involved.

Additionally a few of photos of the Town ( of Snowmass Village ) race and picnic for employees are attached. A delightful day - not the sort of office outing I have been accustomed to ! The first photo of the couple serving drinks at ` The picnic palace ` show what Mary does at least once a week . It could have been her serving but she was on corral ( ski storage ) duty that day. The second photo shows ( just ) me on the left coming out of the starting gate. Beaten soundly by one of my supervisors Johnny Boyd on the right. Another of my work colleague Rusty in her trademark `tuck ` position.

Preparing now for departure to North Carolina and then the UGRR . Major house remodel of our condo wll be going on while we're away so all our furniture being moved out and we'll need to find somewhere else to live when we return in June.

Next blog entry will , hopefully, be `en route ` from Mobile, AL to Cincinati, OH.

extreme skiing - Snowmass

The above photos capture the scale of what these extreme skiers do . Straight over the rocks often doing flips in the air on the way down. The competition is held annually on the Hanging Valley Wall and on Rock Island and takes place annually on the last weekend in Feb. Worth seeing if anyone thinking of coming here around that time.

We had a lovely visit from Graeme & Anna Russell who made the most of the good conditions . By the end of their week here there was n't much of Ajax, Highlands , Buttermilk and Snowmass they hadn't explored. Most impressed with their skiing - and their stamina - we were.

Finally some photos of our cross country skiing day up to Pine Creek Cookhouse beyond Ashcroft to celebrate Gracie's birthday. (Gracie, you may remember, is our employer over the summer--she owns the gardening business, Pretty Petals.)Spectacular scenery with huge potential avalanche shutes in evidence.

A beautiful Easter day service at Snowmass chapel with some stunning music. Then another cross country trip up to Pine Creek Cookhouse with Neil & Martha Palmer who had come up from Boulder to Glenwood for weekend. A good photo too of our day with them.

Highlands Bowl expeditions

Skiing conditions were stunningly good for the visits here of Meghan & Dennis and Duncan & Katy. Air and road conditions were not so favourable . Katy had hoped to get out on Tuesday and ended up getting out ( just ) on Friday . Meghan and Dennis spent half an hour flying over Aspen on their arrival and ended up eventually being diverted to Denver and arriving in Snowmass at 3.30am after a 5 hour hazardous bus journey over the continental divide . Their reward though was a foot of powder snow on the slopes on their first morning which they took full advantage of .

Even the locals have difficulty remembering conditions like those we've been enjoying in last 2 months. Meghan and Duncan had probably the best skiing of their lives with 2 or 3 days of skiing untracked powder up to knee level and above - and what an amazing sensation that is.

The Monday of Meghan's 2nd week was a cracker and stands out . I'll elaborate on the day for the benefit of readers for whom Snowmass Mtn is familiar. For those who aren't you will want to skip this part. It'll serve though as a diary record of a memorable day for Meghan and me. Over a foot of snow overnight ( and it continued to snow for most of the day ) and we were among the first few on the Village Express when it opened at 8.30. We started with 5 different runs off the Sam's Knob chair each one on untracked powder . Then up the Big Burn lift and one run down power line glades . Up the `Burn ` lift again and this time down through powder in and out of trees to west of Sneaky's and continuing down to top of Powderhorn which had been opened minutes before . Thus , again , completely untracked powder all the way to Campground - about 4,500 feet of skiing from top of Big Burn to Campground. Then up 3 lifts to get back to top of Big Burn and down AMF ( courtesy to readers forbids me to explain what that stands for ). After quick coffee and muffins at Gwyns High Alpine, we then did 3 Hanging Valley Walls on the trot coming down different runs - mostly through the trees - on each occasion and each time untracked snow often up to thigh level. Time then for me to drive a bus for 7 hours and Meghan to have 2 more runs off High Alpine before heading back to Meadow Ranch.

The attached gives some idea of what the `bowl ` at Highlands had to offer. Mary also made it to the top a couple of times on two separate days - entails a 40 minute hike from top lift station. House very quiet after the kids' departure - back to bus driving , cider serving, ski corral duties, music practice, skiing and boarding .... and more snow shovelling. Also , have seen a couple of brilliant newly released films in Aspen.

A quiet spell ahead at Meadow Ranch until Graeme and Anna Russell arrive at beginning of March and Nicola and Paul a week or so later. Plans taking shape for next serious bike tour - UGRR from Mobile, Alabama to Cincinatti in April / May and excitingly the maps arrived from Adventure Cycling last week.

Jan 08 and snow keeps falling

Powder days and lots more of them . This is the main feature Jan 08 - just to add to the record breaking falls of almost 10 feet on Snowmass Mountain in Dec 07. As I write , we continue to get hammered with another snow storm . Another foot in last 24 hours . The ` powder to the people ` concept allows employees of small businesses, shops , etc mornings off on powder days. Spot on !

The X games at Buttermilk finsished after 4 days of extreme skiing , boarding , half pipe competitions etc and have drawn huge crowds. Buses therefore jammed full and some pretty obnoxious passengers to boot. Driving conditions continue to be demanding , but by and large both our jobs are going well . Someone came on to my bus the other day and expressed interest that I had been brought up in Edinburgh . Braid Road he said , do you know it ? When I told him my parents had lived at `59` for 64 years , and that I had been brought up there, he showed even more interest . He had lived at `118` at about the same time. Just across the street as I recall.

On one of our days off , we each join explorers ski classes with Aspen Ski School. Today with snow falling all day we had some epic powder ski runs.

Meghan & Dennis ( the newly engaged couple ) arrive on Saturday and Duncan & Katy the day before . Jane & Johannes in the summer we hope .

A random collection of recent photos above - see particular contrast of summer and winter at 270 Meadow Ranch.