What is that Nicole up to?

After stalling at the bike shop, a bite to eat, and some emailing, the sucker-hole of sun peaked through the clouds and led me to jump on my bike.  Not long into my ride it started snowing, but by this point it did not matter because I was warmed up, well on my way, and the few trails that were open were in perfect condition. Lo and behold, I ran into some fellow bikers that also got sucked out on a ride by the 30 seconds of sun. A few words were exchanged and I carried on after offering to wait for them to go first, only to have them catch up to me a few minutes later. They asked me what I had been up to and when I said I went up Ralston that morning, I was immediately invited to Bob's dinner party. I was a bit taken aback and asked him to make sure it was okay with his wife before bringing some strange person to their house. However when I called him later to confirm, Bob said that when he told his wife (Michelle) that I went up Ralston and then mountain biked that afternoon, she replied "Well, I hope you invited her over for dinner!".  He said that they would love to have me over. Tahoe residents rock.

After dropping off my gear at Chris #2's swiss chalet (with the most AMAZING views) and showering, I headed over to Bob and Michelle's house with bottle of wine in hand, only to be greeted by 10 lovely,  hard-core skiers, mountain bikers, runners, climbers, SUP (stand up paddle)'ers, made up of geologists, an architect/nurse, an accountant, and an engineer. Tom and Jim, who I had ridden with earlier were there, but so were Khristy, Sabrina, Jeff, Brian, Erin and Serge, in addition to the hosts Bob and Michelle. As I would soon find out, these are my people. After a killer mexican meal made by Bob and Michelle, yummy mango margaritas made by Khristy, and to-die-for homemade ice cream by Erin, as well as a whole lot of laughter and stories, the planning began. The gang was going to head to Kirkwood resort the next day. Khristy just had hip surgery and could not ski, but offered me her pass and suddenly I was included in the plan. "See you tomorrow morning at 7:30 Nicole. Do you want to crash here?" All my gear was at Chris #2's house so I headed home for some sleep.

The next morning I was greeted by 8+ inches of snow. I turned up at Bob and Michelle's, where I was fed (again) hearty pancakes, and then we piled into the Synchro Vanagans for our drive to Kirkwood. There were only two lifts open, so Tom says "Let's go up the lift and take a few runs. If we feel like it, we can put the skins on and climb up some other peaks to get some exercise." (as if taking the lift up and skiing down was NOT exercise.) Like I said, I found my people. It turned out to be a powder day at Kirkwood on 30 May (and I forgot my camera all day as I was having too much fun)! I had SO much fun skiing with this group. They were not only amazing skiers  but also super laid back, encouraging, and rad. No blow-hards or aggression. We took a few runs down The Wall, going over lips that I wouldn't have touched with a 10 foot pole had I not been doing my best to keep up with these skilled skiers. And then we took the skis off to hike up some peaks where there was untouched snow. Tom was about to put his skis back on when one of them went skidding down the back of the mountain (telemark bindings do not have brakes on them). All I saw was Tom's feet disappear over the edge of the slope as he dove down the hill to try and catch his escaping ski. No such luck. Fortunately, Bob was able to retrieve both ski and detached binding, which apparently was not even necessary, as Tom was able to carve beautiful turns down to Bob with only one ski. With all skis (and one snowboard) intact, we continued down the mountain, each taking our own fresh lines (and I even set off a little slide which was kinda creepy but educational) and straight to the car without having to take one extra step. How did they DO that?! After a little lunch break, we broke the skins out and climbed up the mountain to another region of untouched snow, and spread out so that we could all ski our own fresh lines, once again. I should mention that not only did these people feed me, offer me a bed to sleep in, drive me up to the mountain, give me a ski pass, and guide me around the mountain, but they also carried my gear up the mountain for me since I did not have an appropriate backcountry pack. Who was I?! Spoiled, but grateful. It was such a fun day, and such great quality skiing and people. It occurred to me however, that this is just another day in the life for this group.  I was filled with envy!

By early afternoon we were satisfied and ready to get back to Bob and Michelle's where we polished off the rest of the previous nights dinner and hung out for a bit. Then I headed over to Tom and Khristy's house, where Jim was also staying, and hung out there for a bit longer and watched the Travel Station, salivating over the top 20 sexiest tropical beaches and getting talked into SUP'ing by Khristy. And then Tom pulled out a backcountry pack that he no longer uses and gave it to me. I tried to offer him money but he would not take it. So now, not only was I fed three times, offered a bed to sleep in, driven to the mountain, given a ski pass, guided around the mountain, and given advice about where to ski next, but I was also given free (needed) gear. Oh, and did I mention that all of them offered their spare rooms as a place to stay whenever I want? My. People. I hope that they visit me in Santa Cruz so that I can return the hospitality. I will have to figure out a way to make up for my matchbox-sized place though!

The next day I decided to utilize that pack Tom gave me, so I chose to climb up Round Top Peak, since Sergey, Bridget and I attempted to do this a few weeks ago but were lead astray by the cross-country signage only to end up at Elephants Back by the longest possible route. With a few tips from the locals and remnant skin tracks to guide me, I got to the Round Top Peak relatively quickly. There were a few ice patches on the way up, but I managed to sniff out some perfect snow and swished my way down the mountain under a clear blue and sunny sky. I ran into another guy who suggested I skin up to Elephants Back Peak and around the back of it for another run down. Although when I got there I saw a lot of rock and little snow, so I skinned back around to the front side of Elephants Back Peak, ready to get back to the car after much climbing and skiing. However, due to my "keen navigation skills" and lack of compass, I got off-track and ended up having to don the skins yet one more time for a mile or so hike out (note to self: buy a compass/GPS and get some navigation skills!). I was completely shattered by this point, but I had no choice but to take this much longer route back, yet again. Deja vue. Luckily I ran into some snow shoers who were great company and made the hike back more enjoyable. It was so inspiring to be around other people also also thriving in their environment.

Exhausted but elated, I piled my gear and myself into the car and prepared myself for the 4+ hour drive home. On the way back, I swung by Chris #2's Memorial Day barbeque for the mountain bike team "Quadzilla" that I am a part of, and started scheming for our next mountain bike rides, races, and bike parts. I believe these are my people too.

As my friend Sergey likes to say: "I had in illegal amount of fun".  But I also feel like I learned a lot about backcountry by skiing on my own, as well as from the new, rad friends I made. I also realized that traveling on your own can be loads of fun if you go with the flow of events with an open mind and heart, minus a firm agenda.

A few more pics here.