The stretch of vitality

Here’s my new weapons!

After some fun rock climbing yesterday, today I awoke at ten to six and headed up to Winter Park to try the new skis, new snow pants, skiing without a pack, and listening to music while skiing alone. The new skis took some getting used to as they are a bit longer and more rigid than the last pair, but by the end of the (long) day, I felt reasonably comfortable on them. Overall I have to say this was probably my best day skiing alone so far, and I did a lot of that last season. Hmm, actually, maybe the big powder day at Park City last year is still the reigning champion. Anyway, the drive was good, no problems with parking or crowds, and I DJed a good set. Started off with Zoe Keating (one cellist with overdub loops. Very interesting), then on to Wynton Marsalis Jump and Jazz, which is great, then Nice Inch Nails The Fragile, and the new Death Cab for Cutie album on the drive home. I skied Vasquez Ridge mercilessly all morning. I took a cell phone photo of what I consider to be the funniest ski run name I’ve seen:

So it was with a great sense of fondness and gratitude that I parted ways with The Green Machine this week. I sold it and the bike rack to a guy across town, so I drove the car with the bike on the rack to his place, completed the sale, pumped up my tires using his bike pump (tires have needed air since September), and rode eight miles back home. It’s strange but completing this chore has given me a sense of completeness to the trip I wasn’t expecting, and this weekend I’m full of motivation on a raft of new projects.

Speaking of new projects, in a surprising but not entirely unexpected turn of events, the project I have been working on at work since September was abruptly canceled this week. So once again I watch months worth of code drift out to sea, never to see the light of day. So this generated a lot of upheaval. My team was split up and put onto two other projects effective immediately but what I work on longer term seems still up in the air.

I caught a lucky break last week. I took my skis in for a tuning and it turns out my bindings were recalled by Atomic due to a tendency to crack. So I get some new bingings and supposedly these ones won’t crack on the slopes. I’ve been up to the mountains a few more times and am planning this season’s trip to Steamboat Springs maybe toward the end of the month.

In other activity news, I joined 24 hour fitness here and plan to continue my exercise routine. I’ve actually managed to lose about twelve pounds since October. Rock climbing is also going pretty well and I’m making steady progress in skill and endurance. It’s quite satisfying to be totally stumped by a rock climbing route on the first attempt and to complete it cleanly on the third.