Powder Mission. Staging Complete. Prepare for Deployment.

GatSquad Gear, racked and ready.

I've been watching the NOAA weather report all week, tracking the approach of what should be one of this winter's best storms. So have Ed E. and Jeny, so I invited them down to Salida for some telemark sessions with the Squad at Monarch. They bowed out gracefully, with season passes for Vail in hand and high hopes for big resort powder. However, upon their arrival at that esteemed schussing Valhalla, they were immediately exposed to designer fur parkas, clear skies, and a complete absence of anything resembling fluffy white stuff falling on the mountain (aside from the owners of those aforementioned fur parkas). As Ed said, "We were uninspired." No doubt, my friend, no doubt.
A quick call to me at Squad Headquaters, and I gave Ed the scoop; "Dude! I'm looking out my window and the mountain is getting hammered!" So Ed and Jeny made the wise decision to motor for Monarch, and meet me up at the lodge.
And it all panned out. The parking lot was busy, but the weather was harsh, and for most of the day we had the place largely to ourselves. While our visiting tourist friends nursed hot chocolate or hot toddy's in the lodge, we threw ourselves down perfect fluffy runs, carving blower turns, crashing with abandon, and giggling the whole time. I aspire to Jeny's picture perfect tele form, and I'm awfully proud of Ed after watching him settle into his technique after just a few runs and making it look easy for the rest of the afternoon. What a great day!

Now we're all back home, tucking in for the night. The gear is staged in the breezeway, and we're all psyched for tomorrow--that storm is supposed drop one to four feet of snow by Monday. And the crew heading up tomorrow will be stellar: Anton and Amber, Ed and Jeny, Tom and Carl, and yours truly. It would be fun even if we were skiing on dirt. It's going to be epic. It's going to be sick.
Whoa. Let's e-brake this monologue right here. You didn't really think I'd use the terms "epic" and "sick" without some commentary on their abundant overuse, did you? Actually, the commentary isn't necessary; we all throw up in our mouths a little when hearing such overused adjectives (sometimes right after we say them). But I try to take a tolerant stance. Somehow, the spoken language seems to need cliches like these as impetus for innovation. Every generation needs a new way to say "cool!" that differentiates them from the last. Frankly, I'm sick of waiting for the latest iteration, so I'm going to go ahead and invent it. The word is epic-demic. Say the word. Use it in context; "Tomorrow's snow is going to be so sick it'll be epic-demic!" Welcome to the future. You heard it here today. Tomorrow it'll already be cliche.