Bye Bye Steamy B

It honestly feels like just yesterday I boarded a flight to Steamboat Springs, Colorado to embark on a journey. I had only been to the town once before and didn't know anyone that lived here. I was clueless as to where I'd end up, if I'd enjoy it or despise it. But here I am almost nine months later finding it impossible to say good bye to this town. As I began packing up my room last night it was almost painful to realize I'm going home. I don't want to say goodbye to all of this beautiful scenery and all of my friends. I think about all the great adventures I've been on and all of the new things I've tried. I'll never forget climbing up Howelson Hill my very first day here, or floating down the Yampa with strangers who quickly became good friends. Eight months ago I was completely unable to do 180s, and I never imagined working for Grenade in Vegas.

Luckily for me this journey's not over, I'll be back out in Steamboat June 1st to work as a Conference Assistant at the school. And of course I'll be starting my second year in August. Still, it's going to be very sad saying goodbye to close friends who have become like family throughout the past few months... I read this right before I left for Steamboat and it always makes me feel a little better about things.

A Reason, A Season or a Lifetime
People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person. When something is in your life for a reason, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually. They may seem like a Godsend and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then without any wrongdoing on your part, or at a inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on. Some people come into your life for a season, because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn. They bring you an experience of peace, or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.Believe it, it is real. But only for a season! Lifetime relationships teach you lifelong lessons, things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person, and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind, but friendship is clairvoyant. Thank you for being a part of my life, whether you were a reason, a season, or a lifetime. -Author Unknown

The Mysterious Birthday Surprise

Main Characters:

Mariah

MiaJakeTamara

Date: Thursday, April 23, 2009

10:34 am
It started out as a typical Thursday morning. I woke up with a rumbly tummy, bummed that I had missed breakfast and eager for lunch to start. To pass the time I decided to call my friend Mia to see what she was up to. It turned out she was at the library in town and very preoccupied because she had to get off the phone rather quickly. Although I never thought Mia was the type to spend her day at the public library I didn't think anything of it.

As time passed I realized I had a big night ahead of me, it was my friend Mariah's 19th birthday, we had a Student Activities Appreciation Dinner to attend and in less than 24 hours I'd be turning 20.

12:16 pm
After nourishing myself with a meal at the dining hall I headed back up to the dorms. It was a windy day and I feared it might rain, putting a damper on the night's events. I tried hard to put those thoughts aside and remain optimistic about the night. As I walked down the hallway I ran into a kid Zach, who I see all the time but hardly know anything about. We said our hellos, then he continued the conversation by wishing me a happy birthday. "It's tomorrow" I responded, "But thank you!" It caught me off guard, I didn't understand how he'd know such a thing, so I assumed we were friends on Facebook and left it at that.

4:00 pm
We began to get ready. Steamboat is a rather casual town when it comes to attire, and this was a rare opportunity to dress up like we were heading to the Grammy's. As girls, we needed to be sure we had enough time to do our hair and make up. For the men who still don't understand why we need such a long time to get ready, it's because we don't like being rushed. We like taking our time and bonding with our friends while we prepare for a fun night out.

6:23 pm
We headed to Tamara's office to meet up before dinner. As we walked through the hallways and out to the car we turned a lot of heads. In a school composed of mostly males, women tend to let their guard down. We stop worrying about our hair and make up so much, and occasionally skip a shower. To see people in dresses was very out of the ordinary. We walked quickly, hoping to not bring too much attention to ourselves.

6:34pm
We arrived at The Boathouse Pub located on Yampa Street. It was a very well decorated restaurant located right on the river. The food was delectable, I ordered a Portabella Mushroom Sandwich which I'd recommend it to anyone who goes there. It's always exciting to eat out, especially when you're a poor college student and in good company. It was a bitter sweet ending to a year filled with many events such as Late Night Bingo, an Illusionist, having several bands come play, and even a CMC Talent Show.

7:42 pm
After finishing our meal, Mariah brought up the topic of dessert. She wanted some ice cream for her birthday, but was talked out of it. Instead we decided we'd go to Safeway and pick some up, then eat it in the MPR. I thought it was peculiar that Tamara suggested we eat in the dorms, since her office is located in another building and all our meetings are held there. But I once again brushed it off.

7:51pm
We were finishing our meal when Mia's mother called. She said it was important and she had to take it so she left, promising she'd meet us back at the dorms. After the bill was paid, Jake, Mariah and I headed to City Market while Tamara went to pick up her "Little Sister". When we arrived at City Market Jake instructed Mariah and I to get two giant tubs while he dropped his movie off at Blockbuster. "Why?" we asked. "There are only five of us, we don't need that much ice cream. Besides, the tubs aren't as good as the other stuff." Promising him we'd take care of it, Mariah and I went in and picked out our favorite types of ice cream. As we were picking out toppings Jake found us and kept trying to convince us to get the bigger tubs. We told him if that was what he wanted to he could go for it, but there was no way I was giving up Cookie Dough ice cream for that stuff. Finally he caved in, picked out another flavor and we checked out.

8:07pm
We arrived at the dorms. As we walked past the windows to the MPR we noticed the lights were out and there were a ton of people in there. I immediately thought it was a huge mistake deciding to meet in there because everyone would want to eat our ice cream and we only had three cartons. "Why are there so many people in there?" I asked, to which Jake responded that it must have been a movie night. Once again I should have thought harder about this because I'm on both Student Activities and RHA so I always know when events in the MPR are going on. I figured another club must have been putting an event on and brushed it off. When we walked into the MPR someone flicked the lights on and everyone yelled "SURPRISE"! They sang Happy Birthday to Mariah and I and we both stood there dumbfounded.

I would have never guessed that Mia was going to throw us a surprise party, but she did. As I looked back at the day I began to piece it all together. She never really went to the library, she was at our friends house baking cake. All of the random people that kept saying Happy Birthday thought it was my birthday because of the flyers that had been passed out. Mia's mom had never called her, she just needed an excuse to get away and set everything up. And obviously, Jake wanted to get the giant tubs because he knew we wouldn't be the only ones enjoying them.

It was a great start to my very first birthday away from home. After that we headed over to a friends house to hang out. I slept in until almost noon on my acutaul birthday, then attended a meeting for my job as a CA this summer. After relaxing for the day I ended up going to the Strawberry Park Hot Springs as the perfect way to end the night. I just want to say thank you to everyone who made it such a great couple of days!

The Great Escape

Don't get me wrong, I love living in Steamboat. Whenever someone from out of town asks how I like going to school here I smile and reply "It's awesome, it's like living on a permanent vacation". But sometimes you just need to get away for a little bit. My room mate and I reached that point, we weren't sick of anything in particular, our friends are great, the town is still beautiful and friendly, but we needed a break from our every day routines. So we packed our backpacks, hopped in Heather's car and headed for her home town- Grand Junction. I'd been there once earlier this year for a conference, but we hardly had time to explore the town. This time I got to see the place VIP style, and it was a blast. After driving for about three hours we reached Grand Junction and Heather decided to show me some places around town. We saw the house she used to live in, the river where everyone floats during the summer and *gasp* a mall. I have to admit I almost forgot those things existed. Then we went to her house where her mom made us pizza and we just relaxed. Followed by that was my favorite part of the trip- White Rocks. She said we'd be doing some climbing so I threw on some sneakers and a light hoodie in case it got cold when the sun went down. The place was gorgeous. We started climbing and at first it was nothing too difficult, it was very similar to bouldering. The rocks were close enough to the ground that I felt falling would mean little injury. Then Heather decided to climb up a huge rock and jump over to another one. I was immediately reminded of my fear of heights and decided to find an alternate route up. Once I got up there I saw why she was so insistent upon it. The views were amazing. After hanging out there for a while we headed back and I eventually passed out. The next day her mom made us a delicious homemade lunch and we headed back to Steamboat.

Living in a Postcard (Snow O Part II)

Imagine going four days without any technology. No cell phones, palm pilots, no laptops or high speed internet. No satellite TV or high definition video games, not even an alarm clock. All you have is the gear you need to survive, and an optional snowboard if you wanted to bear the weight in order to seek out some fresh turns. To most people in my generation this sounds like some form of cruel and unusual punishment, but for me it was a little piece of heaven. That's right, its Snow O round two, more exciting and adventurous than ever.

Day 1
It was the most grueling three mile hike I'd ever been on. My pack didn't bother me too much but the sled I was pulling seemed to drag me backwards every time I tried to move forward. I don't know what kept me going because at times my body told me to give up but I knew it was something I had to do, so after taking a second to catch a breath of fresh air, I kept trekking along. Once we finally decided on a site we had to start digging because we only had a few hours of sunlight left. Quinzees are a lot more difficult to make than the snow shelters we had made the previous week. You need to pile up a ton of snow, let it sit for at least a half hour to harden, then dig out a cave to sleep in. I'll admit I was kind of out of it, and Hunter ended up doing most of the digging while I helped with snow removal. We ended up making a ridiculously large quinzee and it took the help of three other people to finish off the "Taj Mahal". After that we ate supper and I went to sleep completely exhausted from the day’s work.

Day 2
We had a late start, I think everyone was exhausted from the previous day, but we decided we'd go on a hike. Before heading out Sean briefed us on what to bring while traveling away from camp. When we were all ready to go Kelen was put in charge of the map and guided the way. Let me just say, this was not your typical leisurely New York type of hike. This was an uphill battle with deep powder and the heat of the sun beating down on us. Yet the scenery was stunning, each time we stopped to take a look around I would think to myself, “we are living in a post card”. Along the way we studied animal tracks, learning how to identify squirrels, fox and snowshoe hares. Pete also taught us about how to identify different types of pine trees and their benefits to the environment. We learned that in an emergency survival situation pine needles are a good source of vitamin C and okay to eat. I tried one-- if you're wondering what they taste like just imagine eating a Christmas tree. It's definitely something I'll save for emergency situations from now on. Soon after that Sean showed us how to start a fire using cotton balls, twigs and a lighter. We then hiked up a little further for some amazing views and then began our descent back to camp.

Day 3
It was once again difficult to get up in the morning because I was so cozy and warm in my sleeping bag. I debated staying in there for the whole day, but it was time to snowboard. We decided the previous night that we would hike up to the same spot and get in some fresh turns. So immediately after breakfast we headed out. I was very low on energy and motivation, but every time I looked up to the area we'd be riding my body became instantly energized. Once we got to the top I was really thrilled for my first experience backcountry riding, and best of all, they gave me first tracks! It was amazing just flying down the mountain without the worry of running into someone, and there were very few barriers to look out for. If you've never done it it's difficult to describe the experience. It's like a natural high where you are floating on a cloud. After my first run I just kept wanting more. Sean and I took turns with my board, Pete, Jackie and Kelen skied, and everyone else went sledding. It was one of the most amazing experiences, and it made me even more excited to know I was getting college credit for it. Once we made it back down to camp we began digging a fire pit and collected some dead tree branches. After dinner we all sat around keeping warm and sharing stories. Eventually we ran out of wood and headed off for bed.

Day 4
We woke up pretty early to head out. Camp breakdown didn't take long at all, so after eating we left. Along the way we decided to dig an Avi pit just for some basic knowledge on what to look for. It was an eventful weekend but I was ready for some running water and a nice warm shower. Overall it was a great experience. If I learned one thing on the trip it was appreciation. With all our modern technology I feel like we are constantly taking so much for granted. It was awesome to get out there and connect with nature, something I think everyone should do at least once in their life. Although I don't see myself snow camping again in the very near future I'm glad I was able to experience it. I can now say I've done something more than 90% of the population would never even think about trying.

Snow Orientation Part 1

Remember that girl from New York who had never gone camping in the complete wilderness up until just a few months ago? Well, the adventurous side of her took over, as she decided to go camping in the snow. That's right ladies and gents, I signed up for Snow Orientation. I can't exactly explain what it is that sounded so appealing to me, maybe it was the thought of being forced to slowly melt snow in order to have drinking water, constantly battling the elements and trying to stay warm. Perhaps it was knowing that we'd be hiking our way into the mountains with heavy backpacks. Okay I know this doesn't sound very appealing to most people, but for me it's all about trying something new. I came out here looking for adventure, and learning how to survive under these conditions seems like a pretty good skill to have.

The Night Before

I'll admit, packing was hard. While I was emptying the contents of my makeup bag and replacing them with necessities like a compass, first aid kit and hand sanitizer, all I could think about was how my parents were starting out their luxurious Caribbean cruise. Not to mention, I'm horrible at packing. It seems I always bring more than I need, but on this trip consolidation was necessary. I was going to be carrying everything I needed on my back, so anything extra would just be dead weight. So, I went through my checklist and made sure I packed only items I'd need. I learned in class that no matter how cozy I thought my Hurley hoodie was, it wouldn't be reasonable to pack because cotton is terrible for wilderness camping. Once it gets wet it'll stay wet, and in order to stay warm out there you need to stay dry.

As I climbed into bed that night I was anxious and nervous for what the weekend would bring. I didn't sleep well at all, but every time I woke up I was more and more thankful for the warmth of my fleece blanket and the comforter my mom made me.

Day 1

We started out early with Drew knocking on my door around 7:30 am. He brought over the food that needed to stay refrigerated. We packed everything up and made our way down to the lower parking lot, where we met up with the rest of the crew. We loaded up the van and headed off.

packing the sleds

Once we got to the spot where we'd begin hiking we unloaded the van and filled sleds with things we'd need but couldn't fit in our backpacks like tarps, food and snowshoes. Then we set out on a hike, which wasnt very difficult because there had been so many snowmobilers out rinding that the trail was packed down really well. When we got close to our camping spot we had to veer off trail, which was a little bit more difficult because the snow was deep. During this hike staying hydrated and well fed was crucial. Your body never tells you that you are thirsty until it's too late, so we frequently stopped to take a break.

digging out the shelter
Setting up camp made me feel like a kid again. We dug giant holes in the ground and set tarps over them to shelter us from wind and snow. It felt like we were building snow forts. However, these "forts" were much more high tech. First we had to stomp out a platform where we would dig, then let it sit for 15-20 minutes so the snow could harden. We began digging out the basic shape of our shelter, and once we got it to a depth we liked Drew set up dead men as anchors for the corners of the tarp. We then dug out stairs, and had to dig a whole deeper than our ground level because cold air sinks, we didn't want to be sleeping at the lowest point.

the finnished product
Before we knew it, it was supper time. We cooked our food and had discussions about sleeping warm. It was getting late and cold since the sun went down, so we filled up our waterbottles with hot water and went to bed.

Day 2

I slept really well, only waking up a couple of times during the night. In fact, I was so warm and cozy it was difficult to get up in the morning, but hungar took over so I headed to the kitchen for breakfast. Once we all ate we walked around the campsite and talked about the different shelters we had built. We then proceeded to destroy them, taking down the tarps and filling the holes back in the best we could so no wild life would get injured from falling in them.

the kitchen

Then it was time for class where we learned about hypothermia, and had a lesson on how to use beacons. They were both very serious topics-- hypothermia can be hard to identify in its early stages, and its effects can be devastating. And obviously, riding backcountry and knowing how to properly use your equipment is vital. Avalanches are disastrous and only about half the victims caught in them survive. We took turns hiding beacons and finding them. I'm glad I had the opportunity to work with them, but I still wouldn't go out in the backcountry until I know exaclty what I'm doing.

the classroom

Overall, last weekend was a great experience. I feel like I learned a lot and can't wait to go out again this weekend for the four day trip!

Working for "The Man"

My whole life I was lead to believe that work is a horrible place. I watched as people in my life seem more stressed out about work then they were concerned about enjoying life. So, I did it. I went out and got a job I knew I'd dislike. My first six months of training were inside a two foot area where I had to greet people hello and pack their groceries as friendly and efficiently as possible. I was then moved to the produce department of the supermarket, where I put fruit on shelves and looked forward to the occasional food fight in the back room. Don't get me wrong, the people I worked with were friendly and the company was very generous to it's employees. But still, I felt like every time I walked through the doors I was just going through the motions-- Locker Room, Hair Check, Does my breath smell okay? How long til' lunch break?-- You get the point.

I knew there had to be more out there, a job I'd really enjoy. I mean how many times have you heard the saying "Do what you love and never work a day in your life". I heard it all the time growing up, and after a year off of school I decided to live out my dreams. I sat down and thought about what made me happiest in life; snowboarding. Then I searched for schools that had snowboarding as part of their curriculum. It was the thing that made me happiest, so I wanted to find a job where I could make it part of my every day life. After a lot of research I decided Colorado Mountain College would be my number one choice. After all, it is the only school in the country that offers a degree in Ski and Snowboard Business. When I first presented the idea to my family they were kind of shocked. There was the money aspect-- "how will you afford it?", and the whole distance thing--"You'll never be home for holidays". Plus there was the fact that it's such a specified program, but after seeing how passionate I was about doing this they came around and understood. So I packed my bags and headed out.

Since I've been here I've learned how to properly fit people for ski and snowboard boots, how to tune and wax a board, I've learned the basics in selling, shop management, and how to design and market a snowboard.

One of the classes I am taking this semester is Work Experience. Basically, you take the skills you've learned in the classroom and have to use them in real life. You can get any internship that is ski and snowboard related. To help knock off some of my hours I decided to go to the SIA (Snowsport Industries America) Show in Las Vegas. I interned for Grenade, and it was one of the best weeks of my life. After all, how bad can your job be when "The Man" you are working for is Danny Kass?

It was a long drive there, but temperature rose the closer we got to sin city. I love the snow but I have to admit, the warm weather was a nice break from the Colorado winter. We arrived a day early so I went out and explored the strip, visiting everything from the M&M Factory to the ESPN Sports Zone. I met up with some friends from school as they arrived and we spent the rest of the evening exploring the city. I went to bed rather early because I knew it was going to be an early morning and had no idea what I'd be doing for Grenade.

The first day of work was incredibly hectic. We got there in the morning and our booth was bare. There was a little office room and a ton of boxes, everything was a mess. As interns, it was our job to start sorting it out. We spent the day hanging up outerwear, setting up the clothing line and running around trying to find forgotten necessities like scissors and sharpies. It wasn't necessarily a fun day but it was rewarding seeing the booth all set up, knowing we were responsible for it.

The rest of the week I was responsible for helping the Reps out with product demonstrations. Part of this included making sure the buyers were as comfortable as possible by seating them, getting them something to drink, and giving them a buyer's guide. Once the demonstrations started I would hand the reps the gear they needed to present and take it back when they were done showing off it's features. I also helped out with appointment check-ins and anything else the reps needed throughout the week.

When I got some free time I walked around the show to check out the new line for 2009. It was awesome talking to people who truly spend every day doing what they love. When they aren't out riding they are designing products for riders, or out selling it. The most encouraging thing was meeting people who were graduates from the Ski and Snowboard Business Program. It didn't take much effort to find them working for companies. All you had to do was mention that you were going to school in Steamboat and they popped out of the woodwork. Even one of the reps from Grenade graduated from the program when it first started up almost 20 years ago. It was really refreshing to see where this degree can take me.

Winter Park

I realize I have been slacking on my blogger responsibilities, my last post was in early December. Hopefully over the next few days I'll be able to catch everyone up with the life of a Colorado Mountain College student.

For starters, there was Winter Park. Since the College Ultimate Pass extends our season passes to Winter Park, and the Beaver Village Condos were offering awesome packages our first week of break, a few of my friends and I decided to rent a condo.

Our first day there we unloaded everything necessary and immediately headed up to the mountain, excited to explore the terrain. Although there hadn't been much snowfall prior to our arrival we had fun just messing around for a few hours on the mountain. We then headed to the supermarket to stock up on food and explored the town. I think we were all pretty tired out but we stayed up pretty late socializing and watching movies. We were all very excited for the week to come since the weather forecast called for snow. Well mother nature delivered, here's a picture of Matt cleaning the snow off his SUV in the morning. We knew it would be a good day.

They opened a new run and Chris and I tried skating over to it, but we just kept sinking in.They had free entertainment including live music and photos with Santa Clause, which we took full advantage of.We found a thrift store in town and bought some old school ski suites to rock out.

Overall it was an amazing week. With plenty of snowfall and lots of soda pop to drink, we were staying in a snowboarder's paradise. I had only one complaint...

Soda Pop Cans. So here's the thing that kills me about Colorado. They claim to be this Eco-friendly state that cares about the environment, yet they are missing one of the easiest ways to encourage recycling. It's a pretty simple system that is very successful in the state of New York. When you go to the store and buy anything in an aluminum or glass can, as well as most plastic bottles you pay a 5 cent deposit. When you return the container you get your money back. However here in Colorado it seems to be just to opposite. Many towns don't have a recycling center near them so you usually have to drive a few hours or pay to have your recyclables properly taken care of. According to enotes.com, the energy saved by recycling one aluminum can equals the amount of energy it takes to run a TV set for four hours. Where I was raised it was a sin to throw away anything recyclable, which is why I felt so shamed throwing away the hundreds of Soda Pop Cans we had accumulated throughout our stay at Winter Park.

The trip ended up being a learning experience for me. After spending five straight days with only guys I started to pick up on some of the "Rules of Manhood". Here's what I discovered:

Bacon trumps all. A few of us went shopping to get food for the week, and stocked up on everything we thought we could possibly need. However, one of our friends who decided not to pool his money and bought his own food was smart. He bought bacon. Since it was the one thing we forgot, it could be traded for anything from eggs to a chick fajita.

It's okay for men to use women's shampoo (who knew?). Maybe it's because I grew up without any brothers, but I always believed that guys used men specific shampoo like Selson Blue or Suave for Men. Luckily for me, I was wrong. I forgot to bring my shampoo and conditioner on the trip, but there was no need to worry, our showers were stocked with both Aussie and Garnier Fructise.

If you want to make a guy feel masculine, ask him for help opening a jar or container. I noticed this early in the week when I needed help opening a jar of salsa. The guys that were close by were almost too eager to help me, a women, the "weaker sex". I did it a few more times throughout the week, just for laughs.

We had a great trip. If you are ever in Winter Park I'd recommend staying in the Beaver Village Condos. They were only a short bus ride from the mountain, and honestly, how can you wake up on the wrong side of the bed if you're mornings start out looking like this?