'Tis the [ski] season

For hunting trees. Christmas trees, that is. We took a trip out to the local tree farm in Pleasant Hill yesterday afternoon in search of the Parker Family Christmas Tree. We're having an old-fashioned family Christmas this year, with a real tree (sorry Kayla, we couldn't wait until the 21st). The fake tree is staying in storage.

Diane and Dylan are overjoyed to be on the hunt.


Don't pick that one... it's too small, and the limbs are all wrong.

We found it!

Diane and Dylan admire the Nordmann fir that will reside in our living room for the next few weeks.

Diane supervises the cutting of the tree. She was kind enough to bring a tarp so Dylan didn't have to lay on the wet, muddy ground while he sawed it down with his bare hands.

Success! Now we need Kayla to come and put the ornaments on.

Getting the tree on Saturday allowed us to ski today. We skipped last week because conditions appeared to be ice on ice--which was confirmed today by someone who was brave enough to brave it last weekend.

We got 2" on Friday night during the ice storm here, and another 2" last night. Not a lot, but enough to make it acceptable.

Management provides some advice.

Which turned out to accurate. Conditions on the backside (Peak 2) were much better than on the frontside. Dylan demonstrates how to avoid the rocks.

II.

III.

Solid. Diane chills in the car while we pack up. She only got six runs in because her slick new Lange boots aren't fitting correctly. More specifically, the left boot appears to have a manufacturer defect. Hopefully she'll get it worked out before we go again.

Did a few runs on the tele's today, which reminded me that I'm not really in shape yet. It was a thigh-burning experience. I sure like the K2 World Piste's that Pete donated to me a whole lot better than my Piste Offs. I did a nice auger on Eagle's Flight and then called it a day. My tele technique needs a lot of work.

Snow is in the forecast for this week. A little snow dance, a sacrifice to Ullr, and a little luck and we'll be into regular season conditions by next weekend.