SPRING!!!

Paul and I went up to have lunch at the Gunbarrel Grill, with the best view of Tahoe from the mountain.  You have to have ski boots and skis to be allowed there, though.  I intended on wearing the ski gear but not really skiing (aside from 'to and from' the chairlift) but ended up skiing "The Face" once last time.  Soft and fun, although hard on my poor knees, who are telling me it's the end of the season and PLEASE give them time to recover before abusing them any more!  The snow is melting quickly, and the temps are due to be in the mid 70's all week.  Yard Sales are springing up everywhere..... it's Spring and the end of the ski season.  In  fact, tomorrow is the last day for Heavenly, although Sierra is open one extra day, and Kirkwood for one extra week... not sure how well their snow will last with the warm weather, though!

Still.... it's beautiful - the flowers are blooming, the trees are popping buds, and all in all, the warmth of spring is everywhere!

The end of season is drawing nigh

Heavenly closes lifts at the end of the day on the 20th April this year. Until next winter.

Paul and I are now on the lookout for summer employment. The hard part is finding a 'real job' that allows outdoors time! Having had the luxury to spend the entire winter outside, it's hard to think about spending the summer in an office! I'm sure we'll find something that works for us, though.

Just had a visit from Krissie and Richie. Had a fantastic time showing them around, skiing and driving around the lake and just plain hanging out! The weather has been cooperative, and we've had loads of sunshine, with a dusting of snow overnight. Couldn't have been better if we planned it!

No Room at Virgin

Well, it's official. Currently no room at Virgin (at least in the contact centre) for me to return to. So, it's officially job-seeking time in South Lake Tahoe.... I have 5 weeks to find employment for the summer. Wish me luck!

Sorry for the delay

I've been catching up with everything after the family left. Rebecca flew back to the UK after her surgery, we visited the Millers for dinner the other night... we had a LOVELY meal out at a restaurant in Reno, called Rapscallion. Excellent seafood, nice place. And a world-class Bloody Mary!

We had huge powder, then blue skies and sunshine. They have FINALLY opened the 'new trail' Pinnacles, and it is a lovely, double-fall-line black diamond groomer. Well, they are supposed to groom it once a week. We loved it!

Not too much work, but I have been booked on a load of afternoon private lessons, which has let me ski around most of the mountain. Loads of high wind days, which means we start mostly at the California base, but also spent a load of time at Stagecoach and Boulder (the two Nevada bases) so pretty much know the entire mountain now. Including most of the tree runs out and about.

So - only about five weeks left of the season..... must start making plans for what happens next!

After the craziness of President's week

Paul and I went over the mountain to Reno to visit the 'airlift victim'. She walked out (with a bit of assistance) to the entrance of Renown regional medical centre (the poshest hospital I have ever seen) to see us, which was great!! She has now had all the tubes and drips and everything taken out, so has a bit of freedom, although I think the nausea is still pretty challenging after the surgery. I saw the scar..... it looked as if it was weeks ago, rather than days ago..... and it appears the whole thing is going really well. She has now been released from the hospital, but is awaiting a fitness to fly letter to be allowed to go back to the UK.

As for renown, they appeared to have a piano bar (with a live pianist) a Starbucks, a few 'boutique' shops, a Ben and Jerry's ice cream place and all sorts of other things. There is a little hotel 'attached' so family members can stay, although the room she had was private, and large, and had a pullout sofa, so the family could have easily stayed in the rooms too! If I ever need a hospital (I pray I never will) this one will certainly do!

Up on the mountain, things have calmed down hugely. I shovelled snow around the yurts today (to keep them from collapsing) and then taught a private lesson to a family, consisting of a 3 year old, a 7 year old and the two parents. It was a challenge, but quite fun, really. Let's see what tomorrow brings!

Peace and Quiet (and windy conditions)

The guests have left..... aside from the airlifted one, who is still recovering in Reno. So far, so good on the recovery front. We are visiting her on Friday. So, our lives are getting a bit quieter. But the conditions on the mountain are WINDY. Snow too, but loads of wind. This means we end up doing a lot of moving around. I have taught at both the California base and the Boulder base in Nevada. Good fun, and nice to move around too.

Cousins are coming up this weekend, so it will be great to catch up with them! And the landlord is doing another trip to Houston, so we will be looking after the cats and the Labradoodle for a few days too. Life is always interesting around here!

Airlifting guests

The large group who have been here this week (including Paul's family) are decamping tomorrow. Or most of them are. They all went snowmobiling today. And one crashed into a tree. Injuring the driver. She was airlifted to Reno, and has since had her spleen removed. She is doing well, however, and should be well enough to travel back to the UK next weekend, God willing. All I can say is.... be sure you always have travel insurance, as this is a very pricey way to get yourself fixed. The rest of the group are flying home in the morning, very early departure.

In the teeth of the storm

This is supposed to be the 'big storm' where 4-5 feet drop in a few days. We are getting snow, pretty consistently, but only at the 'few inches a day' rate, so it is unlikely we get as hammered as they keep predicting!

However, the National Weather Service has issued an Avalanche Warning for any backcountry trecking, so maybe there has been more snow around us, and Heavenly has been located in the Bermuda Triangle of Snowfall.

So, the mountain conditions are still fantastic, with beautiful snow on the groomers, and reasonable conditions in the trees, but there are still a few rocks and stumps around, so we are all being careful! I wear my helmet now, for many reasons..... it keeps my ears warm, my head warm on a cold day (and it is ventilated for the warm days!) and protects me from splitting my head open when I ski in the trees and from crazy-insane skiers and snowboards losing control on the slopes. Lets hope I never need to test its effectiveness, but I wear one anyway!

Have a great day everyone! The snow is fantastic.... but we could still use more!

We are on the Heavenly website now!

So, we are now officially on the Ski Heavenly website..... our instructor profiles are there, so if you want lessons..... book with us!

http://www.skiheavenly.com/schools_clinics/instructors/#TaylorJennifer

and it's snowing again! Its about to become busy with President's weekend and the UK half-term, so we have loads of people coming into town, and family and friends coming up to stay. Life is good!

Paul's Strolz boots

Paul has feet that hate ski boots. We made a lovely trip to Austria to Lech to get him some Strolz boots a few years back. This was before he lost weight. The old boots are now too big. I know, lose weight in your feet?? but the feet and the lower legs are definitely smaller now. So, the trip down to Mammoth was needed, as there are only 3 places in the USA which do Strolz boots. One is in New Hampshire. One is in Oregon, and the last is in Mammoth. So.... away we went to have a new liner for Paul's boot made... once which would fit his new svelt physique. So we went to Footloose Sports. In the snow.


Corty is the specialist there, and here follows a photo-logue of the foaming of the boots:


Corty assesses Paul's feet. And the foaming bottles ready to go.

Padding is placed on the bare foot to allow room at usual 'pressure spots'


Padding and toe caps on to allow room once the foam is added to the liners


Putting the bare leg with padding in a plastic bag and then into the currently empty liner.

adjusting the liner, almost ready to foam!

adjusting position on the foaming board

discussing what comes next!!

boots ready to get foamed!

and the foaming begins!

After brisk shaking, the foam bubbles through. Corty is checking the venting at the front of the boots to be sure the foam is flowing evenly.

Pressure downwards ensures no foam goes under the feet where it is not supposed to go.

Yes, it is painful. High pressure foam is like parking a large SUV full of people on your feet!


preparing the foam on the second boot


watching the foam flow through the other boot. Both worked perfectly!

checking the flow was completed!

pulling out the foaming tubes - removes some of the pressure as it leaves just leg and foamed liner in the boots!


discussing the foam and checking the vent tubes for the last time.

fully re-foamed boots!

and the boots can finally come off!

baggies being removed (phew!)

removing the extra padding.

the boots on the workshop bench awaiting final clean-up.
(the ones with red buckles are mine, actually)

the boots in their finished state!

Side view, showing the added 'shim' to adjust the cant and forward flex of the boot. Happy feet for Paul now!!

Corty really IS the best boot fitter in the world!

SNOW!!

Well, on Friday, we drove south to Mammoth (and back) in the snow. Well, California had snow.... actually, the snow was mostly around Mammoth, which made them very happy indeed! The snow was thick and fluffy, and there was even chain controls to enter the town of Mammoth Lakes! Luckily, Champagne Charlie has all-wheel-drive and good tires! We had no problems getting there... aside from the lack of views going through California right at some of its most scenic places! The way home was a bit easier, as the snow had lightened up considerably!

The nicest part was coming back over Daggett Pass, which is also known as Kingsbury Grade, and there was snow falling up at Heavenly! (not much, but it was snow!)

However.... that night.......... we woke up to 2 inches of snow outside the house, which was about a foot up on the mountain! We skied fresh tracks in the powder (sierra cement, rather) although suffered from iced up goggles! Someone needs to invent a goggle with a defrost on it... not just a venting fan, as the ice was on the OUTSIDE from the fog and snow. But maybe in another lifetime! Teaching students in the snow is fun. The snow keeps them slower and more in control. And if they fall, its soft and fluffy! I had three MBA students from Stamford in my class, and they certainly had a fantastic time! As did I.

Everyone is getting snow except for us!

Well, London is busy getting hammered with snow, and people are having snow days from school and work. We still have blazing blue skies and sunshine, and should get some snow at the weekend. In about 10 days, we start to get more visitors, and will have occupants for our spare room for a few days too! Our previous visitors left on Saturday to head homewards back to their dogs and horses and children.

Paul and I have been skiing all over the place, and working on our own skiing. This involves skiing loads of bumps or moguls, which takes a great deal of balance and overcoming fear to ski well. Its coming along and we will keep working on it.

So, for the moment, a bit of peace and quiet, and hopefully teach some ski students!

Visitors!

Well, we finally got more snow!

Last Saturday, I went to Reno to pick up arriving friends, who were coming to Tahoe for the first time. It was snowing, and the mountain passes were picking up the first traces of snow!

We made it safely back to South Lake Tahoe (after being stopped by a Nevada State trooper, again.... at the airport..... for the lack of current registration!) and settled in to meet another friend, who had brought his two children with him from the Bay area. We caught up on old times, went to a 'free' happy hour, with a small bout of craziness surrounding the changing of a diaper, which I will NOT go into at this time. Suffice it to say, things did not stay where they should, so a clean-up was required.

Clean up completed, we headed to the happy hour and had some lovely drinks, and then headed out to dinner. Supper was a slightly chaotic affair, as is normally the case when a 2 and a 4 year old are at the dinner table. This was followed by an impromptu trip to the pool and hot tub in the hotel the friends were staying in.

All I can say, is the two year old LOVES water. he took a flying leap into the hot tub, disappeared under the water, and all of us were panicking! But he surfaced and laughed and tried to climb out and try it again! Needless to say, we stopped that one happening again! Too much excitement!

The next day, heavy snow, and we were skiing in the clouds, until we decided to head down to the Stagecoach area, which was the lowest part of the mountain with easily skiable terrain. We had a fantastic time, although it was a bit chilly, the snow was fantastic! All in all, another foot or two of snow fell..... and it makes the mountain look like a winter wonderland!

Then we are busy teaching and skiing all over the mountain, and the sun has come back out to play!

Rain, and melting snow

Well, it has been warm since early January, and the past two days it has rained here in the valley at lake level. Up on the upper reaches of the mountain, they have received some snow, albeit wet and heavy.

The good news: the ice which had been sitting around outside the door, waiting to make me slip has now finally melted!

The bad news: well, there isn't any, really. The wet weather made me realise how luck I am to be here in California for the winter, rather than suffering another cold, wet winter after a cold, wet summer in the UK.

And there is heavy snow coming in the next few days... so topping up the snow we have lost. Up on the mountain, we may not have fluffy white powder as we had over Christmas, but what there is has now compacted nicely so any new snow will actually stick and last the rest of the season, rather than blow away in the winds which inevitably accompany these storms, and also will allow the rest of the mountain to open with a reasonable, packed base to prevent loss of p-tex from the bottom of skis and snowboards due to rogue rocks and stumps.

Mother Nature rules everything around here, and she always knows best.

Besides, we had a pair of Mallard ducks come up and visit this morning in the rain.... they seemed to be enjoying themselves!

Nevada Highway Patrol are very diligent!

Once again, things have been busy and I have neglected to update the blog!! Sorry to all of you who have been checking back to see if I have added anything new!

We went over the mountain with Champagne Charlie to see the Carson City Honda dealer to programme the new auto-lock key so we had a spare.... as Charlie only had the one when he came into our lives. He also has the somewhat alarming habit of letting us know he is out there when he is feeling neglected..... in other words, from time to time, for no clear reason, the car alarm keeps going off. Usually around 10pm when we are winding down towards bed-time! I think he wants us to read him a bedtime story!

Anyway, we headed over the mountain, and as we came into Carson City and onto highway 395, I had a NV Highway Patroller sitting in the other lane, in my blind spot. I stopped at a red light, and he pulled in just behind me. A snowplow truck pulled in beside me, and gestured the police were looking me up. As I had already noticed him behind me, I just smiled. Either I was to be pulled over, or I wasn't. The patrol car was already behind me. I hadn't been speeding, and I had not run any red lights or anything.... so I waited for the light to change.

When the traffic light turned green, the Reds and Blues started flashing behind me, so I used my indicator to let him know I had seen him. There was no hard (or soft) shoulder, so I pulled into the nearest parking lot. The patroller was very polite.... he came up and told me who he was, and asked me if I owned the car I was driving. I said yes, but it was new as I had bought it on the First of January. He asked me it I knew the registration had expired. I said I had the temporary up on the windscreen...... I handed over my drivers license, which he looked at and handed back. He asked to see the temporary registration, so I pulled off the tape which held it to the windscreen. He read it and remarked that it really WAS the First of January we had purchased the car. I just smiled. He just said everything was ok, and said I was free to go. So off I went.

We went to the Honda dealer, who programmed the new key, and looked around for the problem with the alarm. They could not find it, and the new key actually does not activate the alarm system, so they suggested just using that rather than the original one, or go find a Car Hi-Fi dealer to work with the alarm system, as they thought they may have a better chance to fix it. As the alarm is a Honda alarm, that surprised me, but as we were just 'turn-up' customers without a booking (and no charge for the programming of the key) we did not complain. We just headed into Reno, 30 miles down the road, to the next Honda dealer. Reno's Honda dealer did not try anything, but booked us in for an appointment so they could look into the entire 'alarming' incidents..... and do a check-over since we did not purchase from an actual Honda Dealer, so we know all the fuses and fluids and things are ok.

So, we found a lovely shop in Reno which sells food from the UK, including English sausages and bacon (back bacon cannot be found in the USA, for some reason) and bought some to bring home. Back towards Carson City and the easiest pass over the mountain. Well, we filled up the car, which was headed towards empty.... Carson City has the cheapest fuel around, so we always fill up when we are there. We put in 11 Gallons, for less than $22. God Bless America!! So much better than English petrol prices!!! Only managing to get about 23 miles to a gallon, but we HAVE been going up and over mountain passes, from 7000 feet to 5000 feet in 10 miles of road, so there's quite a bit of work for the engine to do.

After filling up, we were headed back down highway 395.... and I had another Highway Patrol car in my blind spot. Well, you can guess where this is headed. I stopped at a traffic light, he pulled in behind me, and when the light went green, he turned on his lights, and we pulled over. Again. Different officer this time, and nowhere near as friendly as the first one. I showed him my license, and told him that I had been pulled over by one of his colleagues about two hours ago. He just looked at me, and told me that the dealer should have taken the license plates off the car when we purchased it.

He did let us go off on our merry way, but we are now thinking every time we go anywhere, the cops will pull us over... so I am not exceeding the speed limit at all, if I can help it! Not that I normally do..... at least not by much!

We made it back to South Lake Tahoe without further incident, at least no more stopping by highway patrol! After a quick call to the dealer we bought Charlie from, we were told the new tags should be with us at the end of next week.... so hopefully this constant stopping in Nevada will stop. I think the difference is in California, you keep the number plate with the car and get new 'date' tags for the registration. In Nevada, you get entirely new plates, so they are on the lookout for expired dates on all plates.

So - now we are driving around, ready to count the number of police sightings! Watch this space!

Happy New Year - to celebrate ... Champagne Charlie!!

Well, we had enough with walking in the dark on icy, snowy roads and waiting forever for the bus!!

On New Year's day, we decided to start the New Year the right way.... we went car shopping! After all, no presents for Christmas or Anniversary, was specifically for the ability to get a car when we needed one.

So, welcome to the family, Champagne Charlie. He is a Champagne gold coloured Honda CR-V, 9 years old, with a lovely leather interior (which helps keep those static shocks at bay!) He has tinted rear windows which should help in warmer weather to keep those black leather seats cool enough to actually SIT on..... which is also nice.

Purchasing our new family member was a bit of work, involving driving a rather large, 4WD stick shift Ford truck around, over the mountain to Sacramento..... and a VERY long day - we left at 10 am and got back at 9.30pm, with car. Although everything was completed by then, so we don't even need to go to the DMV to register the car!!

Geico was the insurance saviour, which allowed us to buy 6 months of insurance, which in California is a pricey thing to have to do.... and God Bless Carfax, which allowed me to look at all the various car options in our price range, to see what had been in accidents, and what had many owners, and how many miles the cars had been driven!!

Without going into more (boring) details, we found Charlie in a used car lot in Sacramento at about 4.45pm after a frustrating afternoon. We paid and had all the paperwork and headed back over the mountains, using I80 and crossing at Donner Pass.... leaving Sacramento at 6.30pm. Not too bad, considering they had 7 cars to choose from, although Charlie spoke to me the minute I saw him.

So - here he is in all his glory (using the dealers pictures.... he's dirty and embarrassed to be photographed since he arrived in South Lake.....)