Funemployment 2k22
In January 2022 I left my job at Unidata as part of my #millennial obligation to take part in the #GreatResignation and start as a data scientist at Evolve. I had a little over a week between jobs and naturally wanted to make the most of it so I set down my avocado toast and $13 latte took a road trip to ski!
Driving North towards Ouray, CO from Red Mountain Pass
Part 1: Ouray, CO
I drove from Boulder to Ouray following my last day of work - snow was forecasted so like the big dumb idiot I am, I took 285. Driving over Monarch pass was very blustery and the normally 6 hour drive took ~8 hours.
I woke up in the San Juan mountains and met my Friend at the Ouray Ice Climbing Festival which was rad. I dabbled a little in some ice climbing for the first time (awesome) and did a sunset tour afterwards.
The next day we did a big (for me) touring day; avy danger was “Low” so we were able to take advantage of several steeper lines on Red Mountain pass. Conditions were much better than anticipated ranging from very soft powder to pseudo-corn depending on aspect. Definitely one of my best touring days of the 2021-22 season.
Kids Wall at Ouray Ice Festival - I <3 playing with pokey stuff Sunset put-put cruise Morning traverse View at the top in the San Juans - this zone was basically a backcountry Disneyland
Part 2: Salt Lake City, UT
After skiing Sunday near Ouray I headed on over to Salt Lake City for a little Ikon (as in “I kon-t” ski) action. Shout out to Matt for the last minute hospitality - always a blast to catch up with old friends.
I skied Alta on Monday and that evening Sam flew in to join me. We skied Snowbird, Brighton, and Snowbird over the next three days with a surprise dusting during our first day at Snowbird. I love Little Cottonwood Canyon.
Sam was originally supposed to see Tool the week or so before but had to cancel because of the ‘ol Rona. By some awesome turn of events we were actually able to score some cheap tickets via Craigslist and had excellent seats for a sweet show.
Cloud City or Snowbird One of many extremely scenic places that I cooked brats on my roadtrip Definitely worth $50
Part 3: Bozeman, MT
After some lovely skiing in UT I headed on up to Montana to piss off the locals with my Colorado plates. I got in late to outside of Big Sky and camped in my truck - living in the Front Range has made me a weenie and I definitely noticed the -6°F temp when I woke up.
I skied with some awesome local friend-of-friends at Big Sky and had the chance to ski the Headwaters zone. Definitely some of the burliest terrain I’ve skied in bounds - love to see some actual exposure available on this side of the ski area boundary sign.
After Big Sky I popped over to Bozeman to visit a dear friend of mine and embark the next day on a last minute invite to a cabin trip some of her friends were going on. Skiing was “adventurous” at times but we found some fun little put-put zones that made for an incredible sunset descent.
Pee bottle hindsight is 50-50 Pizza pie don’t fail me now First of two (!) herds of cows commuting to greener pastures en route to the cabin Passing the time with some good old fashioned Olympic relay trials Put-putting in the Crazies New friends in new places Cabin in the woods Night cap/trip cap ft. Karl
What a blessing - so thankful for old and new friends and this lovely world I get to call home.
