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Frozen on Alyeska & the Downfall of Onimusha

// February 13th, 2009 // No Comments » // Snowboarding, friends, life, travel, video games

A few weekends ago I flew up to Anchorage to visit my brother. I always enjoy visiting him because we have such a good relationship.

While there, we decided to go to Alyeska, both Saturday and Sunday for some snowboarding (Aaron skied). Saturday the weather was reasonable, although the mountain was pretty crowded. Sunday was a different story. Being that it was the Super Bowl and the fact that it made for a desolate and chilly day. Adria joined us on Sunday, so it was actually a family affair. The temp was right around 0F with windchills around -20F. To give you an idea of what snowboarding in this type of weather is like, imagine this: you have zero desire to stop on the mountain (for any reason), you can’t sit still on the lift because doing so you’d probably freeze solid (why Alyeska doesn’t have covered, a.k.a. bubble,  lifts baffles me), talking or taking pictures is pretty much out of the question (except in the lodge), and any amount of skin exposed is destined to become numb (and red). That was probably the coldest conditions I’ve ever snowboarded in, and I’d think twice about doing it again.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m really glad I got a chance to go boarding at Alyeska. According to Forbes, Alyeska is the 4th snowiest resort in the world. The snow was really nice, especially since it had snowed about a foot total in the days prior.

One thing that would make Alyeska infinitely better would be to upgrade their chair lifts. All of them should have a bubble and even better yet would be seat warmers. It’d also be nice if all lifts had the safety bar with foot rests so you can rest your board (or skis) as you ride up. The inside of my left leg was particularly sore from riding the lifts all day and having my board dangle below me. I guess that creates a lot more stress on your leg than you’d imagine.

The drive to Girdwood (where Alyeska is) is quite nice. The mountain is located near an inlet. On your way to Alyeska, you can see the water flowing in to the inlet. With all the snow & ice, doesn’t look like anything all that exciting. On the way home, most of the water has already flown out of the inlet, so you get huge chuunks of snow/ice mixed with mud that kinda l0oks like cracked earth in the desert, but on a much larger scale.

While on the mountain, we had a great view of the inlet and surrounding mountains. Because of terrain, clouds tend to hang low above the inlet around the peaks in the area. So I think technically when we were at Alyeska, we were above the clouds (and almost in the clouds on Sunday).

After getting in quite a bit of physical activity Saturday & Sunday, it was decided that we start playing video games, Onimusha: Warlords. Although it took almost all day, we were able to beat the entire game (with a little help from an online guide). That was a lot of fun, as I haven’t beaten a game from start to finish in quite some time.

I can’t imagine I’ll be going back to AK anytime soon, or ever for that matter. Aaron & Adria are moving back to MN in May, so the motivation to go back is pretty much gone.

Moonlight Boarding

// March 3rd, 2008 // No Comments » // Snowboarding, life, travel

I arrived in Germany Friday, February 22, in the afternoon after one of the craziest things happened. On my way to check-in for my flight, I realized I left my passport at home. Awesome! So I first checked with one of the agents before attempting to haul ass home to get it. Being on the arrival level, there aren’t many taxis to choose from as most take off as soon as they drop off. I found a guy, quickly explained my emergency situation, and he said he would help. Nice! It turns out, the guy never went over the speed limit, had to stop to get some gas on the way to my house, and generally stayed in the middle of three lanes where there’s the most traffic. As my heart nearly beat out of my chest the entire time, I somehow managed to make my flight AND my luggage arrived on time.

So the first and last evenings were spent in Munich, though completely uneventful as I was tired both of those nights. The rest of the trip was spent in St Anton am Arlberg, Austria. The highlight of the trip was the moonlight skiing I did with a few mates. We left our flat about 11pm Sunday night, took a taxi to St Christoph (the next village over and part of the St Anton ski area), hiked an hour and a half up the mountain (about 500 vertical meters), hung out on top for about 45 minutes playing on and around the ski lift, then went down, all with only moonlight lighting the way. We got home around 2am, and it was well worth. Definitely one of the coolest things I’ve done in my life.

The rest of the week saw warmer and warmer weather, making for less than ideal conditions. There were many avalanches (mostly on the sides where no one goes) with one very close to where we were. I arrived at the scene just after it happened and a helicopter was just dropping off poles and dogs so that the ski patrol could start looking for people. We didn’t hear anything about anyone getting caught under the snow, but it was still close and very real. The rest of the week was spent boarding as much as the weather permitted, two trips to the sauna, and many trips to Platzl, our watering hole of choice in St Anton.

My trip home can only be described as hellish. I left to catch the train to the airport at about 6:30am. I caught my train and arrived at the airport about 7:30am, only to find out my flight to Amsterdam was canceled. They had already re-routed my by the time I got to the front of the line, Munich to Paris, Paris to New York, New York to Los Angeles. Just about the most undesirable itinerary possible, plus I was switched from Northwest to Air France/Delta (first indicator my bag would be delayed). I waited around in the Munich airport for an hour or so as my new flight was a little later. I was struggling with not passing out since I hadn’t had good sleep the previous two nights. When I arrived in Paris, I found out that my next flight was already boarded and they were just waiting for the few of us on the first flight to haul ass so the flight could leave. That was the second indicator my bag would be delayed. Luckily the Air France flight to New York came with personal TVs, unlike most US carriers. This only slightly eased the trouble that the day was turning out to be. After arriving in New York, I only wished the day was over because I was completely exhausted and had 0 desire to be on a plane. When I finally arrived in LA, my bag was of course nowhere to be found. Better yet, it wasn’t even in the system, so they had no idea where it was. After waiting a day, they still had no idea where it was. Finally they found it and it was delivered to me Tuesday morning, thankfully. My suitcase was badly damaged this journey, so I’ve already filled out all the paperwork for them to see if they will repair it (pretty much impossible, but I know they have to tell me that). Looking forward to getting a new bag of “comparable value”. We’ll see what the new bag I get is actually like as they don’t offer the same brand.