A Sunny Day in Ned.

I have been contemplating the launch of several new blogs. Up and running is "Training Blog: The Mongolia Project," covering the logistical planning, physical conditioning, mountain skills education and philanthropic aims of an expedition to Mongolia, planned for May 2011.

Today I soaked up some of the sun while strolling through town. We have a guest in the Medicine House named Craig. We stopped in to visit Andrea at the rock shop. Andrea tends beautiful crystals during her day job, but tonight, she will be making music and singing live on Radio Station KGNU with the base player from Mountain Standard Time, a favorite local mountain-grass band. We talked about what

Balance

I snuck in five runs today, starting just past noon, when the light was golden and the shadows where starting to lengthen and turn blue. I met a friend by chance at the lift. We found soft pillows of snow in the trees. Riding on the lift we shared the stoke. Now I'm back at the laptop writing again, sipping tea. A perfect day!

Priorities

I am missing a powder day after a long, dry mid-winter. This is because I want to finish grad school. I am writing stories today. I am counting on another snow day, somewhere in the future. Where is my loyalty? Skiing? Writing? Today, I am torn.

So, winter hasn't quite lived up to my early season expectations. It's been dry and the little snowpack we have is sketchy. To archive my optimism, I've saved the below preface to the Write-Wild blog from the opening of the ski season.

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Woha there! Three feet of snow brewed up on Nederland Halloween, starting off the 2009 ski season with a bang.

My bones are predicting the "Winter of Ned..." I can feel snow in the air. Ski conditioning began early this fall with several CobraBalance Snowsport Conditioning sessions. Climber's pull-up grips hang above my staircase. I dream of a season with 100m wide underfoot, but before I float on water-ski fatties, my most practical pair of skis: the 190's will transport me on daily jaunts along the Jenny Creek Trails.

Newsflash: An X-Ray reveals screws in my bionic knee. Learn more about how the doc will use his screw driver! Check out ski journalism at its finest y'all... RIGHT HERE.

Wooden skis.

Active bindings.

Adrenaline Rushes.

Hot Ski Patrollers.

Ice Skier Symphonic Bliss and Other Music Mixes.

Ski Lifetsyle: It's in the Family.

East Coaster Gets Schooled.

Rocky Mountain Medicinals and Ski Town Follies: Driggs, Idaho to Nederland, Colorado

The Migrational Seasons of Gypsies: Whitewater to Whitesnow

ACL Injury Prevention and Repair

Balances

This morning, I skied for an hour and a half while it snowed. After lunch, I spent the rest of the day writing and corresponding from the café.

I am brutally tired, my lower face is windburned, and I feel spent in the most delightful way. Today was one of balance, the first one in a while in which I was able to fulfill myself both athletically and scholastically in the same day.

Scheduling my time well has been an interesting challenge lately. My motto has been "Something's Gotta Give." Knowing myself, who I am, has helped. My creative thesis: Focus, Courage, Orientation, is a segue into a much larger, long term project. As I balance my time and energy between writing and preparing for the Spring 2011 expedition to Mongolia, I'll be making posts to the Project Mongolia Training Blog... here.

Finishing Grad School

I dropped out of high school two months or so before graduation. Right now, being a grad student feels like... I'm in the ninth round in a Heavy weight pro-boxing match.

I've committed to make the best out of these last two months before my April thesis deadlines by finishing my first collection of short stories:

Focus, Courage, Orientation: Stories for Ski bums and River Guides.

I am also training for a Mongolia Expedition at least five days a week: skiing (all types), and mixing in some cross training: ice climbing, rock climbing, and Crossfit (TM) training, yoga, CobraBalance (TM). Today I'll be skiing with a loaded pack. The goal is 50lbs.

Right now, Monday Morning at Blue Moon Café, Nederland, CO, I am drinking tea in high style. Rosebuds flavor my tea. I'll be skiing, writing, and, just to maintain the glamourous cliché of starving artist, waitressing in an exotic red restaurant where people really do speak Nepali.

Find out more about the Mongolian ski mountaineering project here!