Boarding, Brewing, and More Daylight

Ahhh… we made it! We survived the short days of winter and reached Spring Daylight Savings, which I’m pretty sure is one of Jesse’s favorite days of the year (with December 21st as a close second, when the days start getting longer). I tease him, because I swear he counts the days down all year long. The guy remembers dates and facts like no one I have ever met. In this case though, I can’t argue with him… because oh, do I love the sun. I will gladly give up an hour of my weekend to gain that extra daylight after work! I am writing to you from the front porch, enjoying the evening sun, and let me tell you, it feels amazing.

We had a pretty fantastic, fitting weekend to kick off the new schedule. Saturday we finally made it up to Snowy Range to snowboard with a couple of friends (only our third day this season – I don’t know where the time goes!), and it was such an beautiful day with perfect spring conditions! Luckily, the range had gotten 20+ inches of snow last week, so although it was mostly groomed/packed down on the main runs, it was far from icy and scraped off. There was just enough loose snow to give me that extra bit of confidence that I sometimes can’t find when taking on some of the black runs and mogul-y areas. It also may have helped that we packed a couple of extra beers in our pockets to drink on the lift throughout the day. The sun was blazing, without a cloud in the sky, and NO WIND. So we were feeling pretty good.

By the way, if you haven’t had the pleasure of skiing/boarding at Snowy Range, you should. It’s another reason that Wyoming is fantastic. Don’t get me wrong – Colorado resorts are huge, and epic. They are also EXPENSIVE. I grew up in Colorado, and only really got into snowboarding over Christmas breaks during college. It was one of those things that my family didn’t really do growing up, because it’s a pricey sport. I also have spent over 5 hours sitting on the interstate in ski traffic in a single day just to get to the slopes and back home. If that’s what you’re after, by all means. Help yourself to a day pass for $100+.

We are lucky enough to be able to get to Snowy in about an hour and a half, with very little traffic to fight. The past couple of years, we have decided to forgo the season pass, in favor of the 4 day pack that they offer for a limited time pre-season – for $120. It has worked out perfectly for us, since we have only made it up there a couple of times. Recently there have been a lot of Saturday mornings where sleeping in and hanging around the house sounds too appealing to pass up. I’m not as extreme as I used to be about getting in a certain number of days on the snow. And I’m ok with that. We know that our passes are paid for, and we don’t hurt ourselves trying to “get the good out of them”. The mountain itself isn’t huge, but passes are cheap, you rarely ever have to wait in line, and the overall atmosphere is super chill.

This weekend, we even spotted our State Representative, who was skiing decked out in some of our favorite gear to spot on the slopes – blue jeans and a baseball cap. I mean. It doesn’t get much better. We gave him some shit, and he was pretty quick to tell us that he doesn’t typically associate with snowboarders. Naturally, we ended up challenging him to a race (or three) for bragging rights. We ended the day with 3 of the fastest (and tipsiest) runs that I’ve ever done at Snowy. I think Jesse was the official winner, every time. The dude is fast. All in all, an awesome time was had by all.

Sunday, Jesse dusted off the home brewing equipment – it’s been way too long – and brewed not one, not two, but THREE beers. I won’t lie and say that I was much help at all. Usually I stir a few times as he adds the malt to the boil, and help maintain the cooling temperature while he transfers the wort (pronounced “wert” – the technical term for beer before the yeast is added to convert the sugar to alcohol) into the carboys (giant glass bottles used to ferment). It took about 7 hours total to complete the three batches. We did an American Brown (Moose Drool clone), a Session IPA, and a Petite Saison. They will take about 2 to 3 weeks to ferment, and then will be ready to keg. This turned out to be good timing, as we just kicked the keg of Pabst that we almost always have on tap.

This week is shaping up quite nicely as well, with 50+ degree days expected all week. We ran outside yesterday after work, and got in a really great speed workout (which also turned out to be my longest run so far this year! Double points!!) We are gearing up for the Sharin’ O’ the Green 5K this weekend.

So for now, I hope you are enjoying beautiful weather and the extra sun as much as I am!