The New Staff are Here!!

Well its been a long few weeks working in the office planning our adventure programs and my teen leadership program. There have been eight of us at camp for the last few weeks workng hard getting everything ready for the rest of our cabin counselors to arrive. And now there here!! Yea, finally! its nice to have some new faces and personalities around camp. ALl our staff came in on Tuesday june 16th, and its been a great week so far. I can aldready tell its going to be a great summer, we have some great staff members but i think i might miss being in a cabin with kids! But hopefully with my teen leadership i will be able to build that bond with my group so i dont miss having that connection with kids too much!

The weekend before our staff came in I went to my first concert at Red Rocks amphitheater! I saw Levon Helm (former singer and percussionist from "The Band") and John Prine (accalimed singer song writer), that was one of the most amazing concerts i have been to. The atmospher, the people, the mucis just perfect. not to mention, it had been stormy and rainy all day, with tornado warnings all around denver, and just minutes before the show started they sky's parted and the sun came out for an hour before it ducted behind the mountains and it was a beautiful night!

We are goign to a rockies game tomorrow as a group and then we have sunday off. IM planning on kayakng a streach of the Arkansas river with a fellow adventre program staff member. Cant wait!!!

we will ahve one more week of staff training and team building! And then june 28th our first session of campers arrive! Cant wait

The BolderBoulder

The BolderBoulder 10K race.

50,000+ people ....in comparison the boston marathon has 20,000 finishers or the New York Marathon wth 38,000 finishers.

Memorial Day Weekend

Hope everyone had a great memorial day weekend. Mine started friday afternoon when our final Outdoor Ed group left. The last week of kids was wonderful! I relaly enjoyed working with them! We did a lot of leadership work which i love so we really all had alot of fun. Later that afternoon Andrew (the cam director) Arianne (andrew's wife and asst. Director) Tom, a returning staff member, and I went down to town to pick up our friend Nate at the airport who will be joing us for the summer. We spend the weekend cooking out, playing beer frisbee and enjoying the terrible rainy weather all weekend.

On monday Tom, Nate, Arianne and I ran the BolderBoulder 10K race! We def didnt do any training, but we live at almost 9,000' so running at 5,240' we figured we'd be ok. I def didnt run it to win but i did decient considering. I finished in 57:45. we then stayed around for the other 50,000+ people to finish the race and fill CU stadium for a Memorial day ceremony.

I now have the rest of the week off. I leave for Washington Tomorrow afternoon to visit some friend. I come back on monday the 1st for the start of our leadership staff training. This summer i will be working as adventure program cordinator / Teen leadership cordinator. This is a huge promotion for me. I found out about 2 weeks ago. I am super excited to run these programs.

The teen leadership program is for 15 and 16 year olds which used to be out CIT/ LIT program. I will be leading these kids in a 2 week program where we do a lot fo teamwork/ leadership course inculding a 7 day backpacking trip and then when we come back to camp they will work with Tom and I with a camp/ community leadership service leaning project. we are still in the process of developing the program but im super excited to be leading it.

So Im back in Colorado. We are about to start our second week of Outdoor Ed here at camp. we have groups of middle school kids come up for 2-5 days and we teach them, leadership, teambuilding, forect ecology, wetland ecology, mountaineering, native american and crafters. Our first week started a lil on the rough side, the the group was 7th graders, and they were "Too cool" for outdoor ed! Trust me, we put them in line with the teambuilding activities!





we have weekends off, as we work with schools. the two days off are nice, but i cant get too used to them as once summer gets into swing, its only one day a week! this weekend a few of us went into Boulder to hit REI for their big sale and then we hung out for a bit and then headed back up the mountain for the night.

there are 7 outdoor ed staff members, plus our diredtors and kitchen staff. I Have to say its fun, But i am excited for the rest of the summer staff to arrive after june 1st.

i also signed up for the BolderBoulder, a huge popular 10K race on mamorial day weekend! running 6.2 miles at 6,000 feet above sea leavel.. thats gonan one hell of a challange! Im doing it with two guys i work with at camp, so at least we'll have eachother. the day after the race I fly back up to Washington to visit friend and possibly climb Raineer. Three of my hjousemates are guides on the mountain for the summer so i will try to get on an expidition and make a summit attempt.

Road Trippin'

Back to Colorado I go!!

I left washington on tuesday april 14th first thing in the morning. It was sad good buys to my housemates, loaded up and headed East. ( well I had to head West to Seattle before going East due to mountain pass's still being closed for the season). My housemates, how i have played house mother for for the past 6 months, wished me safe traves while also checking to makre sure my car had enough oil, correct tire pressure for highway driving, that i had gas, and food as well as a safe place to stay while driving to Colorado! WOW am i gonan miss them!!

I drove for about 13 hours that first day made it across washignton, through Oregon, and all the way across Idaho. I finally came ot a rest stop just over into the Utah boarder and spend the night in my car. Its great being and to move your whole life in your car and still be able to sleep in it!

I woke up first thing the next morning and headed south east down to Moab, UT to visit a friend and enjoy some R&R in the dessert! We went rafting on the colorado river, canyonering through the national park and just enjoyed hanging out around town! a great few days off!

after my quick but much needed vacation in the warm (70 + degrees) dessert, i headed back north to Colorado. I stoped by Leadville (the highest town in the country, 10,000 feet, to visit Ben, from camp last summer. it was nice to catch up, we went climbing and then to a STS9 free concert at Copper mountain for closing day! ps- i love vacation!

I am now here back at camp santa maria. We started staff training for outdoor ed on monday and are all ready for our first session of middle school kids to show up on monday! we have a great crew this year but i cant wait for all of the returners to come back from last year! its gonan be another great summer in colorful Colorado!

Spring.....???? Not quite Yet

BY Now its April in the Cascades and there is no sign of spring anywhere. during the month of March we received more then 10 feet of snow!!!!!! It just hasn't stoped snowing and its still dumping on us. The skiing is great, just Powder day after powder day, i will def be in shape for the summer, if my knees hold out!

Since my last post ( my birthday ) many exciting events have taken place. Jill came for a visit during her spring break. we had a great 5 days skiing, site-seeing in Seattle, and more skiing. i def think i whooped her butt, but i also know she enjoyed it in the end. Jill also helped me make a dress for our annual end of year fundraiser. We made the dress completely out of duct tape!! (a picture coming soon!!) The dress was awesome, Purple, Silver, and teal in a tube dress style, and straps added later for support. The event was just last week and it was a huge success! we had a great time drinking, dancing, all being in Costume! although the down side was that it was storming and we were out the door at 6am the next morning with 21 inches of new snow! Lets just say we were not in the best shape that morning...but hiking a bit, throwing a few explosives and skiing powder makes you feel better almost instantly.

I also participated in " Hope on the Slopes" the third ever ski for cancer. It is the downhill form of relay for life. This event is very new, as we were the third and final location for the 2008-2009 season. Crystal mountain had 62 participants, skiing a total of 523,998 vertical feet that day and raising over $16,000 for the American Cancer Society! WOW! im impressed and proud to have participated in such a strong event. thanks to all of you who donated to the cause, It was a great day! and yes you can still make a tax detectable donation as my personal page: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/CommunityFundraisingPages/HOSNational?px=10059968&pg=personal&fr_id=19221

Even though the snow is not stopping any time soon, my season in coming to an end. My last day at Crystal Mountain is April 13th!! As much as I loved this season and all the skiing, events, people, housemates ect i am excited to see green grass, wear flip flops and have a change of pace and activity. I will be driving back to Colorado between the 14-16th ish. I am returning to Camp Santa Maria, the same camp i worked at last summer. We start our Outdoor ed program for middle schoolers staff training on the 20th and kids arrive a week later. Im def excited to be returning to a familiar place with familiar people. I will be at camp through the spring, summer and possibly fall. the summer will be similar to last year in that i am leading the adventure programs in rock climbing, backpacking, and kayaking. But i will also be leading a pre-camp teen leadership 18 day course. It will be a mini NOLS or Outward bound style course revolved around leadership, teamwork and outdoor living skills. IM super excited about this course. on top of that i will also be taking on a role as youth development program leader. working with out 14 and 15 year old campers and helping them take on more responsibilities, and leadership roles in and out of camp. as we make progress on this program i will keep you all posted!

well its about that time again, to start saying good byes to my ski patrolin family and say hello to my summer lovin family. not to mention the i hope to see you soon to my friend and family thousands of miles away.

Happy spring everyone!!

my family!

me and my house family! 7 of the guys I live with! from left ( dustin, Zach, Josh Smith, Me, Carlos, pat, Josh Tapp, Mike)

Retro ski party / My Birthday

Hey everyone,

Thanks for all the b-day wishes, cards, e-cards ect and facebook messages! i loved all and every bit of it! i had a great birthday! i went to bed after a night of drinking at the retro ski party (see pics on facebook...amazing?!) around 1am, celebrating accordingly at midnight of course with a shot ski of tequila and a car bomb! My morning began at 4am with a phone call saying we were doing a avi control morning and we had to be ready to go at 6am! little to my knowledge we received 15" of new snow over night! the best birthday present from mother nature! i was still in the process of sobering up around 7 when i was hiking to my route up to the highest point in the resort. i threw 5 bombs, with little results. my partner, a long time veteran patroller, had his D80 camera along for the day because it was so beautiful out, and since it was my birthday he offered to ski down first and snap shots of me skiing the new powder!! It was great i had a 800' vertical ski down in waist deep new powder at 8:30 in the morning to start my b-day! Pretty f*ing sweet!

i skied the rest of the day, after the dispatcher made an announcement over the entire radio system that it was my b-day and also that i had received flowers. this comment clearly caused a ruckus and everyone wanted to know what guy sent me flowers, well , no guy would send me flowers at this point of my life...it was my mom! haha oh Judith! They were beautiful though! lily’s, my favorite!

Work ended i went home for my "mellow night" of pizza and beer. It ended up being one beer, one glass of wine and a few slices of frozen pizza. We were a little to tired to get excite and rally! i was totally ok with this, we watched an old ski movie, and went to bed by 9! Great day!!!!

Winter's Back!!!

well winter is finally back out here in the Cascades!

Over the past week we have had about 12'' of new snow. Last wednesday it started with 8 inches over night, and we have gotten about an inch every night since then, its not much but it def helping to improve the skiing, and makes the back country amazing!


I just purchased a backcountry touring set up so i can hike around, up mountains and then ski down. the set up includes new binding that have a releasable heal so you can walk up, climbing skins that stick to the bottom of my skis to i wont slip, and touring boots that are lighter to make hiking easier.

we are back to 5 day work weeks which is much better for my wallet~! although having three days off made it nice to relax, ski and get into town.

on sunday teh 15th, i worked for two families with little 6 year old girls. I took them skiing all day on the mountain, and they paid me $20 an hour! crazy to think ski-sitting pays better then patroling....oh well, it was good fun! the girls were fun, made me miss my little cousins a lot!

here are a few pics from the time when crystal was closed and four of us headed south to Mt Hood! it was a beautiful day, a bit windy but we enjoyed playing on some new terrain!

as far as life goes its great per usual. we are still stuck in a high pressure system that gives us blue bird days everyday, fun, but we could def use another few feet of snow. its looking promicing for the weekend but we'll see what mother nature decides!

Happy New year..and new snow!

happy Holidays everyone! It sure has been an intresting season here for all of us at Crystal and the rest of the Pacific Northwest!

the week before christmas was filled is new snow every night, tons on avi control ever morning and amazing skiing everyday. We were working hard and all we had time for was work and sleep. by christmas eve we were all pooped but i gathered my whole house together and we "I" made a big family dinner, chicken and eggplant parn, pasta, mashed sweet potatos, garlic bread and salad. we all sat together and hung out, had a few beers and went to bed becasue christmas day would be another early avi morning.

Christmas day was great as well, becasue i was so preoccupied with work it didnt feel like christmas day, so i wasnt lonely or upset about being away. we skiied powder, hiked our tallest peak, and skiied more, i did some snowmobile training, went home and again we all went to bed.

new years week was similar to christmas week with many early morning, and not enough sleep. we did go out new years eve for a few beers after work, but we were all home and sleeping by 8:00pm...it was nice, id rather be having fun with cool people and going to bed early then getting crazy and not loving every day of work!

In the weeks between then and now everything has been a little hectic, as many of you had read in the news papers. we were loaded with more and more snow, then the rain hit and the roads flooded. 410 the only road to the mountain was covered in multiple land slides and running water across it. becasue the road only accessses crystal mountain, it was not hight on the DOT's priority list of what to fix first when I-5 the major road connecting seattle and Portland was also closed!

we were trapped on the mountain without work for a few days due to the rain but the top was still getting only snow! would have been good skiing, but my body def needed a lil break!

On friday the 9th, when we finaly were told we could leave the mountain, that the road would be open for local and emergency traffic only and that the mountain still couldn't open for a few days my housemates packed up and headed to seattle for the night and then a day skiing at Stevens Pass, north of us!

The skiing was wonderful, our ski patrol hosts were awesome and we thanked them for the free tickets with copious amount of beer we left for them!

i am now in Portland with three of my housemates, staying at one of their borthers, planning on doing a day of city life, maybe a tour up mt hood, and tomorrow skiing at one of the resorts on the mountain! i will go back to work on tuesday and then the next two weekends are avalanch courses i will get my level I and II!

well once again life is great, snow is plentaful and i couldnt be happier!