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At Snow’s End

It is with a heavy heart that I must report on the “closed” signs at the ski resorts. Yes, the snowboarding season has officially ended in most of the mountains around these parts. Which means that the time has now come to reflect on what has passed in the powder over the last months. How did the conditions this year compare to other seasons? How did our skills compare?

snowboarding-2013-pioneer-u

I wish I could say that the snow blew me away this year but, alas, only the wind did that. The precipitation we received this winter was not spectacular yet it wasn’t completely awful either. As it turns out, its so-so abundance wasn’t the biggest obstruction to our enjoyment of the slopes. The main problem we encountered was that each snow flurry had a blustery bite on its backend. Almost every time a storm dumped decent amounts of powder, the post-dump days were filled with howling winds and/or nearly subzero temperatures. Those persistent gusts ruined many of our would-be-great boarding opportunities. To be separated from fresh precipitation in its prime by an overbearing climate was nearly intolerable.

Every year Jason and I buy a 10 pack of tickets to Brighton Resort. These are cheap to purchase in the preseason and we typically use them all up by mid-March. However, due to the windy weather, we didn’t even make it to Brighton’s slopes until the middle of February. Despicable! In order to deplete our passes, we ended up boarding nearly every weekend between the beginning of March and the middle of April. Hitting Brighton’s hills constantly was mostly fantastic but not altogether awesome. We were training for a half marathon at the same time (to be discussed next week) so every Saturday we’d go on an extra-long run and then we’d follow it up the next day with a bunch of extra-long runs down the mountain. In short, we’d wear ourselves out every weekend yet still be behind on our cleaning and errands when all was said and done. I know, I know, it’s pretty hard to feel sorry for me. Boohoo, I had to go boarding a whole lot. What a baby!

Although we were at Brighton perpetually, the best two days we spent in the mountains this winter weren’t actually at that resort. Our trips to Powder Mountain and Brian Head ended up coinciding perfectly with powder-pumping blizzards. Those two outings were so incredible that they almost made up for the rest of the season’s inadequacies. Almost.

And skills? Jason claims that my ability to cruise through deep powder increased many folds this winter. Improving my powder power was never on my mind, I was always just having fun, but I have to admit that I can practically ride the fluffy stuff like a pro now. I’m not exactly sure when that happened.

Except for a couple of outstanding days, the boarding this year was rather lackluster. Wind, wind, and more wind spoiled any chance at greatness this season might have had. But, I must say, those two outstanding days were absolutely amazing! Now that the boarding season and our half marathon are over, maybe our weekends will leave us feeling refreshed and caught up instead of drained and behind or maybe they’ll just leave us craving what we’re missing: the frosty thrill of carving downhill while a vicious breeze pelts prickly snow crystals at our faces. Then again, maybe not.

Rachel May 8, 2013 No Comments

The Great Nerd Surge

This April our friends, the Rowleys, for the third time hosted RowleyCon: a weekend teeming with board games, videogames, anime, cosplay, and all other things geek. Jason and I again attended and again conquered…while simultaneously being utterly overthrown.

I have quite a bit more hair now than I did last time I dressed as Frodo so a wig cap and a lot of bobby pins had to be employed before I could don my curly locks.
I have quite a bit more hair now than I did last time I dressed as Frodo so a wig cap and a whole lot of bobby pins had to be employed before I could don my curly locks.

Although costumes are encouraged for RowleyCon, the vast majority of goers do not dress up. Either they lack the motivation or they lack the lack of dignity necessary. Luckily, I have heaps of motivation and a complete dignity deficiency so sign me up for working hard at looking stupid anytime. Jason and I decided that this year, with The Hobbit’s recent release, it was time to pull out the LOTR costumes I made for us a decade ago. So, for the first night of the Con, Jason came as Aragorn and I dressed as Frodo. (Remember, I feel no shame wearing something even a chocobo would snub.) I spent a great deal of time creating these costumes back in the day and I was impressed by the extent of their detail when I reexamined them. Nothing had been overlooked, including: Sting, the One Ring, the Evenstar, pointy ears, and hairy feet. It took us a bit to dig up all of the pieces for these outfits but they came back together nicely.

The relationship between me and Jason might stretch the standard definition of "a fellowship" slightly.
The relationship between me and Jason might stretch the standard definition of a “fellowship” slightly.
Forget Gangnam Style, I worked Dance Central 3 hobbit style.
Forget Gangnam Style, I worked Dance Central 3 hobbit style.

For our Saturday attire, I took our somewhat simple polar plunge outfits from this year, Mario and Princess Peach, and embellished them. I added extra layers of puffy girliness to my Princess Peach dress, which I didn’t finish sewing together until 2 AM that morning. These embellishments represented an interesting challenge because I had to construct them primarily without a pattern. But there’s nothing you can’t accomplish when you put pink before sleep.

We were thrilled to have the opportunity to meet Tracy Hickman, the famous fantasy writer, at RowleyCon. He was quite clever, not that that was a surprise.
We were thrilled to have the opportunity to meet Tracy Hickman, the famous fantasy writer, at RowleyCon. He was quite clever, not that that was a surprise.
I wore more pink as Princess Peach than I ever have in my life. I pretty much looked like a giant gumball.
I wore more pink as Princess Peach than I ever have in my life. I pretty much looked like a giant gumball.

Jason and I won the prizes for the best costumes once more. Since we were practically the only ones that dressed up, it wasn’t exactly an epic battle. With our two sets of homemade outfits, I’d like to think that the other geeks would need a power-up if they wanted to beat us anyway but that self-assured theory remains to be tested. The Sabin reign of triumph didn’t stop there though. We also participated in the contest for ultimate nerdination. This year the competition games were: For Sale, Dominion, StarCraft II, Dance Central 3, and a Jeremy concocted anime trivia match. I ruled For Sale but had to give up my distinguished title in order to claim 2nd place overall. I was okay with that. Yeah! Abigail, my only gaming superior, was declared the supreme nerdinator. Let 2013 be forever known as the year the testosterone-laden were tested and found lacking. That’s right you momma’s basement dwellers, you may be able to out stink us but that doesn’t mean you can out think us. Plus, we wave slide like the gods.

Jeremy's anime trivia game included penalties. Jacob and John got "angry eyebrows" as a result.
Jeremy’s anime trivia game included penalties. Jacob and John got “angry eyebrows” as a result.
Drew and Isabelle dressed as Totoros. They were among the few in costume.
Drew and Isabelle dressed as Totoros. They were among the few in costume.

As you may recall, it was Jason that walked away with the grandest geek prize last year. This time, however, my dear sweet geekalo came in dead last. My darling nerd, what has become of your skills? I thought I would always be able to count on your hotkeys expertise and your dice-rolling aptitude. But, instead, you bring shame to the family with a shortage of victory points. I can only hope that someday you’ll regain your bases and your honor.

Adam lost For Sale and his 2nd place ranking to me.
Adam lost For Sale and his 2nd place ranking to me.
Abigail and I massacred a bunch of men in order to assert our supremacy.
Abigail and I massacred a bunch of men in order to assert our supremacy.

Many thanks to the Rowleys and their underlings (i.e. Lee) for putting together another weekend of geeky delight. We came, we fought, we rolled, we danced, we practically slept at your house. You have done more for the cause of geekery than anyone* since the creation of PONG.**

Disclaimers:

*”Anyone” solely refers to those two guys that discussed who would win in a fight between Han Solo and Captain Kirk with us once.

**This statement has not been evaluated by the Opinionated and Self-important Gamers Committee. RowelyCon is not intended to cure or mitigate hipsterness. Side effects may include: body odor, caffeine overdose, lack of friends, weight gain, lack of showering, man-funk, spontaneous spell casting, delusions of popularity, and dance skill overestimation.

Rachel May 2, 2013 2 Comments
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