So Nice to be in Florida

I still find it amazing that you can get in the car in Denver (cold, wintery Denver) and in less than 36 hours of driving time, find yourself in Florida (sunny, warm, windy Florida).  

I came down for windsurfing races in Sarasota (yesterday and the day before) and Cocoa Beach (next weekend).  My friend Heather flew down to join me this past weekend for her first windsurfing regatta and we had a blast!  We both arrived in the Tampa Bay area on Thursday evening and were lucky enough to get to windsurf all day on Friday.  I tried out the new Severne Element 7.5m and a Starboard Isonic 133.  The element may be my new favorite sail!  It's easy to rig, light weight, has good low end power and pumps well.  The top end speed doesn't seem to be as good as a race sail - but I wasn't expecting it to be.  Most importantly, the consensus from the other girls on the beach is that the sail is super pretty!  The ISonic was also an absolute blast.  I couldn't believe how relatively easy it was to sail and how much fun it was to go that fast - I came back to the beach grinning from ear to ear.  

Jonathan from North Beach Windsurfing (www.nbwindsurfing.com)  gave Heather her first harness lesson and she was immediately successful and fully hooked on the whole harness concept.  

Saturday and Sunday were racing in Sarasota and we had wind again (well....on Saturday anyway).  I was flailing my way around the Formula course on a 10.0 Severne Overdrive and the new Exocet Formula board while Heather was learning what racing is all about on the Kona/Hybrid course.  We had a great time at the party on Saturday night (who knew that red wine, girl scout cookies and lots of good friends can be that much fun) and weren't too upset when it was dead calm on Sunday morning.  The wind built enough for racing in Heather's division - so she got some more practice in while the rest of us sat around and talked about windsurfing (who does that?!).  In the end, both Heather and I won our respective classes (she in sport Hybrid women and I in Formula women) - and we hit the road with trophies in hand.

You can find race reports and pictures at www.miamiwindsurfing.com.  More next weekend from the Calema Mid-Winters in Cocoa Beach!

Eric's Weekend Off - skiing the way it's supposed to be!

Eric escaped from the shop the first weekend of February and headed south to Taos - here's his report (I know, it would be better with pictures - but everyone's always too busy having fun to remember the camera!)

It has been a great winter so far, especially in the southern mountains. Taos Ski Valley is having their best winter in about ten years and I hadn't been there for a few years, so it was time for a road trip. It's about 5 1/2 hours southwest of Denver, nestled in a high valley about 15 miles from the town of Taos. There is plenty of free parking (and free RV parking) and the base area is a lot more pleasant than the usual "resort" feeling of the bigger ski areas.

The first lift ride takes you straight up over a steep and intimidating mogul field. Although Taos is known for its challenging terrain there are plenty of intermediate and beginner runs to entertain all levels of skiers. Riding the next lift to the top of the mountain provides a perfect view of the runs off of the West Basin Ridge. This is what Taos is all about: steep long runs, both tight and technical and wide open. Most of the rocks were hiding under the 100+ inch base with several inches of new snow that morning. The first run didn't disappoint, with just enough fresh snow to let your skis run as fast as you want. A short hike to the top of the ridge rewarded us with a run down Suaza, a steep gully in the trees with even more snow and plenty of rocks and cliffs to drop off of. The back side of the mountain was just as good and we had all the fresh snow we could handle all day.

The next morning we woke up to more snow. Saturday was great and Sunday was even better. The official report was 5 inches, but the wind blew enough snow in that I spent plenty of time in snow up to my knees! It was definitely the best day of the season, and in my top three days ever. We spent the morning charging down some tight chutes and glades on the back of the mountain. Just before lunch we hiked farther out on the ridge and I had about the best run of my life. The top was scary steep with a mandatory air to get into the gully. Once in it was still steep enough for the snow to slough down around me on every turn! I found a few cliffs on the way down and the landings were pillow soft. On the next run we skied over to a bigger cliff we had been looking at all day. We figured that with all the new snow the landing would be as soft as it ever would be. The takeoff was good, but I tumbled on the landing pretty good. It provided good laughs for my friends and everyone watching. We were completely exhausted by the afternoon and stopped a little early.

I had one more day to enjoy, so I decided to head north to Salida and ski at Monarch on Monday. Monarch is another great little area that gets tons of snow. The runs are short, but there are no lift lines so you can wear yourself out easily. They had recieved 24 inches of snow that weekend and 10 more that night. It was another knee deep day. I wanted an easy fun powder day and that is just what I got: soft, fluffy moguls and surfing between the trees. That was three days of the way that skiing is supposed to be.