The weather for yesterday's Shred Fest was dynamic and added to the stoke.
After waiting with a friendly parking lot attendant for about ten minutes for a spot to open, I put on my gear, tended to the dogs and started on my first lap. I took off at 11:56 and summited at 1:09.
It was the deepest day of the year at the resort, having snowed something like 7 inches the day before and another 6 inches overnight. That brought everyone to the hill.
The bountiful snow meant large mounds all over the uphill route, which is normally a somewhat straight path. Yesterday, it was more circuitous, a fact I found to be somewhat off putting. I was unable to zone out and stare at the path just ahead of my ski tips because that path would often disappear. Sometimes, it would reappear several feet to the left or right. Often, it wended its way, snakelike, adding what felt like miles to the trip.
The wind didn't hit me until 100 meters downhill of the Tree of Deception but it wasn't too bad.
When I got to the truck, I tended the dogs, drank a Gatorade, ate a nut bar and repacked my backpack.
My second lap started a little before 2:00. The conditions had gotten colder, foggier and windier.
It was around now that I thought of each of you who had donated money for this event. I thought about how outdoor recreation and caring for our public lands has been Nina's main concern since I met her 30 years ago.
Caitlin's spirit got me up that same slope she helped me with, mentally, a few weeks ago.
I thought about how some of you are dealing with physical disabilities in your life and in the lives of loved ones.
Several of the impressive uphillers passed me on my laps and were encouraging and kind. Even though they were on their sixth lap when I was on my first, they told me I was doing great.
"You're amazing," I often gasped back.
On my first lap, Jeff Brown hollered, "Get it, Julia!" to a woman skiing downhill.
"Is that Julia Priest?" I asked him.
"Yup," he said. "The beast!"
I had considered not starting the second lap. I also considered not finishing the second lap. But, when I was climbing the mountain for the second time, my legs just kept going. I was breathing comfortably and had somehow overcome my feelings about the weather. I made it to the top, where Julia Priest was getting ready to go downhill again.
"Are you the beast?" I asked.
She said no, that the beast was someone else and before she could recall the person's name, I said, "Jeff said you are the beast, Julia Priest."
"Ohh," she said. "That is so nice!"
These are my people, the ones for whom being called a beast is the highest compliment.

My gear was the topic of some discussion on the slope.
Jeff said my legs must be "bomber" because I was using telemark gear. Julia, at the summit, confessed to never having seen tele gear up close so I showed her the three pin arrangement I was using. Colton said he couldn't wait to tell his buddies that someone was doing the Shred Fest on tele gear.
I got back to the truck at 3:40, put on a dry shirt and dry socks after sticking a band aid on a blister on my foot that I could feel forming halfway up the second lap.
Thanks again for playing a part in this fun day and highly successful fundraiser. As of today, the Shred Fest has raised $106,990. It will stay open for another week or so.

I heard the Tree of Deception say, "This is basically it," as I finished its pitch.

Sunday's breakfast ... well, half of it. That's right, I ate six pieces of French toast.

A bit of a rest day seemed in order so my dogs and I took a walk instead of going up the Big Mountain. I am as ready for Saturday as I can be.
Thanks again for your support.
 

The view from the summit of Big Mountain on March 9. For those of you interested in names, the pointy peak just right of center is St. Nicholas and the snowy beast of a mountain on the far right is Great Northern.

Today's skin was a good one, despite constant throat phlegm chapping my hide something fierce.
My strides seemed long and my cadence even. I'm counting only one stop that was longer than a few seconds, to remove my jacket and tie it around my waist.
I made it to the summit in one hour and six minutes.
Thanks again for supporting the upcoming Shred Fest.

Thank you for reaching my fundraising goal twice so far. I initially set it at $1,000 and within a couple weeks, I doubled it. Yesterday, that second goal was met.
Perhaps fundraising is like skinning up the mountain. Each time I head uphill, move my goal higher up the mountain.
Thank you for donating to this organization. If they weren't as good as they are, I would not ask for your support. Thank you.

Here's the Tree of Deception from the top of the pitch that is just uphill of that old tree.

The final pitch to the summit. Note three uphillers on the left side of the trail.

Today's skin was hot. Literally. The summit saw temperatures in the low 40s. This is nuts. Snow on the mountain is holding up but it's leaving quickly.
I had to forego the final pitch today, as I was out of time. Considering I'd had a week that demanded more of me than most weeks, my progress was acceptable.
Thanks again for your support.

"Why?" is a question uphillers hear often, from other skiers and from themselves.
Today, while I was attempting my weekly skin up The Big in a light rain, I stopped at the pond, my poles supporting my shoulders as I bent over and asked, why?
Just then, I heard my friend, Caitlin, talking to me, all the way from Kentucky. "Make it to those two signs up there. You see 'em? You can make it to there and then see how you feel."
I got to the signs, found a rhythm and summited for the first time this season in one hour and ten minutes.
Thank you for supporting this endeavor, whether with a donation and/or by being who you are.

The Tree of Deception marked the edge of the fog today, Feb. 23.

Tree of Deception on Feb. 9

Tree of Deception from above on Feb. 16

It was a lovely skin up on Feb. 9. I could have easily made it to the summit but time was not on my side.
Today, Feb. 16, it was snowing and the fog started just south of the Tree of Deception. It is also a holiday weekend that is one of the busiest times on the mountain. It was especially important to keep my head on a swivel today, although it's not really a swivel, since I am not in danger of an attack from the downhill side. Still.
 

Tree of Deception

Thank you to everyone who donated to the Shred Fest already. I was moved by your generosity and impressed with your punctuality.
The Whitefish Whiteout race was last Saturday and I missed it this year. The money that would have gone to my entry fee for that race went to the Shred Fest, instead.
Here's a picture of the Tree of Deception, which stands at about the 2/3 mark of the Benny Up trail. I'm looking forward to seeing that old tree a few times before March 22.