As always, the first tournament of the season gives you a long list of things to work on, and this past weekend was no different. However, I was surprised with how well we played. Everyone remembered our zone and split stack offense despite not working on it all that much in the fall. We didn't play down to teams, weren't prone to stupid mistakes (at least for a B team), and always played hard. Even if we don't improve much skill-wise we'll will a lot of games just by doing that.
Obviously the lack of throwing practice over the past couple months hurt. There were quite a few turns on drops, turfed throws, inaccurate hucks, and people trying throws they don't quite have yet. That will get better as the season progresses, and even was much better Sunday than Saturday. As long as we practice it, it won't be a problem.
The most obvious concern was team defense. If others were like me, they were having a hard enough time remembering how to guard their man let alone help out with someone elses. Still, with the Hodags depriving us of the best available athletes, we need to be able to play a strong last back and learn how to play smart defense as opposed to just running hard, which can only take you so far. As Sunday progressed we were getting burned deep more and more because we simply tired. Conditioning will help with this also, but so will learning to play as a unit.
The second major problem was handler movement. Oftentimes the handlers wouldn't look dump until stall 6 or 7, not near enough time for the wrap to be run. Other times the dump would start cutting before the handler was looking. The cycling of the handlers would get confusing as well, sometimes there'd be 4 people back clogging or the person with the disc would have no options. In the future we'll need to communicate better when to start cutting and make sure the handlers come back and set up the dump after every throw, or have a cutter recognize the need to fill a void if a handler gets out of position upfield. However, I don't remember near as many punts this tournament as at Missoui, though that may be due to our cutters always getting open and making the dump unnecessary.
Finally, one last nitpicky thing is just the timing of cuts, it seemed like we'd either have 3 people going deep or no one at all whenever a handler got an up the line cut. If we can figure that out soon it'd be great.
On a personal level I need to remember how to position myself on D and not get burned deep and work on that handler stuff, especially if I'm going to keep playing this whole D handler position thing. I also need to figure out my decision making in the context of my role on the team. If I'm someone expected to make things happen with my throws (I'll pause for Dartmouth people to stop laughing), there's a certain amount of risk taking involved. On the other hand, I can't be a turnover machine. I can remember 3 turns on poor throws/bad ideas right near our opponents endzone, and a couple more near our own end zone, those can't happen regardless of what I'm trying to do. If I'm going to keep playing some O points too I need to be able to flip O and D mindsets instantly as well. What might be a good deep look for the D line could be a horrible idea for the O line. It's almost as much about managing game momentum as it is making good decisions. In a close game with few breaks, the O line needs to play it close and not turn the disc as they're expected to score. For the D, it can be worth it to just to put the disc out there to a favorable match up on the chance it works, because if it's a turn, hey, you're not supposed to score, but if it works, then the whole tide of the game just switched.
Mardi Gras preview and write up to follow in the next week, and maybe more of that psychology BS from the last paragraph, it's interesting to think about.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
T-Town Throwdown
This weekend marked the start of the Pimpdags' Spring season. 20 of us or so traveled 13.5 hours south to play in Tuscaloosa, AL (http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=127&id=4449). Surprisingly, the rust seemed to come off pretty quick as we remembered what playing outside and wearing shorts felt like.
Saturday: We came in 6th overall and 2rd in our pool of 4.
Game 1 vs. Homes Community College: This was a great warm-up game. I tried not to get overconfident as I watched them warm-up for the game by throwing BBQ backhands that despite the wind, never seemed to go where they were intended. They did have one guy with throws though, and despite a lack of D's for the amount of swill they put up, we took half 7-2. The second half was better as we became more comfortable running around and our legs loosened up from the long car ride. Final 13-2.
Game 2: Next up was Georgia B, another B team from a nationally competitive program. We don't lose to other B teams though. This was a close game, and like the Pimpdags, they had some throwers and some good athletes, and quite a few points were multi-turn battles. We always seemed to win the long points though, and slowly the D line managed to accumulate a few breaks and we won under the hard cap 12-8.
Game 3: After a bye filled with shouted references to power thirst (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrPIRYhdnqs), we had our first chance of the weekend against an A team in playing Ole Miss. I'd like to think we were a deeper and more athletic team (we certainly had a larger roster), but it was obvious Ole Miss' best players had been playing together for a few years as they knew exactly what they wanted and how to get it on offense and very often threw a poachy match up zone D on us. Unprepared for zone O, we spotted them two breaks to start the game. We paused to breathe a little bit and after that we usually shredded their zone in a few throws. Though we were able to accumulate a few Defensive scores the offense wasn't running on high efficiency yet, possibly looking for the deep ball a little too much, and we weren't able to come back from the initial brain fart as we lost 13-10.
Game 4 v. Geogria D: Our last game of the day was a cross over against UGA's 3rd team (long story for why it's not the 'C' team). We started out subbing normally and experimenting with our newly installed 'sponge' D and took a 4-1 lead. It was obvious we would win at this point, and we started messing around and playing way down to them as a few starters chose to sit the rest of the game out. We ended up winning 13-7 in a game that took much longer than it should've. Still, I'll generally take 3-1 for a record on Saturday.
Sunday: Our loss to Ole Miss meant we missed out on a first round bye and had to play a pre-quarters game.
Pre-Quarters: By some weird combo of point differential and cross-over upsets our opponent would again be Georgia B. I think it obvious that UGA-B was more pumped up to play us than visa versa, and as a result we traded breaks and excruciatingly long points during the first half, but we managed to go into half clinging to a 7-6 lead. Then, starting a theme for the day, we realized we could play much better, sacked up, and took it to Georgia B in the second half. The O-line was striking quickly, slowly demoralizing their D in their inability to stop us, and the D-line was making UGA-B fight for every throw, showing no mercy whenever they got the disc. Final score 11-7.
Quarters v. LSU: LSU got a bye and this would be their first game, we were pumped up and in a groove, but they had fresh legs. In the first half fresh legs had the advantage and they opened up their deep game on us and flustered our Offense with smart play. Obviously this team practices outside all year doesn't have another team robbing them of their best players every year. Our heads were down as LSU was up 7-4 at half. But then, without really saying it, every person on our roster decided that this would not be their last game of the day, that they would not lose like this, that they would not be asking themselves "what if I played harder" on the long ride back to Madison. The O line was a model of efficiency, rarely turning the disc over and not getting broken at all in the 2nd half. The D-line was simply rabid, forcing LSU to play long points and jack low percentage hucks. Then we'd get the disc and work it up the field like we were an O-line or something. Huge skys, layout D's, and gorgeous hucks abounded for the pimpdags this game as the D-line carried us to victory and birth in the semifinals, 13-11.
Semi-Finals vs. Auburn: You never want to say it, or admit it to yourself, but after 6 hard fought games 13 hours from home with a near zero conditioning base, we were tired, possibly exhausted, and it showed this game. Auburn had played one less game and it definitely helped them, as they were consistently able to beat us deep. Still, the O-line continued to be money, giving up only a few breaks. Half found us down multiple breaks again, and again we forced ourselves to play harder, making sure we left everything on the field. The D-line got the breaks back, tying the game, but then Auburn's rested D got to our O and our D continued to have problems stopping Auburn's deep game. We had a chance to take this to universe, but an unfortunate turnover (my bad) on our last O point allowed Auburn to punch in the break for the win, 13-11.
All-in-all nothing to be disappointed about, especially for the first tournament of the year. I'm excited for what we can do next weekend at Mardi Gras and in future tournaments. Specific commentary on our play to follow in a later post.
Saturday: We came in 6th overall and 2rd in our pool of 4.
Game 1 vs. Homes Community College: This was a great warm-up game. I tried not to get overconfident as I watched them warm-up for the game by throwing BBQ backhands that despite the wind, never seemed to go where they were intended. They did have one guy with throws though, and despite a lack of D's for the amount of swill they put up, we took half 7-2. The second half was better as we became more comfortable running around and our legs loosened up from the long car ride. Final 13-2.
Game 2: Next up was Georgia B, another B team from a nationally competitive program. We don't lose to other B teams though. This was a close game, and like the Pimpdags, they had some throwers and some good athletes, and quite a few points were multi-turn battles. We always seemed to win the long points though, and slowly the D line managed to accumulate a few breaks and we won under the hard cap 12-8.
Game 3: After a bye filled with shouted references to power thirst (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrPIRYhdnqs), we had our first chance of the weekend against an A team in playing Ole Miss. I'd like to think we were a deeper and more athletic team (we certainly had a larger roster), but it was obvious Ole Miss' best players had been playing together for a few years as they knew exactly what they wanted and how to get it on offense and very often threw a poachy match up zone D on us. Unprepared for zone O, we spotted them two breaks to start the game. We paused to breathe a little bit and after that we usually shredded their zone in a few throws. Though we were able to accumulate a few Defensive scores the offense wasn't running on high efficiency yet, possibly looking for the deep ball a little too much, and we weren't able to come back from the initial brain fart as we lost 13-10.
Game 4 v. Geogria D: Our last game of the day was a cross over against UGA's 3rd team (long story for why it's not the 'C' team). We started out subbing normally and experimenting with our newly installed 'sponge' D and took a 4-1 lead. It was obvious we would win at this point, and we started messing around and playing way down to them as a few starters chose to sit the rest of the game out. We ended up winning 13-7 in a game that took much longer than it should've. Still, I'll generally take 3-1 for a record on Saturday.
Sunday: Our loss to Ole Miss meant we missed out on a first round bye and had to play a pre-quarters game.
Pre-Quarters: By some weird combo of point differential and cross-over upsets our opponent would again be Georgia B. I think it obvious that UGA-B was more pumped up to play us than visa versa, and as a result we traded breaks and excruciatingly long points during the first half, but we managed to go into half clinging to a 7-6 lead. Then, starting a theme for the day, we realized we could play much better, sacked up, and took it to Georgia B in the second half. The O-line was striking quickly, slowly demoralizing their D in their inability to stop us, and the D-line was making UGA-B fight for every throw, showing no mercy whenever they got the disc. Final score 11-7.
Quarters v. LSU: LSU got a bye and this would be their first game, we were pumped up and in a groove, but they had fresh legs. In the first half fresh legs had the advantage and they opened up their deep game on us and flustered our Offense with smart play. Obviously this team practices outside all year doesn't have another team robbing them of their best players every year. Our heads were down as LSU was up 7-4 at half. But then, without really saying it, every person on our roster decided that this would not be their last game of the day, that they would not lose like this, that they would not be asking themselves "what if I played harder" on the long ride back to Madison. The O line was a model of efficiency, rarely turning the disc over and not getting broken at all in the 2nd half. The D-line was simply rabid, forcing LSU to play long points and jack low percentage hucks. Then we'd get the disc and work it up the field like we were an O-line or something. Huge skys, layout D's, and gorgeous hucks abounded for the pimpdags this game as the D-line carried us to victory and birth in the semifinals, 13-11.
Semi-Finals vs. Auburn: You never want to say it, or admit it to yourself, but after 6 hard fought games 13 hours from home with a near zero conditioning base, we were tired, possibly exhausted, and it showed this game. Auburn had played one less game and it definitely helped them, as they were consistently able to beat us deep. Still, the O-line continued to be money, giving up only a few breaks. Half found us down multiple breaks again, and again we forced ourselves to play harder, making sure we left everything on the field. The D-line got the breaks back, tying the game, but then Auburn's rested D got to our O and our D continued to have problems stopping Auburn's deep game. We had a chance to take this to universe, but an unfortunate turnover (my bad) on our last O point allowed Auburn to punch in the break for the win, 13-11.
All-in-all nothing to be disappointed about, especially for the first tournament of the year. I'm excited for what we can do next weekend at Mardi Gras and in future tournaments. Specific commentary on our play to follow in a later post.
Monday, January 21, 2008
It Begins
Spring Semester classes start tomorrow. I'm taking Mechanics of Materials and Seismology along with continuing research for my adviser. We'll see how it goes, as always, things will probably be pretty busy. I'm a little nervous about my first ever engineering course, hopefully I can adapt to the teaching style quickly.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Ski Wisconsin
Straight Skis?.... Check
Jeans? .... Check
Rear-entry boots? ..... Check
Jeans tucked into rear-entry boots?.... Check
Apparently Wisconsin is the land ski technology forgot. I haven't seen that many people on straight skis, anywhere, in this decade. My only thought is that for some reason Wisconsin has a lot of people who ski only in Wisconsin and never travel elsewhere, which would eliminate the need to have good gear.
With that thought in mind I can begin to understand the advertising angle of the mountain I went to on Wednesday, Granite Peak. Granite Peak is Wisconsin's largest ski area, with nearly 500 skiable acres, 72 trails, and an astounding (for the midwest) 700 vertical feet. Their website was full of pitches such as "why ski out west when Granite Peak is just a short drive away?" and promised everything one would find out east or out west: groomed cruisers, a terrain park, challenging mogul slopes, and super steep expert chutes. It was enough to make me wear a hat as opposed to my helmet with the thought Granite Peak might be interesting enough without me having to attempt stupid tricks in the terrain park to entertain myself. I have admit to Granite Peak did deliver what it advertised, but yet I still felt somewhere cheated.
Never before had I seen a ski area try so hard to be something it's not and fail so miserably at it. Granted I was there at a bad time, warm weather over the holiday had ruined the good snowpack that was around when I skiied back in December, but it was cold and the area had reported 7 inches of new a few days earlier, so I felt conditions would be alright. In any case, there was no reason for this place to blanket its slopes (including its glades) with 3 feet of man made snow, which then promptly froze solid before they could groom it, leaving the trails a mix of frozen corderoy and truck-sized mounds of man made ice. The mogul slopes (there were 2, consisting of about the left 20 feet of two trails) were the same, man made ice mounds scattered randomly about with sheets of ice between them.
The super steep expert chutes were super steep and were cutes, but still, weren't really worth advertising as they were so short it took a monumental effort to complete one turn on the slope before you were onto the flats below them. As far as I can tell, they were created by spraying man made snow onto a cliff face until it froze solid and created a surface one could slide down.
On my first chair of the day I was riding with a local who explained to me "today isn't all they great... couple days ago they were running the snow guns and things were great, everything was covered with a nice powder snow...." Argh! It's man made! It's not powder! I know I'm spoiled because I just skied 9 great days in Colorado but still, you're the polar opposite of spoiled, you don't know what good skiing is, and I feel sorry for you.
In an attempt to find a middle ground, Granite Peak and other areas in Wisconsin accomplish three things:
1) With the flat slopes and everything groomed, these areas are a great place to teach someone to ski. The mountains are small, the slopes unintimidating, and it's easy to build confidence by taking someone down a black trail (about as steep as an easy blue in Colorado) on their 2nd or 3rd day. Just don't think that since you skied a double black in Wisconsin that you can ski even a blue trail anywhere else.
2) Satiate a ski fix. More or less it sucks, but it's still skiing, I can still carve some good turns, and it ever snows a ton, powder is always enjoyable. It's also 45 minutes away and cheap, and so can do the job when I have neither the time or money to go someplace better
3) Terrain Parks. Terrain parks are a great ski area equalizer, as ironically you don't need good terrain to have a good terrain park. I can practice tricks and jumps in Wisconsin just as well as I could in Colorado, which is what I'll probably spend my time doing any future times I go skiing here.
I can't wait to get back to Colorado in February. And in the meantime here ultimate season will be picking up hardcore in just a couple days, as will class and that whole grad school thing, so I'll have plenty of things to keep me occupied.
Jeans? .... Check
Rear-entry boots? ..... Check
Jeans tucked into rear-entry boots?.... Check
Apparently Wisconsin is the land ski technology forgot. I haven't seen that many people on straight skis, anywhere, in this decade. My only thought is that for some reason Wisconsin has a lot of people who ski only in Wisconsin and never travel elsewhere, which would eliminate the need to have good gear.
With that thought in mind I can begin to understand the advertising angle of the mountain I went to on Wednesday, Granite Peak. Granite Peak is Wisconsin's largest ski area, with nearly 500 skiable acres, 72 trails, and an astounding (for the midwest) 700 vertical feet. Their website was full of pitches such as "why ski out west when Granite Peak is just a short drive away?" and promised everything one would find out east or out west: groomed cruisers, a terrain park, challenging mogul slopes, and super steep expert chutes. It was enough to make me wear a hat as opposed to my helmet with the thought Granite Peak might be interesting enough without me having to attempt stupid tricks in the terrain park to entertain myself. I have admit to Granite Peak did deliver what it advertised, but yet I still felt somewhere cheated.
Never before had I seen a ski area try so hard to be something it's not and fail so miserably at it. Granted I was there at a bad time, warm weather over the holiday had ruined the good snowpack that was around when I skiied back in December, but it was cold and the area had reported 7 inches of new a few days earlier, so I felt conditions would be alright. In any case, there was no reason for this place to blanket its slopes (including its glades) with 3 feet of man made snow, which then promptly froze solid before they could groom it, leaving the trails a mix of frozen corderoy and truck-sized mounds of man made ice. The mogul slopes (there were 2, consisting of about the left 20 feet of two trails) were the same, man made ice mounds scattered randomly about with sheets of ice between them.
The super steep expert chutes were super steep and were cutes, but still, weren't really worth advertising as they were so short it took a monumental effort to complete one turn on the slope before you were onto the flats below them. As far as I can tell, they were created by spraying man made snow onto a cliff face until it froze solid and created a surface one could slide down.
On my first chair of the day I was riding with a local who explained to me "today isn't all they great... couple days ago they were running the snow guns and things were great, everything was covered with a nice powder snow...." Argh! It's man made! It's not powder! I know I'm spoiled because I just skied 9 great days in Colorado but still, you're the polar opposite of spoiled, you don't know what good skiing is, and I feel sorry for you.
In an attempt to find a middle ground, Granite Peak and other areas in Wisconsin accomplish three things:
1) With the flat slopes and everything groomed, these areas are a great place to teach someone to ski. The mountains are small, the slopes unintimidating, and it's easy to build confidence by taking someone down a black trail (about as steep as an easy blue in Colorado) on their 2nd or 3rd day. Just don't think that since you skied a double black in Wisconsin that you can ski even a blue trail anywhere else.
2) Satiate a ski fix. More or less it sucks, but it's still skiing, I can still carve some good turns, and it ever snows a ton, powder is always enjoyable. It's also 45 minutes away and cheap, and so can do the job when I have neither the time or money to go someplace better
3) Terrain Parks. Terrain parks are a great ski area equalizer, as ironically you don't need good terrain to have a good terrain park. I can practice tricks and jumps in Wisconsin just as well as I could in Colorado, which is what I'll probably spend my time doing any future times I go skiing here.
I can't wait to get back to Colorado in February. And in the meantime here ultimate season will be picking up hardcore in just a couple days, as will class and that whole grad school thing, so I'll have plenty of things to keep me occupied.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Sooners
Despite being on vacation I was able to watch most of OU's Fiesta Bowl game against West Virginia at a local brewery/bar/pizzeria (there are a lot of those in Colorado, and they're all good). I kind of wish I hadn't. Offense was decent enough, but the defense, man, done in by a mobile quarterback... again. I really hope after all these years Bob Stoops comes up with a way to deal with duel option quarterbacks like Pat White, Chase Daniel, Vince Young, Brad Smith, and Eric Crouch. They've been killing us for years. That second half was just depressing, every time OU started to give me hope, WV would run for 70 yards on the next play. Nothing like having faint glimmers of hope crushed with regularity every 15 minutes for an hour.
I did get some sympathy from fellow bar goers during the game, as I lay in my bar stool (yes, laying in a bar stool is possible), my head hanging limply over the backrest. One guy was from Illinois, and so had seen USC crush his team the day before. Another guy was from Washington State and had been at the OU/WSU Rose Bowl game in 2003 that I also got to attend. So there was a brief moment of happiness as I recalled that game and reminded myself that while OU was down 48-28 or something, at least I wasn't a Washington State fan. I had even got to watch Wisconsin beat up on them way back in early September.
Things are looking up for OU next though. Pretty much all the stars are back, including Lofton, DeMarco Murray, Bradford, English, etc, hopefully Reggie Smith and Malcolm Kelly decide to stay and increase their draft stock with a good senior year. West Virginia gets to keep White, Devine, and maybe Slaton for next year too. If their defense can keep it together, look for an Oklahoma-West Virginia National Championship next year. You heard it hear first.
Along the line of unsupported factual assertions, look for the Big 12 to surpass the SEC in overall strength next year. Baylor and Iowa State will still probably really suck, but OU will be a championship contender, Texas still has Colt McCoy, Missouri still has Maclin and Daniel, Kansas will have Reesing and probably not be as good, but won't be a push-over either, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, and Texas A&M are decent, Colorado is improving, Nebraska will possibly return to its old ways starting on defense under Pellini, and Texas Tech is always good and will still have Harrell and Crabtree. If they learn how to play defense at least as good as a high school team they'll make a lot of noise too.
I did get some sympathy from fellow bar goers during the game, as I lay in my bar stool (yes, laying in a bar stool is possible), my head hanging limply over the backrest. One guy was from Illinois, and so had seen USC crush his team the day before. Another guy was from Washington State and had been at the OU/WSU Rose Bowl game in 2003 that I also got to attend. So there was a brief moment of happiness as I recalled that game and reminded myself that while OU was down 48-28 or something, at least I wasn't a Washington State fan. I had even got to watch Wisconsin beat up on them way back in early September.
Things are looking up for OU next though. Pretty much all the stars are back, including Lofton, DeMarco Murray, Bradford, English, etc, hopefully Reggie Smith and Malcolm Kelly decide to stay and increase their draft stock with a good senior year. West Virginia gets to keep White, Devine, and maybe Slaton for next year too. If their defense can keep it together, look for an Oklahoma-West Virginia National Championship next year. You heard it hear first.
Along the line of unsupported factual assertions, look for the Big 12 to surpass the SEC in overall strength next year. Baylor and Iowa State will still probably really suck, but OU will be a championship contender, Texas still has Colt McCoy, Missouri still has Maclin and Daniel, Kansas will have Reesing and probably not be as good, but won't be a push-over either, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, and Texas A&M are decent, Colorado is improving, Nebraska will possibly return to its old ways starting on defense under Pellini, and Texas Tech is always good and will still have Harrell and Crabtree. If they learn how to play defense at least as good as a high school team they'll make a lot of noise too.
The Jeep
On my recent ski trip the Jeep hit 161,000 miles. Damn. Never did I imagine when I was 8 and helping my mom pick out a car to replace our Subaru wagon that not only would I one day drive that car, but have it be effectively mine for a good 6 years and counting. Hopefully it has another couple years in it.
I am more attached to that car than ever now after probably my scariest driving moment last week in Colorado. The Jeep probably saved my life by being badass. I was driving down I-70, leaving Colorado, near Minturn when a firetruck pulling away from an accident around a blind curve forced me to slow down and try to change lanes. Unfortunately there a truck in the left lane, and it also slowed down, but started to fishtail as it braked. With the fishtailing truck right next to me, I had to put on the brakes, and I started to fishtail. Apparently we (and the flipped truck in a ditch ahead of us which the fire truck was attending to) had found some black ice. Then the truck spun out, and spun across my lane directly in front of me. Though I was still in control of the Jeep, I had to no choice but to swerve out of the way, either towards the median guardrail or a snowbank. I chose the snowbank. The Jeep plowed into it obliquely going at least 30, the front right wheel probably got about 4 feet up the side, I could feel the Jeep starting towards rolling over, but I was able to steer the Jeep out of the snowbank with my remaining momentum. I came to a stop parallel to the road with the right side of the Jeep about 2-3 feet higher the left up the snowbank. The truck had also hit the snowbank and was 10 feet in front of me facing in my direction. The driver and I exchanged "holy shit!" looks. About 10 feet beyond the truck was an ambulance still helping the truck which had flipped over earlier and was off the road. We were lucky.
Now for the most impressive part: After a brief moment to collect myself, I punched the accelerator down and the Jeep drove out of the snowbank. Just like that. Powered through the thing. I walked about the Jeep and found nothing wrong. I was able to drive home to Wisconsin like nothing happened. The other truck had to get towed. Damn.
I love that car.
I am more attached to that car than ever now after probably my scariest driving moment last week in Colorado. The Jeep probably saved my life by being badass. I was driving down I-70, leaving Colorado, near Minturn when a firetruck pulling away from an accident around a blind curve forced me to slow down and try to change lanes. Unfortunately there a truck in the left lane, and it also slowed down, but started to fishtail as it braked. With the fishtailing truck right next to me, I had to put on the brakes, and I started to fishtail. Apparently we (and the flipped truck in a ditch ahead of us which the fire truck was attending to) had found some black ice. Then the truck spun out, and spun across my lane directly in front of me. Though I was still in control of the Jeep, I had to no choice but to swerve out of the way, either towards the median guardrail or a snowbank. I chose the snowbank. The Jeep plowed into it obliquely going at least 30, the front right wheel probably got about 4 feet up the side, I could feel the Jeep starting towards rolling over, but I was able to steer the Jeep out of the snowbank with my remaining momentum. I came to a stop parallel to the road with the right side of the Jeep about 2-3 feet higher the left up the snowbank. The truck had also hit the snowbank and was 10 feet in front of me facing in my direction. The driver and I exchanged "holy shit!" looks. About 10 feet beyond the truck was an ambulance still helping the truck which had flipped over earlier and was off the road. We were lucky.
Now for the most impressive part: After a brief moment to collect myself, I punched the accelerator down and the Jeep drove out of the snowbank. Just like that. Powered through the thing. I walked about the Jeep and found nothing wrong. I was able to drive home to Wisconsin like nothing happened. The other truck had to get towed. Damn.
I love that car.
Skiing
I got back to Madison from Colorado a couple days ago. I am currently going through mountain withdrawal. I think at some point in my life I need to pull a Mar and just up and move to Colorado. Maybe after that I'll be able to move on, or I might just end up never leaving. Who knows.
Skiing was great, and on top of that I got to hang out with Dartmouth people for the first time since this summer. You just don't find people that cool in outside of the small college environment. We skied A-Basin, Keystone, Copper, Breckenridge, Beaver Creek, and Vail. I set a record for 9 days of skiing in a row. The last 6 it snowed at least a little every day, leading to near-epic conditions at Vail with my dad, Copper, and Beaver Creek, and a top 5 powder day of my life with Mar at Vail on my last day. Photos and video are viewable on Facebook (I'm too lazy at this time to figure out that whole embedding video/photo thing in blogs).
The only downside to the whole trip was that with the storms, visibility in open bowls was crap so I am still waiting to experience the Imperial Bowl at Breckenridge and a truly great day in the back bowls. I settled for Blue Sky Basin at Vail though, which isn't a step down at all. I also discovered all but the most secluded powder stashes at Beaver Creek as I was there the two days after 16 inches fell. The Larkspur lift, the glades on Grouse Mountain, and the new glades near the Rose Bowl lift proved to be money; I was making fresh tracks at 2 in the afternoon.
With the lack of parental supervision I also attempted to increase my repetroir of tricks and cliff jumps. I managed to land a 180 for the first time, though it deserves an asterisk since I was attempting a 360 at the time. I also set 7-8 feet as my current max hight for cliff/cornice jumps. I attempted 4, landed 1, and have yet to ski away from any. The highest jump I skied away from was probably 5 feet. Mar and I were having fun launching small cliffs in the soft snow during our powder day.
I'm looking forward to going back in February for the All Boys trip, which will be crashed by Mar. I'm sure the boys will make an allowance for girls who rip.
Skiing was great, and on top of that I got to hang out with Dartmouth people for the first time since this summer. You just don't find people that cool in outside of the small college environment. We skied A-Basin, Keystone, Copper, Breckenridge, Beaver Creek, and Vail. I set a record for 9 days of skiing in a row. The last 6 it snowed at least a little every day, leading to near-epic conditions at Vail with my dad, Copper, and Beaver Creek, and a top 5 powder day of my life with Mar at Vail on my last day. Photos and video are viewable on Facebook (I'm too lazy at this time to figure out that whole embedding video/photo thing in blogs).
The only downside to the whole trip was that with the storms, visibility in open bowls was crap so I am still waiting to experience the Imperial Bowl at Breckenridge and a truly great day in the back bowls. I settled for Blue Sky Basin at Vail though, which isn't a step down at all. I also discovered all but the most secluded powder stashes at Beaver Creek as I was there the two days after 16 inches fell. The Larkspur lift, the glades on Grouse Mountain, and the new glades near the Rose Bowl lift proved to be money; I was making fresh tracks at 2 in the afternoon.
With the lack of parental supervision I also attempted to increase my repetroir of tricks and cliff jumps. I managed to land a 180 for the first time, though it deserves an asterisk since I was attempting a 360 at the time. I also set 7-8 feet as my current max hight for cliff/cornice jumps. I attempted 4, landed 1, and have yet to ski away from any. The highest jump I skied away from was probably 5 feet. Mar and I were having fun launching small cliffs in the soft snow during our powder day.
I'm looking forward to going back in February for the All Boys trip, which will be crashed by Mar. I'm sure the boys will make an allowance for girls who rip.
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