Maci Nitti Weeks 8-9

More pics of the pup. She's getting so big, so fast. Today was even our first day of "puppy kindergarten," which I anticipate to be the just the beginning of a long and expensive string of fancy private schools in hopes of turning Maci into a proper young lady.

Maci Nitti at 7 Weeks

Behold the long awaited photos of Maci (May-See) Nitti. Her arrival corresponded with the final two weeks of busy season, so I apologize I didn't post these sooner, but things were a bit hectic what with the 70 hour work weeks and 2 AM wake-up calls so our new puppy could learn pee-pee and poo-poo.

She's smart, she's beautiful, and she's a handfull, as are most yellow labs. For a few days she even managed to affectionately earn the nickname "R Kelly," due to her penchant for peeing on people.

Enjoy the photos.

Backcounty Descent 1: Marble Peak

With the ski resorts shut down for the season, one has to work a bit harder to get in some quality turns. To be honest, I've been building to this time of year since October: compiling the necessary technical gear, beginning my avalanche education, and making every attempt to maintain some modicum of fitness.

Anyhoo, this time of year, the usually dangerous Colorado snowpack has stabalized significantly as a result of the melt-freeze cycle that occurs with the warm day time temperatures and below freezing evening temps. This gives people the opportunity to ski big lines that would be a near-certain death sentence in mid-winter. The key, however, is to get off the mountain before the sun begins to heat and melt the snow, once again resulting in dangerous avalanche conditions.

That being the case, my buddy Todd picked me up at 4:15 AM this morning for the 1 hour drive to Marble, Colorado where we would attempt to climb and ski Marble Peak. To reach the summit we would have to climb 2,400 feet, so alloting the standard 1 hour per 1,000 feet of ascent, we figured that would put as at the summit at roughly 7:45, plenty of time to drop in and get off the hill before things turned bad.


Here's Todd Hartman M.D. throwing on his skins by light of headlamp. Intersting side note: the most dangerous part of skiing Marble Peak in mid-winter isn't even the threat of causing an avalance while climbing or skiing, rather it's the mere act of driving to the trailhead that is a veritable Russian Roulette. The access road goes under 14 huge avalanche paths, and as you'll see in some pictures later, these slides are so large they destroy EVERYTHING in their path; they literally wipe out out everything leading down to the road, cross the road, and continue on their path of destruction below the road. This time of year, nothing will run to the road, but looking around on the drive up, you realize just how destructive nature can be.

One hour in. I would have taken more pictures earlier, but it was pitch black and we were struggling to find our way through the forest. Here we finally got into a clearing at roughly 10,000 feet, so I snapped this action photo of Dr. Hartman.

Here's the view of Marble Peak from roughly half-way through the climb. The peak is in the upper left-hand corner, and while it looks close, it's still over an hour away from here.

Along the way we reached a cliff band that afforded us some unbelievable panaromic views of the surrounding peaks. These are called the "Alleys," and if the snowpack allows, we'll be skiing them soon.

An awesome shot from the cliff band down into the valley.

Believe it or not, I snapped this about half an hour after my last shot of the summit, and it still doesn't seem much closer. You do get a better appreciation for how steep the bowl is in the upper left-hand corner in this picture, however. To access the bowl, you have to stay in the trees to the right where the snow is more stable. If you were to climb up the face of the bowl and it went big, you would basically have zero chance of survival, as there's nothing to stop you for about 2,000 vertical feet except trees, rocks, and cliffs. Once you reach the top of the trees, you access a narrow ridge that gradually leads you to the summit.

Here's Todd on the knife-ridge leading to the summit. By the looks of the drop off to either side, I'm sure you can deduce why it's called a "knife-ridge."

Yours truly on the summit, for some reason dressed like Johny Cash. The peak in the upper right hand corner is Juniper Peak, and it's next on our list. Once at the top, all that was left to do was take off our skins, put on warm gear, and ski safely to the bottom.

Some more views from the summit, at 11,400 feet.

And some more...
The view back up the bowl after our descent. If you look in the middle-right of the picture, you can see a small avalanche that ran some time in the last week. It only ran about 80 feet, not big or destructive enough to injure a person, but it would definately put a scare into someone, and it serves as a reminder that even blue skies and spring temps don't guarantee anyone safety. One more view from the summit. Sorry it's out of place.

Another shot of the bowl. If you look closely, you will see discolorations that almost look like dirt. They are, however, the remnants of a dust storm that kicked up on Tuesday in Utah, and the storm was so big and winds so strong, much of the red dust settled in the Colorado mountains.

Remember before when I was telling you how destructive the slides are in this area? Look at this big tree. Now notice that the top is sheared clean off. Then, look at the branches. Notice how they're all on one side, with the other side stripped bare of pretty much anything? That's called flagging, as all the branches on the up-mountain side get wiped out by the power of the avalanche, leaving every tree on the slope resembling a flag pointing down-mountain.

More evidence of flagging.

Finally, my favorite picture. This is down at the road where we parked the car. As you can see, a mid-winter slide has ripped this tree right out by the roots, and deposited it like a javelin in the ground on the OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD. It's an amazing thing to see. Mother nature, as much as we humans insist on trying, is simply not to be messed with.

Draft Day

Sorry about the confusion. If you stopped by in the last 24 hours, you were greeted with a puppy montage but no explanation. I promise one is forthcoming; it's just been a really, really busy time at work. In the meantime, enjoy the pups and try to guess which one we selected with the number 1 overall pick in the 2007 draft.

New Nitti Family Puppy....Which One Will It Be?

Big goings on here in Aspen, as Lauren and I are eagerly anticipating a new addition to the family. We had been in contact with a local labrador breeder since Christmas, and our litter was finally "whelped" last Sunday. We have first choice amongst the females, of which there are three yellows and two blacks.

This is the only picture we have of the newborns at this moment, so Lauren and I have been analyzing it Zapruder-film style for any hint as to who to select with the first overall pick.

Seeing as though this blog is a stout supporter of democracy, however, we appreciate all your input. Please feel free to vote for one of the following:

1. The Loner: I must admit, I have a soft spot in my heart for the little guy in the lower left corner. He appears aloof and indifferent to the needs of his siblings, sort of like me.

2. Legs Out: Furthest to the right, this one seems quite relaxed and care-free, two qualities that will go a long way towards easing Lauren into dog-ownership.

3. Charles Barkley: The yellow pup right in the middle of the picture. Despite being the smallest in stature, he/she seems to have wedged himself into the warmest, most comfortable position but utilizing strong box-out skills.

4. Write-in candidate of your choice.

We look forward to your suggestions. This choice ain't going to be easy.

Waiting....Is the Hardest Part

Sunday afternoon brought warm temps and clear skies to the valley, so I headed out with my buddy Todd to see what kind of shape Highlands Bowl was in. On Saturday, the wind had topped over 100 mph above 11,000 feet, effectively bringing all four local resorts to their knees and stopping the chair lifts. And just in time for President's Day weekend, too!

When wind blows that hard, you can get some prettty interesting snow conditions, particularly above treeline. In places where an abrupt ridge divides two slopes, the windward side can be litterally stripped bare of all snow, as snow can be transported at any wind speed in excess of 25 mph. Of course, all that snow has to go somewhere, and it usually winds up on the leeward side.

While this type of "wind loading" can make for great skiing, it also makes for higher avalanche risk, as the heavy wind slab can rest precariously on weaker snow layers from earlier in the season, needing only a natural or human trigger to slide.

In a place like Highlands Bowl, avalanche control is all part of a day's work. Typically, there are two ways ski patrol will "control" a potentially dangerous area. The more simple technique is called "ski cutting," in which a patroller will ski directly across a wind loaded slope, testing to see if the pressure of the skis is enough to trigger an avalanche. They will go from safe zone to safe zone, back and forth across an avalanche path, testing it's strength until they reach the bottom.

The second, and much cooler technique to witness, is the use of explosives to give slopes that are ready to slide that extra nudge before a skier has the chance to do so. Patrollers throw charges into dangerous areas from a safe zone, and the explosives do their thing. If it causes a slide, great. If it doesn't, it means a person likely can't either.

The morning after a big storm or windy night, you can hear the echo of avalanche explosives throughout the valley. Normally, however, you can't see the control work because the higher peaks are shrouded in clouds.

On Sunday, however, Todd and I were waiting at the main gate to the bowl (see my link to the different stages of the bowl here) for the patrollers to open the ridge. With the cloudless skies, we had a once-in-a-season opportunity to take in the control work with an unobstructed view.

Click on the above video, and be patient. At the 17 second mark, you will see a plume of smoke rise from the center of the screen, followed by a loud explosion. On this occasion, the charge is not enought to cause an avalanche. Sunday, with the wind loading as bad as it was, we personally saw the patrol drop over 50 charges throughout the bowl. Not one was enough to cause a slide, which mean's it's safe enough to ski.

After a long wait, the rope was dropped, and Todd and I headed to the line we had picked out from our observation point at the main gate.

The dark red line is a chute called "Ballroom." It was one of the few areas of the bowl that appeared to have nice snow top to bottom. It runs about 45 degrees steep, and is relatively narrow with rock walls on both sides, which means it tends to hold great snow after a storm or windy day.

After about thirty minutes of hiking, we reached the top and dropped in. Todd was kind enough to set up at the bottom of those trees midway down the right side of the chute, and take some video.

Good times.

Oh, and what happens to Todd on my last turn...that's called Karma.

Back in the Game!

I'm sure you've given up by now, but it's high time I revive the blog. A lot has transpired since our last post: Super Bowls were won, presidential candidates emerged, and Brittany Spears sank to new and terrifying lows.

Things were just as busy on the Aspen front: we've had visitors (Jenn Welc, Christine Walley, and Rob "Fat Bob" Balerna"), rubbed elbows with pre-teen punks at the X Games, and moved into our swinging new pad.

I just realized that we don't have pictures of the fully-furnished home, so you'll have to remain patient. We do, however, have this super-cool picture of the view from our patio I snapped last week. Enjoy.