Tuesday

On camera it looks roughly the same as Monday. Actually, it was less windy but there was a giant cloud obsscuring everything. Once again it was tough to get your bearings but if you kept it slow it was pretty good as there was still tons of snow everywhere.

They opened the peak on Monday and Tuesday for only short periods of time. When it opened on Monday with the white-out windy conditions Josh and I went up and I fought a panic attack the whole way down. If you veer down the wrong slope (i.e. any slope but the one between those skinny little bamboo poles) you could end up in a bad spot. Unfortunately for you, you will survive because of all the soft snow and the next thing you know you need to eat your companion. Anyway, we ended up in roughly the same position on Tuesday at the peak because of the insanely foggy conditions.

Baja Zero!

The mid-mountain lodge.

Outside Baja Zero, I juggle snowballs while we wait for the fog to lift a bit. It never did and so we called it a bit early for a second day.

Back in Pub Tres Puntas for our daily sole source of entertainment and tonight they have a band... but still very few patrons.

FLASHBACK:

That's Josh and I in Santa Cruz shortly before his departure from my trip around the country.

Check out that shirt I'm wearing. It's the same as the one in above in Pub Tres Puntas! The caption for this picture reads:

Santa Cruz, California 7/1/2003

Above, Josh and I pay a visit to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. Josh is wearing the Yellowstone visor I picked up in Wyoming and I am sporting the t-shirt from the Full Moon Bar & Grill in Illinois.

Wednesday

Every lift ride that day Josh and I would be covered in snow and we got about another 3 feet that day. Visibility was effected but in a strange way and not nearly as bad as it was on Monday and Tuesday.

This is how I remember the day. Perception was distorted all day and it was difficult to figure out exactly where you were because you couldn't see much and there was the same amount of snow everywhere. People like this guy would just ride (or is he skiing?) out of the oblivion and the only reference was the marker in the upper right (is that bamboo or a sign?).

Great snow on top of great snow. The conditions were great but a lot of times it was so much snow you would be going down a hill and just stop inadvertently. With the heavy snow in the air you couldn't even tell you stopped.

I'm actually riding in this picture looking straight down at my board. The snow is up to my knees but it's very fine powder that just flows around you.

Me hurting after wiping out (because I'm taking pictures of my legs) making sure the camera still works.

Back In Baja Zero!

Josh taking a break from the snow. It was very hard on the legs that day.

Outside Baja Zero.

Not sure where this was but maybe cutting the corner.

Also, maybe cutting the corner. It didn't really matter that day because there a ton of powder everywhere.

And then you lose all reference and just sort of show up near the bottom.

I don't even know who the hell this is. When you wiped out in the deeper parts it took a long time to get out and at that elevation you were hurting from the effort. This was another day that was exhausting and we were cooked afterwards.

It was an incredible day as the conditions were challenging but interesting. Too much snow isn't the usual problem I run in to.

Josh and I were pretty satisfied at this point now that we had our stuff and we had had a couple real nice days and a ton of snow. But we really hadn't brought all the elements (snow, weather, gear) together... until Thursday...

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Bonus movie page!