#and let me tell you snow in Texas and snow in colorado are entirely different beasts | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

localfreshies · 7 years

Text

New Post has been published on Local Freshies | Be a local wherever you go

New Post has been published on http://localfreshies.com/knee-deep-powder-at-brundage-ski-resort/

Knee Deep Powder at Brundage Ski Resort

Yesterday’s Burgdorf Hot Springs adventure was amazing, but a ski trip isn’t a ski trip unless you actually go skiing. Today, our plan is simple. Brundage is our destination. Making sure we get first chair, a quick bite at THE Local’s spot is the perfect idea. We asked around town to see where people snag breakfast before riding. The resounding answer was the gas station. The Gas station?!? Seriously? Always taking the locals’ tips earnestly, gas station here we come!

Your Grandma’s gas station

Your Grandma’s station – Old Town Cafe

In any regular town when you go snowboarding or skiing, you’re forced to stop and get gas, go somewhere else to grab a bite to eat, and then head to another shop for a good cup of coffee. McCall isn’t that type of place. Here, you pull into the local Shell station and gas up, purchase some snacks, grab a cup of coffee, do some laundry if you need, and of course, have an amazing breakfast! Talk about efficiency. It reminded me of stories my grandmother would tell about gas stations on Route 66.

“All Aboard” the Gravy Train

Moose Toast and Ben’s Gravy Train burrito in the background

In the back corner of the gas station, there sits a little counter where a sweet older lady takes our order with a smile. “So, what’s a Local favorite on the menu?” With no hesitation, she says “Ben’s gravy train is the most popular.” A breakfast burrito filled with eggs, hash browns, bacon, sausage and… GRAVY? First, the hash browns aren’t the store-bought kind. They’re made from scratch and are more like home fries than hash browns. Second, the sausage gravy is what combines all the flavors together making it delicious. If that’s too much for you, then go for the Moose Toast. It’s a breakfast sandwich flanked by Texas toast with two eggs, bacon, and cheese.

Local Freshies® Tip: Lifts at Brundage don’t start until 9:30 am

While enjoying breakfast, I check out the lift schedule. Looks like the lifts don’t start running until 9:30 am. Why? Brundage is only 40 minutes from the Pacific Timezone so the sun tends to sleep in a little later than most places. Don’t worry! You don’t lose 30 minutes of ski time if you’re a bell-to-bell type of person. Last chair pushes to 4:30 pm as well so you’ll get your fill. With extra time this morning, we decided to check out some local ski & snowboard shops.

McCall Sports Exchange

McCall Sports Exchange – Your spot for affordable outdoor gear

First up is the McCall Sports Exchange. Owner Scott Jackson, originally from the Midwest, traveled to Colorado to find bigger mountains and better snow. Looking to get away from the crowds and find more summertime water access, Scott found McCall. If you’re looking for affordable outdoor gear, then this spot is a great option. From high quality, lightly used products to overstock closeout items, you can find something you need at a VERY affordable price. Also, since the area doesn’t have a dedicated snowboard shop, he’s become a Rome & High Society dealer as well. Pretty cool in a small ski town.

Home Town Sports – An Olympian’s “Home”

Eric, Patty’s son, giving us a personalized tour

On our way out to Brundage, our last stop was at Home Town Sports. Founded by former Olympian Patty Boydstun, this place is a ski shop and museum in one. Eric, Patty’s son, gives us a personalized tour of this world class shop. While highlighting their gear, he makes sure to point out all the memorabilia from his Mom’s time as a competitive skier. How awesome to display all those memories so the rest of us can enjoy them too!

Why is Home Town Sports a world class shop?

One of the largest certified boot fitting teams in the country

They use one of the most advanced canting/boot modification systems available

Normally stores use plastic canting diagnosing shins. Not this shop. Home Town Sports uses custom milled aluminum to ensure your boot fit is even more comfortable.

All tuning is by hand on a Reichman machine, based on World Cup Standards

The clock struck 9:00 am and Brundage is calling. Time to head out and get first chair. Thanking Eric for his time, the whole team sends us off with big smiles and says “Enjoy Brundage!”

Brundage, a place of surprises

We make the same trek as yesterday and park in the lot below the ski lodge. It looked like Mother Nature only provided an inch of fresh so our initial perception was we’d be riding groomers all day. Boy were we surprised…. In a good way. We gear up fast and are on our way. Whisked away by the High Speed chair, we survey the terrain below. The open front face is reminiscent of Grand Targhee WY. There is a few clumps of trees here and there but overall, it’s a big bowl-of-fun with a nice moderate pitch.

Decapitating the Conductor

Winner of the snow sculpture contest for the Winter Carnvial

Off-loading the chair, the winner of the snow sculpture contest greets us. Each year in January, McCall hosts a Winter Carnival and one of the events is snow sculpting. Large pieces of snow art decorate the entire town from the ski resort to the shops downtown. The winner and sculpture at Brundage is a massive logging train complete with a conductor. As Ski Patrol removes the fresh snow from the carving, we overhear one of them talking about how the conductor’s attire had a rope tied on it, helping give extra dimension. A few days ago when again cleaning off the snow, too quickly that time, they accidentally decapitated him by snagging the rope. Fortunately, they quickly fixed him and the snowman engineer is still living his life to the fullest on display.

“French Toast” snow

The snow is soft on the bottom like the toast but with a coating of powdered sugar to make it extra tasty!

Quickly strapping in, we drop into one of the many groomers from the top. We carved easily over the snow. My mind instantly thought of eating French Toast. I know, it sounds weird but imagine… The snow is soft on the bottom like the toast but with a coating of powdered sugar to make it extra tasty! It rode exactly like that. Perfect, fun, AND a treat!

Lakeview – A Powderhound’s secret

Deep, billowy powder knee deep in spots off of Lakeview Chair

After a few laps on the front side, we know Brundage has more in store for us. Riding over to Lakeview, we are greeted by some amazing conditions. Deep, billowy powder knee deep in spots, is ALL UNTRACKED. If this is what 1″ looks like, 4″ of fresh snow must be to your armpits! Talk about under-promising and over-delivering. So, why is there so much more snow in this part of the mountain? The only reason we could think of is that the terrain is only open from 10 am – 3 pm and lift access is via a fixed grip chair meaning the snow stays longer. Whatever the reason, we found entire slopes FILLED with untracked pow that no one had ridden. It was tough to leave, but we are meeting up with April & Jared, the Marketing geniuses behind Brundage, to show us some of their favorite stashes.

A Secret in Central America

Meeting up with our special guides, we hop onto the main lift. On our way up, Jared tells us he is originally from Auburn CA, which is just outside of Lake Tahoe and he is just as passionate about skiing as us. This is one of the reasons he made Brundage his home. Deep snow, uncrowded slopes, and a relaxed atmosphere are difficult to argue with. April’s path is a bit different as she grew up near the slopes on Mt. Hood but her love of Brundage is the same.

Jared Montague showing us where the good snow is

Zipping off the lift, we head to one of their favorites – A run named after a Central American country. Much like the surfing culture, we can’t divulge exactly the name of this spot or its location, but if your lucky enough to befriend a Local that’s in-the-know, perhaps they will share. It was beyond amazing! A bit steeper than the other zones we’d been riding AND still untracked. We hit this terrain a few more times before April headed back to the office. With a big wave goodbye, she is off. Jared decided to stick around for a bit longer and treat us to a few more secrets.

Turn up the heat!

With Lakeview shutting down, it’s time to check out another part of the ski area. We meet up with Scott, another fine employee at Brundage, and this guy RIPS. He grew up in the area but left for a few years to chase-the-snow. During his journey, he learned just how magical this part of the country really is. With Jared and Scott at the helm, we aimed straight for some serious, steep terrain. First up, the Northwest Passage. Steep, craggy & bumpy, this trail is fun to blast through while getting a few little airs along the way. Brundage may look tame, but if you know where to search, you’ll find slopes that will get your heart pumping.

Hidden Valley – The Zone for Steep

NW Passage is located in what is called the Hidden Valley. This IS the zone where all the serious terrain lives. From mandatory airs to chutes and cliffs, it can get dicey if you don’t know where you’re going. We can’t tell you exactly where to go but let’s just say when you do find it, you’ll know ’cause it’s off the chain! As we said earlier, put in a little effort and make some new friends. The Locals that know this mountain will open your eyes to a different Brundage experience and you don’t want to leave without it.

Brundage is as close to the Bay as Mt Bachelor

Did you know that McCall ID and Brundage are just a tad further from the Bay Area as Mt Bachelor is in Bend OR? We didn’t until we drove it. With little to no crowds, affordable lodging, amazing food, and steep fun terrain, this is the time to hit up this gem before people start finding out about McCall. We’re definitely coming back and enjoying this mountain next winter.

Get Forked!

After slapping high fives with Jared & Scott from our amazing day on the mountain, we head back to McCall. On our ride down, we get a text from Corinne, the owner of North Fork Coffee Roasters. She asks if we’d like to drop by and see her roastery. I seriously can drink coffee from sun up to sun down. Being it’s my favorite beverage, we are on our way to the roastery!

A grungy garage not fit for your car… But it’s love at first sight

Inspiration to start North Fork Coffee Roasters began four years ago for Corinne. She is a purist at heart and loves to make everything on her own. From tortilla breads to condiments, Corinne’s new love is coffee. Roasting first began on a stove in a Whirly Pop. Her coffee was so amazing, her friends began asking for it. Spending the next two years looking for her roastery’s home, a grungy garage tucked away behind a building caught her eye and it was perfect. With a deep clean, a bunch of renovations and Corinne’s decorating touch, the roastery was born.

Great Coffee inspired by nature

We sampled a few of her most notable coffees and boy are they amazing! Our favorite is the Costa Rican. It has dark, cherry notes with a buttery texture and an aroma that reminds you of those butter cookies you find in tins at the holidays.

Noticing her labels, we realized each one is a bird and asked if they meant anything special. Her company is named after the North Fork of the Payette River and each of these river birds she chose can be seen flying around overhead. Each bird is paired with the coffee closest in

Each coffee is named after the river birds on the North Fork of the Payette River

personality. Corinne explained the King Fisher is a super energetic, spunky, and fun bird translating to a coffee that gives you a little bit more pep-in-your-step. On the other hand, the decaf is a Damsel Fly, technically not a bird (and also technically not caffeinated) but still lives on the river. Her explanation of each was a perfect match and we learned a few new facts about the area. Now all caffeinated and hungry, it was time to head to our final stop of the day – Salmon River Brewing.

Drinking in an old train station

A funky artistic sign with three salmon illuminates the way to the entrance of Salmon River Brewery, aka SRB. Located in an old train station, it’s interior has that deep colored wood you would see in one of those nice railroad stations back in the early 1900’s. SRB kicks it up a notch and combines the deep colors with other reclaimed pieces for a bright atmosphere.

Salmon River Brewery is located in an old train station

When a keg blows… A whistle blows!

Tonight we’re meeting McKenzie Christensen, with the McCall Chamber of Commerce, to get the inside scoop on McCall and the surrounding area. Like any great small town, people can tell when you’re not a Local. As soon as we stepped through the door, McKenzie waves at us and says, “Are you Local Freshies®?” We make a big nod and smile. It’s nice to feel so welcomed everywhere we go. Grabbing a stool, we begin chatting up like good friends. All of a sudden, a loud whistle blows – inside! What is happening?!? McKenzie laughs and tells us every time a keg blows, they blow a real train-like whistle. How cool! After the excitement, our server takes our order.

Passion is how you become a Ski-town Local

McKenzie is originally from Idaho but like so many Locals, she spent a lot of time in the summers visiting McCall and fell in love with it. After college, she was looking for a unique place to call home and McCall really called out to her. You can tell she’s driven and a natural leader so heading out on her own made total sense. The decision was easy. The lake access in the summer and amazing skiing in the winter made staying in McCall a given. From helping us find the Local spots to sharing a bit of history of the town, she is invaluable. A fun fact we learned is that McCall is where the official Christmas Tree, known as the “People’s Tree” in Washington DC, came from last year. What an honor!

From Hoppy to Sour to Coffee, there’s a beer for everyone

Meanwhile, our beer sampler arrives and if you’re a fan of hoppy beers then SRB is your go-to spot when in McCall. The names of the beers are worth mentioning too. From a Personal Flotation Device, or PFD Ale to Udaho Golden Ale and even a Buzz Buzz Chocolate Stout, you’ll be chuckling your way through the beer menu. There wasn’t a bad beer on the list, but here’s a few our standouts:

With names like Personal Flotation Device to Udaho you’ll be chuckling your way through the beer menu

Gose Sour – We’re not big sour beer fans but when they’re done right, they are downright amazing. This is one of those amazing beers. It has a slight tinge of melon that isn’t too sweet or too tart. The flavor is almost like a delicious tasting apple cider vinegar without the vinegar harshness. Definitely a must try.

Buzz Buzz Coffee Stout – It’s winter so we naturally gravitate toward darker beers. The aroma starts with dark coffee notes and as you take a sip that image continues into a full bodied french roast. It made me think of breakfast. How perfect this beer would have been at Brundage after my French Toast snow run!

Best Elk Burger Ever!

Best Elk Burger EVER!

As we finish the sampler, our food arrives. Let me preface that Elk burgers are typically dry and not cooked correctly. I’ve had many bad experiences with burgers made out of game meats. It takes a very talented chef to make a stellar game burger. Taking McKenzie’s guidance, we ordered it and shockingly, it was perfect! Juicy, spicy, and most of all downright awesome. If you’re a burger person, you must put this on your list to try when in McCall.

Fries are just better in Idaho

It could be the placebo effect, but it seems when you visit Idaho, every item made from potatoes, including french fries, just taste better here. That is especially true at SRB. Their french fries have the consistency of a waffle fry but the length of a steak fry. It gives them a texture that I’ve never seen anywhere else.

Loaded Mac ‘n Cheese

The ooey, gooey goodness of the Loaded Mac ‘n Cheese

If you aren’t a burger person, it’s OK. The menu is big and there are a ton of other items just as good. The loaded mac ‘n cheese comes out in a French Onion Soup-style bowl and is sizzling hot. The ooey, gooey notes of the fresh cheese plus large chunks of chicken are just to die for. It ranks right in line with the elk burger and for anyone that loves cheesy things, this is a winner.

Finishing up our meal, we say good bye to McKenzie. Tomorrow we take on Tamarack and will check out one of the Locals’ favorite restaurants, Ruperts.

This leg of the trip is sponsored by:

0 notes

therealkk · 7 years

Text

Alright! I’m home, settled and have completed a full week back at work, post Christmas in

Meiko wearing my antlers

Colorado! I thought I’d post a “how our Christmas went” type of blog, since Lauren took the time to do so too!

We started Christmas Eve with Mitchell’s family. Breakfast, and stockings, and a little bit of time just hanging out. It was low-key and drama free. 4 pups, 9 people and Christmas Cheer.

After we had finished celebrations with them, we decided it was time to finish up packing, and spend some more time with Kitten before we left her for the week. (This was the longest we’ve ever left her, I was feeling really guilty.)

We had an uber come pick us up, and we nervously, and excitedly packed all our luggage in the back of her explorer, and headed on our way to the airport. I don’t fly very often, and actually, the last time I was on a plane was 2009 when my stepdad passed away. I was a little nervous and unsure how quickly we’d be able to get through security, and even more worried about how my anxiety would be on the plane. I don’t have a normal and rational fear of the plane crashing (and honestly I personally would never be afraid of that…) My anxiety about flying is ridiculous and silly, but it’s very real.

Mitchell and I decided to get to the airport early.

Never. Again.

It’s been ages since I’ve flown, and even longer since I’ve flown on my own (those of you that followed me from LiveJournal will remember the last time I flew alone was 2007 to Texas.)

Last time I flew things were a little different, and being three and a half hours early for your flight was no big deal.

So Mitchell and I thought nothing of getting to the airport a little early, put our anxieties at ease, and have a little time to relax before hopping on a plane full of complete strangers.

Imagine our surprise when we got there and our airline had a sign saying no one was going to be at the counter until 2 hours before flight. We had 2 checked bags, which meant we couldn’t go through security or anything until they were at the counter. So we had a long 1.5 hour wait… we sat, and talked, my anxiety rose, people stared at us.

Mitchell and I post security, showing off our attire.

oh, pause! I forgot to tell you! We went to the airport in our Christmas PJ’s (Mitchell’s Christmas Pikachu PJ’s and my Bumble PJ’s) wearing our Pikachu hoodies and a santa hat, and I had antlers and Mitchell had Pikachu ears on top of our santa hats! We both had these fabulous christmas light necklaces that I found on amazon.

Once employees showed up at the counter, we lined up (took a good 30 minutes to get through the counter) and we headed off to security! Everything went smoothly, and the photo above was us celebrating finally making it through security! We wondered down to our gate, found it, and then decided it was time to find a place to get some food and a drink or two.

We stumbled across this place called Africa Lounge. We sat in the bar, Mitchell ordered a “large” beer (which to our surprise was HUGE) and I got their alcoholic coffee. It was super delicious, we sat, ate some food and gushed about how excited we were to be on our very first vacation!

After our meal at the Africa Lounge, we continued on to the nearby bookstore, picked up a bottle of water (mitchell has to take some congestion meds when he flies, and we both felt we needed to hydrate.) We picked up a few fun souvenirs for Lauren and Elisabeth, and headed to the gate. We got t

Successfully boarded on the plane!

here just in time for boarding, and loaded on the plane. We got settled, my anxiety went down a little, and we sat back and relaxed.

While on our 2.5 hour flight to Denver, we goofed off, closed our eyes, and made friends with the girl sitting next to us (bless her heart, I may have accidentally caught her in the background of some of our selfies.

Mitchell played some games on his phone, I listened to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone on Audible and we both took turns watching out the window.

We didn’t fall asleep at all, but we did close our eyes, our flight left at 7, and landed at 10:30. We had been up since 8am, and with a mixture of holiday stress, and traveling stress, we were exhausted!

About 15 minutes before landing we turned off our music and chatted about how excited

Sleepy, but incredibly happy to be on vacation!

we were to get to Colorado and see our friends. We also looked out the window and guessed what we could see.

We came to the conclusion that we could see Colorado Springs, which is where Lauren’s parents live, and what we assume was a bunch of other nearby towns.

The plane has landed!

Our flight was pretty uneventful, we had some turbulence, that the flight attendants were spooked by, but honestly it wasn’t bad at all. It did cause one of the bathroom doors to fly open, but I bet it wasn’t closed all the way.

Once the plane had landed they told us we could turn off airplane mode, and we texted Lauren to let her know we had landed.

We got off the plane, and Mitchell went to the bathroom while I explored a nearby gift shop.

I looked for snacks but decided to just wait until we left the airport.

While walking to baggage claim, we found this guy, so we both decided to pose with him, I don’t have a copy of the photo of me, because it is on Mitchell’s phone, and I’m too lazy to ask for it. :D

We wondered our way down the escalator, to the train, and then to baggage claim.

Once at baggage claim, we heard several people pointing and saying “They were on our flight!”

All day people were snapping photos of us, pointing, and cheering us on. The flight attendants, and everyone we came in contact with loved our outfits and Christmas spirit. How else would one travel on Christmas eve?? :P

Our bags were the first off the plane (WIN!) and we headed out to get in the car with Lauren and Sidney!

Lauren’s photo of her stocking goodies

Once we got to their house, we had a snack and went to bed, we were exhausted! We woke up the next day to a delicious breakfast cooked by both Sidney and Lauren, and enjoyed their company.

We all had agreed that we’d spend the day at home just relaxing. So we did, and it was wonderful. We opened stockings, ate yummy food and played games together.

later in the evening, Lauren’s parents came, we had dinner, opened some wonderful and

Christmas Dinner, sorry, I had eaten most of it already

thoughtful gifts, and enjoyed the company. It truly was one of the best Christmases we’ve had, ever. Good food, good company, lots of happiness, and love. I am so grateful for Lauren and Gene inviting us into their home on such a major holiday! We are so lucky to have such loving and caring people in our lives!

Ken and Kathy (Lauren’s parents, two people I have always adored) brought some gifts for everyone, and some delicious Christmas dinner!

A thoughtful ornament made by Lauren’s Family

After Christmas dinner we hung out a bit more and went to bed. We didn’t have any solid plans for the week, but I think the plan for Monday was to go into Denver and look at the Capitol building, get brunch and explore a little.

We woke up Monday morning, and Lauren told us that the Capitol building was closed, but we could still go into the city if we wanted, we ended up deciding to not do so, but we did go to the COOLEST museum Mitchell and I have been to.

Lauren took us into Denver to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Boy was it busy there! So many people had the same great idea we had, but that didn’t stop us! We spent a whole 5 hours at the museum and still didn’t see everything. I’ve included some of the photos we took there, below.

We came home that night, and relaxed, played more games, and enjoyed good food.

Tuesday, we went into Denver, saw Lauren’s work, and went to the 16th Street Mall and

went into the cutest little store called I (heart) Denver and bought souvenirs for Mitchell’s mom and our friends Katy and Adam.

Then, we went to REI to rent snowshoes, for our snowventure the next day! The REI we went to was MASSIVE. As a Seattleite, I honestly have never seen an REI as huge as this one. It was amazing!

We came home after a very long day out (another 5 hours) without lunch, starving, and exhausted. We ate dinner (Noodle soup made by Lauren.)

After dinner, we sat down and worked on our D&D characters with Elisabeth and Lauren.

Lauren, Gene, Sidney and Elisabeth have been playing D&D for quite some time, and Lauren has been inviting me to play for just about as long as she’s been playing.

Mitchell and I discussed it and decided we wanted to give it a try while we were in Denver, so that night we sat down, created our characters, and played the first half of our very first D&D adventure!

We were off to a rough start, both rolling 1s, but I ended up having much better luck the rest of the game and kicked major butt.

We played for about an hour that night, and had a blast, but by the end of the evening, we were exhausted. I went to bed after we finished D&D for the evening, Mitchell stayed up and played video games with Sidney.

The next day, Wednesday, We woke up early, layered up, and took the snowshoes up to the Rocky Mountains.

It was just Mitchell, Lauren and I, but we were all super excited to snowshoe together!

We packed up, got in the car and headed toward the mountains. Lauren took us to Estes Park. It was a little bit of a drive, but it wasn’t too bad. I enjoyed looking around, we drove through Boulder, and even drove past the hotel that inspired The Shining.

As we climbed higher we saw our first snow flurries (first for the entire visit, Denver didn’t get any snow, it was colder here in Seattle!)

We pulled into the park, only to have a ranger tell us it wasn’t safe for her car. He directed us to another area (Devil’s Gulch) to snowshoe. So we turned around and headed there. Sadly there wasn’t enough snow to snowshoe, but we did hike! We saw some amazing sights, and several elk! It was all around a great time!

We came home that evening, and went out to dinner at a vegan restaurant called Native Foods. (There’s one in Oregon, and I plan on visiting it!) The food there was DELICIOUS, and I wish we had one locally!

After dinner,

The last photo I took at Lauren’s house

we came back, finished out or D&D, I made butterbeer and then we headed to bed.

Thursday, we woke up, hung out, and Lauren and I went to return the snowshoes that we sadly didn’t get to use, and we came home, relaxed, since it was our last day there, and played games. I went to bed around 9pm. We had to be up and out of the house by 3:30 am.

We packed everything up that night, and said our goodbyes to Elisabeth, (Sidney was already in bed) and set our alarms for our early wake-up.

We sadly woke up, loaded up the car and headed to the airport before anyone else was awake for the day.

ene came with Lauren to drop us off. We said our goodbyes and headed in. The atmosphere in the airport this time wasn’t quite as chipper, and the lines were longer. We waited 45 mintues to check our bags, and then 30 minutes through security. Then we had to ride the train to our flight. We got some breakfast at Dunkin Doughnuts, and then we got to the gate with just 5 minutes to spare before they boarded us.

Our flight home was uneventful, I slept most of it, and woke up just in time to see this beautiful view!

Overall, it was a wonderful way to spend our Christmas. Mitchell and I had a great time, and definitely plan on visiting again! We both agree that this was the best way to spend our favorite time of the year!

Below, are some photos I didn’t include in the post, mainly Lauren’s cat Pippin.

A Christmas to Remember. Alright! I'm home, settled and have completed a full week back at work, post Christmas in…

0 notes