Random Update

Over the past few weekends, Elizabeth and I have been driving north from NYC to spend time in the snow. In early February, we spent a weekend in the Berkshires, near the border or New York state and Massachusetts. We snowboarded at a small mountain called Catamount which had a family friendly vibe where everyone seemed to know one another. The following weekend – Superbowl Sunday actually – we took a bus to Hunter Mountain. In short, we will never ride at Hunter again. Aside from the horrible conditions, the other skiers and snowboarders made the day miserable. There were tons of people smoking outside the lodge and on the runs. Nothing like some brisk mountain air a cigarette to kick start a run down the mountain. After our dreadful Hunter Mountain experience though, we we rewarded on the subsequent weekend with excellent powder at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire.
On this particular weekend, we stayed in Conway, New Hampshire with Becky, whose son Casey started Couchsurfing. Becky made sure we met up with her friends who assured us that Bretton Woods was the place with the best snow. Always trust locals when it comes to snow or waves. Aside from snowboarding, we also attended the Mount Washington Valley Ice Fest in North Conway where Elizabeth and I took a glacier travel and crevasse rescue course. At the ice fest Elizabeth ran into some girls who were in her ice climbing course in the Adriondacks a few weeks earlier. In the evenings we attended a series of slide shows and short films made by climbers about their recent journeys to the various mountain regions of the world. On top of all this fun, Elizabeth bought $20 worth of raffle tickets and ended up winning a new Mammut coat and climbing rope. At some point during the month, Elizabeth contracted pink eye (photos not show in this post) and we spent one day walking through Riverside Park. Within Riverside park, somewhere in the 90′s, we found a very long stone wall that would be perfect for basic balance and rock climbing (first photo in this post). More recently, we had our first big snowstorm in NYC. We brought out the camera and snapped off a couple of images from Central Park. The best of the bunch include Zib running (pictured above) and Stuart (my morning running partner) and I posing in front of the reservoir (below).