Bluebird days, Snowshoeing & Pyeongchang

READER UPDATE:

Bomb cyclone landed and produced some snowfall in the east. A new precipitation storm is expeted to fall over the next few days in the northwest and produce some significant snowfall.

Reader submission 12/31. Does not get much more bluebird than that.

Bluebird Days

There’s not much of a better feeling then being out on the mountain on a bluebird day. Other than fresh snow falling from the heavens, a bluebird day tops the cake. What’s so special about a bluebird day? Well, pretty much everything. Catch a bluebird day directly after a monster dump – Hello! Oh yea, that’s what I’m talking about. Mountains, mountains, mountains as far as the eye can see while riding those soft velvety pillows of ecstasy all while getting a suntan. Note to reader: The U/V index on bluebird days can be very high. On these blinding bluebird days wear sunscreen on all your exposed areas. I have to write that because some reader is gonna ask me why they need to put sunscreen on under three layers. I am not sure if the UV rays will penetrate your winter jacket and another 3 base layers, but I think you’re good if you have that many layers covering you. I defer to any Dermatologists that may be reading this.

Feedback, pictures, & random thoughts

The feedback has been amazing. Thank you. It’s really cool and we love receiving kind, positive words as well as awesome pictures. Keep it coming. You give us inspiration, hope and ideas for future posts. The pictures are awesome, did I write that already? Well most of them, anyway. So if you want to send a pic, get in touch or have a question, please contact us at:

ThrilloftheMountain@gmail.com

Pictures

BTW, some of you take amazing pictures. Wow, like really amazing artsy stuff. A few of my favorites from last week: (all reader submitted)

Random Thoughts

I had a few questions about some great feedback we received from a reader in Carbondale, Co. Thank you for your feedback. I found it informative, confusing and overall just awesome. Anyone who leaves feedback is awesome. I hope you continue to keep us up. Your feedback:

We got blessed w 6-10on Xmas .
If not for that we wouldn’t have had anything .
No snow yet in aspen

We got blessed w 6-10on Xmas .
If not for that we wouldn’t have had anything .
No snow yet in aspen

I was on grass

Yup that’s the message we received. We have not responded yet, but here you go.

Questions:

Were you skiing or riding on grass? That can be dangerous.
Were you walking or hiking on grass? Makes sense now.
Were you just on grass? Also makes sense, you live in Colorado as you sent the first message twice.
Were you skiing, riding, walking or hiking on grass while on grass in Colorado? Very, very dangerous and should never be done under any circumstances. Yes, even if your name is Jerry and even if it’s not.

Seriously awesome. Keep em coming. I’ll leave it at that and move on.

Other feedback we received equally as exciting:

What is this propaganda

And yet from another:

It’s propaganda there’s no snow here

But wait, there is this hope:

Supposed to get 12 tonight

Yea I know….we are also supposed to get a foot tonight and another 2 feet by Tuesday.

This is always flattering

Beautiful and nice

And to that I say it will be if 3 feet shows up before Wednesday.

Beacause we all know

We really need it

SNOWSHOEING

Canal Path in Pittsford, reader submitted photo 1/1/2018.

Snowshoeing is a very enjoyable mountain activity. It’s fun, inexpensive and is a great workout. Snowshoeing is a form of hiking, where you wear a snowshoe over your footwear. The snowshoe distributes your weight evenly over the snow so you don’t sink.

One of my favorite things about snowshoeing is it takes no experience to do it. If you can walk you can probably snowshoe. Think about long walks with an amazing snowy landscape as your backdrop. Makes for a beautiful walk and even better pictures.

Beautiful Winter Landscape in McCoy Park in Beaver Creek.

This is my teaser on snowshoeing. I plan to revisit this topic, with lions and tigers and bears, oh my. So, if sliding down the mountain on skis or a snowboard is not your thing try snowshoeing.

Pyeongchang

Pyeongchang is a word that I just learned about a month ago. Pronounced PEE-YOUNG-CHANG or at least that’s how I do. The 2018 winter Olympics will be held here. Where you ask? Pyeonchang. That is correct. Pyeonchang. I really like writing Pyeonchang but I like saying it out loud even better PEE-YOUNG-CHANG PEE-YOUNG-CHANG PEE-YOUNG-CHANG OK. A little about Pyeongchang now. From Google:

Pyeongchang County

City in South Korea

Pyeongchang is a county in Gangwon Province, South Korea. It’s known for Odaesan National Park, with trails crisscrossing the Taebaek Mountains. The park is also home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa Temple, with its 9-story octagonal pagoda. Lee Hyo-seok Culture Village explores the life of early-20th-century poet Lee Hyo-seok. On the Heungjeong Valley bank are the 7 themed gardens of Herbnara Farm.

The 2018 Winter Olympics will run from Feb 9, 2018 through Feb 25, 2018. So give or take about 40 days from now the best athletes in winters sports will be plastered on TV and the web. And by the end of the games, some of these athletes will be household names.

I imagine watching some breathtaking moments. Some athletes will have their lives changed in a moment with a medal win. Others will have the dream fade in an instant of an untimely invaluable mistake. And a select few others will have their lives changed forever; with a gold medal or even multiple golds. WOW! What a feeling that must be; to win a gold medal. HOLY S&*T. It’s nice to dream.

It takes thousands and thousands of hours to be a pro. To be specific, they say ten thousand at a minimum and much more to be the best. I can’t imagine how hard these athletes have trained and endured. I look forward to hearing about struggle and hard work these athletes have overcome. You don’t wake up one day and are miraculously an Olympian. This is seriously hard work people, seriously hard.

I wish all the athletes much success at the games. Good Luck

Wow, wouldn’t it be great to be there in person? But like you, I’ll be watching on tv and the web. It’s gonna be a great 2 weeks of winter sports on TV and the net.

Closing

It’s been a great start to the year. We encourage you to do something, anything. Those that do succeed, those that don’t, don’t. It’s not that simple but it really is. Life’s too short not to try. Just do it. Or, as some of the readers prefer, just send it. I’m talking to you Jerry.

We are trying to give you original, interesting and sometimes funny content. We hope you like it. If you want your business featured or you have an idea for a post please email us. Want to be an author and can write about the mountains or mountain life? If so, contact us.