January27

Snowboard Trip 2008, by the numbers

Oh snowboarding, how I love thee. This year, for our annual dude's snowboarding trip, we flew out to Denver and caught a shuttle to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Watching the weather like a hawk since before Thanksgiving, I'll have to admit I was worried since Steamboat opened 10 days late this year. That means there wasn't enough snow.

Over the past few months, however, the snow returned en force. Around Christmas, all of the trails (something in the vicinity of 160) were finally open and Steamboat was having near record snowfall. And just a few days/week before we arrived, they had 25 inches of champagne powder. It was amazing. THE most amazing mountain I've been to so far. I think I'll buy a place and move there (maybe, someday, in the far far future).

Just as I've done in the past, here is the trip breakdown, in numbers:

Basics

...dudes on the trip: 6
...snowboards taken: 6
...laptops taken: 2
...phones with internet access taken: 2
...iPods taken: 2
...some other MP3 players taken: 1

The Flights

...bags checked: 9x2
...times called an idiot for pressing continue too quickly even though the guy told me not to when obtaining boarding passes: 5
...hours spent in airports: 2
...ways created to freak people out while sitting next to them during a flight: 5
...times the lady in front of us turned around to give Aaron the stink eye whilest we came up with said ways: 3
...photos taken of said lady while she slept: 2
...minutes of "300" watched on the way back to KC: 50
...minutes of sound heard while watching "300": 0 (I saw the other headphone jack, you greedy sob)

The Shuttle Rides

...miles between Denver's International Airport and Steamboat Springs: 181
...times we thought we were going to die on the way to Steamboat: 27
...instances when the anti-lock brakes kicked in on ice while exiting into Steamboat: 1 (it was ICE you idiot!)
...hours it took to arrive in Steamboat: 3.5
...hours it took to arrive back in Denver: 4.25
...cars the driver sped up to cut off since he was a vindictive driver: 1
...times the driver caught himself nearly falling asleep at the wheel: 3
...electronic gate meters hit while trying to drop us off at the airport: 1
...people almost ran over at the airport: 1

The Condo

...bedrooms: 3
...beds: 6 (three normal, two inflatable, one rollout)
...WiFi connections found: 3
...WiFi connections able to use: 0
...times Jones moved from bedroom to living room because of my random snoring: 1 (sorry, my nose was stuffed up)
...hot tub visits: 1
...times Jones and Aaron wussed out from going to the hot tub: 1
...inches of snow that fell while in the hot tub: .5
...minutes that we tried to convince Aaron and Trip that the hot tub visit was super cool: 3
...seconds that Aaron and Trip believed that the hot tub visit was super cool: 0
...episodes of Ninja Warrior watched: 6 (if you get G4, check out what American Gladiators doesn't hold a candle to)
...episodes of The Office (UK version) Season 1 watched: 4
...episodes of Arrested Development, Season 1 watched: 13
...Democratic debates watched: 1

Steamboat Springs, Colorado

...cases of beer purchased at grocery store: 4
...cases of beer returned to grocery store: 3 (3.2 beer, really?)
...movies watched at the Wildhorse theater: 1 (whatever that movie is with Rodney Dangerfield, the time-traveling dragon and his little friends)
...city-wide free WiFi connections (that didn't reach up into the resorts): 1

Meals of Food

...dinners cooked at home: 5 (pizzas, spaghetti, roast beef, chili and hamburgers)
...times we used the outside grill: 1
...people we could have fed with our left-over chili: 4
...lunches on the mountain: 4

Steamboat (see flash map)

...days on the mountain: 4 (straight)
...times we went down Tomahawk (or started on it and went wherever the snow took us): 14
...days it took us to find the best run on the mountain (some combination of Tomahawk): 1
...times unbuckling on “roads”: 5
...minutes spent digging out of incredibly deep powder: 70
...feet we could see in front of us when it was snowy/foggy at the top of the mountain: 5, if that
...times asked by a hippie snowboarder if we minded if he smoked pot on the gondola ride up: 1
...times asked by a hippie snowboarder if we wanted to smoked pot with him on the gondola ride up: 1
...hits we took from the hippie snowboarder's pipe: 0
...times we sang “My bro is a Speeeeeeeeed Freeeeak”: 12

Misc.

...stomp pads purchased: 1
...injured legs: 1 (poor Aaron)
...Hoop Shot basketball games purchased: 1
...shots made on the Hoop Shot basketball game: 2 (that I saw)

Conclusion

...times I was glad to be there: about 1,000

+ original post date: January 27, 2008 10:04 AM
+ categories: Family/Friends, Funny, Ha Ha, Travel/Vacations

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Times I wished I was out there with you guys: 22

Maybe next year.

+ author: Jonathan
+ posted: January 29, 2008 08:30 AM

I think you left off "Celine Dion songs played by the shuttle driver, who wasn't joking," I think the answer is 5.

+ author: dbartho
+ posted: January 31, 2008 04:10 PM

January27

Snowboard Trip 2008, by the numbers

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