I was on TV all over Arizona a couple weeks ago. It was the day that snowbowl was supposed to open, and then didn’t because of wind. I went up there to hike it, and ended up sitting at the gate at the bottom talking to a news person. I had a couple people say they saw me saturday night on the news here in flag. I thought “no big deal, it was just me running my mouth off about snowbowl and what a load of crap it is that the road is closed”. Well, I got a call from my mom tonight. She told me that a friend of hers in Tuscon saw me on a phoenix station that same night. Apparently it was a phoenix news crew who interviewed me, and I was all over the state.

I hope someday I get the other 14:30 of my 15 minutes of fame for something other than being pissed at a ski area. I guess I’ll take what I can get.

More backcountry skiing goin’ on here (or at least up at snowbowl). Dan and I hiked up there today after work and I got a couple runs in. Not all the way to the top, but I broke 1000’ vertical for those 2 runs. Good times. We’re getting snow, but it’s still not enough to make it ‘good’, but it’s definitely ‘adequete’ for now.

I hope all this BC skiing and skate skiing is keeping my legs in shape, because old pueblo is gonna be ugly if it isn’t. I think I’m going to go down to sedona on saturday and ride ‘til I puke. That should give my legs the shock treatment if they haven’t already got it. I felt pretty darn good at bootleg canyon this weekend, so I guess that helps build a little confidence. But, then again, that was 3 hours of riding, not the 24 I’ve gotta do in about 2 weeks. Either way, I guess I’ve got nuthin’ to prove, so it doesn’t really matter that much, but I like to at least feel like I’m making a showing, whether I do or not.

Speaking of 24 hour races, just got an email today about the ‘07 Payson Stampede. They pulled their heads out of their asses and made some modifications. The course no longer does the ‘top of the world’ climb, which makes it more like a 24 hour race course, and less like a death march in the middle of the night. They also moved it to May 5-6 which means the weather will be MUCH more tolerable. They lowered the prices to $70 per person (solo, with an additional $60 per person for teams), and they have a whole host of divisions, from 10 miles to 24 hours. Check out the site here I’m impressed, they listened to the feedback, and I’m considering entering because it’s starting to sound like a good time. Oh yeah, and did I mention they’re having cash prizes this year? Nice…..

Oh yeah, and you’ve got 2 weeks to rest up, and then it’s back down to prescott for the whiskey off-road. And thus, the schedule fills up…...