Bro Brown's Guys' Ski Week 29Jan21-07Feb21

Brother Brown is hosting his annual "Guts Ski Trip" this week - "always" precedes the superbowl. I made some new friends and reacquainted with some old ones. At his Lodge this week are Richard Hubbs, of course, and his 4th kid, Conor, Steve's brother Brad, and Conor's oldest brother Kyle, as well as Steve & Richard's old classmate from HS, Scott. All great guys willing to debate, ski hard, and enjoy some brews at our mountain town breweries. Scott is an exhibit fabricator (working now at Denver Center for Arts) and an absolute demon on the boards. I chased him on multiple days and could never keep up, despite his throwing daffies and helicopters down the steep bump runs. Conor is an "old" friend in that he was responsible for getting Steve & me home on Golden Ticket day at ORB; yeah, he racked my head but whatev. He recently graduated with 4 national championships from defensive line play for NDSU; yeah, big dude. Richard is a old friend too, who recently scored my old Thunderbird Formula runabout from Phoenix; we should be able to water ski on Little Bear Lk in Minneapolis now! I've skied with Brad in years past and knowing he has to put up with our older big bro, I sympathize. Joining too for some runs is my good friend Yoho, a wise adventure partner. We began the preliminaries at Keystone with little new snow but a great day - this was before Jim, Brad and Scott arrived.

Da Boyz skied Breck without the best terrain open on Saturday. I bagged out awaiting a kid sighting. No sighting and no pic. After some overnight accumulation and Yoho's arrival we ventured to Beaver Creek. We were clearly the scruffiest of all patrons that day but enjoyed some better snow on the edges - unfortunately Grouse Mtn was still closed.

Of course we stopped at ORB for a round of IPAs (Hubbs had stout of course). We scammed a smidge and served a couple from the can - Sendy is taaasty. Here too are Scott & Steve - yes there is a size difference, and a bit of skiing skill delta but they both use the same moose hair gel.

On Sunday we really found some stashes at Vail and had a gr8 day. Unfortunately Yoho bunged his leg a bit and felt the pain on occasion. I skied quite a few runs with the A team and got my ass kicked. Spectacular views of the Gore Range, Mt Of The Holy Cross, and Scott's and Dennis's (Scott's prosthetics specialist friend who joined from Denver for the day) asses. We hit the venerable Vail Brewing Company on the return; sure, Jim got the cool shirt.

I tested the range of Crusher Too and limped around the Frisco exit on the way back. It goes 355 mi on a tank - I was surely thinking: 1) it's downhill all the way from Vail Pass and 2) 20 years of engine tech will surely get me more mileage than the Crusher (with same 24 gal tank). Nope - EPA & Toyota conspired to strand me. Scott and the boys saved me though with an antifreeze bottle and a ride to gas. Sheesh. Jim and I "trained" for much of the evening, after a nice steak dinner, by previewing many of the songs up for Grammy awards on the Nest Theater... good times with some new finds and a divided house as to winners.

Tuesday Kala and I headed back to COS for the day as we needed to complete some tasks & errands. Some of the boys skinned up & skied down Loveland area for some backcountry fun - I'm unsure Brad was completely impressed. Looks like a road boys. Tomorrow they are headed to Cooper for an alt outing. We'll be back soon.

We regrouped all the "guts" on Thu @ Keystone after a nice 11" snowfall. I met Kyle and his friend Steve. We had gr8 snow and skied all over the Outback in pretty deep snow and among pretty fun trees - we all made new lines on occasion. It was cold and snowy much of the day but the beard-ski guys were always warm.

We switched reservations from Breck to Keystone and while Bro Steve kept it from me I ultimately discovered their attempt to duck me. We changed due to the forecast for high winds. Good thing, they materialized - it was cold and began to get windy as I left. The Lost Boys became that, as I'm always Discovered, so no group pic. The snow was refreshed and good again especially in the Outback where we skied Badger, Bushwhacker, and the trees off Oh Bob and the main drag hard (see how I am trying to use names, but lost it at the end). Another fine day with the "guts."

I was fortunate to host the "guts" for some appetizers, Manhattans, and tunes on the NestT. Scott, Brad, Steve and Richard stopped in for happy hour, and to continue their "training." While I ignorantly didn't capture the team we do have a subset. That night we took in a good SNL featuring Phoebe Bridgers, a fav of mine, as the musical guest. She sang Kyoto and I Know The End and wildly smashed, channeling Pete Townsend I guess, her Danelectro over a monitor (yeah, the monitor was fake)... I liked that baritone tuned open G but she must have had issues with it or it's genesis or something, or just wanted to emblem "The End."

UPDATE - Phoebe's work on SNL was reposted on her own feed - it must've been negotiated in advance. Here are the two songs: Kyoto and I Know The End.

As Steve & I helped each other tote some heavy stuff from deliveries (spa cover and new doors), before we depart Summit, new-neck Richard hung back. Yet I noticed and commented on his new facial look with a Fu and goat patch - he didn't get the whole Coffin Van Dyke look.