Epic and COLD Ski day

Well we got our first ski day in and even though the weather was gorgeous, it was also freaking cold (arschkalt) and we didn't want to pull out the camera too often. That is, why I looked for some "snowy" pictures online, but nothing does it justice compared to what we saw today.
I know a few of you have been here and know the are. It is beautiful beyond words to start with. Today, after the fresh snow they had yesterday and all week, all the trees and everything was covered in snow and it was the kind of powder that they call champagne powder here, light and fluffy. It was sunny all day and clear.
The only Problem we had today was, that it was arschkalt, like I said earlier. It was so cold, that you had to cover your face and it made the snow slow. I know that rhymes, but it actually sucked as well. Someone, we met on one of the lifts explained it to us. The cold temps, made snow crystals "stand up" and act like sand paper. They actually slowed your skis down...weirdest thing I have ever skied on, plus the wrong wax. It's like having super knobby tires on a bike and you have to pedal to go down hill.
My skis, K2 Performance Carving skis, sometimes just stopped, if I didn't point them downhill enough. Which is hard to do in a mogul field... Tomorrow it is supposed to be warmer and we get a new wax job done. I can't wait. Other than the stopping part they felt really good and I got some got carving in...
The slopes up here are wide open and there weren't many people out today. Maybe it was too cold for them.
Well, time for me to sleep.

My ski career

This is a picture that I took out of a calendar that I got for Xmas. It shows an Ibex in the French Alps. It is also my zodiac sign, Capricorn, so that's maybe why I like the mountains so much...
I like this picture because it shows this animal reining in his mountain and then you see all the snowy caps in the background.









My parents started me early with the skiing. I was probably 7 or 8 years old in this pictures. Styling in an early 70ies ski ensemble. My smile wasn't telling the whole story though. Right behind me is the reason of my misery. At the time there where no chair-lifts. And I still think to this day these kind of lifts are a creation to torture me. When you are the age and weight, I was then, it used to lift you up on a frequent basis and make the whole thing even more unpleasant.
Anyway, I LOVE chair-lifts:) (This picture was taken in Valebella, Sitzerland)
























All that didn't keep me from doing the end of ski-school-week-race. Don't remember how well I did, but I am smiling...couldn't have been too bad.



After that I took a long break in skiing until one day in 1999, I threw down some money for a set of skis, boots and poles. As you can see, I got so excited, I had to try them on at home (oh mey)









For folks with some ski knowledge. The Dude sold me carving skis that were way too long for me and I struggled constantly with them, but once you pointed them downhill, there were (I was) unstoppable...yeah, I even won a race against a Dutch guy over a hat that I wanted (Yes, I do collect hats....)










This picture was taken in 1999, in the meantime chair lifts outnumber the torture machines and I realized that I LOVE skiing. It is hard to find a picture of me in the mountains without a smile on my face that goes from one ear to the other...might be the lack of oxygen!?!?

Besides my love for MOUNTAIN biking, I love skiing especially, because that is the sport that I met Martin through. We met at a Ski Club meeting in Stuttgart, Germany and our first weekend date was a ski trip. So going on a ski trip with Martin brings back all these memories....

And so far, I have been lucky, that I have never gotten injured (knock on wood)...





The reason I am writing (again) about skiing (some folks might say, isn't this supposed to be a bike blog???) is, that I will join Mr. M, who left today to drive to CO, on Thursday to spend the weekend in Winter Park CO. I know it will be tough, but we will suffer through it.

Change of Scenery

I realized that my cool blog template was being used by too many other people so I needed a change of scenery and played around with the different templates this morning. First, I changed to a real simple one with basically no colors in it, good for those bloggers that are really good about putting their own art and such on it, which I am not (yet). So, I changed it once more, gave it some more color, so you won't miss the lack of my colors and voila: my new scenery and home for the Bergziegen. I hope Roxzy will feel at home as well:) And since she got her first ski legs in, I thought I put one more ski picture up, even though this one was taken at the Stubai glacier in Austria.
So is everybody ready for our big snow storm this weekend? I can't believe that the Heartland Race got postponed. They are known for racing in any kind of weather, well, maybe not in tornadoes and snow... I am actually glad, since I am fighting a bronchitis and I would not have been able to race this weekend.
If you are into MTB you should check the Heartland Race Series out. It is not too far from here. The races are all around Kansas City. They are well organized and a nice change in scenery. Plus us Nebraska riders, being used to our trails here have the tendency to do pretty well down there. Good times!

Off the Bike...

By doctor's order:( Having bronchitis. I guess the ski trip didn't help (but it was fun anyway).

Right now, I am laying low, so I get better soon, so I can get back on my bike.

Isn't it amazing that they even postponed the Heartland Race#1 for me...just kidding, they did it because of the weather but one can dream.

I also need to get better because I "have" to go skiing again. And if that wouldn't be bad enough, this time it is Winter Park, CO, what a "horrible" place....OK, OK, I love this town, even though, I only know it by bike. It is actually the place, where I got my Blur. Only fond memory, besides those few bruises and indentations that I got from those ROCKY mountains:)

Tonight Roxzy, her sister and two nieces, Martin and I went to the Christina Aguilera Concert at the Quest Center in Omaha. Pretty good show! Men, that girl can sing and dance. The Pussy Cat Dolls opened for her and they did a pretty darn good job themselves. I always like good live music and enjoy a well done show.

Amazing how these girls (ladies) can dance on these high-heels without breaking their feet. But that is why that get paid so much money for doing that.

Now we are back home and settling in for the weekend. Are we going to get all that snow??

Isn't it time for spring? I did my first garden walk yesterday to see, if my bulbs are coming up and a few of them are sticking their first green out.

Isn't that one of these beautiful miracles of nature? You put a bulb in the soil in the fall (in hope that no darn deer nor squirrel will feast on it) and then, wen spring comes those bulbs start coming to live and start growing and blooming. I planted about 150 more bulbs last fall. That should bring my bulbous flowers up to, oh almost 400....

Yes, I do like to garden, can't you tell:)

Anyway, I better go to sleep now, it is late.

Die Bergziegen at Lake Tahoe

Die Bergziegen made their way around Lake Tahoe. Well, almost, we had only two days to ski and skied at two opposite ski-resorts: Heavenly and Squaw Valley.

I think we all liked Squaw Valley better. For Roxzy and Ryan, it meant their second day on the skis and more confidence and way more action. I liked it better, because it had less snow boarders. Yes, I have a problem with snow boarders. At least with a lot of them. There at Heavenly they were flying right by you with lightening speed and even I got intimidated. Well, I keep trying to let them be...

The other reason, I like Squaw valley better is, that it was so spread out. It seemed like you had more choices of runs and lifts.

As Martin would say: "It didn't suck!"

It had also a better snow cover and that made for better skiing. Martin and I made it to some nice black runs in the afternoon and they were worth their money. One was called "Siberian Bowl" and, yes it makes your hair stand up for a reason:)

Saturday was so warm, that we could have skied in T-shirts. I have never been that hot skiing. It was a good promotion for the sport. Roxzy doesn't like the cold weather so much and I had told her that it is much easier to stay warm skiing than it is biking. (I didn't tell her of my days on the slopes, where the icy wind is trying to blow you off the mountain; that is, why I own a pair of down mittens...)

We got good work-outs in. I think Sunday, we skied for almost five hours.

Back home

Back Home in Omaha. This isn't one of my pics buy it was taken here in the area on a frozen lake. When we came in tonight it didn't look very frozen outside. It looked as if everything was melting, very messy. From sunny CA to melting NE...it is still good to be home. Picked up Mr. W from the neighbors. He is tired. We guess, he played allot with his girl friend Daisy. We are all tired ans sore from skiing. There are quite a few muscles that one only uses when screaming down a hill on skis, especially, when those hills have "black" names...
My gold is still pretty bad. I guess, I have to take a time out tomorrow to get better.
If everything works out well, I will be flying to Deutschland on a business trip in March. And on preparation for that, I will need some training (loads of it) Wish me luck, this might me my career change that I was hoping for!! A job that would let me travel on business expenses to my home land and surprise my parents:)))

Squaw Valley

Sunday, we went around to the other side of Lake Tahoe and ended up at Squaw Valley , what a nice place to ski. It has a little bit for everybody. Little snow rats, beginners, snowboarders, normal peeps and even the few thrill seekers( "I need to ski off-piste"-king of peple)
Ryan and Roxzy improved and we could take them to some more challenging places. Towards the end of the afternoon, they were a bit skied-out, so Martin and I tackled a few black runs (YUMMY!) and then finally skied down to the car (SLUSHY!)
All in all: Good times!!
After dropping off the rental skis and boots, we had dinner at "Nu Yalk Pizza". 18 inch handmade with a pitcher of good ole Spaten beer. (German beer)
After that it was time to go back to the hotel, pack and get some sleep. We need to be on the road by 6.15 am to catch our flight in Sacramento,CA.

Skiing at Lake Tahoe

Today was our first ski day and what a glorious day it was. Bright, sunny and WARM, even on top of the mountains at about 10,000 feet the temperatures reached 50 in the afternoon. I don't think, I have ever been that hot skiing. Perfect for Ryan and Roxzy to get their ski-legs going. It was Roxzanne's first time on skis and she did really well.
We all thought the day today was great and the views were beautiful (more pics will follow). I guess, other folks thought thought the same and called this area Heavenly:)
Martin and I found out weapon of choice if we ever had to "fight" against R & R: Skis. They were pooped tonight,lol. (Well, we are tired as well, but that is a whole different story)

Reno leaves me speachless!

Our first day in Reno Nevada. Ryan had to work today, so Martin, Roxz and I went exploring the town of Reno, Nevada. First thing on the list: breakfast on "the Strip" at The Nugget. Oh boy, it feels like a movie at 10 in the morning slot machines and all the characters you need. I have a hilarious incident in the bathroom, trying to help an employee to remove a "careful-wet-floor-cone" that is stuck underneath the entrance door to the bathroom. Here is the scene: she sits on the floor (smoking) behind the door, pushing with her feet against the door, while I am pulling on the cone...
Roxzy comes upstairs, but all she sees is me "trying to get out of the bathroom, totally out of breath (I do have a bad cold, we are 5000 feet high and that girl is smoking right into my face plus, I have to pee) IT IS FUNNY!!! Another employee comes in and tries to help and I have to idea to put soap on the cone, so we put three pumps of soap on the cone...nothing.
Well, we push, pull, pry the door open so we can get out and to our breakfast, b/c that is more important and I can't laugh anymore.
A few minutes later that girl comes to the table and thanx us for our help. I guess that got the cone out........what can you say.
After the breakfast we drive around and rent skis and boots, look at some bike shops and enjoy the tempartures in the 60ies.
By mid-afternoon, I have to take a time-out. My voice is totally gone(=hoarse=speachless). This dry dessert air is hart on my cold.
Ryan joins us for dinner and we find this really cool Chinese place. Yummy! By this time, we all have skis, ski-poles and boots. I am sooooo excited. I L O V E skiing. I met Martin through skiing. I love mountains and tomorrow will be the first time that I ski in the U.S.A.
Well, that is not true, b/c I skied at Mt. Crescent, IA. Yes, I have and I can proof it:))
Well, it is time for the ski bunny to go to sleep, so I can tear uo some trails tomorrow.
Die Bergziege in ihrem Element!

I hear skiing is in my future:))

Looks like R&R, and Martin and I swapping out the nobby tires for some smooth skies towards the end of the months for some skiing in Nevada.

How COOL is that!!!

In order to get a feel the the wintery conditions, I went for another ride today. Yes, you can call me crazy. It was 7 Degrees when I left and oh yes there was some wind. I was actually fine until my toes got cold. I still haven't figured out how to keep them warm. That is so much easier in ski-boots:)

Winter-Gardening has its challenges as well. Well, I am trying to put some cuttings into soil that I got this week. Well the bag of soil was outside, behind the house, so I hauled that thing in and let it sit for a while until I could knock a bit out of it. It is still too frozen to be worked with. My cuttings will have to wait until tomorrow to get into the soil.