Jen and I continued our tradition of spending Thanksgiving in Vail again this year. The weather was great, we got snow every day, and there was enough snow base than the entire front side of the mountain was open.

Our turkey

We stayed at our usual place, the Comfort Inn, in Avon (Beaver Creek). It’s in close proximity to luxurious accommodations.

Now featuring windows

and a bus stop

An important goal for this trip was to make sure all of our equipment was in order before traveling to Japan. In particular, we needed to make sure we could actually carry all of our crap. Looks like all our time in the gym is paying off, because I give it at least a 50/50 shot that we will make it out of Narita airport.

We don’t travel light

Unfortunately, Jen had critical boot failure on day 1. She had previously worn out her liners and replaced with them aftermarket replacements of the summer. They most assuredly DID NOT work out. Luckily Pepi Sports (the second swankiest retailer in Vail) was having a sale (seriously) and found an excellent pair of boots for a fair price.

Cinderella’s slipper

After we got all of our gear sorted out, we tried something new; Woodward’s training facilities at Copper Mountain. Woodward operates trampolines, ramps and foam pits to learn new tricks safely. A foam pit is basically a swimming pool filled with couch cushions cut into six inch cubes. You then hurtle preciously into them and hopefully land unhurt. You then have to crawl out, which is a unique form of torture. Running a marathon has nothing on swimming in foam in ski boots.

In order to roll down the ramps you use specialized skis that have roller-skate wheels attached. It is incredibly awkward, dangerous and hard to do. Jen was much better than I was.

On my first time off the jump I attempted a backflip and landed very precisely upside down, directly on my head. On the next attempt I did my best impression of a cat falling off a ledge.

Semi-controlled flailing

There were a ton of very talented kids there that made us both look bad.

Yeah? Well, I have a drivers license

Luckily we are both still proficient at trampolines. Lesser individuals may have become very tired or even dizzy due to the high level of exertion at high altitude, but we of course did not. Our peak physical conditioning keeps us running optimally in all circumstances.

Skiing for Thanksgiving was fun as always and after some equipment tweaks we are (hopefully) ready for Japan; It’s a big scary trip and it’s approaching quickly!