Rock Climbing

To be a better at it is my new goal. I have just recently started learning how to rock climb and I love it. I don't think I will ever have to lift weights again. Instead I will go climb a wall. The first time I went I was so sore all over. Amber kicked my trash and climbed the wall at Lombardi like it was nothing, but then again I guess she does have 15 years of experience on me. On Monday the 17th I went over to Amber's house to go climbing again, because ironically enough they have a rock climbing wall. The only downside to the wall it was outside and a bit chilly. Amber was hardcore she climbed the wall to put the anchor rope up. A couple other people came over to try the wall. I felt that I had improved so much more, maybe it was the shoes or the fact that I used my legs instead of my arms this time. The Gonda's wall was fun, it even had real rocks as holds. My favorite were the skull shaped ones, they reminded me of the Goonies. I tried to climb in Amber's Ugg boots while she was getting ready to climb and well yeah it didn't go to well. Then we decided to race up to the line. Yeah I didn't last too long without shoes. I was even brave to try "bouldering" this time. I will just have to try out the wall at Lombardi again to see if I have improved at all. Maybe this summer I can even go climb a real rock.

Cabin in Tahoe. Everything included, even a fire pole.

A couple of weekends ago I was spoiled with a wonderful weekend stowed away in the forest of Tahoe at the Dyches cabin. It was possibly one of the best weekends of my life. I needed to get away from the world for a while, and well why not do it in Tahoe with people you don't even know. It was definitely an adventure just getting to the cabin, with all the delayed flights, snow and three random guys I didn't even know. Let's just say it made for interesting conversation in the mini-van. haha.
Once we finally met up with Emily in California to drive up the cabin the adventure continued. She pulled up in the Lexus, it was completely covered in a sheet of thick ice! We put all of our gear in the back and piled in, I grabbed the front seat because I ♥ seat warmers. I was so grateful that Emily was driving because let's just say the mini-van would not have made it up the road at 1 in the morning through the snow. In order to get to the cabin from where we stopped once again we had to take the Argo and the snowmobile. Let's just say I wasn't prepared for this, I quickly grabbed a beanie, my goggles and my warmer coat. I got to go with Emily on the snowmobile eventually once we got it started. All the guys piled onto the Argo with Ben who looked like Darth Vader with his giant black helmet.

This thing is a beast and can pretty much drive through/over anything. The day before the guys at the cabin had made a path so it was not too bad on the way up. It was my first time on a snowmobile, I was a bit scared but had a blast. My hands started to freeze on the way up because I forgot to put my gloves on. Emily was nice enough to let me use her pockets. I was frozen by the time we drove the mile to the cabin. After almost running into the front door on the cabin and waking up Kyla I had some of the best hot cocoa ever! Apparently it was so cold I cut my nose and I didn't even feel it. I was so excited that I could hardly sleep that night even if by the time we got to the cabin it was 2 in the morning. The next morning we had awesome pancakes and eggs with some more fabulous hot cocoa. It was a gorgeous morning and its hard to complain when you wake up to a view of the gorgeous Tahoe area.

Emily had a hard core sledding accident the day before so she decided to stay in and take a nap. Everyone else decided to go and play in the snow. Eventually by the time we all got our gear on it had started to snow again, which just made it more fun. The path we had driven up on the night before had a slight downhill slope so everyone grabbed a sled, snowboard, or Argo to ride down. As I was riding down the path on my snowboard I would just stop and listen to the silence of the forest, it was nice. Then I would continue to ride down the path, until I caught my edge on the side of the snow bank and face planted into the powder. After spitting out a mouthful of fresh snow I attempted to finish the trail. After having to strap out of my board 3 times because of the flat parts on the trail I met up with the Argo. Sarah was driving and three of the guys were piled in the back. I hopped in the front with Sarah while Sid and Q got out. They took the two sleds with ropes tied them to the back of the Argo and were dragged back up the trail. It was very entertaining seeing as we were going 5 miles an hour up this path in a blizzard. After finally making it back to the cabin soaking wet, I was perfectly content with staying inside the warm cabin drinking hot chocolate.
Later on that evening there was some definate entertainment, I mean it's not everyday you see Sid in a fully body bright ORANGE Nasa space suit or anyone for that matter. Also that evening I was introduced to one of the BEST games ever, BOGGLE. I think Emily has the ability to intimidate anyone in a single round of boggle. In order to even compete one can't watch her write because you will have the desire to quickly give up. I got clammy hands, Sarah made up lots of random words, and Sid wrote so hard he carved his list into the wood table. But it is officially one of my new favorite games. The next day was Sunday and the fact that we even fathomed the idea that we, all 8 of us, could make it to 9 o'clock church makes me laugh. We only had the Argo to get everyone and everything down the mountain. So the first trip involved 4 of us (Ky, Q, Emily, myself) and the majority of the gear. I got to sit in the back of the Argo to make sure none of the stuff fell out. Emily wasn't sure we were going to make it seeing as a fresh two feet of snow had fallen the night before. When we tried to start the Argo on Sunday morning the key hole had frozen over, so Sid with his mad skills got a cup of hot water and spit it into the hole. He saved the day, but I was hoping we would get stuck another day I would not have minded at all. The trail which had been so convienent the entire weekend had disappeared completely beneath a fresh blanket of powder.
The road ahead.

But the Argo is hard-core and could totally handle it, well slowly it handled it.
The road behind.

It's fun to go riding in a blizzard with friends down a mountain. A little chilly though.

Once we got down the mountain we found the Lexus, it had become part of the wall.

It did awesome though and totally made it out fine. Ky and I were the lucky ones that got to go down to the van and wait for everyone else to come down from the cabin. We made good use of our time by creating a lion to guard the front gate.


It was so cool, but it eventually got covered from the blizzard. It was definitely an adventure I enjoyed and will remember.

Riding at Boreal.

Amber and I went night boarding/skiing at Boreal this Friday. It was my first time going riding at night, it was fun but a little icy. Amber is a pro even after 2 years of not skiing.

As for me I tried not to fall on the ice. My favorite part had to be watching the sun go down while riding the chair lift.

Pretty pink snow. The clouds parted just enough for us to watch the sun go down it was so gorgeous.


There were so many people there, but it is hard to beat a 15 dollar lift ticket. Riding still makes me smile everytime.

One of the best feelings ever: taking your boots off after riding for hours, it is liberating.

I like to call her ninja turtle toes.

As for me I fit right in with the saggy pants look, I don't understand how people ride this way. To top off our adventure we went to T's my favorite place in Tahoe.