Heavenly, Sking #6

They keep giving me these "upgrades" whenever I rent cars. First, it was a civic when it was supposed to be an economy class. Then it was HR-V AWD. And then finally Optima. I was mighty impressed how fun it is to drive these little cars, I've been thinking about getting one to either replace or supplement my old Tesla Model S.  Tesla Model S is good for interstate cruising, but it is not dopaminergic. It just doesn't connect you to the road -- you don't know that you are drifting when you are in the COVID-induced blur in wee hours. It's no wonder I got into an accident in Taos. So, I went to the dealerships and test-drove a few subcompact CUVs to see if I can find one that is fun to drive and that I can take to the mountains. I need some off-road capability as well since I'm not taking my Tesla off-road anymore. I'm done with trashing it and causing $10k damage.

I tested Crosstrek and CX-30, two top-rated CUVs. Crosstrek wasn't fun and neither was CX-30. I figured I might as well test a hatchback while I was at the dealership, so I hopped in a Mazda 3. It was fun as expected, but I can't take it off-road without lifting it a couple of inches. So, it appears that I can't have cake and eat it too: I'll have to give up either fun or off-roading. Will that be worth $30k? Maybe not. Maybe I'll stick to my Tesla for a while longer and then replace it with another electric that is capable of off-roading, when they have AWD available for less than $30k after the EV subsidy. Wait for an electric version of Crosstrek, in other words. An electric version will be more fun to drive since EVs have lower center of gravity, not to mention the instantaneous power.

So, I drove an Optima this time, to Heavenly. And, this time, all lifts were open. It was an absolutely gorgeous day with turquois Lake Tahoe below reflecting the blue sky above. I warmed up on Powder Bowl lifts for a while, and then skied Canyon Express before going over to Nevada side via Skyline trail. There, the snow-sprinkled desert of Nevada spread out below. On sunny days, the views from Heavenly is, well, heavenly. I left my phone in the car unfortunately, so I didn't get to take the picture this time.

It's been over a month since the season started and I was running out of dopamine by now. It's the same pattern: a month into the season, I'm less excited and less talkative. I knew days of struggle was coming after the skiing, but I still skied hard. Then, on my way back to California side, I got lost and got into woods: I ended up tree-skiing into a ravine unintentionally. It took a quite a bit out of me. My right knee was cramping on my way back home, I had to pull over and stretch. All that twisting motion to avoid trees must've taken the toll.

So, rotating to different resorts did not extend the novelty effect by much. And the aftermath after skiing #6 was as expected: I struggled for 4 days afterwards. From this point on, I'll have to cut down on both intensity and duration by half. That means 2 sessions of 4 runs on blue slopes. I'm yet to get my moguls down pat though, so the plan may not go as planned. Which means I'll be struggling well into February at least.

Heavenly, Skiing #5

There was a break in the weather for a couple of days and this was my chance to make a dash before the rain resumed. Thursday the 12th was a better day of the two -- rain was to come back in the afternoon of Friday -- but the road would be clearer on Friday morning. I rented the car, drove to Heavenly and made it all the way this time. 

It must've been 20 years since the last time I was here. I didn't come here too often even when I was healthy. It was further away than others and expensive -- Heavenly and Squaw are two biggest resorts and therefore proportionally expensive.  Driving on scenic US-50 was also a pain as it becomes 2 lane highway in the mountains: it's not that fun getting stuck behind a truck or RV when you are in hurry to get to the mountain or get back home. It's no wonder I don't remember much of it except for Gun Barrel and the view of Lake Tahoe from the top. 

I actually was at the resort at 8:30AM. I knew the snow was coming around 1PM, so I started out early so that I can finish early. But the lift didn't open till 9AM so I had to wait for a while. The upper mountain was closed because of the wind, and everybody was crammed into Power Bowl on California side. After spending a couple hours on Power Bowl, I got tired of the long line. I moved to Gun Barrel.

It was exhausting. Gun Barrel was not only steep, but it was also long. I had to make 5 or 6 stops to make it down to the bottom. Do that 3 times, and anybody would run out of gas. I quit and I returned to my car at 12:30. It was only about 3 hours of skiing for the day. But I did it almost nonstop except for a brief lunch break. 

The aftermath followed the same pattern: high for 2 days and then struggle for a day. I was back up and running by the evening of the 3rd day and I did ski exercise for a few minutes. The next day I was bed ridden for about 5 hours in the afternoon. I should've given full 3 days of rest, I guess.

Skiing #5 is usually when the novelty effect wears out and I start to struggle. But I'm still alive and kicking. Rotating to different resort must be extending it. Will it last for the entire season? We'll see.

House-arrested by Bad Weather

It's been raining for 3 weeks in a row. That meant too much of a good thing in the mountains: the snow piles up well over 10 feet and it's been few and far in between clear roads free of chain control. I rented a car and attempted to go up last week, only to be turned around by chain control at near Kyburz, 30 miles before reaching the ski resort.

And that meant I've been house bound, save the failed attempt to get to Heavenly. The occasional walk or jogging ended in the struggle the next day. My exercise tolerance has been shrinking just like it did in 2020 when I was house-arrested by Coronavirus and wildfire.

The storm train is lined up in the Pacific and the rain will continue at least for another week. I'll have to figure out a way to escape. There is a brief break tomorrow. The road may be open on Friday morning, and I might be able to make my dash for it. Cross fingers.

Kirkwood, Skiing #4

My rib still hurts, and the car is still in the shop. There were issues to be resolved and they are yet to start working on the repair. I obviously won't get it back before Christmas, but I wanted to go back up the mountain at least once before. I need a car for groceries and other things before Christmas as well, so I rented a car for a couple of days. I ended up with Honda Civic from Dollar.

On Dec 21, I took it to Kirkwood through winding road. At first, the car felt primitive. Press the pedal, and it would make noise. But it wouldn't go. I haven't been in a gas car for a few years now and I'm no longer used to it. After a while though, it became fun. The light-weight car was infinitely toss-able in the mountain road. I was driving 60 through the winding curves. Much more fun than the interstate cruiser known as Tesla Model S. I was reliving my 20s as such. I used to drive to Kirkwood from the Bay Area in my Integra. I'd be driving like a maniac through the darkening evening, anxious to get back home after a long day of skiing. 

Lunch Break at Sunrise Cafe

Skiing itself was a blast. The snow wasn't as nice as a week ago, naturally. The groomed runs turned icy at places, thanks to snowboarders scraping the hills. But ungroomed off-piste slopes still have plenty of soft moguls. After warming up on Solitude, as I used to 20 years ago, I stayed on Sunrise chair most of the day. When the backside became shady, I came back to the Solitude. The ridge -- I think it was called Eagle -- to the front side off Sunrise was rather bare. So, I skied down to Iron Horse and then came back to the front. It was just like the old days.

The next day, we went to pre-Christmas lunch at Yum Chinese Buffet and stuffed ourselves for 2 hours. In the evening, I drove the car back to the airport and dropped it off at Dollar. In all, I was up and running for 2 days after skiing. Then, the PEM bus arrived, and I crapped out in the afternoon of the 3rd day, for about 10 hours. I was then up and running again. 10 hours of PEM after hard skiing is not bad at all. The hard skiing probably required 3 days for recovery. But I still was flush with dopamine for 2 days, and that probably doused the PEM. And, when dopamine finally ran out, I crapped out.

Northstar, Skiing #3

There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Some parts of the slopes haven't been skied on; the snow was still fresh. The moguls on the heavily skied on portion of Zephir were bigger. But the heavy snow made it slower and therefore more skiable. I stayed on Zephir most of the time, again. 

I managed to postpone the car repair till Wednesday. Then I was on my way back to the mountains on Tuesday. The snowbanks by the road were 6 feet tall, but the roads were fine. One day respite must've been enough to melt whatever's left after the plow shoveled aside to the shoulder. I stopped at Truckee Tesla station, took care of the morning business while refueling, and then I was on the yellow lot like the last time. I carried my backpack with lunch this time, got on the shuttle bus and I was on the slope by 10 AM. 

On the 2nd run, the tip of my skis got caught in a mound and I fell forward. One of the poles got stuck in the snow and impaled my ribcage. I'm not sure if the rib got bruised or broken. I've been in pain since and unable to breathe deeply. It felt a little better yesterday, then I sneezed and got stabbed by a terrible, sharp pain. Now I'm feeling worse.  I hope I'll back in shape to ski again by the time I get my car back. 

The moguls were more difficult, and hence progressively better for practice, than the last time. I was getting my rhythm right, up and down as well as side to side. Maybe this is the year that I finally mastered moguls. I'll have to move on to something else then, perhaps to powder skiing.

The aftermath followed the same as the last time: brief struggle with fatigue and sluggishness in the afternoon, 2 days after. It's more like delayed post-exercise fatigue. If the season progresses like it did last year, this pattern of post-exercise fatigue should continue throughout December, and then turn into post-exertional sickness in January.

Northstar and the Aftermath, Skiing #2

Skiing was fun once again. The latest storm left 3 ft of snow in the mountains and the packed snow supplied enough grip for control. To boot, Northstar had lots of intermediate/advanced slopes with small bumps that are perfect for mogul practice. 

Kirkwood had more snow and that is where I wanted to go. But then I remembered how slick the mountain road was 5 days ago after the second storm. I attempted to get to Kirkwood on 12/2, but I had to turned around at Pioneer just before Hwy 88 plunged into a dark ravine. The car already started to slip a few miles back, and the shaded downhill wasn't going to help the matter. I figured $5k damage that I incurred back in September in New Mexico was enough. Kirkwood will have to wait; I'm not going there till the weather has been clear for at least 2 days.

I got to Northstar around 9:30 AM after stopping for a quick charge in Truckee. But the parking lot was so far away from the lift -- you have to take shuttle to get to/from the lift -- it took me another 30 minutes to get on the slope. There were paid lots close to the lift, but I wasn't the one to shell out more fees on the top of $430 that I already paid for Epic Pass. Had I known that the parking was so far, I would've taken my backpack to carry my lunch with me. I had to take the shuttle back to my car for lunch, and I'm sure that took up another 30 minutes. 

I managed to squeeze in 3 skiing sessions of about 4 runs each. The runs were at least twice as long as those at Soda Springs (I had to take 3 breaks on each run off Zephir chair), so a session of 4 runs in Northstar is at least equivalent to 8 runs in Soda Springs. At the end of the first session, I took Comstock chair to the summit. That one required 5 breaks to get down.  It was 2 PM when I was back on the slope after lunch, and 4 PM when I was all done.  I came home after dark.

The aftermath followed the typical pattern. The next day, I was up and running, flush with dopamine. Then fatigue and struggle followed before mildly recovering the 3rd day, enough to squeeze in 4x1 block jogging. Today, I'm struggling with heavy fatigue from the jogging. I probably should've given full 3 days of rest instead of jogging.

Overall, it's an improvement over the aftermath of the first skiing on 11/14, which was within the 2-week probationary period after the flu shot. So, now I'm concluding that the subpar performance after the first skiing was due to the flu shot, not due to weaker novelty effect after 3 seasons of skiing. I should do fine throughout December. Then I'll half the amount and difficulty. Then again, I may not have to. I can ski three different resorts in CA with Epic Pass, so I may be able to keep the novelty effect alive throughout the season by rotating the resorts each month. If I make it to Park City, Utah, I may keep going full power well into April. We'll see.

Another storm just dumped 4 feet of snow and I should be going up the mountains again. But I have to take my car in for repair tomorrow, and it'll take a week to get it back. I'll see if I can postpone the appointment to Wednesday so that I can go back to Northstar on Tuesday.

15-mile Bike Ride

The 2-week probation period after the flu shot on 11/5 was over two weeks ago. On 11/30, I figured I'd be fine with bike riding, so I went on a ride intending to go to Discovery Park. I was knocked out just a day before, after walking from Tesla station to Barns and Noble and spending an hour walking about at the bookstore, but that was probably because I walked after jogging the day before. Biking 5 miles after a day of rest should be fine.

As I often do, I went over. I felt great when I got to Discovery Park, so I decided to continue on. I ended up at the trail near REI, and then I continued till I came to an access to the river. I poked around the river for a while and then returned, for the total of over 15 miles. The next afternoon I got knocked out. But I was back on my feet in the evening. It was one of the shortest post-exertional sickness.

When I biked 14 miles to REI on 10/24, I was knocked out for 3 days. post-trip probation of 2 weeks starts one week after returning from the life on the road, and that bike ride was right in the middle of that probation period.  I got sickened again this time, but only for half a day. 

Overall, not bad. Especially given that it was right after getting knocked out from jogging and then visiting the bookstore. And it was at a decent clip: Nonstop to the river and 130 minutes in total including two breaks. I should give 15-mile ride another try after at least two non-sick days.