The CragBaby

I just realized that my Seattle based friend Chris is blogging. I have looked through about a dozen entries this morn and am impressed with his blog, especially his photos. He writes on all topics I know nothing about: photography, pop culture, music, movies, etc. I really dig it. Check it out here or it will also be linked on my blogroll. The above shot is his and called Artificial Nature.

The EPIC Partner’s Meeting was held on the 8-9th of February. I thoroughly enjoy our Partner’s Meeting as it is just another chance to rub shoulders with our CEO’s and talk with our investors. This year was especially exciting as we boasted our 2007 six exits, Josh Coates entertained the dinner crew with the funniest PPT of the Mozy life cycle and Tim Draper managed to embarrass everyone at the lunch table.

The meetings were again held on a Friday with Saturday spent skiing at Deer Valley. I have always foregone the skiing, as snowboarders are barred from Deer Valley, but this year I thought I would give the two planks a go. Shaft came up for the day to give me support on the green circles and take video.

Me and Shaft on the lift at Deer Valley.

Deer Valley = tourist picture.  Yep, I am heading in the direction of the green circles and lodge.  =)

I surprisingly loved the two planks. It wasn’t a direct comparison to the board as the two sports seem to have a completely different feel. On the skis I just wanted to try and go fast for some reason, even while still rocking the snowplow. On my board I don’t really love speed, but like to do little spins and try to land jumps, though never very successful. I think mostly it was just fun to try something new, to be scared to tumble down the hill once again. I actually would be pretty jazzed to give it another go.

It has been one of those days. Instead of being cranky, I am going to do my normal practice of listing 10 things for which I am grateful (and adding in a pretty picture from Ireland).

• I am glad my friend Sam has the opportunity to move to Guam. Tonight he is playing music at a SLC house party and I am excited to see him before he goes. Sam is one of my best friends and I am so excited for his chance to leave Utah and expound on his career.
• I am excited that it is 2008. Good things are in the pipeline this year. I am excited for those things to come to pass.
• I am on the waiting list to donate platelets on Sunday. I hope I can get in because I miss this volunteer opportunity as I haven’t done it for about a month.
• I love my dog. She is always excited to see me.
• I am grateful for opportunity and the feeling that it always exists, that I am not stuck in one place. I feel like the only thing that limits me are the invisible boundaries I imagine.
• I think a crew of us are doing a day trip to Ibex tomorrow or down to Joes to hop on some ice. I’m stoked for that.
• I am glad I stopped practicing the Mormon faith five years back. I don’t mean to offend any of my Mormon friends by that statement, but the religion wasn’t a good fit for me and I am exponentially happier since. My emergence from the religion helped me desire a career, a degree, to travel, to be independent and realize that I can make a difference. I realized that I could have a bigger role in life than to get married and have many children. I am completely a different person now and I like who I currently am a lot better. (Disclaimer: Note that I am not saying you have to leave the religion to figure these thing out. I am listing my experiences only.)
• I work with one individual who is just such a great person, genuinely a good person. He cares for everyone, has a wonderful marriage to a fantastic wife, is extremely motivating and is one of the few people I turn to for advice. I am lucky to work with him.
• I love these computer science classes even though the work load is heavy and I can easily fall behind. I love that I have had the opportunity to start learning another skill set.
• I am grateful that I like who I am. The world can be a little rough sometimes, but I am so content by myself that it doesn’t matter. Life is good even when I am all alone. Perhaps even better when I am alone. =)

Last night I told Shaft that I thought I had lost my few readers when I moved to my new site because I hadn’t seen any comments since the web address shift. Then he suggested I look in the moderation section. Ha ha ha ha! I guess it helps if I check that on occasion. Thanks for all of you that have commented and sorry I was so slow to approve. Neal, thanks for the feedback. Whew, that text is hard to see. I will look into fixing it. =)

I luckily ended up with some free tickets to the Peking Acrobats (somehow I keep ending up with free tickets … schweet! ). It isn’t something that I would buy tickets to attend, but how can you pass up a free show, another chance to get dressed up and another night of hanging out with a good friend? All I know is these gymnasts need to start climbing as I truly believe they could seriously push the grades to a whole new level. I think they would give Sharma a run for his money.

Third time up in this year of powder was spent at Snowbird with Shaft and later joined by Dr. M. Snowbird has been my resort of choice for the past three or four years and feel like I know the mountain well. However, Dr. M. had a whole handful of excellent beta of chutes and tree lines I had never skied. Poor Shaft had already done a 5mile snowshoe walk / race that morn and remained cheerful as we drug him all over the mountain. Good times!

Me real smiley on The Road to Provo.

Dr. M joined Shaft and I half way through the day. Even though he has skied for years, he insists on always have the bar down on the chair lift. =D

Shaft also captured the Snowbird boogie, a staple for a good day of riding.  H.I.P. #2, this is my equivalent of the “Going to the Burren” dance.

Camping at The Burren

In 2006 I traveled to Ireland for a two week trip and was amazed at the hospitality of the Irish. People would freely give me rides, offer me drinks, talk for hours in pubs, inquire about my travels, etc. Then to top it off I met the most fantastic crew of climbers who picked me up in Northern Ireland to let me join in their climbing trip at the Burren. The hospitality of these people was over the top.

While there I made two real good friends, H.I.P #1 and H.I.P #2. (H.I.P is an acronym for Hardcore Irish Person as it they were psyched to climb even when the rock was wet, plus would sip tea in the freezing rain prior to crashing in the tent for the night .) This week has been a little funky as I am striving to get back into the groove of work and midterms after a long awesome weekend. Between work and homework I took a break to flip through the Google reader and saw that H.I.P #2 had posted up the nicest blog about my new site and how his friends should check it out. The Irish kindness never ceases to amaze me.

Both H.I.P #1 and H.I.P #2 blog. Check out their sites here and here.

Michael Franti is one of my favorite artists as his music captures the essence of climbing trips and the chill life attached to the hobby. I was introduced to him and his music two years at his performance during the Gallivan Plaza concert series. The plaza was packed with people dancing, drinking and thoroughly enjoying the music. It was a warm beautiful night that was perfectly cooled by the slightest rain shower. The night was a perfect summer evening.

This past summer Franti was on the list of artists hitting Gallivan again and I stoked to see him again, his concert being the only concert in the series that I was determined to see. As luck would have it, my good friend Shaft and I had planned to go all summer but during this week Shaft’s youngest daughter ended up in Primary Children’s Hospital fairly sick and so we spent the evening with her, painting and watching a movie.

Unbeknownest to me, Michael Franti was schedule to hit the SLC scene again during the Outdoor Retailer show. Shaft bought two tickets and asked me if I wanted to join in. Oh man, it was such a treat and yet another fantastic Franti show.

Me and Shaft prior to the concert. Woot!

I haven’t really hit up the snow this year. Seems funny to live in Utah, especially this year and not “slide on snow”. I think I just needed a break for a year. I usually have a season’s pass and take snowboarding a little too seriously. So, I didn’t make the investment and have only gone out a handful times, though our snow has been phenomenal. I think this year I just wanted to climb more than board. And the rarity of the days has made riding real fun. One powder day in January Triznut, BW, Shaft and I decided we were heading up because we were slammed with powder. We waited two hours (Triznut and BW in one car and Shaft and I in another) by the 7-11 at the base of the canyons. We were hoping to get up Big Cottonwood for a day at Solitude, yet when the 2 hour wait mark hit, Shaft and I headed up Little Cottonwood to Snowbird. It was my first time to snowboard with Shaft and it was such a great time. The powder was fantastic, the lifts were not too busy and the alpenglow on Superior at the 4 o’clock hour was stunning. I had taken pics, but unfortunately they were erased. No pics, but still great memories.

Gunner was patient enough to take me out for my first time on ice. As a newbie we hit up the popular Great White Icicle, four out of five of the pitches as the fifth was looking a little thin. However, unlike a newbie we started climbing at 6pm as Gunner was called into work during the day.

Unfortunately blurry, but still a pic from one of my first climbs.

Gunner hanging out at one of the belay stations.

Me real excited to be on the ice, even if at night.