February 22, 2009 |

Ice meet knee

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Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you. ~ The Stranger


This past week was relatively active with work and play-packed days. I ran 6.5 miles in an hour on the treadmill on Thursday then headed to Crested Butte early Friday to ski with my dad and cousin, in visiting from Oklahoma. We spun a bunch of laps on the North Face lift and good times were had by all. Funnel was in good shape as well, always a good way to end the day.


I started trying to step it up with both the speed and aggressiveness and managed to work up the steam to drop a few rocks in tighter terrain. Definitely wasn’t flowing things quite yet but being able to toss air in the trees was a definite move forward for me. I was also charging several areas which usually cause me troubles so all in all, I was slaying it.


David, Dad and I grabbed a drink at the base post skiing and were treated to a really tasty Marg. Here’s the recipe: 3 parts Tequilla, 2 parts Rose’s Lime, 1 part Triple Sec, splash of Sprite. I highly recommend it. Dad and I then hit Donita’s for dinner. Still one of my favorite restaurants. Great food and awesome service. Plus the owners, Kay and Heli are always willing to sit and talk with us for a bit… which is pretty cool.


Saturday, I headed back up and immediately headed out to one of my favorite circuits: Teocalli Bowl to Third Bowl. Lots of hiking = a sweaty Stu but it is usually worth it. The conditions on Saturday didn’t disappoint and I dropped a couple of big rocks in Teo then rallied Third to the bottom of Big Hourglass where the Extreme Championships were being held. This is some serious terrain and is an area never open to the public. I watched the final Juniors go then stayed for most of the ladie’s event before I decided to go spin more laps.


I worked my way back around the mountain for a Headwall lap then up the NFL again and into Fredo’s which is a cliff section at the top of the North Face. I kinda blew my drop in but then skied the rest of Phoenix really well and hucked a couple of other big drops. Well, big for me. By the time I got back down, the men’s event was in full swing and those guys are just sick. Rallying down Home Depot and tossing BIG air in the trees, over huge gaps, all in terrain with VERY serious consequences if one were to fall… really amazing skiing. I watched the event for awhile then decided to go back up and redeem myself on Fredo’s. I dropped in and was skiing really well. Stuck my landing off a decent sized diving board then headed back over to Phoenix.


My second time off a pretty good drop proved to be it for me for the day. I am not really sure what happened but I landed on some rocks which rotated me forward a bit and my knee immediately started hurting. I was able to ski out, making alpine turns and having some pain on initiating right hand turns. My right knee immediately started to swell up and by the time I finally made it all the way back down to the base, it was really unhappy with me. Lots of swelling and pain. Bummer. That’s the cost of going for it sometimes though.


So I iced it all the way home and am continuing treatment today. No skiing for awhile, I’m sure and running is probably out too. I’ll try to get in to see Mark on Monday to see if he can help get me back up and rockin’ ASAP. Given the amount of pain, I am thinking it is probably a strain vs. a tear but we’ll see what the experts say.


Even with the injury, days 40 and 41 were a blast. Crested Butte has some killer terrain and is still one of my favorite areas. Get over there if you have a chance.



~stubert.

Thoughtful strategy. Practical execution.

Clear thinking, honest perspectives, and experience shaped by years of doing the work. No shortcuts, no borrowed opinions, just lessons learned by showing up, solving problems, and following ideas all the way through.

Four hikers with backpacks walking along a rocky mountain ridge under a blue sky
May 8, 2026
We are each our own greatest inhibitor. People don’t want to do new things if they think they’re going to be bad at them or people are going to laugh at them. You have to be willing to subject yourself to failure, to be bad, to fall on your head and do it again, and try stuff that you’ve never done in order to be the best you can be. ~ Laird Hamilton Yesterday: Hit Range Balls/Hike – Casa del Critters, 1:15 Today: Run – GGCSP, ~2 hours Tomorrow: Ride – Somewhere singlespeedy, ~2 hours Yesterday, Rach and I took a nice stroll in the woods around our house. The songbirds were going crazy-nuts and surprisingly, we only saw one other person walking his dog. I love where we live – close proximity to fun trails and the ability to get away from it all in just a short walk from our house. During lunch yesterday, I went to the driving range to get a few cuts in before playing a round of golf with my dad next week. I don’t get to play very often so need to brush up on my skills (or lack thereof) whenever I can. I am looking forward to playing with my pops and hope to break 100. I shot a 102 the last time I played so I am within striking distance of the sub-triple-digit score. We’ll see how things go. I usually do okay for most of the round and then fall apart on a couple of holes pushing my score way up. Dad shoots in the low 80s usually (I think). I am not sure I will ever play enough to be that good but it is fun to get out on the course now and again. I also went to see Dr. Paul yesterday for my ankle problem (which seems to have been resolved) and my knee (which is still a bit swollen but has decreased in size markedly over the past several days). The knee stems from my unscheduled nose-dive back in May (see this post for details). The shot some pictures and believe that everything is a-ok so that was good news. I just need to select better places for splashdowns in the future. And today is Luke’s birthday. Age is one place where I will always beat him but visit his blog to congratulate him on trying to catch up. Until next time…
Runner silhouetted at sunset on a rocky trail, mid-stride between hills.
May 8, 2026
Progress comes from the intelligent use of experience. ~ Elbert Hubbard Yesterday: Run – Casa del Critters/Flume, 1 hour 15 minutes Today: Ride/Hike/Relax Tomorrow: Run/Hike – Pawnee/Buchanan Passes, 6 hours? Yesterday I ran around the house. Not literally, mind you, but in the neighborhood. It was a gorgeous evening – calm, cool. Perfect. The wildflowers are really starting to take off up here and I was treated with a bold display of color throughout my run. Tons of Columbine lined the trailside as I ran on old mining roads and singletrack trails. It is really fun to see how much differently I am able to handle familiar terrain. I used to have difficulties running this loop and would have to walk major sections. Last night, I ran the entire loop without trouble and was able to moderate my speed to maintain a steady cadence through the run. Good times. Contracting is staying steady. A bit of a drop-off this week given the holiday but I am still managing to put in a decent number of hours. I picked up another new project today and will need to get started immediately to ensure that it gets completed on time.  Tomorrow, we are going to head up Pawnee Pass and loop back around to Buchanan Pass in the northern Indian Peaks Wilderness. This should be a fun challenge as we’ll get up pretty high, have to navigate some snow (most likely) and will be out for quite awhile. I am looking forward to it for sure . Movie time: I forgot to mention Shopgirl, a Steve Martin vehicle, we watched the other night. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but found this to be a charming film about loneliness. It was well acted and would recommend it for sure. The pacing is steady throughout and some might find it a little on the slow side but it was an engaging film that had a lot to say without being overly sappy.
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In case you hadn’t seen these (and also for my friends at Adventure Film ), here are a couple of must-see running movies from Joel Wolpert:  Geoff Roes: Slogging to the Top