You’re either here because you found me online or because I know you IRL.
This will serve as a place for me to share my day-to-day antics and journal my thoughts. As you might already know, I don’t like modern social media :)
Interests:
Skiing, rowing, biking, hiking, & travelling
Technology, free software, & lurking more
Going on message boards and complaining about games I've never played!
So, a friend was crazy enough to join me in Skiing on May 3rd for Black Mountain’s closing day and 90th anniversary party. It was a great time. Tickets were only $9 ($14 with RFID card). It may very well have been Black Mountain’s busiest day of the year, even. Seriously, people from as far away as Florida and Colorado showed up to enjoy the snow. The parking lot was completely full, so I had to park in a field the next lot over. It was so busy, in fact, that I was directed to skip claiming my RFID lift ticket until later on in the day and just show my online receipt to the lift attendants. The skiing was about as good as it gets for a small hill in May. There was one trail open from the summit with Planck-length-thin cover on the upper portion, but there was a surprising amount of man-made snow on the lower portion and even a mogul field!
Après-ski Pendant-ski
The atmosphere was really cool. It felt like skiing through a backyard party. The Lostbo on-mountain lodge had beach chairs, a DJ, and a crowd cheering on skiers on the chairlift just above with Champagne in hand. There were also some sweet free 90th anniversary T-shirts up for grabs before the rain moved in in the afternoon. We skied in the rain for a while, and got 10 runs in. The first couple of lift lines were probably ~7-10 minutes long, but they died down, as expected, when the rain set in. I certainly could have kept skiing for longer, but my friend was cold and wet, so we decided to stop around 4:00 PM. The summit double continued to spin until 7:30 PM for any skiers hearty enough to continue on until then.
Short Hike to The Basin at Franconia Notch
After stopping for some delicious Clam Chowda and a burger at Tuckerman’s Restaurant & Tavern, we took a short drive around Mount Washington to gaze longingly at the remaining patches of snow at …
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Après-ski Pendant-ski
The atmosphere was really cool. It felt like skiing through a backyard party. The Lostbo on-mountain lodge had beach chairs, a DJ, and a crowd cheering on skiers on the chairlift just above with Champagne in hand. There were also some sweet free 90th anniversary T-shirts up for grabs before the rain moved in in the afternoon. We skied in the rain for a while, and got 10 runs in. The first couple of lift lines were probably ~7-10 minutes long, but they died down, as expected, when the rain set in. I certainly could have kept skiing for longer, but my friend was cold and wet, so we decided to stop around 4:00 PM. The summit double continued to spin until 7:30 PM for any skiers hearty enough to continue on until then.
Short Hike to The Basin at Franconia Notch
After stopping for some delicious Clam Chowda and a burger at Tuckerman’s Restaurant & Tavern, we took a short drive around Mount Washington to gaze longingly at the remaining patches of snow at Wildcat Ski Area as we passed by. Heading home, we spontaneously decided to stop by The Basin at Franconia Notch to go for a short hike and view “perhaps the most remarkable curiosity of its kind in New England”. The river was rushing along as was to be expected in May, and the views were great. I, however, ended up bringing a tick back home with me (Not fun! 🫤).
It’s about time for a new post, and while my big plans are for tomorrow, I figured I’d still type something up here.
Hiking the Pine Knob Loop Trail
This was actually about two weeks ago on April 19th, but I wanted to have a few pictures to add in here, so here we are. My first spring hike of 2025 was along the Pine Knob Loop trail in Sharon, CT. This trail is right next to Mohawk Mountain Ski Area in Cornwall. It’s a moderate ~3 mile hike with some decent elevation gain. It’s not far from about as high up as one can get in this state. The first stretch of the loop is also a part of the Appalachian Trail going through Connecticut. There were some nice views, and all in all, it was a great day out on the trail!
Movies
First, A Minecraft Movie… It was truly something. I went into this with pretty low expectations after hearing all about it from some friends. Because of this, I was pleasantly surprised to have enjoyed the movie more than I had expected to. While the world-building felt hasty and the story progression was a bit awkward, knowing what I was getting into beforehand made for a more fun experience. Jack Black and Jason Momoa were hilarious enough to make up for the side characters being so forgettable. The theater was packed with 8 year olds as to be expected. One let out a loud fart towards the end, and many burst out laughing. Chicken jockey! Thunderbolts* was great. I went into it on opening day not knowing much about what to expect, but it didn’t disappoint. Great acting, great story, and pretty funny too. Love to see some Buc-ee action!
Counter
We’ve hit 5000! (Thanks, ambient.) While this wasn’t planned, expect another post shortly.
That feels pretty good to write. That’s a new record thanks to getting an Ikon pass and some more free time this season. I used to average 7-10 days per season. Hoping to ski even more next season! Here are some of my pictures.
2025 Ski Trips
I’m a U.S. East Coast skier at heart, so no trips out west this year. I did, however, squeeze in a late season Québec trip, which was a blast despite the only ~60% open terrain.
#
Ski Area
Date
1.
Sugarbush (Lincoln Peak)
January 3rd
2.
Sugarbush (Lincoln Peak)
January 11th
3.
Powder Ridge
January 19th
4.
Killington
January 19th
5.
Jiminy Peak
February 1st
6.
Stratton
February 8th
7.
Magic
February 16th
8.
Gore
February 22nd
9.
Jay Peak
March 3rd
10.
Jay Peak
March 4th
11.
Killington
March 7th
12.
Stratton
March 15th
13.
Killington
March 19th
14.
Mont Tremblant
April 5th
15.
Mont Tremblant
April 6th
16.
Black Mountain
May 3rd
Top Picks
Days 7, 9, and 10 DEFINITELY took the spotlight this season. (Sorry, Gore!) Magic truly lived up to its name this year and was …
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#
Ski Area
Date
1.
Sugarbush (Lincoln Peak)
January 3rd
2.
Sugarbush (Lincoln Peak)
January 11th
3.
Powder Ridge
January 19th
4.
Killington
January 19th
5.
Jiminy Peak
February 1st
6.
Stratton
February 8th
7.
Magic
February 16th
8.
Gore
February 22nd
9.
Jay Peak
March 3rd
10.
Jay Peak
March 4th
11.
Killington
March 7th
12.
Stratton
March 15th
13.
Killington
March 19th
14.
Mont Tremblant
April 5th
15.
Mont Tremblant
April 6th
16.
Black Mountain
May 3rd
Top Picks
Days 7, 9, and 10 DEFINITELY took the spotlight this season. (Sorry, Gore!) Magic truly lived up to its name this year and was absolutely magical this President’s Day weekend. Despite the scary drive up in the morning during an ice storm (my snow tires learned to ice skate), there was about three inches of fresh powder and huge stashes in the trees. Jay Peak, on the other hand, had more snow than the West Coast this year with 350+ inches of amassed snowfall.
Is It Really Over?
Short answer: Mostly. Long answer: It depends. Black Mountain, NH is still open until May 3rd, so hey, if any of my friends are crazy enough to join me, then I might just have to get one more day in… Otherwise, maybe I’ll go get my fix in some unbearably hot day over the summer at Big SNOW American Dream, North America’s first and only indoor, real-snow, year-round ski area. They do have a whole whopping 160 foot (49 meter) vertical drop after all…
Hey, I’m a blogger now. This is gonna take some getting used to, but I think I can get the hang of this soon enough. I’m hoping this can ultimately help me become a more creative person.
Why Start a Blog in 2025?
That’s quite the question, and it’s stumped me until now. Why do I need a blog in the first place? I’m not a professional photographer, world-class chef, revolutionary programming prodigy, or someone who can afford to travel to a different country each week. Blogging used to seem too self-centered and unnecessary to me, but I don’t feel that way anymore about blogs. I realize now that it’s just how I feel about modern social media. I’m not beaming my musings into the middle of a mishmash of followers’ feeds on here (save for RSS, but that’s different, OK?). The point is, I’d like this to be almost as much of a journal for me as it is some rambly tabloid for you. Life isn’t always about what you have going for you now. It’s also about what you can make happen for yourself and others going forward, and that’s really why I started this blog. I’m not here just to show off my belongings or experiences; I want to share the enjoyment I get from them with the world.
How I Did It
I learned and threw this together with hugo in about six hours. I kind of enjoyed the whole process of creating a custom theme to match my home page for everything, and I’m pretty happy with the end result. RSS feed and comment section support should be on the way in the near future.
What’s the Plan?
I’m not going to force myself to post on a regular schedule, for now at least, but I kind of suspect I’ll fall into a habit of posting weekly for the most part. What might I post? Here are my ideas:
Skiing/Rowing/Hiking/Biking reports & pictures
Game/Movie/Book reviews (& complaints about the ones I’ve never played)
Song of the week
Tech problems & solutions
Opinions & philosophy
Whatever else of note comes my way
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy reading my blog.
P.S. Did you notice the new counter above my web button collection on my home page?
Rumor has it that you can incentivize me to make a new post by getting the …
read more
How I Did It
I learned and threw this together with hugo in about six hours. I kind of enjoyed the whole process of creating a custom theme to match my home page for everything, and I’m pretty happy with the end result. RSS feed and comment section support should be on the way in the near future.
What’s the Plan?
I’m not going to force myself to post on a regular schedule, for now at least, but I kind of suspect I’ll fall into a habit of posting weekly for the most part. What might I post? Here are my ideas:
Skiing/Rowing/Hiking/Biking reports & pictures
Game/Movie/Book reviews (& complaints about the ones I’ve never played)
Song of the week
Tech problems & solutions
Opinions & philosophy
Whatever else of note comes my way
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy reading my blog.
P.S. Did you notice the new counter above my web button collection on my home page?
Rumor has it that you can incentivize me to make a new post by getting the count to hit some milestone values… 😉
