The Dirty 3-0

January 1, 2011: my official racing age is 30.

To be honest, I can't really believe that I have made it to 30. Evading death for so long has taken some effort over the years. Now if I can only make it to the end of July...

Twenty-one-one has been quite busy. We flew to Colorado for yet another foray into Durango, the glorious place where the Rockies meet the canyonlands. Donning skis and crampons in lieu of sandals and bike shoes, we traveled along the Million Dollar Highway first up to Ouray, CO, for climbing and Ice Festival entertainment and then back to the Big D for resort and backcountry skiing as well as first-ever experiences with snow science and telemark skiing. Thad and I re-learned how to alpine ski, which was a blast. Forget snowboarding!

Fun things done in 2011 thus far:
1) Ice climb at Ouray. 1/8/11
2) Alpine ski at Purgatory and feel confident on intermediate terrain. 1/10-1/14/11
3) Backcountry ski in the San Juans. 1/12/11
4) Build an igloo. 1/14/11
5) Take an avalanche course. 1/15/11
6) Print photos for staircase hallway. 1/20/11 (Framing and mounting them will be another goal. Let's put it this way- we have printed only one of our wedding photos. Archiving is obviously not a personal specialty.)
7) Ice climb in Pisgah. 1/21/11

On the horizon:
- a brief stint as a roadie for a few Greenville races
- 5 or 6 other races in the winter/spring season
- more rock and ice climbing as the weather permits
- development of a Team Walker "house drink"
- Trans-Hendo 'Cross Grand Fondo
- cleaning the bathtubs
- AT/Smokies ladies backpacking weekend
- getting a priest to bless our vehicles so that they can make it through more than one winter
- Art Loeb (the hard way)
- the elusive SCAR
- descent of Hooker Falls in the Boy Scout canoe