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Dust on Crust chocolate break - Photos taken with my iPhone -

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:30:38 +0100

Some random iPhone photos that I believe were taken when I wasn't around... Recently discovered!

Lauren and some whipped cream with her chocolate, or is that a little chocolate with her whipped creme?

Kate says "WOW"

Haley's new makeup... and Grace in the background with more of the same ;-)

Yes, we are the VDT! Right down to how we brand our hot chocolate...

Girls and boys - bluebird day at DEVO-

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:46:53 +0100

The Dust on Crust Girls!

The Dust on Crust Boys!

Heliskiing in Silverton

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 05:16:00 +0100

Warning! Heliskiing is highly addictive. Do not attempt unless you are ready for some amazing fun!

After over 70" of snow dropped on South Western Colorado, we navigated a 9 1/2 hour drive to Silverton Mountain for some of the most amazing, steep and deep powder skiing you have seen in the lower 48.

Check out some of these pictures...

The (only) lift in Silverton

Deep stuff!

Devo Day 7 - Amazing day

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 04:41:03 +0100

Last Saturday was just an amazing day. Something magically was in the air and it was more than the snow that fell a good part of the day.

We decided to rock the back bowls for most of the day but started with an inspection run and talk in the terrain park. The plan was to return at the end of the day and hit the jumps and boxes, of course we did. From there we made a cool fast run in to Caddy's which with it's fresh snow made for a very nice natural half pipe with some occasional powder to push through.

After Caddy's we headed up Avanti chair and straight down Faro Glade into Game Creek. Some nice powder in the tree's, amazing actually. Not to waste any time, we dropped into Sundown bowl via Ricky's Ridge. Now, word of warning! Whilst the powder and fresh snow was really tempting, just as soon as we got in, I shot over a downed log, narrowly getting by with the move but with Will right behind me, he caught the log and lost one ski. The team was quick to help out and get his gear together and rock down the bowl again. We were moving pretty fast and had a couple of spills after that but nothing to slow us down to much. Fall, loose ski, recover move on. Wash, rinse, repeat...

Once in the back we found our lines in Dragons Teeth (dropping the cliff lines again), and then off to Rasputin's Revenge, dropping the cornice and it was about half way down where Lauren found a nice rock drop kicker that she hit with a passion. It was pretty impressive since it was the first rock she had dropped and it was her first day back after a nice time in Puerto Rico. Nice job Lauren!

Caught by surprise, time had flown by... We had to make a run back to the chair 6 base area, up to the terrain park and hit the half pipe, jump lines and slid a few boxes.

Some days are like that, they are just fun, fly by and we really managed to get around the mountain. Great job everyone and get ready for some more!

Lessons learned - Remember how we act in the terrain park. Respect get's respect and we all know what that means. Call your lines, don't snake the other riders, be safe first. Also, even if we have gotten some great snow in the last days / week, there are hidden obstacles that we can hit or get caught on. Ride safe, know before you go...

See you on Saturday and Sunday for more powder shredding, terrain park air and carving on the groomers! I just love snow!!!

Check out the blog for other posts on my Silverton Mountain trip, think snow!

DEVO day 5

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 02:30:31 +0100

Day 5 was a great day with 7 of 9 team members out on snow today. Missing was only Jack and Lauren, everyone else was there and shredding the back bowls with a couple of front side runs to warm up.

The day started pretty cold so after a half 6 run down to the vista bahn and a cold ride up we took about ten minutes in mid Vail to warm up before shooting down Spruce face - fast! The tone was set for the day from there with a quick ride up Avanti, down to chair 4 and then we dropped down the Slot with China bowl and Blue Sky Basin in our sites!

After skiing Jade Glade we opted for an early lunch at 2 Elks to beat the crowds and were back out on snow with a steep chute drop through Dragons Teeth and off to Blue Sky we went.

Snow was great everywhere we went and what it lacked in volume was made up for in quality. The sun warmed everything up nicely and gave us sweet soft runs through Champagne Glades, Cloud 9 and In the Wuides... No sooner had we really started to play did we realized it was time to make our way back to Golden Peak to wrap up the day.

Everyone had some great skiing throughout the day. There is some work we can do on getting the hips forward, ankles flexed and committing in the steeps which we talked about on a few occasions.

One thing that I really liked is how well the team works together. We practice leadership and run selection all the time, everyone does a great job at choosing what / where to ski but are equally happy to take up the back and make sure if anyone does have a spill, they are ok and can catch up. Great job everyone!

The girls had a good time joking with the lifties today, not sure they always got the humor but at least we got people smiling and having fun!

Next week I will be out, Kevin Mildner will be there for me and I am sure you will have a good week with him. Be safe and expect some nice gifts from Europe are promised on my return.

Until then... best wishes and think snow!

^^Ivan^^

Hershey Haley dropping the Snag Park rock - SICK!!!

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:01:53 +0100

DEVO day 4

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:29:49 +0100

Welcome to 2010!

We had a great Jan 2 on snow for the first day of DEVO in 2010. Whilst a lot of the team were missing, Haley and Jack made it out and we enjoyed some fresh snow, more snow and occasional sunshine.

Our first run after heading up chair 6 and chair 11 took us into Snag park for some soft drops off the rock. Landings were a little sketchy but the drops looked brilliant. I am attaching some photos as well. As you can see, it was still dumping!

The rest of the day was spent moving around the mountain to avoid the crowds. We skied Ramshorn Trees, Kangaroo Cornice, Blue ox (really bumpy) and did some switch skiing around sourdough This combined with a lot of runs all around the mountain hitting jumps or powder stashes in the trees at every opportunity. A nice lunch in Mid Vail and cake at the Kids cafe to celebrate 2010 rounding things off...

This was the first weekend skiing with Jack who we have named Jalapeño Jack as the latest addition to Dust On Crust. If you have some more "candy" oriented names let us know but Hershey Haley and I couldn't come up with any. Jack will be joining us every other week since he is coming in from "the city", aka New York every couple of weeks for DEVO with his siblings. Welcome to the team Jalapeño Jack!

Everyone will be getting private emails from me talking about objectives and goals for the team and individuals. Please let me know your thoughts on these and what you might like to work or focus on as well.

We are still working on some interesting ideas for the season, more to follow on this shortly.

Today (Friday 8 Jan) is very cold and we haven't seen a lot of snow for a few days. For Saturday, let's make sure we have good edges on our skis, nice wax and be ready to turn and burn on the mountain. The weather forecast is looking to be warm(er) and a blue bird day.

Also if you want to get into the racing program, please let me or Jeremy know. It's a great skill developer and creates some good fun and competition. Being a previous racer, I strongly recommend it!

As always, please let me know if you will be there on Saturday and THINK SNOW!

^^Ivan^^

DEVO on January 2

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:38:24 +0100

Snowy wishes all,

We will resume DEVO on January 2 and I have heard that a few of you will be missing on that day. Can you please let me know if you will be there or not via email?

I also still have the Holiday presents for Jack and Haley so you can get those from me on Jan 2 or the following week.

Think snow and hope to see all of you on the mountain this Saturday!

^^ivan^^

Torchlight parade

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:34:10 +0100

Greetings all!

If you are in Vail and want to participate in the Torchlight, please make sure you sign up with Jeremy Gross. I will be there and skiing in the parade as well.

Hope everyone is looking forward to a great 2010!

Snowing in Vail - Big flakes!

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:30:18 +0100

It's snowing big time outside and has been doing so for most of the day and a lot of last night! Hope some of you are up here to enjoy the powder.

I have been busy with privates all week and today we were doing powder runs all morning. Still a bit mixed conditions but this snow is bringing some great fluffy stuff to the mountain!

Looking forward to seeing everyone on Saturday.

^^ivan^^