The Plan

For the past few years, my life has revolved around working a seasonal job, saving as much money as I can, hitting the road, having amazing adventures, running out of money, and then doing it all over again.  Everything I do revolves around getting back out there as soon as possible, for as long as possible.  This year has been no different, but my last few retirements have been shorter than desirable.  After living and working in Berkeley since May, I decided to make a big plan for an epic trip, and really commit to the lifestyle that I love.  This time, there’s no backing out or going broke before the trip is done, I will find a way to make it work, and live the van life as long as possible (or forever, because that sounds good too).   

I officially retired last week and my period of funemployment has begun.  Everyone wants to know, what’s next?  What’s the plan?  So here it is.  I present to you:

The SuperDuperWinterSki/ClimbExtravaganzaThenComesSpringAndWeGoToALASKA!

That’s right!  Up until now, all our of our road trips have been focused on climbing (and sometimes eating), but this trip will start off with a strong focus on skiing, faceshots, and being total gapers, and will be followed up with some dabbling in climbing, a bit of bike touring, and an awesome drive up to Alaska filled with fun, fishing, possibly paddling and lots of jaw dropping scenery.  Here is the basic route, as of now:

Please note that this route is subject to change based on weather, psyche, suggestions from others, etc.

Twinning.

So, you may be wondering, why this route?  How did you pick where to go?  Well, a few years ago, the Mountain Collective, a pass that gives you access to 7 of the best ski destinations in the world, was created.  And, what better way to make the most out of this pass than commit to visiting all the locations, skiing all our included days, and traveling between each place in an awesome van?  Nothing could be better!  We threw in a couple of other locations that may still be climbable on our route, as well as a few other places we’ve wanted to check out for a while (the Wave in Arizona; Taos, NM; and Big Sky, MT).  The areas we get to visit on our pass are: Squaw Valley/Apine Meadows, CA; Mammoth Mountain, CA; AltaSnowbird, UT; Aspen Snowmass, CO; Jackson Hole, WY; Ski Banff-Lake Louise- Sunshine, Alberta, Canada; and Whistler, British Colombia, Canada. We get two days of skiing at each location, plus 50% off all additional days.  At $389 (at the time we purchased), this pass is a screaming deal, considering that one day of skiing at any of these locations is $100+.  We’ve lived in Tahoe and Jackson Hole, but all the other destinations on the pass are brand new to us, and we are PSYCHED!  

But wait, I thought you guys weren’t good skiers?  Well, that’s a fair point.  We really aren’t that good at skiing.  We switched over from snowboarding a few seasons ago and are slowly making our way to competency.  But that won’t stop us from embarking on this adventure.  Chelsea and I are probably two of the most committed people to doing things we don’t excel at.  I mean, who else do you know who consistently leaves their job, home, and family to pursue mediocrity?  While we aren’t total pros at skiing or climbing, we are really, really good at having fun and living on the road.  So that’s the real reason we do this- to experience adventure, have a good time, meet new people, be outside, and be awed by nature.  In addition, we will be pursuing other winter activities such as skijoring, snowshoeing, and cross country skiing.  

After the ski extravaganza, we will wait for spring to come and roads to become less treacherous, and we will make our way up to Alaska.  Neither of us have been there and have been talking about going for years.  We will take our time driving up and enjoying the road trip, and have yet to nail down plans for once we reach Alaska, but we are leaving things pretty open to exploration as of now.  So folks, that’s the plan and we’re (mostly) stickin’ to it.