Party time - we had our Christmas party Thursday night.  A CD, candy, chopsticks, gum, candles, chocolate!, tea, etc. in the stocking!  Robbie gave me a bottle of wine - a bottle of Carlo Rossi California Red - exported from Modesto, California!  Robbie was my secret Santa here on the floor and Judy (she was my secret Santa at the office) gave me a Colorado calender! YEAH!  Nice to have the beautiful scenes of Colorado here - don't catch many mountains here in Shanghai, OK ANY!!  Laughing!  I also bought little red good luck hanging charms for everyone for their stockings.

We had a lot of laughs, a few drinks and relaxed for Christmas before the weekend!  So the Winter Solstice is upon us as well!  just a few hours away and then the sun again moves northward and light becomes more plentiful!  I never thought of it before but the winter solstice is never on Dec. 21 here - our classic day, but the 22nd! 

WELL - I took a long break to call many friends and family - four hours!  Sure is nice to have Skype at 2.1 cents a minute and 3.9 cents to hook up the call!  Amazing! 

Ahhh yesss, the snow has come to Colorado and Utah.  The word is that the Rockies in Colorado have about 100% of snowpack for now after a very sparse beginning to the season.  Alta has a 73" base with 19" fresh and still snowing.  A new storm is on the way so whew!!!  I was wondering what was up as they had only 39" last week and only a couple of runs open on opening day!  NOT NORMAL for a ski area that averages 500" per year!

Oh yes - pictures from last year - at the top of Breckenridge, Colorado - 13,000 ft.  One can either hike up above the highest lift in North America - tops out at 12,860 ft.  You can see three of the mountains at Breckenridge below:



Peaks 8 (the one I am on), and the lower parts of 9 and 10 in the very distance.  The town of Breckenridge below is at about 9,500 feet.  So we are looking at over 1,000 meters below.

OR around the mountain, as you can see a few people above that are not climbing but skiing to our left (as we look at them).  They are going to the area below - around the top of the mountain and to the Upper Peak 7 area:



Yes, we really ski all the way over and past the rocks, and then down.  AWESOME POW (powder) OVER THERE DUDE!!!  ANYWHERE TO THE RIGHT IS DOWN and GREAT double black diamond skiing!

My students know my passion - I LOVE to ski!!!!  Anything and Everything!  Can you tell?!