Tag Archives: epicrace

Epic Race Mountain 09 Northstar

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The drive to Northstar was Rhinehart’s first real view of Lake Tahoe “til you know!” It was a sunny bluebird day so the lake was beautiful, and Darin Talbot narrated our drive around the lake so Rhinehart could learn some facts about Lake Tahoe!

Once at Northstar, we rode the gondola up to the mid mountain and took a total of 4 runs, two of them were through the park so Rhinehart could do his daffy of course. By then it was time for the Bronco’s game to start, so we headed back down the gondola to the village.

We went straight to the Rubicon pizza place in the village and sat at the bar to watch the game and ordered some pizza. The game started off with the Broncos down, but after halftime they started to get it back together and pull ahead. A mom from outside kept coming in to watch the game while her son was skating at a birthday party, so we eventually bought her a beer and celebrated the Broncos together.

At around 3:30, the smores people came out, so we ran outside to get our photo with the smores (it was one of the items on the list) and then went back in to finish up the game with a Bronco’s WIN!

After the Bronco’s win, we finished our beers and headed out to take some spins on the ice skating rink. It may have been the beer, or it may have been that it was the end of a cycle before the zamboni came back out, but I was pretty shaky on the ice. We messed around a bit and took some spills, which I’m paying for today with some bruises, but it was worth it!

Finally, once we were done with ice skating, we headed over to Tavern 6,330 which was our last photo spot (we had taken a pic there earlier but we wanted to hit it while it was open). The bartender Trever was telling us that the signature drink there was a Bloody Mary and that all the other Epic Racers that were coming in were ordering that, so we decided to go against that and told him to make us his other signatures, which he did, and they were all three delicious!

It was a long day, but super fun and worth it with the Bronco’s winning, and we drove back to my place where the guys powered down some soup from the night before and edited their videos.

This morning we got up to check the snow report, and Heavenly is CLOSED due to wind…ugh, what a bummer, especially for Rhinehart considering it’s his last day here and he’s never been able to ski it before :( But we’re off soon to go play somehow before we head to take him to the airport!

Epic Race Mountain 08 Kirkwood

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The drive out to Kirkwood was gorgeous, it was a first for all of us and we enjoyed the crap out of the drive.

It was a bluebird day which has been rare for us so far, so we were pretty excited to get in some fun turns. We got the best parking spot on the mountain somehow, and then took a few photos in the village, and ran into #wherescoop and chatted and took a few photos with him.

There was one lift and one run open, so there wasn’t much to do on the hill, but like always the boys managed to make the most of it. Rhinehart found a spot to get in his signature daffy, and Hydle took an epic line that was “so huge” (um see the video, you’ll see what I’m talking about haha).

As Rhinehart was filming Hydle take his huge line, a kid launched off a jump and exploded into a gnarly yard sale. Rhinehart went over to help the kid gather his skis and stuff, and found out his name was Charlie, so he got the nickname Gnarly Charlie (see Rhinehart’s video for a rad slo mo shot of Gnarly Charlie’s yard sale!)

We took a total of 3 runs, and then headed to the bar at the bottom where we ordered a round of drinks in the sun and a fellow epic racer Adam showed up and sat with us. Once the sun went down we got cold, and decided to head over to the Kirkwood Inn for our final photo/video spot and have some après ski.

The Kirkwood Inn was awesome – super cute old cabin with a nice big fireplace, and a creepy photo of Zachary Kirkwood in the back corner. We sat next to Mr. Kirkwood’s pic and the fireplace and ordered some drinks and apps and took some more videos, and epic racer Adam caught up with us again.

We closed up the day by heading back home to my house, and had a bunch of friends over for editing, cooking, and drinks. Another fun day in Tahoe, and now we’re off for Northstar! Go Broncos!

Epic Race Mountain 07 – Canyons Resort

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Our alarms went off at 2 am. Yep. 2 am. Hydle was struggling a little bit to get up considering he went to bed I think around 12:30 – at least I went to bed around 9 pm so I was doing alright. It took us a bit to get the car loaded up and out of the house. Rhinehart was getting frustrated because he also woke up at 2 am, but we didn’t reach his house until 3:15 am!

Once we grabbed Rhinehart, we were rolling by about 3:30 am. Hydle drove the first leg with Rhinehart keeping him company while I slept some more! At around 7 am, Rhinehart took over driving, Hydle went to the backseat to sleep and I kept Rhinehart company.

We arrived at Canyons right at Hydle’s goal of 10 am. This beat the navigation time estimates by about an hour and half. 6 and a half hours to Canyons in Park City, Utah. Not bad!

We took a series of really fun photos and videos in front of the Canyons welcoming sign, and then went to the parking lot which has a people mover that gets you to the village from the lot.

There were only two lifts open for their opening day at Canyons, so we had plenty of time to play with the staff. Hydle and Rhinehart chatted it up with the lifties, and we took some fun Epic Mix photos at the top of the first lift.

There were also really only two runs open so there wasn’t a whole lot to do other than play around on the groomers a bit. The boys were good at making the most of it like always and played around through some of the soft side runs, and Rhinehart did his signature Daffy in the park a few times also.

After a some laps we headed to the Red Pine Lodge outdoor bar and hung out with some super fun staff in the sunshine. Hydle ordered the “Triple Epic Burger” and Rhinehart ordered the “Most epically epic gluten free burger” – we had a blast hanging at the bar, eating burgers and making videos.

Then we cruised down and had to go take some pics and videos at the orange bubble lift, and met some more fellow epic racers.

By now it was about 2 pm and we had to get on the road, considering we had to make it all the way to South Lake Tahoe! I drove the first leg while the guys sat and edited on their Iphones,

When we got to Elko, Nevada, Rhineharts video was ready to be uploaded, but we majorly struggled to find fast enough internet in Elko to even upload his video to Youtube. So after striking out a few tims, we ended up at a Verizon store where the guys finally got it to upload.

Hydle was impressed with Rhinehart’s edit from the day, and they reviewed and re-reviewed the video lots of times, and Hydle offered his feedback, and then started filming “directors cuts” of his edit which was hilarious for me to watch them interact with each other.

The drive was a total of 1,100 miles, which we did in one day. 3:30 am through 12 am. When we got to South Lake Tahoe, my good friend Dwyer – who has a place in South Lake – kept asking us if we wanted to swing by for a beer. At first we thought we couldn’t pull it off, considering the day we had, but somehow we all got a second wind and headed to his house.

Dwyer poured Rhinehart and I some nice red wine, gave Hydle a Coors Banquet, and we hung out checking out the work he’s done on his house, played a little “island pong,” ate some pizza and snacks, and then finally decided to head back to my place around 1:30 am….and then still somehow decided to get in my hot tub back at the house. Holy crap. What a gnarly long day, but totally fun and totally worth it! We slept in this morning, and now are heading to Kirkwood for everyone’s first time! Feels good to be home. SAFE!


Epic Race Mountain 06 – Beaver Creek

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Happy Thanksgiviiiiiing! This morning we got up and I made a yummy breakfast casserole with our leftover Mac n cheese from the night before that Hydle said “tastes like Christmas”

Our goal this morning was to get to Beaver Creek, knock out our photos and videos, and then get back on the road back to town for everyone’s respective Thanksgiving dinners. Hydles Mom gave us specific instructions to be back for dinner by 2 pm or the turkey goblins would get us!

When we got to Beaver Creek we got lucky by asking the parking attendant at the full parking garage if we could get in and he let us in and we got the most VIP spot in the garage!

Our first goal was to go directly to the brand new 2 day old escalator to get some footage taken for our videos – um, we had a lot of fun on the escalator! We were making all of the employees laugh because they couldn’t quite figure out why we were doing laps on the escalator with our skiis and poles in hand, and of course hilarious looks on our faces…we were cracking ourselves up in the meantime also.

After fun times on the escalator, we were eager to get on the slopes as it was probably the best day yet we’ve seen on the mountain so far – sunny, crisp, and the snow was surprisingly soft on top of nicely groomed groomers.

We rode the chair up with a fellow epic racer who is doing the race solo named Jason – and then took a couple epic mix pics with him.

After that we rode again all the way up, and cruised down to the Raptor downhill race course which was in full race mode, lots of people and racers in their speed suits at the top of the course. We grabbed a pic there and then headed down to take some more ridiculously sweet (probably our best yet) epic mix pics.

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We took some more footage cruising down some great runs, and by that point we all decided in order to make it back to Thanksgiving on time, we needed to head out. We totally wished we could have stayed but turkey goblins don’t wait for skiing!

Hydle said we made record time driving back to his house – 1:10 flat. And then he informed me that in order to make it to Thanksgiving on time, I would not be allowed to go inside the house to a) change out of my ski gear b) put on makeup. I was not excited about showing up to Thanksgiving where I was about to meet about 25 new people wearing stretchy ski thermal pants, ugg boots with ski socks, and an underlayer top with no makeup on. But we were on a time schedule, so we showed up to Thanksgiving in our ski gear – definitely a first for me on many levels!

We agreed with Rhinehart that in order to ski Canyons in Utah Friday and then Tahoe Saturday, we would need to get on the road by about 2 am.

So after a beautiful Thanksgiving meal with Hydle’s family (and Rhinehart said his was great also) we got back to Hydle’s house where I got ready for an early morning departure, and Hydle edited probably the best escalator video of all time. Epically early ass morning tomorrow, goodnight!!!


Epic Race Mountain 05 – Keystone Night Skiing

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Rhinehart had to work again today (the day before Thanksgiving?!) but we all had decided ahead of time that in order for him to maximize his hours at work and also maximize getting days knocked out on the epic race, we would utilize night skiing at Keystone on their opening night of skiing.

Rhinehart put in his time at work while Hydle and I did some more final chores and errands around town. The Touareg got a new “rack” – a sweet Thule setup, and then we went to Christy Sports to meet up with Mo and get mine and MOM’s new VJJ’s mounted up with new bindings. Hydle and I also were able to grab a quick lunch at Machetes in Cherry Creek with some friends – Maggie & Clayton – who were in town for Thanksgiving.

Rhinehart showed up in a full suit straight from work around 4, and we got on the road to head toward Keystone.

The sunset through Loveland pass on the drive up was breathtaking enough that we had to pull over and take some glamour shots of it. Driving into town seeing the full Keystone Mountain lit up with the village holiday lights twinkling was pretty spectacular, I had never seen a mountain that pretty at night time!

Since it was of course, “Wear a Bow Tie Wednesday” for Rhinehart, Hydle and I had to step up and participate in “Onesie Wednesday.” This was a great decision because I actually have not ever skied Keystone NOT in a onesie, so good thing I was able to keep the streak alive!

We got on the mountain and I was reminded again how fun Keystone is to ski all the way from the top all the way to the bottom – it’s huge!

We had some fun taking pics and videos around the mountain, got some much deserved compliments on the amazing onesies (Thanks D-Roge!) and suit, and basically just played around all the way up until closing time at 8 pm!

I realized tonight that Rhinehart and Hydle are perfect teammates for each other in this race. Hydle needs someone who can play and interact with him in front of the camera on the spot, and Rhinehart is really good at reading Hydles mind and playing back. They’re also a great match because Rhinehart is learning alot from Hydle in terms of new techniques in editing, and it seems that Hydle enjoys showing his “apprentice” some new tricks. It’s fun to watch from the background :) On the flip side, it’s fun to see Hydle learning what the “real” world looks like through the eyes of Rhinehart – and managing this trip through a “Paid Time Off” schedule, something Hydle has no comprehension of whatsoever.

We closed off the night by making some friends around the fire pit in the village for a bit, and then headed straight back to Rhineharts family cabin (Thank you again Rhineharts!) for some mac n cheese, editing, and laughs.

Moral of the story from today is for those of you who thought pulling off the Epic Race with a corporate job wasn’t possible, the proof is in Rhinehart’s pudding, sending it straight to the mountains in a full suit just to get in some epic turns!

All in all it was quite the relaxing, enjoyable evening full of fun skiing. Beaver Creek and Thanksgiving tomorrow! Epic!


Epic Race – Corporate Never Takes a Vacation

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Today is our 5th day of competition, and unlike many others in this race, the corporate stud, Nabor Devin Rhinehart had to return back to his day job to remain in good standing with his company and boss while still staying sharp and competitive in the competition.

Some may wonder how in a race of this caliber our team could be taking a day off, or rather, a day to go back to the office, but since Vail Resorts has confirmed since day one of releasing the on mountain locations…

“Photo/Video Locations for Brides-Les-Bains will be announced on December 20th – a) posted to the website and b) available for pickup at the Brides-les-Bains tourist office that morning”

…this allows for a few days for the hard working life balanced competitors like Nabor Devin to maintain a successful career, grad school, and compete in the #epicrace! What. A. Badass.

So, Hydle and I took a day off for errands, chores, and logistics planning while Nabor Devin put in some solid hours at the office. I am sure he epic raced harder than anyone out there today. Work Hard. Play Harder.

Epic Race Mountain 04 – Eldora

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Day 4 started off with Nabor Ryan (Nabor Devin “Rhinehart”s Dad, who has so much personality he could be straight out of a movie) cooking us up some of the best gluten free pancakes and “links” that I could have ever imagined!

After our delicious breakfast, packing up, and a goodbye wave off from Nabor Ryan in the driveway, we were on our way to Eldora for the first time for all three of us! This is not significant for me being a California native, but it is significant for my two coloradoan teammates, considering it is actually one of the most accessible ski resorts from the Denver area!

After road tripping – with Miley Cyrus’s Bangerz album on repeat) through Central City (note: this town is worth revisiting, as it is a super cute gold rush era town with casinos and an adorable Main Street) and then taking some sweet team photos in front of the welcoming Eldora sign, we arrived!

Upon arrival, our first task was to take a photo by the Nordic center sign, where Hydle proceeded to spin some donuts in my car around Rhinehart…and then we were off to gearing up and getting on the mountain!

We parked three rows from the lift, and then cruised up a sweet two man chair called “Cannonball Lift” – dude, what is better than a resort that has a two man chair from the base camp! We also learned that Eldora has a lift that is the oldest lift in Colorado (unfortunately didn’t get to ride it as it was closed but I’d like to!)

We took some video footage and then rocked out a few super super fun, soft, groomer runs. My favorite mountains are the small local ones and we were having a blast at Eldora.

As is standard, I was ready to take a break before the guys, and headed to the Corona Bar to enjoy a delicious beer alone!

Once the guys showed up, we had a round of drinks and some lunch, and then headed back out for one more glory run and then skied back to the car!

After skiing, we drove through Nederland for some happiness and smiles, which we achieved in full ski gear while riding the famous Carousel of Happiness! The happiness level on the Carousel of Happiness was at all time highs, which kept us elated on the drive back to Golden!

As we were driving through Golden I asked Greg what his favorite restaurant was and he said “Sherpa House” without any hesitation right as we were driving right by it. Rhinehart quickly agreed and we called Lauren to see if she could meet up for dinner which she also agreed to.

We posted up in the corner and got lots of attention from the staff considering Hydle is a local Golden celebrity! We chowed down on the best chicken tikka masala and the guys edited their videos for the day, with plenty of laughs while reviewing the footage.

Super super fun day, we all loved Eldora and capping it off at the Carousel of Happiness and Sherpa House was a great way to finish off our 4th day of epic racing!

Vail Resorts Epic Race – What is it? We’re doing it!

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We might be crazy…or ridiculously out of control awesome, but somehow Hydle, Rhinehart and I decided to go full force and enter the Epic Race… The “Epic Race” which means we’ve decided to try to be three of the first 10 skiiers to ski all 26 Vail resorts in the 2013/14 season!

Our group consists of the following “team”

Cooley “The Chick” – self employed, living in Tahoe, ‘learnable’ skier level, never skied 26 days in a season, let alone in a row, but ready to try…and will 100% chance definitely sleep more than anyone else in the group, or at least get grumpy trying!

Rhinehart “Third Wheel” – corporate job engineer guy who still is going to make this trip happen on paid time off, everything he knows about skiing he learned from Hydle…gluten free

Greg “The Beard” Hydle – “Skiing is fun, and that’s about all!”

The rules are that you can only ski one US resort per day and two Europeans resorts per day, and the estimated day that we could be winning/finishing the race would be December 20 in France, as that is the resort that has the last opening day this season.

The most likely scenario is that there will be a tie up until this final day/final 26th resort (it doesn’t open until December 20, so the assumption is that there will be a LOT of racers that have completed the previous 25 resorts leading into this final opening day, so everyone who has will be ready to win on this final day.)

So, unless we fall behind, we will most likely be tied with the winners all the way up until the final day.
Each day you ski, you are required to document your day of skiing with (1) :15 second video, and (2) photos – each taken from a different location on the mountain that is on a list that is predetermined by Vail Resorts.

So, on the final day, we will have to be in line first, ski to the three locations we need to get to first, and upload our photos/video first. The winner is chosen based on when the actual content is UPLOADED, not when you actually have skiied – so we will have to figure out a good solution on the final day on how to access internet FROM the mountain, ideally from the final spot that we take our photo from.

For those who would like to follow along and aren’t already doing so on Facebook, you can follow our travels and ski days via the following links:

Overall Epic Race Leaderboard – #epicrace

Ashley Cooley Epic Race Profile Page #epicrace

Greg Hydle Epic Race Profile Page #epicrace

Devin Rhinehart Epic Race Profile Page #epicrace

Wish us luck!