December 1st

The move went smoothly...although when you can fit just about everything you own in your truck, it should go smoothly.



I must however say, besides a decent sunset, driving through Wyoming proves that stopping time is possible. Nine hours of driving can feel a bit more like 19.





Now, we didn't plan on showing up in Jackson and ripping pow from day one but we certainly didn't plan on riding our mountain bikes for a week before the snow even began to fall. We also didn't plan on the town being closer to a ghost town than a bustling ski community...I guess all those early season openings in Colorado lead us to believe Jackson was the same way. It's not. Hell, the resort doesn't even open at all until December 1st.

This can make for a rather tedious and difficult job hunt but you have to keep faith that the population-to-job deficit will eventually work out in your favor (there are more jobs than people here). It just takes till after December 1st!

The real problem is the gap between mountain biking season and the ski season. It can be tough. Cabin fever takes hold and you wonder what you did for fun before skiing and mountain biking. At the end of the day you just thank God for whiskey, tequila and beer as the locals do because the feeling of anxiety is enough to make even the most sane of men crazy.

Well, thankfully that gap is being closed as the snow (and rain!) fall. We were lucky enough to make a few turns on Teton Pass Wednesday.

It just enough skiing to make me wonder "what are these things attached to my feet? How do I turn them? What am I doing with my life? Etc. I can't say I was on it....and for only 2 hours of skiing/skinning (mostly skinning aka: ascending on skis) I was dead tired. The nice part was the weather stayed nice enough for some fishing...so we tried our luck on the Snake, which is far too big to throw a fly at without a boat....still fun though. (and I must say it was cold enough for my eyelets to ice up!)



Thursday we decided to get out on the pass for some "training". AKA: Skin around until you can't handle it anymore.

We lapped a north facing pitch of about 700 vertical. It was pretty good, didn't hit a thing and the snow was soft although a bit heavy.





Now, I'm laying here a bit sick, a bit tired and having found a job at www.jacksonholesnowmobile.com . Seems like a great place, they run tours all over the area and it gives me some much sought after sled time. I'd love to pick up another job with a catering company or bar tending one of the many bars in town but many of them aren't even open for business yet! December 1st. December 1st.

A tribute...

However goofy it may sound, I'm actually sacrificing a big part of my life to go live in Jackson. What possibly could it be you ask? Burritos.



I love burritos. I love them so much, that I almost pulled the plug on Jackson because I had not found a decent Chipotle-eske burrito joint to get my fix at up there. And while you may hate on Chipotle because they are a "giant publicly traded company", I still love there burritos. A lot.

But I also love other burritos. Here is my take on the Colorado burrito scene, which may be the best burrito scene in the country...what alta is to skiing pow, the front range is to burritos. (yeah, I said it)

Chipotle-Good solid burrito.
Size: 8
Variety: 7
Quality: 9
Guac: 9
Meat: 9

I dig all their options and will go with almost any of them. Now that they offer corn tortillas for their tacos they jumped a a few notches in my book. Their meat is always the tastiest. No better way to end a day of riding than with one of these big boys.

Wahoo's Fish Tacos
Best fish tacos in town. Period.
Size: 8
Variety: 9
Quality: 9
Guac: 7
Meat: 8

It may be an outliar, but Wahoos is good. I usually don't get the burrito from these guys but it's still one of the best around. More akin to Baja Fresh than Chipotle or 'Doba. Their margs are pretty solid and the all day Sunday happy hour is a nice touch.

Q'Doba Mexican Grill
Good Tortillas make good burritos. Ancho Chili? Why not.
Size: 8
Variety: 8
Quality: 8
Guac: 8
Meat: 7-9

Q'Doba, the old Z-Teca, was the first bite of "gourmet burrito" I ever had. I was instantly hooked. 'Doba is the franchiseable version of Chipotle (all corperate). This leads to some variability based on location but they are all pretty damn good. They offer some different options such as queso, pesto and ancho chili which takes away from the pure beautiful simplicity of the burrito. Some people dig it more than the rest...I still say they are good but not the best.

Baja Fresh
Biggest burritos. Great salsa selection.
Size: 9
Variety: 9
Quality: 8
Guac: 7
Meat: 7

Baja Fresh is like a rare October powder day. They are few and far between but a nice suprise when you finally find one. They have a small segment of the Denver market, but I get pretty excited whenever I get to go for the "Dos Manos". Seriously, this is two burritos as one meal. It's unreal. Try skiing a 14er then going for a mtn bike ride followed with the dos manos. You'll still struggle to put it down. And the toasted tortilla is a good touch.

Illegal Peats
Mixed up unique taste.
Size: 7
Variety: 8-9 (bar!)
Quality: 8
Guac: 7
Meat: 8

In this burrito game, somehow Peats seperates itself with a slightly different flavor. Peats has a cult like following in the burrito game only rivaled by Big City Burrito. (Boulder vs Fort Collins I suppose) The cool part about Peats has to be the upstairs bar at the Hlll (Boulder) location with a solid beer special and free chips and salsa. It's a good place to kick it and watch a game or plan your next adventure...

Big City Burrito
A different take...
Size: 9
Variety: 8
Quality: 7
Guac: 6
Meat: 8

Big City has a following so intense that I knew kids to choose CSU over CU just because of this place. Whether or not that says something about your average CSU student, I'm not sure, but the burritos are certainly different. What really seperates these guys is the amount of options when it comes to tortillas and the added option of potatos to any burrito. (I like this) While not as "authentic" as some of the others on the list, they will fill you up. I personally like the size choice, giving me a smaller option for those days when I can't handle the V8.