The Snows Wedding and Honeymoon - The RI DE

“Thursday, 3/13/03: Left LA, camped just outside of Mammoth

Friday, 3/14/03: Up early, signed the last of the papers to close escrow. Got our marriage license, ordered food for the wedding party, then snowboarded for 4 hrs. Called our realtor and found out escrow didn’t close . . . the wrong papers were sent to the lender twice! By the time they sent the correct papers it was too late to fund the loan. Luckily, we were able to get a nice condo for the next 3 days. We settled in, I finished our “Just Married” banners to wear on our jackets, and by 9:30pm we were working on our wedding vows.

Saturday, 3/15/03: Up early and it was snowing! The heavens opened up for the SnowNymph/Snow Dude wedding! Whiteout conditions, big wet flakes falling, windy, and most of the lifts were closed. Plan A was to get married at the top, Plan B was McCoy Station (aka Mid Chalet), and Plan C was at Mill Café, bottom of Chair 2. Since Bruce (our realtor/minister) doesn’t ski, and the gondola was closed, we gathered at Plan C during the heaviest part of the storm. About 20 people were there for the wedding in their helmets and goggles, and many people we didn’t know watched. We had a short ceremony next to the snow altar made by some of the guys. Then there was the kiss, and a snowball fight after. Shortly after it ended, 7-8 more people showed up. They missed the wedding because they were waiting at McCoy Station! Everyone was back on the slopes after. Most people quit early due to the weather. We quit a little before 3pm after getting some freshies down the face of 3, and went to the condo for a private “toast” and to set up for the party. We had 34 people in and out for the next 5 hours. Most of these people we met on the mountain, after meeting on the Mammoth Forum. Total snowfall for the day was 15”.

Sunday, 3/16/03: We slept in, slightly hung over (Snowdude says ‘slightly’ is generous). We didn’t get on the slopes til 11:00. We had a great time once we got going. At one point we had 10 people from the wedding party going up on 5 chairs. We snacked on leftovers, I downloaded and labeled pics from the camera, and SnowDude put some DVDs on. Its hard to work on the computer when you keep looking at the TV. We watched “Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex” and “The Matrix”.

Monday, 3/17/03: Up early, packed the truck, on the slopes by 9:15. I took a lunch break to meet Pkerr from St Louis. Pkerr is one of the biggest posters on the Mammoth Forum, and he comes to Mammoth once a year. There was a thread dedicated in his honor. Rode the top for the rest of the day, stopped by Bruce’s office and got the key to the Snow Condo (finally!) Picked up sandwiches and settled in to our condo. Shortly after, our toilet stopped up! The Jacuzzi door was shut, and we didn’t remember the combo. It was a full moon out, so we couldn’t even go outside! We went to Nevado’s to meet Sheebz and Dav-O, to tell them we had to go to Von’s to try to clear up the problem. Good ole’ Sheebz had us laughing, and we ended up staying for drinks. How we solved the problem????? Curt and Kelly had given us a gag wedding gift – Urine bags!!. . . I had previously complained about going out to pee in the rain while car camping . . . he works for DWP, and when they’re out in the field, they can’t just pee anywhere, so they have “pee bags” that gel up and are spill proof and smell proof. Those bags got us thru the night!

Tuesday, 3/18/03: Up early, parking lot by 8:15, on the slopes by 8:45, off the slopes by 9:45. Tweaked my ankle and had to cakespread down from the top. Rode on my front foot to the bottom. Went shopping for lamps, trash cans, cleansers, etc. Plumber came by and was gone by the time I came back from the laundry room. Spent most of the day cleaning, which is something I haven’t done in almost 5 years. I realized how spoiled I am having a housekeeper. SnowDude took a nap during the day, something he’s been wanting to do for awhile. Dav-O and Sheebz came by to visit. I worked on the pics again, replaced shelf paper in the kitchen cabinets, made a great salad for dinner, and kept loading up the dishwasher (6 loads during the week).

Wednesday, 3/19/03: Ankle still sore, so I took the day off. SnowDude left around noon for the slopes. I shopped for condo stuff. . . then found a new Indian Art Store. I bought 2 turquoise rings (one with opal, my birthstone) to replace the ones that were getting trashed. After cleaning up, we met Sheebz, Dav-0 and MBsnwbrdgrl at Nevado’s for dinner.

Thursday, 3/20/03: Up early, new snow on the street outside and blue skies! Snowboarded most of the day, took a lunch break, and by 3:30 I was off the slopes with a tender ankle. Sheebz, Dav-O and MBsnwbrdgrl stopped by after. SnowDude and I went to the Mogul for dinner.

Friday, 3/21/03: Up early, sunny skies, no new snow. SnowDude and I snowboarded out of bounds to Tamarack (SnowDude did Hole-in-the-Wall), and missed the bus by 2 minutes again! Was thinking about snowshoeing Virginia Lakes on Saturday to avoid the crowds, and give my ankle a break. Met Kowalski and friends at the Yodler after for drinks, then went home to relax. Sheebz called and a few people were meeting at Nevado’s for drinks. SnowDude wanted to enjoy the condo, so I went without him. Crockett mentioned doing the Sherwins, so MBsnwbrdgrl and I said “YES!” I knew SnowDude wanted to do it, so we made plans to meet on Saturday.

Saturday, 3/22/03: Up really early to get parking. Got a few hours in on the slopes, shuttled to Tamarack to meet Crockett and Verena. They were skiing to Tamarack via Hole-in-the-Wall. Conditions changed since yesterday, and the skiers had trouble. What should have taken 20 min took 1.5 hrs. By the time they got down, Verena was pretty wiped out. Crockett still wanted to go, so 4 of us headed out with our boards/skis strapped to our packs. After 10 minutes we headed up the snow covered slope, then on all fours over boulders, scree, red dirt, brush, and 2 hrs later we were on top. Or so we thought! Crocket pointed to another hill so we hiked up, this time a little more level, but really windy. With our snowboards on our backs and catching the wind, MBsnwbrdgrl and I were being blown all over the place. Another hour later we put our boards on, and rode/skiid down some buttery untracked snow. Whoo Hooo!!! 40 minutes later we were at the bottom, and hiked another 10 minutes to where Crockett left his truck. I think we hiked 1200’ up and rode 2000’ down. Asandygal, Skier11053 and their friends stopped by to visit the condo that night. After dinner Sheebz, Carnivore and MBsnwbrdgrl came by and we watched a slideshow of our adventure on the Sherwins.

Sunday, 3/23/03: Up early again to get a parking spot. Mach2Man introduced himself as I was waiting for my Starbucks Mocha at Canyon Lodge. SnowDude forgot his pass at the condo, so he took the shuttle to get it. Rode with Victor and Ryan most of the morning. SnowDude caught up later and wasn’t finding any good snow so he went back to work on the condo. Shortly after, it started snowing. I caught up with the Posse and finished the day off riding the Avy’s. After packing up, it was a sad feeling leaving our place after spending 10 days in Mammoth, but we’ll be back this weekend!!!

Photos are on Snow Nymph Site , but still working on captions. 7 albums total!
click on the website, then go to "Webshots III". The albums are labeled Wedding, Wedding Party, Honeymoon Vol 1-5. (we'll fix the thumbnails on the Mammoth page when we get back)”

“Those of you who have visited the Mammoth Mountain fourm will know what I'm talking about when I say Snow Nymph is the official windbagger of TT. :)

(Notice how I used a strategic smiley face to stay out of trouble with the new wife)”

“Phew. Ya tired me out just reading it!

Congrats. I don't need to wish you luck; you two make your own.

Stay out of trouble with the new wife, ... is that possible?”

“Awsome story, sweet pics... love the condo! Congrats to the both of you! It looks like you had an absolute blast!

Should we now pronounce you guys as the first couple of TT?

Thanks for sharing and here's to a long happy life together!”

“I wonder how many people actually get to use 'pee bags', on their honeymoon ?!?

Sounds like you had a great week with your friends. Congrats again....... Hodgeman”

“Fun, fun, fun. Congrats!!

(hmmm, gotta condo now. Gonna backpack again?? LOL)”

“Wow! Just looked at the first album so far.

Good luck!”

“Wow, you two, that is so great. Thank you so much for sharing. What better way to spend your wedding day than to be doing something you both adore.

Seriously, very very awesome!!!”

“We're leaving to 'honeymoon' for a second weekend in the Snow Condo.

We'll still camp out on snowboarding weekends (if its free), as soon as we start renting the condo out (gotta make payments). I think SD is getting attached to it. First we were keeping it one month, and now I'm hearing maybe it'll be 2 months...... hmmmm.”