WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Off the Trails: Skiing > School

Episode Date: March 4, 2025

Join Nicole Sighiartau and Storm Drexler as they discuss their wildest experiences in the great outdoors! This week they have Bowie Drexler on to share some skiing stories from Bowie and Storm's recent ski trip. 

You're listening to Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. Welcome to Off the Trails. What up? I'm Storm Drexler. And I'm Nicole Sagirotau, and we'll be your adventure buddies every week as we discuss some of our wildest story from our outdoor endeavors. This week, we'll be talking about some skiing stories because we currently have a special guest on with us today. Nicole, we already broke our rule. I know we were supposed to do a special guest every four episodes, but here we are. But my brother's visiting. We have Bowie Drexler on the show today. How's it going, bro? It's good. Happy to be here. Let's go. We have just been skiing this past week. We, the royal we, which excludes Nicole. The Drexler week. Which excludes Nicole, unfortunately. Nicole wishes. Oh, I wish. I would have skipped school in a heartbeat. Yeah, it was great. But we got some skiing stories. It's going to be lit. Fantastic. Well, let's start off with our trail markers first. So my trail marker is from the skiing trail.

which we were in guess. Can you guess? I'll give you two seconds to guess where I was. Yeah, Colorado. BV. We are in BV. It's where I always have been. It's where the majority of my outdoor stories and experiences have been because it's awesome

up in BV. But I was skiing and in the first day, the first or second run up the lift. And then we were at the top. We were on Mount Monarch, which is near Buena Vista, near the collegiate peaks in Colorado. And it was first or second run of our first day of skiing. and I'm just heading, heading down, like the regular slope. I'm kind of remembering how to ski because it's been three-ish years. Three years?

Oh, my gosh. Since I had skied. I had skied a lot before, but it's just kind of been a while. I've been since before college. How did you survive those three years? Happy and well. Really? Somehow, I don't know.

Okay, that's impressive. Yeah. But, yeah, no, I was getting back into it, kind of remembering. I was like, okay, I'm like, this is easy. Muscle memory re-kicking in. And then wham! Out of the woods, one of my other brothers comes and slams in me. So he slides out of nowhere and just like tackles me with roll down the mountain a little bit.

And I got bruised up. That looks chaotic. It sounds like it should be in a movie too. Oh, it was great. And then he stood up and I was like, brother. Brother what? And then it was fine. Oh, that's fantastic.

Do you want to share your trail marker? I was just in Colorado and I saw a mountain that I climbed up. called Mount Princeton. Mount Princeton. It's a 14er, so it's a big one. Yeah, it was my first 14er I ever did, but it's really nice, and it's right near BV, amazing town. Have you done other 14ers besides Princeton?

I did one other, but it was in Peru. Peru. Oh, wow, so that's got to be higher than 14, probably. I've also been there. Okay. But, no, Mount Princeton is one of the collegiate peaks, like I just said. There's a bunch of the ones that are named after like Ivy League schools here in America. I climbed, Mount Yale.

I climbed, like, very near Mount Yale. I was backpacking in that area last summer. That's awesome. Yeah, the only one I've done near the collegiate peaks is Mount Huron, not named after an ivy, but. Mount Huron. It was very steep. Yeah.

Would not recommend. My trail marker for the week, big surprise happened while I was running. How typical. Wow. Yeah, I went for a sunset run this week. I've been running in the afternoons recently, but on. Thursday I decided to go near sunset. And it was just peaceful

and calm and it's been warmer this week than it has in the past. So it was just a great experience and really nice to see the sunset. The snow is finally melted here. Oh, it melted all at once. So the dirt roads are like dirt slip and slides. It's very slippery. Nicole, do you listen to music when you run?

I do listen to music. I am not that strong. I know some people who will run without music for a mental challenge. Just raw dogs running. Trust me. My body going through enough of a physical challenge. I don't need a mental challenge on top of that. What kind of genres do you listen to?

Is it all over the place? It's all over the place. Musicals, country, pop, classical music occasionally. It's all over the place. It's all over the place. Yeah. All right, well, you're ready to get into our stories?

Yeah, absolutely. Should I go first? Yeah. I have a story. I was skiing. So that's how the story starts. Good start. No, I was skiing and just hanging out.

We had been skiing down. the lifts multiple times. I think this was like the second day. And there was one of the lifts which started kind of halfway up Mount Monarch. So like you could pass it and go to the lower lifts or you could go to this lift that was kind of halfway up. Remember that one? Bowie? Yeah, it was a nice, it was like a nice middle spot that went to the highest part of the mountain. Yeah. And you could either avoid that one and do an area that had like some jumps and some, what are those things called? Terrain park. Terrain park. Half pipe. Yeah, some stuff like that. Or you could do this central lift up. And took the central lift up. I was with one of my other brothers. I think the same one that

dive tackled me. And we... Have you taken out storm? I've not taken out storm, but I was, I was, I was right there whenever he got taken. Yeah, yeah. I think everyone was there. It was our first run. It was like, exploded. But I was, we were getting on the lift. It was just a normal kind of experience. And right as the lift kind of pulled out, me remember they were sitting there, I was not paying attention at all. And one of my skis was lower too much and it snagged in the snow. Oh, no. Easy enough. I had it, I had to set pretty tight. So I felt when it popped off into the snow. And my first instinct was like, uh-oh, as I realized that happened. And like, I let five seconds go by. And then I was like, I can't let any more go by. So I jumped off the ski lift. With one ski on. You didn't trust that the chairlift behind you would like bring your ski up to you. I realized that in post. My other brother was like, you know, I think that they probably would have like pass that up to you.

And I was like, you know, that probably would have been a better idea. But my brand was like, oh, I'm going to get to the top of the ski lift. And I'm just to write it back down and then back up. That'll be horrible. Oh, but that'd be so fun though. Just to like take a lap. These were long lifts, right? Oh, really?

They were 20 minutes. Are you on a detachable chair or is that one that's like connected to the cable the whole time? Wait. No, it's connected to the cable. Okay. So, okay. And no bar. These are just, they just free hanging chairs.

Very nice. So easy to jump out of. I mean, I was two lifts behind him. So I saw this ski. and the first thing I thought was, oh, poor guy, I left his ski. Like, I did not realize it was storm. And then, and then I saw, like, I thought he fell off the lift

because I saw him, like, like, in front, like, you just, how high off the ground were you? The full height of most of these lifts was, you know, pretty normal, like 25. It's pretty high. It looks, it's really high. It doesn't look as high when you're sitting up there. But if you're, like, on the slope and you look up, those chairs are high.

I didn't get it. I let it only get to about 12 feet. That's still a lot. Still a lot. To fall with like one ski on, did you, how did you try to land? I landed, crouched, and like one arm slanted into the ground superhero poster. I'm serious. Okay.

So, sorry, I'm trying to picture this. So your right foot still has the ski attached. Yes. Okay. Now, what were you doing with your left foot? Did you bend it? Yeah, I crouched it. You crouched it?

So you did that in the air and you landed with your fist. And landed with one fist down and one handout. Man, I want to see. this sounds cool. Slammed into the snow. It was a lot snow. It was like a foot of snow. Oh yeah.

It was powder. You landed in the right spot. Yeah, yeah, yeah, easy enough. And, because this was still in like the roped off area they have where the steel is kind of taken off. Yep. So I landed there. My brother who's up on the lift is like, you're good.

I was like, yeah, that was purposeful. And then the guy comes out who's like manning the lift and he's like, do, dude, you cannot do that. And I was like, I was like, yeah. I wonder why. He was like, you cannot jump off, bro. And I was like, am I bad? but that's my ski.

He picks up my ski, he starts to leave with it. And I'm like, hey, I need that. And he was like, oh, my bad. So I nab that from him, went and got back in line and then met him at the top. That's hilarious.

You saw the whole thing. I saw the whole thing from the, I was two chairs behind him, so I saw him fall off or jump off. Jump off. So you can be one of those people who said, hey, I've jumped off a ski lift before.

I have jumped off a ski lift. Because a lot of people think about doing it. Because they're like, oh, it's not that far to the ground. It's pretty close. But it's crazy. If it had been fully up there, You would have broken something.

I would have broken something. There's also some areas where it gets really high. Like randomly there will be like kind of a dip or something in the terrain. And the ski lift will be 50 feet off the ground. Yeah, easily. Do you guys know where the tallest lift tower is in the United States? I don't. Do you? No.

Now this, I'm not sure if this has changed, but it used to be in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Ooh. It could have changed since. But it's on the backside, on morning side. lift. You get all the way almost to the top and there's one really tall pull. And like I said, it doesn't look

like you're far off the ground, but the run is so steep that where you're at it's like the fall from top to the bottom of the hill is, it's intense. Yeah. So every time I would ride up with my uncle on that lift, he would always be like, now this is the tallest lift tower in the United States.

I was like, okay, Uncle Joe. That's cool. So now I always tell strangers when I ride up the lift with them. I think Bowie's story is a little cooler than mine. Really? Okay. Bowie, I'm excited. So I was also a monarch, but last year, when I went to Monarch, we got to the last day and I was like, I just want to try something new, you know? So I was looking at the, I was looking at the map and I was like, I just knew this one route that I've always seen because every time you drive in, it leads into the parking lot. So it comes down from the mountain into the parking lot instead of to the list.

because it's not a usual route. So there's no lift that goes straight up to it. So you have to do a little bit of like a hike like all the way around some peaks to get there. And so I took like 30 minutes to get there. And I got up to the top and I didn't really know what to expect. You hiked 30 minutes for this one run. Well, you kind of take one of the lifts up and then you can like glide down across kind of a ridge line-ish to it. So you traverse.

But there is one area we have to go upwards, right? Yes. I was also like taking my time and just like, like, I wasn't like, like, you weren't rushing it. Okay. Well, I was just going to say, that's a lot of dedication to hike 30 minutes for one run. I stick over your shoulder with like a little bag tied to it. And it's called the gun barrel run. And I got up to the top and I was like, I had no idea what to expect.

And I saw the sign that like told that was just like a lor dump of everything about this. And it, um, there, so the gum barrel barrel challenge. is an annual challenge once a year at Monarch Mountain. And this has been going on for like a hundred, like this is like the oldest lift in Colorado. Wow. And it's like, well,

there was a former lift there that is not safe for use anymore. And so there's no, there's no lift there right now. But the first lift was, uh, the type like a T like lift that you just kind of like, oh the T bar. Yes.

Yep. And then you, uh, you would just like, it was run by an old Chevy engine. A car engine. This is fascinating. They booted up a car engine and had it run the lift.

Oh my gosh. And that would run the lift all the way up. And the people would just go up and then they would group up at the top and for the annual gum barrel challenge. And whoever gets to the bottom fastest gets the golden boot. No other rules. Sign me up. No other rules.

So it's like moguls all the way down. Double black diamond. And people will just like, bomb it down. So you've got like those pro-mogal skiers. They're just like, no, but these people were like, this was when skiing was not as big. They had seven foot wooden skis.

The wooden skis. So how old are we talking? Do you remember the year? It was 100 years ago is what you said. No, no. I think it was 19, like, 40, something like that. That's still a while ago. But people, like 80 years ago or something like.

Yeah. There weren't as many pros. So people died on this run Trying to get that gold boot To get the gold boot To get the golden boot Dang That's the most Colorado thing ever

You want that golden boot down there So when you got to the top of the run And you read that Did you decide to just go straight down No turns Going for the glory? No no I was I mean this was like

This was also a year ago I wasn't even as good And I was not about to do that Like this was the last time You were at Mark? Yes This was one of the the like hardest runs that I've done like it was like it's like it's a double black yeah it's a very

very impressive challenging run so I was just like you know I wasn't trying to like go too fast it was like taking it in my own pace and just like going like like you know swerving moguls I wasn't like humping over well you sound like a pretty good skier storm have you done a double black I'm only on the bunny slopes the bunny slopes well you need to go with bowie more he'll show you the way no actually they were like they put me on a lift immediately and we got to the top and it was like no easy runs and I was like oh geez I haven't done this in three years but I did exclusively blues and blacks fantastic he was doing really well for not being out there in a while good for you anything else you want to add to that story or is that pretty much we never saw him again after that so it's just your ghosts that's talking to us all it was also just nice because that was like the last run of the day and I just ended up like that run goes straight into the parking lot so that I just Well, that's perfect.

And just dipped it straight after that run. Ski into your car. That's nice. You're listening to Off the Trails on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. And we're going to get back into our skiing stories. You got one, Nicole? Yeah, I don't know if I have one as cool, actually. I feel like I've had lots of great experiences on the mountain, both in Mammoth and in steamboat.

one that's coming to mind is a steamboat story. My uncle's favorite run was called North St. Pat's, and that's a run on... North St. Pats? North St. Pat's? Like St. Patrick's? Like St. Patrick's Day, yeah. They're the little like lepracons hidden in the woods watching you.

They don't. They don't. But it's kind of on the back side of the mountain, so you take up morning side lift, which is the one that I mentioned, and you get to the top, and you also have to hike over to this ski run. It's not accessible without climbing up a bit of a hill. And so I had done this run only once with my uncle. It was in 2021, and he decided that I was good enough to go do it. And so we climbed on up, skied down, but that's not the story I'm going to tell. I'm going to tell it the year that I did it one year afterwards. So my uncle passed.

away in 2021. And so the year after we were in Steamboat and I was like, well, I have to go ski North St. Pat's for Uncle Joe. I mean, it's going to be a tradition at this point. I was a little nervous, though, because I had never gone up there by myself and it's kind of secluded. And once you get down to the bottom of this run, the run's pretty short, but there's this really long cat track that takes you back to the main lift areas. And so I was just a little wary about going. And so I was just a little wary about going, and doing it by myself. But I was like, you know what? I've done it before.

I can do it again. It's not that big of a deal. So I hike up to the top and I'm trying to find the run because it's a little hidden. There's Christmas tree bowl, which is right to the left of North St. Pat's. There's also East Face, which has like rocks. And so there are people who will jump off the rocks and I am not, I am not crazy. I'm not jumping off of rocks.

I'll do steep stuff, but there's no jumps involved. Have you seen those people who like parasail ski? I have. It looks really fun actually, but I'm not going to try it. But anyway, so I'm trying to find the run. And I feel like I'm too far to the left. But I was like, no, no, it's fine. I think I'm in the right spot.

So I start heading down. And then all of a sudden, I feel the snow kind of like drop beneath me a little bit. And I keep going. And then I stop and I was like, hey, there's no avalanche. There's quite a bit of powder. and then I look behind me and there was a rock I had went over but it was like so covered in snow

that it was barely a jump but I still felt a little cool because the snow had fallen out of the way and I saw that there was a rock yeah so it was a little baby slide over hop but technically you could say it went over a rock you got air but anyway I get to the bottom

of the run and I'm standing there and there's a big group of snowboarders and I was like oh gosh I don't want to be stuck behind these guys on their traverse. Like, that's just going to be really, really frustrating. So I decide to go off the trails, you could say. But um, yeah, I head to the left of the cat track. And I start traversing kind of at the base of all these double blocks that they have on

the backside. And I find myself at the bottom of shoot three. And I was like, okay, I need to start heading away. from these runs though because otherwise I'm going to end up in this big boulder field like at the bottom of shoot three two ish yeah so then I'm like going through these trees I'm going so much slower than if I would have just followed these snowboarders and then finally I make it to the cat track but by this point I'm like winded exhausted sweaty because I've been pushing through this deep powder and then the cat track starts going uphill for a little bit so I'm like oh gosh doris and I have to push uphill all I'll have to say it took me like 30 minutes to finally get back to the main mountain. So it wasn't really worth it. I mean, it was. But after that experience, I always took the regular cat track out.

I was like, I'm not going to try to shortcut it when it really just made my trip a whole lot longer. So. That's fantastic. Not quite as interesting, but it was my own little thrilling adventure by myself. Yeah. Took responsibility. How old were you? 14. This was last week. No. No, I was 14. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. I can do math. So, so a while ago, but when did you guys start skiing?

I've been skiing for about six years, I think. It's been a long time. Like, we would go. So since you were two years old? Okay. We would go every winter just with the family and like we have cousins who live in the, in BV, BV, BV, BUNivista. So we just, we just, We'll stay with them. Some of our family goes once a year. Okay. Not all of us get to go on with them, but this is like my first time in a few years. So is Monarch like your whole mountain, the one that you go to typically? Okay.

They've done Cooper though a few times, Mount Cooper, right? We have, but Cooper is, I think Cooper's a little, Cooper's not as good as Monarch. But if you go to, there's another mountain called Copper. Oh, copper is good. And I've never, I've never tried it, but. I've heard really good things. And it's a lot bigger than Monarch. Yeah, I've never skied copper, but I know they do a lot of training over there, like for the U.S. ski team. So I got some pros out there.

Heck yeah. I've never skied Cooper, but I have driven by it. And I think my parents have skied there before. Do y'all ski in Michigan? They have hills here. I cross-country ski in Hayden Park, but it's very different from downhill skiing. There's a whole, like, course out there. I still have to do with you. Well, there's like different trails. It's not a course. They have like different trails. Yeah, different trails.

You can go on. You'll probably have to go next year. I don't think we're going to get any more snow this spring now. Hang it. We can't play a Thatcher ball then. What is that? It's a game you can play here at Hillsdale when it's snowing. I'll tell you about it later.

Interesting. Okay. Okay. Cool. So Storm, you, when did you start skiing? When did I start? Probably the same time. Well, not the same time, I guess, before. probably before you.

Like, we've been skiing once-ish a year ever since I can remember. Okay. So for a while as well. Yeah. At least since they moved, our family, we had family move out to Colorado. They weren't always in Colorado. They were down in the southeast with us. And then moved up to Colorado seven, eight years ago, maybe.

Something like that. But even before that, I remember I've skied in West Virginia. Oh, really? Which is very fun. I think Mount Ruby, Ruby Mountain. I don't remember. I don't think I did this. I don't think you did either.

I think this was me and Donovan and Martin of other brothers. And we were out on Mount Ruby. Could be the name. I don't remember. But it was crazy. West Virginia has some amazing spots similar to Colorado. The West Virginia ones, I know, tend to be all steeper. Really?

But less altitude. Okay. Because it's like the middle Appalachian mountains are like short crags, basically. Whereas the Rockies are massive, you know, just. Monsters. Yeah, more sprawling, less steep. So the runs in the east were shorter runs, but quick and fast. Yeah.

And you could do pretty long, long halls down Mount Monarch and such. All right. Well, Bowie, thank you so much for joining us this week on the podcast. This is really fun. Of course. And if you want to be a guest, again, reach out to us. We had Jack recently, Bowie now. If you want to come talk to us and share your amazing outdoor stories, I guess,

DM the account. Reach out to us. Yeah, for sure. It's super fun to have guests on. Thank you for listening to Off the Trails on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. We hope you have a great week and make time to go outside and enjoy the great outdoors. We'll see you out there. Happy trails. Throw us snowball at Nicole if you see her. Bye, guys.