Boules

David Rocchio lives, works and writes in Stowe, Vermont. (c) 2014 David Rocchio

I have been away too long.

I have been away from this blog too long. The photo below, of the cold winter just past, says it all.

Today it is eighty degrees. There is a breeze and it is humid.

We cooked a chicken over a wood fire last night, played lawn bowls and drank beer, listened to the ballgame in the gloam of a late spring night. And there were no bugs.

The winter, which seemed so long and so hard and was in our bones almost until yesterday, at least here in Northern Vermont, is long gone now.

Pretty cool season this.

David Rocchio lives, works and writes in Stowe, Vermont. (c) 2014 David Rocchio

Winter's Day

David Rocchio lives, works and writes in Stowe, Vermont. (c) 2014 David Rocchio

Ode to Bohemian Rhapsody

Cal and I picked up Ántonia from the middle school dance. Cal, fourteen, cued up 'Bohemian Rhapsody.'

Ántonia, eleven, face flushed from dancing the night away, said 'turn it up,' so I did. We drove and listened, no one talking. We pulled up to the house as the song closed.

'Anyway the wind blows,' Freddie Mercury sang.

My little girl said 'sweet.'

I smiled, we went inside.

They had no idea.

Magnifico. Sweet.

David Rocchio lives, works and writes in Stowe, Vermont. (c) 2013 David Rocchio

Empty Chair

David Rocchio lives, works and writes in Stowe, Vermont. (c) 2013 David Rocchio

Wind Cloud

Mt. Mansfield has it's own weather.

And now there are the new snow guns at the ski area, adding a human element, creating new weather of our own.

The wind plus the sub-zero cold make this season pretty real.

There is lot of talk just now about the 'polar vortex.'

We just call it winter.

David Rocchio lives, works and writes in Stowe, Vermont. (c) 2013 David Rocchio

Hut to Hut in Slovakia, plus other details you may find helpful ....

In my last post I expanded on my Backcountry Magazine piece on travel to Slovakia. In this post I outline some hut to hut opportunities for the totally daring and insane. I then list some other helpful info for the uninitiated. What follows is the nitty gritty for those truly going. (And you will not regret it.)

Writer's-Cut: Backcountry Skiing in Slovakia

          I wrote an article about alpine touring in Slovakia for Backcountry Magazine's December 2013 issue. The Backcountry team did a great job on the content, the photos and the layout of both the article and the entire December issue, the Photo Annual. It is beautiful.  You can buy it here and subscribe to Backcountry here. 

High Tatras in Strednica

           I love how they presented the article, but I am a writer, which means I have more to say, and exploring Slovakia, a relatively new country with a long past, meandered far away from the skiing. So read on for the 'writer's cut' of the story. (And click here for another post full of details on hut to hut adventures, average snow fall, where to go, and other details for the truly dedicated.) Enjoy.