Christmas Day

Christmas we slept in after our busy day. We decided to go snowboarding at Alpine since we hadn't had much time on the hill this year. The weather was great and it wasn't packed so we got a lot of runs in. After riding we went out to Dinner with Danielle's parents her Grandma and My Aunt Ginger and Janet, we had a great dinner and none of the mess to clean up. Hope you all had a happy holidays.

Christmas Eve

Monday was packed we started off at Danielle's parents. After a quick breakfast we headed off to Oakdale to see Danielle's Aunt Luise and cousin Karen and her husband Karl with there kids Kyle and Katie. We spent a few hours there then off to my Grandpa John and Grandma Irene's. All of my dad's family that I don't get to see as often as I should was there, my Grandparents, my Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Ron and there daughter Cassie with her boy friend Ruben and there two kids Ruben Jr and the newborn Isaiah. My grandma's sister Cory and boyfriend Vincent and her son Lenny. And last but not least My Dad his girlfriend Stephine and my brother and sister were all there. We had a great dinner that my Grandma made you can never leave her house with out feeling stuffed. We had our gift exchange then headed back home to Reno, we didn't get home till about one AM but it was nice to be home. I need to make more time to get to Turlock to see my Grandparents I am a bad Grandson.

Day Three

Day three was a lot of fun. We started off the day at my Grandma Margaret's were we met my Dad and little sis Ginger. We spent a few hours just chilling with Grandma and Brad. Then off to Discovery Kingdom or Marine World whatever it is called now of days. We went with Danielle's parents, my brother and sis and one of my best friends Danny. We went on the roller coasters and saw the shows. It was fun but it was cold.

Pilgrimage Day 2

Saturday we awoke early to have breakfast with Danielle's parents Dave and Diane and some family friends Gail and Treacy and there two Labs Mattie and Emmie. Diane cooked a wonderful breakfast and we had a good time hanging out and talking. Then at one off to my Grandpa Don and Grandma Thelma's for an early Christmas with the family. I got to see a lot for family I don't see to often which was great Terrie and Rhonda my Aunt and Uncle are great I wish I got to see them and there kids Kyle, Justin, Cody and Shelly more often, I used to spend a lot of time at there house when I was young. After linner we were off to the San Jose Sharks game, me and Danielle love Hockey the game was fun but they got there buts kicked. Two days down two to go.

Start of the busy holidays

Friday we started our pilgrimage west to see the family for the holidays. We started Friday with a full day of shipping boxes in Porters warehouse, then off to see some old friends the Waibel's. We drove two hours to Cameron Park to Rudy and Diane's house, there two sons Dustin and Nate were in town. Nate is one of my best friends from the days back on Tobin drive. It was great seeing everyone there all like family. Nate's in the middle of medical school and him and his wife Susan just had there first kid Natalie seven months ago. Congratulations and good luck to them.

Teaching Scuba In The Snow

This weekend I taught a scuba class in Lake Tahoe. Adventure scuba had a big class from Carson High there were six instructors and we each had 4 students. They were taking a oceanography class and getting certified through school, I wish I had a class like that. The first day didn't start off very good the water was 45 degrees and the air temp was lower that that, the kids were in 7mm wetsuits and freezing there buts off and what didn't help is it was really windy with 2 ft waves. We ended up limping through the day with no major issues. The second day was great it was still cold, but no wind and the water was calm. My group had a ton of fun and all the students passed the open water class. I am proud of them they learned how to dive while walking through six inches of snow they were excited for it to be done. A lot of the kids want to take an advance class to further there skills. Any one interested in diving I am always open.

Dive Club Christmas Party

Saturday night was or annual dive club Christmas party. It was graciously hosted by Marcus and Julie while he cooked the main dishes and we all brought over sides and deserts. There were about 25 people that attended a few less than last year. We had a white elephant gift exchange that is always fun, Danielle and I got good gifts in the past we have got skunked. The best was we held a drawing for the dive club yearly prize. How it works is any dive club event you attended you are entered into a raffle for the prize at the end of the year. A long story short is I won the $550 underwater camera set. I was really excited it's a nice set not sure what I am going to do with it since I have an underwater camera, I could use the flash since I don't have that?

Climbing

With the weather getting cold we thought it would be fun to try Rock climbing. We took a class at our local climbing gym Rock sport. It was a ton of fun, we had never climbed before so we took the intro class, it taught us how to belay and use all the gear then they sent us on our way. The class wasn't very informative but we had a lot of fun on our own after the class. We are going to go again sometime soon.

Christmas Cookies

Once again we made Christmas cookies at my Aunt Ginger and Janet's house. Some might laugh, but we have done this every year since I was 10. It's always fun and I look forward to it every year. Thanks Ginger for making all the cookies!

Finally a Good Dump

We all started to think it was never going to snow. It was worth the wait. We finally got a good dump of about 12in at my office and 2+ft above 8000 ft. Hopefully this will give the ski resorts enough snow to open some more terrain.

Another Update on Rich

Unfortunately their is no update. Rich is still in coma and they have no date on when he might awake. His wife Mavy and father Don are meting with the doctors on Saturday to further discus this condition. Lets all keep him in our thoughts and hope he awakes with little permanent damage.

Update On Rich

It sure has been a busy week and all of our thoughts are still with Rich and his family. So far doctors have confirmed that he is not suffering from decompression sickness. He actually had a bi-lateral dissection of his internal carotid neck arteries which in turn caused a stroke. The cause is still unknown, but some form of pressure/trauma caused a tear in both arteries in his neck, which continued to tear and eventually clot, causing the stroke. Rich remains in the ICU at UCLA where everyone is anxiously waiting for him to wake up. When he first arrived on Sunday, he was being uncooperative, so they sedated him. His last sedation was on Tuesday and now they are waiting for him to wake up. No one can determine the extent of his injuries until he is awake. Rich is also fighting pneumonia and a ruptured ear drum. He has a long road ahead of him, but he is a fighter. Let’s all hope that he wakes up soon. I will continue to post updates whenever I receive new information

Peace Dive Trip

Over the weekend, I went on my annual lobster diving trip. What started out so great ended so bad. I boarded the boat Friday night and got all set-up for a long ride out to our first dive site near San Miguel Island. The total motor time was about 7 hrs as it was 65 miles from shore. Things started off great. The water was calm with perfect visibility which is rare in these parts. We dove off a pinnacle that was in the middle of the ocean with no land near. The dive site started about 70ft below dropping to a max of 180ft. Marcus, Julie and I stayed in the 70-90ft range and found tons of big scallops, beautiful coral, and anemones. We all filled up our game bags with scallops. I got 8 - not a bad start when the daily limit is 10 and they were big.

Things started to change when we were back on the boat. About 10 minutes after we surfaced there was a distressed diver that popped up about 100ft from the boat. The dive master assisted the diver getting back on the boat. It was Rich Christensen, one of the owners of the dive shop and the most experienced diver on the boat. When he got on the boat he said he couldn't get any air off his rebreather or his sling bottle which forced him to come to the surface from 108ft in less than a minute. We were all a little concerned, but he demanded that everything was okay and he had been fighting a cold.

After this, things went back to normal with all dive efforts going for the coveted prize of lobster. I was the first one on the boat to bag one. It was on the second dive and my first grab of the year, not a bad start, but that was the only one I ended up with. These bugs are fast! Marcus cleaned up with six and a few others were also lucky. The water was really cold on this trip at about 54 degrees and I was freezing in my wetsuit. I wish I had my dry suit, but I am afraid of ripping the wrist seals reaching under rocks for lobsters. Next year I am wearing my dry suit no matter what. I am becoming a pussy in my old age, the cold water never bothered me in the past.

The following morning started off like any other day on the boat - wake up, throw down a quick bite to eat, then jump in the water. We had moved to Santa Cruz Island over night to get us closer to Ventura to make the ride home quicker. We were still 30 miles and a 3hr boat ride away. After the first dive is when things went bad. As we got out of the water Rich was in the galley and his condition was deteriorating fast. He was uncoordinated and was was loosing basic motor skills like writing and talking. He was really off balanced and had a hard time walking. The boat Captain Kevin told Marcus he had to make a decision fast and talk Rich in to letting us get him help from the Coast Guard, which he had previously refused. Finally, he agreed. After a call to the Coast Guard they had Rich on 100% oxygen and were waiting for the USCG response. Within a few minutes they said they were sending a helicopter out to do a boat rescue. At this time we had to pack all of our gear to get ready for the helicopter. As everything was secured, we all had to huddle in the galley while they loaded Rich in a basket and raised him into the helicopter. We couldn't see anything due to no windows facing the back of the boat, but what they did was drop a basket with one of their divers, got Rich loaded, then loaded him in the chopper, and then off they went. We were told they were taking him to the Catalina Hyperbaric chamber; however they ended up bringing him to the UCLA Medical Center because they thought they could help him better based on his symptoms.

After the boat arrived in the harbor the USCG was waiting for us so they could interview the people involved in the dive and also the crew. It took about 2 hours until they were done and they took Rich's gear to inspect it. They needed to check if it was working correctly. Marcus and Julie stayed in L.A. to go see Rich and help coordinate his wife Mavy and dad getting out there. Since he arrived in UCLA he has had several treatments in the hyperbaric chamber and they had to sedate him because he kept ripping out his IVs. We are not sure on the outcome until he wakes up in about 4 days according to the medical staff. Based on the CT scan, they know he suffered a stroke; however long term effects cannot be determined until he wakes up later in the week. Please keep Rich and his family in your thoughts and hope all goes well for a quick recovery.

Magic Mountain Day 2

After we had so much fun at Magic Mountain, we had to go a 2ND day. The park was a little busier on Friday but we still had a ton of fun the rides are crazy. After a fun filled day we headed to Ventura so I can get on the boat for a weekend of diving. We went to dinner with some friends Brad, Chris and Grant from San Jose that were going on the Peace boat with me. Danielle and her parents drove home on Saturday while I stayed behind.

Turkey Day at Magic Mountain

Today Danielle, her parents, and I spent the day riding roller coasters at Magic Mountain (after a five hour drive there). If you have never been there it's a must for thrill seekers. The rides are the best, you just have to make sure you can keep down your lunch. We went on a ton of coasters and we are going back tomorrow for more. Late tomorrow night I am getting on the Peace Boat for two days of Lobster diving. Wish me luck. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Jt Holmes Ski Base Jumping

This is Jt Holmes a Porters skier from Tahoe.

Skiing Off the Silver Legacy What?

Shane McConkey, JT Holmes and a few others skied a ramp off the Silver Legacy to a base jump. It was crazy the winds were really gusty so they had to time it perfect. One of the skiers got his ski tangled in his lines and landed hard on one leg, he ended up tearing his MCL ouch. This was a promo for the Warren Miller movie they played last night. This guys are skiing off 5000ft cliffs the parachuting down it's pretty crazy to watch.

Boreal's Open

Boreal opened on Monday but it's not pretty. There is a patch of snow about the size of a football field with a few rails and boxes. We need some snow bad for Porters business and water it's not starting off well.