Late April, wish I was skiing..

It seems fitting that I update my skiing blog as the 7 inches of show that fell yesterday melts. It is still snowing on and off today but it is mostly dripping off my roof and my grass is again visible. My power went out at 3:35 am yesterday for almost 5 hours. I got up and out to see what things were like around Truxton. Down in the valley, there was power but a couple of lines were down about a mile down the road from me. When I went by, the tree service was just wrapping up clearing the road and the power company crew was getting ready to put things back together.

Truxton back road, April 23, 2012

It seems everyone in the East was saying all winter that our biggest snow would come after the season....almost true for me. I think this storm was 3rd or 4th biggest which is pretty pitiful but we all know what kind of winter it was. This storm was only a small problem here; most local schools were a couple ours delayed but a bit south and east they were all closed. The town got the plows back on the equipment and our road was plowed shortly after 8:00 AM (a few hours later than normal). By late morning all the roads were just wet.

The snow got me thinking about skiing. I did ski a lot this winter but it was not enough. I am not sure it ever is. This winter I skied at many areas. In addition to the ones I mentioned in previous posts (Gore, Killington, Labrador, Brantling, Ski Round Top, and Jack Frost) I also got to Song Mt, Greek Peak, Toggenburg, Holimont, Holiday Valley, Bristol, McCauley, Whiteface, Pisgah, Windham and Belleayre in New York, Timberline in West Virginia, and Camelback in Pennsylvania. The skiing at all of these places was pretty good. I realize Whiteface falls outside my self-proclaimed small mountain skiing but in fairness, I love skiing on big mountains as well so I will list it. Whiteface is never small even the day I was there when all lifts to the top were down because of high winds. You could get main quad from the bottom or the two doubles to get to the top of Mountain Run. This left a lot of the mountain unavailable but still, not small. I was there to coach at the New York State Championship GS ski race for 11 and 12 year olds. I did manage to get a some runs on Mountain Run after the race. While it was too bad I could not get to the summit of either peak I think I could ski on Mountain Run for years before I got sick of it. I love skiing on that thing and the snow on it was superb that day.

Today, while recalling some of my skiing over the winter, the fact that it seemed to take so long to get going and then it ended way too early makes me feel I did not ski enough. I am envious of my Eastern friends that are out west skiing and my Western friends that are still skiing this season. The pictures I am seeing from out west make it look fantastic...I should have gone out this year.

Greek Peak GS

Toggenburg GS

Safely finished second run!

I put new snows on my car this winter and hardly got to use them. Here I am heading into McCauley and enjoying the bad driving!

Last day at Labrador...still good coverage and skiing but no business :-(

Whiteface

Whiteface

Belleayre in 74 degrees

Even warmer the next day!

Second day hike to the snow from the lift

Fading fast

I seem to always get magnificent sunsets on my way home.

Jack Frost

Sunday (1/15), after skiing, I was off to Jack Frost in the Poconos for a Monday - Tuesday PSIA education workshop. As the weather started to warm late in the day, there was a forecast of freezing rain which, obviously, had the potential of turning a pretty easy 150 mile drive into something not so fun. As much as I tried to hurry, I did not leave until almost 5:00 PM but I lucked out. I ran into some rain about half-way there but drove out of it within 10 or 15 minutes of getting into it. Whew!

I woke up Monday morning to a car covered with ice. The temperature was near 32 so it was relatively easy to melt it off. The short drive from the Hotel to the ski area was easy and not slippery. If it were not for the PSIA event, the area would have been closed. Between the icy roads and the pouring rain, there was little potential for business at the mountain that day. The good part was that we had the place to ourselves, the snow was good (it usually is in a rainstorm) and the group was full of troupers that seemed to not care about getting wet. The bad part was that it did rain heavily and we all got soaked. My rain gear is good and I wear a helmet so with the exception of hands and face, I was pretty good. My goggles were useless and my fleece gloves weighed a few pounds a piece. The rain calmed down late morning and the afternoon turned out to be okay, just really overcast.

Jack Frost is a lodge on top area; kind of unusual. There is a lower lift that has a short but really nice steep pitch. It runs down to, what I think, is the Tobyhanna Creek although many in the group called it the Lehigh River. There are also some reasonable glades but again relatively short. The area points snow guns straight up and lets the snow drift into the woods to make the skiing really good in the glades.

After skiing on Monday, I went up to the upstairs bar at the mountain and had a very expensive but delicious local, semi hand crafted, dark beer. As I was trying to make my exit, one of the group members asked me to go over to Big Boulder, the sister ski area a few miles away from Jack Frost. Not really having any reason not to go, I agreed. The road between the two areas is essentially a gated community. There is a guard shack at both ends and there is a toll to get through. Anyway, Big Boulder was dead as a result of the dreadful, rainy weather. There were some snowboarders jumping off stuff but other than that, nothing going on and a really empty lodge. I learned that Jack Frost does not allow snowboards. The snowboarders have to go the Big Boulder. Again, pretty unusual..these days.

After one more beer and a detailed description of a new skiing iphone app being developed by my group companion and a couple of his buddies I was able to exit and find my way back to the hotel (thank goodness for my GPS). It was not too late but I was tired and since there were no other PSIA staff staying at the hotel, I found some take out Chinese and had a reasonable sesame chicken diner which helped get me back to my self imposed eating budget after spending a lot on 2 beers.

The next day was drier but still overcast. Skiing was pretty good and we went up and down or rather down and up a lot. As I drove up the Northeast Extension of the PA Turnpike, I was thinking I want to return to Jack Frost and ski there when the weather is better.

One small note: I realize it has been months since I last posted. I do have some things to report about the winter that has all but finished and will do so in the coming weeks. Thanks for reading!