Strange blog hits

This fall I started getting a lot more hits on this blog. While I was quite happy about this, I found it odd because I don't really add content too often. I thought perhaps it was because of my post about seeing Lindsey Vonn. I assume there are many people around the globe that regularly search the internet for Lindsey. I would guess those that found this blog are many pages into their search results before they get here. Like my appreciation for small ski mountains, I also appreciate my small readership! I used to work for a company where there was a person whose job was to keep track of internet posts about the company. I discovered this when she sent me an email commenting that she came across my coaches bio on our ski team's website. That profile mentioned that my regular job was with the company. There is a traffic counter on the blogger dashboard that shows where the prime hits are coming from...I am getting hits from an amazingly inappropriate web site. A quick search on Google showed many bloggers are complaining about this issue as well. I wonder if it is a person or just a machine that is hitting this blog? Either way there is a pervert behind it. Because I don't subscribe to the full suite of information you can get from blogger, I don't have complete information about the traffic. Currently, to my relief, the two main hits are from the Google search engine and something from Russia that appears to be a search engine too. Much better but why is someone in Russia worried about, and searching for, little ski area skiing in the Eastern USA. Anyway, as I sat down to write this morning, my intention was to talk about the nice early season skiing happening in the East. I decided as I started, to change my cover picture and write this instead. I am simply trying to write about the joy of the sport through the experience of skiing, mainly, at little ski areas. How about the great early season this year!

Lindsey Vonn and the off season will end before you know...

I have just begun to think again about skiing. I will need some new gear this season, so will my daughter. I do wish equipment would last longer. That said, I love getting new skis. It is fun getting them ready for skiing. It always creates some excitement for getting the season going even if the first few days are on the old stuff. By early December there is usually enough snow to ski on new skis. I can't say I like getting new boots. Once my boots are "dialed in", I like to use them for as long as I can. I broke 2 buckle bales last season, that I replaced, but, it is time.

What got me thinking about skiing again was a couple of really cold mornings early this month..it was 40 degrees twice the first week of August. Also, I got an email about a promotion at a ski shop in Rochester. Lindsey Vonn was going to be there. My daughter went on the website and registered. The event would be on a Friday night. Rochester is a couple hours away but I figured this would be pretty fun and great inspiration for my daughter. I (it turns out wrongly) assumed that getting the confirmation email meant the event was planned so we would be able to meet Lindsey, get an autograph and/or a picture with her.

We left Friday after work and stopped at an outlet mall along the way. We didn't really need a whole lot but we were going by and school is coming (my daughter is in high school) so we poked around a bit. My daughter bought a new, white cover for her phone to use for the autograph!. When we arrived at the ski shop, we parked and got in line. It was a long line. In a few minutes there were about a hundred people behind us but there were thousands in front of us. Apparently, everyone was confirmed by email. We seemed to have been had.

The line went to the other end of the strip mall!
In the next 2 hours (Lindsey was an hour late) the line moved about a quarter of the way. It was 8:00 PM and there were still thousands in front of us. The good news was that the line was full of skiers. I had a number of nice conversations about, small ski areas in western NY, ski racing, mutual skier friends etc. And even made loose plans to see someone I met when I am at Bristol this winter.

Now, Lindsey had a problem. She had been in the shop for about 2 hours and met less that 25% of the people waiting for her. She was put into a situation where the planning was mostly absent. Apparently, about 10 people at a time were let into the store to meet her. At the rate things were moving it would take about 8 hours total to get to everyone. How could anyone expect someone to sign 3 or 4 thousand autographs in a two hour visit? No one seemed to be going anywhere. We decided to stay until they told us to go but had come to the realization that our chances were really, really slim at getting to meet Lindsey.

I have never condisdered myself a huge fan of Lindsey. I love her skiing and her drive. She has incredible focus. She just never seems to be too happy to me. When she won her first Olympic gold medal she broke down and her comments were something about giving up her life for this. No doubt she was happy and over whelmed but it made me feel a bit sorry for her that she felt the sacrifice first and not the joy. I realize I may have misinterpreted the situation but it made an impact on me. I have been an alpine ski racing coach for many years and I always struggle to make it fun for all my athletes. Ski racing is the hardest sport, also the coolest, but definately the hardest. There are so many variables on race day that the outcome is mostly unpredictable. My favorite ski racing athletes (actually, athletes of any sport) are those that you know just love their sport and thoroughly enjoy being part of it all. Those athltetes are great models for the athletes I work with. I never really got that from Lindsey.

Back to Lindsey's current problem. Even though she was stuck in a situation that was way out of her control, she, being the celebrity, would get all the blame. People are completely used to ranting hard in the comments under every website that provides a space for comments. Partly due to the online anonymity (or maybe it is reality television), we seem to have become amazingly rude as a society and what is worse, it has become acceptable behavior. Lindsey was going to get it. I was feeling bad for her and the discussion with my new found skiing friends in line became about her horrible situation.

All of a sudden, at the end of the line (there were still about 100 people behind me) there was Lindsey with a small entourage greeting everyone in the line. She had exited the back of the store and come around the building. As she worked her way toward us, I got out of the way, let my daughter get to her to get her phone autographed. I snapped a couple of pictures. She was great with all kids, happy to meet everyone. Truly amazing. After she passed by, we watched for a few minutes and then headed to our car. I read in the news the next day that she made her way all the way back to the store and went in to meet the last group that was allowed into the store. The estimate was 4,000 people.

Lindsey was able to salvage the pretty bad situation more than remarkably well. She was so gracious and happy. It was great to see. My daughter got her autograph and a nice picture with her. She was sorry she did not get to speak with her but it turned out great after what seemed like seeing Lindsey would be an impossibility. She has also committed to meeting Lindsey again someday. I am a new huge fan of Lindsey Vonn.

On the drive home, I was thinking about skiing. I can't wait.

What a great day!

Lost friends

I lost 2 long time ski friends in the last 2 weeks. It makes me sad. Both were passionate about the sport. Both needed to find some peace. Both were very sick. Both were not old. Brandon was hired by our ski school (me) when he was 16 years old and a sophomore in high school. He was happy then, great with the kids and one of a bunch of high school students working on the ski school staff. I guess looking back at it, he was a bit overshadowed by 2 younger brothers who ski raced. They were exceptional, one ridiculously so. It was slightly before the ski academy era so athletes from small clubs could and did win eastern championships. One of Brandon's brothers was, as a teenager, arguably the best ski racer in the east. But Brandon was a great athlete. He was a an exceptional swimmer, lacrosse player and skier. After college and some years out west, he came back to the race club and coached the JIV group (11 and 12 year olds). Again he was great with the kids and did a really good job. He was passionate, funny and energetic then. While I realized he couldn't quite figure out his place in life, I did not realize how huge his struggle with mental illness was. Brandon spent 20 years fighting the battle to get healthy. I always felt that taking your own life was a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Brandon has taught me how naive about this I have always been. When my own father decided on hospice after a long struggle with lung disease he said he was tired of the fight and wanted more than anything to be rid of the pain. Brandon was in the same place as my father; just as ill, but unfortunately as a much younger man. I did not see Brandon in about the last 10 years of his life but I have good memories of a young man with an engaging smile and passion for his endeavors. I will miss him.

Ron was my friend since college. He fought hard against a horrible disease that no one should have to have to fight and few survive. We were both hired as new ski instructors in 1975. It turns out we also wound up renting apartments in the same house just off campus at college. We skied together, partied together, and generally hung out until we graduated and went our separate ways. In the early nineties, I had this yearning to get out of middle management as a ski school director and started race coaching. Ten years into that, I ran into Ron again. This time he had small children that were ski racing. He had spent the years in between skiing at another small mountain close by. After a couple of seasons seeing him at races he moved his family over to our mountain and program; not because of me but because of the program. Over the years he grew quite close with our head coach and his wife. Ron was unique. He was really opinionated and liked to argue but he was kind and generous. He had a sincerity that, while not that obvious when you met him, ran really really deep. He always seemed to be enjoying the moment whether telling you like it was or slipping a race course for the 10th time that day, or just taking a run or talking about his family. He has left a beautiful legacy; his 3 children. They all show the integrity, intelligence and values that were so important to their father. The really cool thing about Ron was he remained the same and was true to himself for the 38 years I knew him.

Peace gentlemen, you have earned it.

Is it changing?

I know the winter has been with us for a while and I have been meaning to update my blog. I have skied at many small areas this winter; Song Mountain, Holimont, Bristol, Holiday Valley, Labrador and a few bigger ones; Gore, Hunter and Whiteface. I have reported on many of these areas in the past and not too much has changed other than the year. The industry in New York seems to be changing. I have not seen big crowds this winter. To be fair, I was at Hunter during the week and it was really cold. Hunter is not often crowded during the week. The skiing was great, they were making snow as hard they were able. I have never been there when the conditions were better. They moved the old high speed quad to the back. It now takes under 4 minutes to get back up when you ski the west side...talk about getting some vertical in fast!


Night ski

Bristol and Whiteface had good crowds. I was at both of these areas on weekends when there were ski races which usually adds lots of racers plus an entourage of coaches, race volunteers and parents. Holimont is private but allows public on weekdays and I assume they are fine. There are many very wealthy members and I think, a waiting list to get in for the US member list (it is close to Canada so there is a Canadian list as well). When I was at Holiday Valley, there seemed to be the smallest weekend crowd I have seen there.. and the skiing was great. I have skied at Labrador many days, and nights. There has not been a really good crowd yet. The night business seems really off too. Is it economy, weird winters, marketing..what? I am concerned because in my lifetime we have lost tons of small ski areas. Three in central NY and six if you go way back to the rope tows set up on hills inside the city of Syracuse. For that matter we have lost tons of small dairy farms, small grocery stores, hardware stores, amusement parks, and on and on. Maybe the industry should copy the buy local that is driving good food. One problem is that many people see longer and steeper as the key to determining good. Small ski areas have this humble, friendly, familiar thing that gets the sport to many more people with less travel and cost. This country and probably the world is full of great skiers that trace their beginning ski days to small ski areas. The first time I was at Brantling many years ago, I immediately understood how the tiny hill produced a world and Olympic champion; Diane was on the short lift or in the course and nowhere else. Small areas are a great part of our sport. I will keep watching to see if it really is changing ..and skiing!


Happy small mountain skiers (on one ski)