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)

here it comes again...I hope

Not much small mountain skiing yet. It got pretty cold right after Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving morning, after the bird was in, I drank coffee on my south porch soaking in some sun. It was warm and beautiful. But the next day, about 4 inches stuck. I thought we were about to get it going and while the snow lasted a week in the hills around here the daytime highs were just a bit much for the mountain to start up the guns. It was killing me; every morning as I was leaving for work the temp was below twenty, every evening on my way home it was over 40. So, the first Saturday in December, my daughter and I left home at about 5 am heading for Gore. I was a too easy drive. The lowest temp along the way was 36°. We met about 20 other coaches, athletes and parents from our program in the base lodge at 8:30 am. Gore was relatively empty, the forecast was for rain, not much was open and the snow was pretty thin in spots. It was not so good but it was fabulous. I always love the first day. I always feel like I ski like an old fat guy, the conditions are often terrible but I still always love it. There are few pleasures in my life greater than the first day skiing. I think the whole group was really happy to be back to skiing again. As the snow deteriorated after lunch we headed to our secret early season stash; the green part of the Sunway lift (get off half way). It is really short and really flat but the snow was the best to be found (it seems it always is when I go there before Christmas). We ran through some drills trying to get bodies moving at (or with ) the direction of the new turn while making it look like magic. Everyone always tries to muscle the early season turns because they don't have their timing yet or, more likely, don't trust it yet. We were getting more comfortable and pretty tired with the rain got there about 2:15 so we quit before we got wet. The skiing was not worth taking pictures of but here a couple to look at anyway.

Early morning drive through the Adirondacks

We are there!

Getting ready

The forecast is terrible in Central NY for the forseeable future. It is raining hard and has been. last weekend my daughter opted for an indoor lacrosse tournament instead of travel for skiing but we will get out there somewhere this weekend.

The current dismal Central NY radar

Hopefully the weather will turn so I can come up with something worthwhile to talk about in my next post!

Changes

Well, my life has changed a bit. After a 21 month stint as a full time skier and unemployed job seeker, I have taken a full time position back in the IT world. I was a database administrator for 10 years when my job was outsourced in July 2010 and I am now a database administrator again for a large retailer instead of a technology company. Before trying any of this computer stuff in the corporate world, I was a free lance finish carpenter, cabinet maker and skier. During those years I was lucky enough to ski at least 100 times a season; most of it professionally as a race coach and educator for the Eastern Division of the Professional Ski Instructors of America. If you have looked at this blog in the past, my skiing background is fairly obvious. When I was employed (as opposed to self employed) I was still able to work for the race club and the PSIA but during those years I skied closer to 60 times and half of those were night training alpine ski racers. Sill, lots of skiing...and on small mountains, mostly. I have had two fabulous winters since I started writing this blog (even if this last one was a bit too warm). So, as I get back into the rhythm (or maybe no rhythm) of a regular job, I will again ski less days at fewer ski areas but remain a passionate small mountain skier

What all this means to this blog is not absolutely clear to me. Even though, I am pretty crumby when it comes to regular updates, I have enjoyed writing about skiing things. I will continue to write about my experience as a small mountain skier. I will be happy to keep writing about my experiences skiing around different places with different people. I also think I will try and comment more about skiing events and issues from my small mountain skier vantage point. I won't be traveling so much or so far but I will continue to enjoy every day I spend on the slopes.

I do have many other interests that I would like to or could write about; cooking, photography, woodworking, canoing, life in the middle of nowhere etc. but... there are not only tons of these kind of blogs out there already, there are tons of really good ones. I can never seem to keep up with the blogs I want to read. There are some great ski blogs too. I do read the ski blogs I follow more regularly than those of my other interests. After all, I am identified and identify as a skier first in most cases. Very few blogs celebrate small mountain skiing so, I will continue to do so. At small mountains I find friendly, enthusiastic, humble skiers, many of them excellent; really fair value for the service and very often some really good skiing. I am happy to call myself a small mountain skier....but in the back of my head I often believe that someday... that might change :-)

Off Season! Enjoy and get ready.

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!