-- Post From My iPhone
12/31/2008
12/28/2008
12/23/2008
POW DAY!!!
Mini-animal gets the "not so steep but still deep" powder at Magic Mountain. For any of those who have little ones and get bummed at missing out on powder days, I give you Magic's powder day grooming policy. 1-3 passes with the groomer on most of the low angle terrain and the rest of the trail is left as is. Meaning while your little guy rips it up, you're also getting face shots.
Worth considering the next time we get 12-24" of snow!
12/22/2008
12/19/2008
12/16/2008
12/14/2008
Holy Crap What a Weekend
Good god, this weekend went to hell in a handbasket quick.
So, because I'm bored I'm going to enthrall everyone with the tale. Dateline Thursday, skis waxed, bags packed, and everything looks like a go for an early trip north to ski some pow. The forecast was holding at 6-8 inches across Central VT with possibly more snow north. I'm merely waiting for the wife to return so I can get going. Unfortunately by the time she makes it home its started to rain, freeze, and ice so I begin thinking it might be a good idea to wait out the storm. Finally at around 7 PM I decide its time to go. Roads were surprisingly good and by 8:15 PM I had arrived at Manchester ABC. Conditions in Manchester were slush and mist, I had thought about heading over to Magic for a late night skin lap but Matt had informed me that they had lost everything in the rain event Wednesday.
So I settled in for the evening, made one last check of the weather and plotted. I figured I'd be up early check the conditions, and simply drive north until I hit the snow. Unfortunately I was awakened at 4 AM not by the sounds of plow trucks, but the incessant pitter patter of rain on the roof. Some choice words were uttered and I'm pretty sure I rolled back over and went back to sleep for an hour. But by 5:30 there was no denying that north would be the right call. The only question remained "how far"? I had mentally prepared myself for the thought of driving to Jay Peak, but I figured Sugarbush would probably be a safe bet as well, and it also had the added bonus of requiring a drive past the mighty Killington, meaning I could check out conditions there as well.
The need to check conditions at Killington ceased when I checked my voicemail and got the grim news, it was raining at KBL. So Sugarbush it would be, and confirming my suspicions, Fran called with an update that on site reports from 'bush were 6-8" and mist rather then rain. I pulled into the Stewart's in Rutland where the whole thing began to fall apart. Mini-animal called, and I kid you not I've NEVER heard him as upset as he was over the phone. Our house had lost power, and without power there was no water or heat. To say he wasn't handling it well would be an understatement, and there was no consoling him at all. He was nervous, scared and needed his daddy. Finally my wife got on the phone and I got the full situation report. Power must have gone out late last night, temps in the house were down to 60* and of course she didn't know where the flashlights/emergency gear was. I told her I was coming home, but she would hear nothing of it. There was some discussion of her starting a fire all by herself, and after attempting to talk her through it, and hearing mini's frightened crying and whining in the background. I began to have my doubts as to whether it wouldn't be a better idea to simply just head back home.
Look, my wife is fantastic at MANY different things, but if we're drawing up teams for winter survival school, she's the last one picked. I dunno why but staying calm and acting rational in the face of the chaos just isn't her strong suit but I'm digressing
Anyway, I pointed it south and put the hammer down to get back home. I'm not sure how fast I drove, but the roads were good and I successfully made it home with no incidents. Upon arrival I could barely comprehend the magnitude of the destruction that had occurred in the area. Trees with trunks as large as 4 feet wide were snapped like toothpicks. Branches littered the road and power lines were down nearly everywhere you looked.
The damage to my neighborhood was substantial but through the grace of God my house and yard had for the most part been spared. I walked in the front door and found Mini and mommy curled up in bed keeping warm(so at least they got that right) ;-) Mini seemed relived to see me so I got him up and we headed out to try to find some firewood to keep the house warm. Driving around it became clear that any hopes of a speedy return of power were a complete pipe dream. Making it worse it had begun to snow which made the conditions even more hazardous. Every few moments you heard the sickening snap and crash of tree fall and I decided that perhaps we would be better off returning to VT before things got any worse.
It was a tough sell but within an hour we were on our way back north. After grabbing a bite to eat, we settled in at base camp calling every hour or so to see if our answering machine would pick up. Alas it was not to be so we lit a fire and proceeded to spend the rest of the night enjoying the fact that we actually had lights that worked. By 10 pm we finally got through to the machine, but decided it would probably be best to spend the night and give the crews a chance to get the limbs cleared from the road.
12/09/2008
12/07/2008
12/01/2008
11/29/2008
Grand Central
Enjoying the worlds greatest train station
Meet me at the clock
French Fries
Seat tester for Metro North
Skating
Twenty minutes of skating at 30 Rock $70
Watching your son learn to be the next Johnny Weir
Priceless
11/28/2008
11/27/2008
Taking a walk
Just went out for a nice little walk around the neighborhood with the folks. Wanted to wish all a happy Thanksgiving.
-- Post From My iPhone
11/24/2008
Back on the snow
It's only taken 2 years plus but I've finally gotten my boots dialed in to where I want them. Spent all day at Killington with no shin or toe bang. Other then a small and very fixable problem with the tune on my skis I think everything is set for the year.
-- Post From My iPhone
-- Post From My iPhone
11/23/2008
11/20/2008
Breakfast the meal of champions
Ok ok so there's something to be said for egg sandwich and hash browns in the morning
-- Post From My iPhone
-- Post From My iPhone
11/17/2008
New skis
Well not technically "new" but new to me
One pair of 180 igneous FFL's on the tuning bench. I've always covered a pair. Handmade in Jackson Hole these things just ooze quality from sidewall to base.
I got a chance to scratch the surface of how killer they are when I took them out for a brief spin at P-kill earlier in the year but I'm really excited to test their full potential.
Think snow
-- Post From My iPhone
11/15/2008
Once again waiting
Well it was a nice little mini season while it lasted. Once again we're playing the waiting game. I've managed to get some projects taken care of while it's been warm and rainy. Hopefully we're ready to rock and roll come the 20th and it will be game on for good.
-- Post From My iPhone
-- Post From My iPhone
11/06/2008
Killington 11/5
Minianimal and I decided to head to kmart for some spring skiing in November. There is nothing better then 60* temps and skiing. Coverage was good and K has managed to stockpile significant amounts of snow in higher elevation areas. I'm not sure whether the low angle, low elevation terrain will hold through Friday, but once snowmaking weather returns Sunday night it shouldn't take long to get those areas resurfaced.
-- Post From My iPhone
-- Post From My iPhone
10/29/2008
Helmet Hero Video from today
Well here it is, I'm not 100% impressed with it, but I'm slowly figuring out what works and what doesn't footage wise.
The light we have to work with out here is flat and grey, and the powder is often wet, meaning that POV shots of skiing wide open powder runs tend to look boring and repetitive. I may shoot at different angles or change mounting locations to attempt to fix that, but I have a feeling it probably will be a wash. I'm encouraged by the limited "chase" shots, I thought those did a better job of capturing the conditions, so in the future I'm going to try to get more of them. It helps to have a subject in front of the lens to provide some kind of definition. Perhaps tree footage will look better?
In any event, the camera is durable and does a pretty good job of taking still video so I'm encouraged on that front.
10/28/2008
Couple more shots from today
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
