J.Spin
New member
The forecast for the weekend was moderately cold temperatures, and that was exactly what we got. Highs were in the teens F, and without any major snowfall, it wasn?t really an inspiring weekend for skiing. Despite the temperatures, I wanted to get out with Ty for at least a couple of runs. Skipping a weekend of skiing means a full two weeks between his ski sessions, and with the improvement he has been making, I don?t want to break his progression. Also, the holiday period might throw an even longer break into his learning, so it was especially important to get out.
Sunday was supposed to be the warmer of the two days, with high temperatures close to 20 degrees F near Lost Trail Pass. Interestingly, as I looked at some of the point forecasts, it seemed as if there was going to be a bit of temperature inversion. Consistent with the inversion, the main summit at Lost Trail had a higher forecast temperature than the base area. This made me more optimistic that we?d be able to take a couple of runs and Ty would be able to stay warm. E had a bunch of stuff to do, so she stayed home with Dylan, and Ty and I went up to Lost Trail alone. We headed off in the afternoon to hit the warmest part of the day. On the drive, the temperature hit a low of 4 degrees F at the bottom of Lost Trail Pass (elevation 5,000?). This had me a little worried, but the temperature had risen to 11 F by the time we got up near the top of the pass (elevation 7,000?)
I had been a bit concerned about the logistics of taking Ty skiing alone, but it seemed to work out OK. I got Ty all dressed in the car with the heater running, to make sure he didn?t start with any chill. We stopped in the lodge for a moment and then it was off to Chair 1. I checked with Ty verbally every couple of minutes, asking if he felt cold, and also examined any exposed skin on his face. With his balaclava, goggles, and helmet, there was little if any exposed skin, but that little area around his nose was hard to cover and had to be checked. His skin was looking great, and at the summit it was sunny and the temperature was well into the teens, so off we went.
Right away, I could see that Ty had improved from the previous weekend. He had more confidence playing around with the position of his skis, and looked at ease despite the slightly colder weather. He worked with trying to get his feet into a wedge, and I was shocked at one point when he used a wedge to bring himself to an almost instantaneous stop. He was certainly having fun exploring the options of his stance. The first run went well, and to be on the safe side, I suggested we go inside to make sure we were warm before a second run. He had a fit about that, and after convincing me that he was absolutely warm, we went for a second run. I told him this would be the last one, since the sun was going behind the mountain and it was going to get very cold, and he seemed to be OK with that. The second run went much like the first, but at the very end, it became obvious that he had made some substantial gains in his skiing. To avoid having to ride the rope tow for our last run, I suggested we head down Charlie Brown so we could ski right to the car. Ty seemed fine with this. I expected to carry Ty down the Charlie Brown pitch, since typically, as soon as he felt the steepness, he asks me to pick him up. Well, not this time. He didn?t even think twice about skiing it, and although he still wasn?t controlling his own speed very much, the pitch (moderate blue?) wasn?t fazing him. He really blew me away when he steered himself over to the skier?s right of the trail and insisted on skiing the powder off to the side. I tried to bring him back onto the groomed terrain, but he said he wanted to go that way. So, in we went. There were about six inches of light powder that had been cut up by a few skiers, and several small terrain obstacles. It was obvious that he wanted to ski it, and even though he fell three times (one of which was a pretty hard face plant) his mood remained optimistic. He had definitely taken another step in his skiing.
Based on the complications of bringing tons of ski gear home to Vermont, and the amount of spare time we might have to ski, I hadn?t planned on bringing Ty?s equipment. After Sunday however, that all changed. With Ty?s continued progression, I definitely wanted to get him back out on the slopes sooner than later, and the chance to ski with cousins might even add an additional positive dynamic. Also, the New England forecast is looking great for holiday skiing. There was no doubt in my mind that the slight extra hassle of a little more gear at the airports was going to be worth it.
After our surprising run down Charlie Brown, I had planned to head right to the car and pump up the heater, but Ty wanted to go into the ?ski house? (base lodge). I?m not sure if he thought Mom would be in there as usual, but he was quite insistent, and since the longer we were away, the more time Mom had for cleaning and shopping etc., in we went. Ty got sad when he realized that Mom really wasn?t around, so I decided to cheer him up by letting him go through the cafeteria line and pick out whatever he wanted. He chose a brownie, a huge blueberry muffin, and an order of fries. I can?t believe he didn?t choose an assortment of fruit and other nutritious items.
We sat down and enjoyed an afternoon snack together. Well, Ty enjoyed most of it. At first, we were happily sharing the fries, but somehow he decided they were disappearing too fast, so he cut me off. Only when Ty had moved on to sample the brownie and muffin, did I get the OK to finish off the fries. We hung out for quite a while in the almost deserted lodge, and after he had done enough sampling of his food choices, I packed up the leftovers and we headed to the car.
On the drive home, Ty fell asleep within minutes. He was still wearing his balaclava on his head, and he had part of it in his mouth, so he was quite a sight in the back seat. Heading down the pass with Louis Armstrong belting out Christmas carols on NPR, an exhausted son in the back seat, and no place to be but home, the world sure felt right. I can?t wait to get home to Vermont and get out for some more skiing; the snow just keeps on coming every day and the conditions are looking stellar. Jay Peak has had about 3 feet of new snow over the past 6 days with more on the way. There aren?t even any major storms around, just a consistently moist flow. While the conditions at Lost Trail are still nice packed powder, and even leftover powder on the sides as Ty found on Charlie Brown, the overall snowpack seems pretty worn out and a freshening will be nice. I was describing the conditions to Jon yesterday and said that you could tell the snow on the packed runs had seen the groomer many times. The skiing is fine, just not all that inspirational (although watching Ty try to navigate powder on his own was pretty inspiring). Moisture is on the way this week, and while snow levels might be a bit high, Lost Trail will probably make out well as it usually does. We?ll have to wait and see when we get back because tomorrow morning we?re off to snowy Vermont!
A few pictures from the day can be found at:
http://www.JandEproductions.com/2005/18DEC05.html
J.Spin
Sunday was supposed to be the warmer of the two days, with high temperatures close to 20 degrees F near Lost Trail Pass. Interestingly, as I looked at some of the point forecasts, it seemed as if there was going to be a bit of temperature inversion. Consistent with the inversion, the main summit at Lost Trail had a higher forecast temperature than the base area. This made me more optimistic that we?d be able to take a couple of runs and Ty would be able to stay warm. E had a bunch of stuff to do, so she stayed home with Dylan, and Ty and I went up to Lost Trail alone. We headed off in the afternoon to hit the warmest part of the day. On the drive, the temperature hit a low of 4 degrees F at the bottom of Lost Trail Pass (elevation 5,000?). This had me a little worried, but the temperature had risen to 11 F by the time we got up near the top of the pass (elevation 7,000?)
I had been a bit concerned about the logistics of taking Ty skiing alone, but it seemed to work out OK. I got Ty all dressed in the car with the heater running, to make sure he didn?t start with any chill. We stopped in the lodge for a moment and then it was off to Chair 1. I checked with Ty verbally every couple of minutes, asking if he felt cold, and also examined any exposed skin on his face. With his balaclava, goggles, and helmet, there was little if any exposed skin, but that little area around his nose was hard to cover and had to be checked. His skin was looking great, and at the summit it was sunny and the temperature was well into the teens, so off we went.
Right away, I could see that Ty had improved from the previous weekend. He had more confidence playing around with the position of his skis, and looked at ease despite the slightly colder weather. He worked with trying to get his feet into a wedge, and I was shocked at one point when he used a wedge to bring himself to an almost instantaneous stop. He was certainly having fun exploring the options of his stance. The first run went well, and to be on the safe side, I suggested we go inside to make sure we were warm before a second run. He had a fit about that, and after convincing me that he was absolutely warm, we went for a second run. I told him this would be the last one, since the sun was going behind the mountain and it was going to get very cold, and he seemed to be OK with that. The second run went much like the first, but at the very end, it became obvious that he had made some substantial gains in his skiing. To avoid having to ride the rope tow for our last run, I suggested we head down Charlie Brown so we could ski right to the car. Ty seemed fine with this. I expected to carry Ty down the Charlie Brown pitch, since typically, as soon as he felt the steepness, he asks me to pick him up. Well, not this time. He didn?t even think twice about skiing it, and although he still wasn?t controlling his own speed very much, the pitch (moderate blue?) wasn?t fazing him. He really blew me away when he steered himself over to the skier?s right of the trail and insisted on skiing the powder off to the side. I tried to bring him back onto the groomed terrain, but he said he wanted to go that way. So, in we went. There were about six inches of light powder that had been cut up by a few skiers, and several small terrain obstacles. It was obvious that he wanted to ski it, and even though he fell three times (one of which was a pretty hard face plant) his mood remained optimistic. He had definitely taken another step in his skiing.
Based on the complications of bringing tons of ski gear home to Vermont, and the amount of spare time we might have to ski, I hadn?t planned on bringing Ty?s equipment. After Sunday however, that all changed. With Ty?s continued progression, I definitely wanted to get him back out on the slopes sooner than later, and the chance to ski with cousins might even add an additional positive dynamic. Also, the New England forecast is looking great for holiday skiing. There was no doubt in my mind that the slight extra hassle of a little more gear at the airports was going to be worth it.
After our surprising run down Charlie Brown, I had planned to head right to the car and pump up the heater, but Ty wanted to go into the ?ski house? (base lodge). I?m not sure if he thought Mom would be in there as usual, but he was quite insistent, and since the longer we were away, the more time Mom had for cleaning and shopping etc., in we went. Ty got sad when he realized that Mom really wasn?t around, so I decided to cheer him up by letting him go through the cafeteria line and pick out whatever he wanted. He chose a brownie, a huge blueberry muffin, and an order of fries. I can?t believe he didn?t choose an assortment of fruit and other nutritious items.
We sat down and enjoyed an afternoon snack together. Well, Ty enjoyed most of it. At first, we were happily sharing the fries, but somehow he decided they were disappearing too fast, so he cut me off. Only when Ty had moved on to sample the brownie and muffin, did I get the OK to finish off the fries. We hung out for quite a while in the almost deserted lodge, and after he had done enough sampling of his food choices, I packed up the leftovers and we headed to the car.On the drive home, Ty fell asleep within minutes. He was still wearing his balaclava on his head, and he had part of it in his mouth, so he was quite a sight in the back seat. Heading down the pass with Louis Armstrong belting out Christmas carols on NPR, an exhausted son in the back seat, and no place to be but home, the world sure felt right. I can?t wait to get home to Vermont and get out for some more skiing; the snow just keeps on coming every day and the conditions are looking stellar. Jay Peak has had about 3 feet of new snow over the past 6 days with more on the way. There aren?t even any major storms around, just a consistently moist flow. While the conditions at Lost Trail are still nice packed powder, and even leftover powder on the sides as Ty found on Charlie Brown, the overall snowpack seems pretty worn out and a freshening will be nice. I was describing the conditions to Jon yesterday and said that you could tell the snow on the packed runs had seen the groomer many times. The skiing is fine, just not all that inspirational (although watching Ty try to navigate powder on his own was pretty inspiring). Moisture is on the way this week, and while snow levels might be a bit high, Lost Trail will probably make out well as it usually does. We?ll have to wait and see when we get back because tomorrow morning we?re off to snowy Vermont!
A few pictures from the day can be found at:
http://www.JandEproductions.com/2005/18DEC05.html
J.Spin
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