Mark Renson
New member
I hit the road very early on Saturday under a full (or near full)moon which kept me cheery until the sun rose. <BR> Up the Double we went for trail check. Snow conditions are nice packed powder. The only problem is that there was not enough of it. Grass and dirt was exposed everywhere which meant technical skiing guerilla tactics were in order. Down Upper Panther I went using these tactics and found good skiing as long I was on the right spots. <BR> I made my way to Upper Antelope off of The Single and found nasty loose rocks. I took it upon myself to pick up them up and chuck <BR>'em into the woods. As a reward, I descended down Beaver. Snow here was excellent, coverage was certainly adequate and a great roller coaster ride ensued; it actually skied much better than <BR>what is normal for Beaver. I took another trip down Upper Antelope and I can honestly say that I made a little difference and I repeated my Beaver run. Under The Single, I looked up and saw Todd <BR>Fisher <BR> Later that afternoon, I took a nice Grand Canyon run, avoiding the grass, dirt and rocks and getting some nice user friendly bumps. <BR> Conditions were deteriorating as the day wore on. <BR> I observed evidence of golfing. <BR> The technical skiing had made everyone weary. When it came time to perform sweep, patrollers quickly requested Fox and Vixen <BR>followed by the various Quackys as they are the most tame of the trails from the top of The Double. "What's the use" I whispered under my breath and went for the jugular - Panther. It was <BR>actually an enjoyable sweep for me. <BR> Sunday .... wow! Perhaps a whole 1/2 - 1" of new snow fell ! We were assigned bambooing tasks. Snow squalls hit the mountain which refreshed the snow surfaces, but was not enough for the bare spots. Skiing was technical, yet <BR>enjoyable when you stayed on the snow. The blustery gray skies and snow squalls made for a pleasant winter setting. <BR> In the afternoon, I grabbed a shovel and filled in a water bar on Broadway and then Chipmunk. I went to Upper Antelope and met a <BR>women who was telemarking and revealed to me that she was in excess of 75 years old (impressive skiing) and helped some little kid in the middle of the trail waiting for his dad (I ensured that he was safe and then adjusted his clothing to ensure he was warm). <BR> With the new snow, I did get in some enjoyable lines on the bumps. Sweep was down Panther. On the drive home, I had a strong bright moon over me past White River Junction. <BR> Great weekend despite the thin cover .... Winter is definitely here despite the anemic snow.