Mark Renson
New member
<I>(Note from the Administrator: This report was originally posted on 2/7/00. Due to our move to new servers, the date and time attributed to this post is incorrect.)</I> <BR> <BR>White blur of a weekend. You'd think that after an orgasmic week of powder skiing in Interior BC that skiing back East these last 2 weeks would be a letdown. WRONG. DEAD WRONG. Uh ah. .... nope. <BR>Saturday started off on a downer. Management had placed a large lump of snow in front of the Basebox and we patrollers had to shape it into steps and slides so that the Rug Rats/Yard Apes could play on it. weeee ..... <BR>Then it was reported to us that a lot of grooming was done - too much for my liking as I was to find out. <BR>Hopped on Double and patrolled Gazelle Woods finding nice tracked fluff and descending into something else - all this skiing is becoming a great white blur. Second run, I took care of Panther and S-Turn, revelling in <BR>the great snow off of the headwall on the left. Next, it was another ride on the Double and into the first shot off of ___ and into the _ _ a _ _ Woods. <BR>Hopped onto The Single and hit the Catamount Chute into the Bowl and hit the groomed Upper Antelope through the sharp corner , etc .... etc. more fun stuff. <BR>I did some woods shots that I can't remember, but they were good. I was curious about finding the Chimney - a long lost chute that I had not skied since April, 1993 that got bombed in the ice storm. As I peered into what <BR>I thought was Chimney, I encountered 2 Hartford Ski Club members and we 3 skied it. It seemed different than what I had remember, but a great run nontheless. Next, I made first tracks on a sweet band that I hacked out in mid November. .... went down upper Fall Line and drifted into the Fall-Dice labrynth, making my way to Paradise. <BR>.... went down upper Grand Canyon on skiers left when I got a little scare <BR>when I "spaced" a bit and almost lost it into the trees, recovering by making an out-of-control turn into the middle of the trail - Yikes!, I thought, I figured I was losing energy and letting my joy and enthusiasm <BR>carry me past my physical abilities. So, I thought it best to head down Bunny for a break at the Basebox .... temptation got the better of me and I just had to detour and go for a stream gully parallel to _ _ _e_ _l_ _ _ e . <BR>After running into plaid Gary Crofton, I brought my lunch to the Birdcage, then I headed up the Single. Since I bypassed the headwall earlier, I felt that out of respect I should do the entire lenght of Paradise for the first time this year. The tough part of the 'Dice headwall (the frozen waterfall) is that <BR>unless you take it blindly head on just to the left of the center (think of yourself as a halfback sprinting out of an I-formation through the hole between the Center and Left Guard - I think that's I-24, ain't it?), you <BR>can be stuck leaping onto some awkward bumps. Anyway, I landed hard but successfully and grunted my way down to an island of trees Good snow that tends to accumulate on that line. After 2 or 3 more smaller ice floes, I hit bottom. <BR>I had to hurry back to the Patrol Shack for Sled & Togoggan training, so I took a great Green run off of the Birdland chair down Periwinkle, picking up great ungroomed stuff on the sides and enjoying a fantastic roller <BR>coaster ride. <BR>Next was toboggan training. Three of us headed to Fall Line where I was to sit in the sled while I was lowered down the bumps, ledges and rocks while I took notes. At the bottom of Creamery, I took over and pulled the <BR>sled with Bob in it down upper Bunny and Grand Canyon, finally gaining some confidence and proficiencies about halfway down lower 'Canyon. It was strenuous work and I need more practice before I pull someone down Fall Line - the final exam. <BR>Last run was "sweep". I was getting fried, so of course I was assigned Paradise. My assigment was to go right, so I took it literally by going right of the headwall. Near the bottom, I took a nasty spill with the <BR>handle pulling out of my pole. This caused me to burn up time in the dwindling light in the snow squalls which got me some demerits from the <BR>patrolling crew. <BR>I was dead tired at day's end ..... BUT some volunteers were wanted to do the torchlight parade at 6PM down the Practice Slope, so I suited up again for some interdepartmental bonding with the Ski School. <BR>Next day ..... 3-6 inches of fluffy candy per the report. Cold winds howled under gin clear skies. I was told that I should participate in some rescue drills at 1:00. My heart sank, but I knew that I could make up for <BR>it by skiing hard all morning. I was still a bit burnt from the prior day, so guess what I was assigned to inspect ... right, Paradise! I plowed through the drifts, making first tracks and leaping over the headwall. <BR>Skiing was tentative at first since I did not know what lurked below the fluff - was it glare ice? The solitude was sweet and I found a great line and then headed into Bunny to complete my patrolling. I skied at a <BR>frenetic pace through the morning. Some highlights were: the second shot off of ___ , Quacky Woods, nailing the narrow chute into the top of Upper Glade and into the sweet fluff in the lower part of Liftline, getting knee deep in the connector between the Chute ledges and Catamount, getting first tracks in another band that Jay and I cut (real sweet; it made me think of this interview I saw with one of those 2 burnouts that nailed that mega extreme north face of Mt Robson where he spoke of the wonderful bliss of powder skiing), the Patroller Pardy woods (he wasn't too thrilled when he caught me in there violating woods skiing policies a year ago) and a surprise shot of knee deep untracked fluff that was on the side of Robin. There was other stuff, too, but it was all a white blur. <BR>After doing some rescue scenarios, I had time for a blue Antelope/Porcupine run, finding great stuff on the edges. At day end <BR>sweep, they were easy on me, giving me Chute for my assignment. I biffed in the left jug handle, hurting my pride. But seeing fellow patroller Jep ripping a bump line only inspired me, much like Dave "Stop the Brutal Grooming" Barcomb does or Iron Mapadu's relentless powder feeding frenzy; so, my weary body cranked out some nice lines that brightened me up, <BR>followed by a great run Grand Canyon, finding nice bumps. <BR>Phew!! ..... Friday, it's Smuggs ..... can't wait!!! Life is s-o-o-o-o <BR>good!! Old School Vermont skiing RULES!