Mark Renson
New member
<I>(Note from the Administrator: This report was originally posted on 3/13/00. Due to our move to new servers, the date and time attributed to this post is incorrect.)</I> <BR> <BR>Had to see Dad for his 70th birthday in Connecticut on Friday night, so it was an early start for me on Saturday morning to the Holy Land. I <BR>anticipated improving conditions as I almost "lost it" on I-89 near the 2nd Rest Area where I ditched years ago (1/2/1984). When I got to MRG to report to the Patrol Hut, I discovered the great daily report of no new snow, frozen granular and 2 ways to get down the mountain - Antelope/Broadway from The Single and Fox/Vixen from the double all leading into Bunny hence making a big "Y" on Mount Stark. Some snow was indeed <BR>made at the bottom in front of the Basebox for the Telemark Festival. <BR> <BR>..... wow ..... how compelling ....... <BR> <BR>My chore that morning was to break up track marks and death cookies made by the groomer. Slowly, I stomped on cookies on Upper Antelope. Past the <BR>sharp left elbow on lower Bunny, I performed more grooming, breaking up chunks much larger than cookies - "Death Loafs" were more like it. It got so bad, that I would pick up a loaf with my hands on the side of the grooming track, hold it over my head and slam it on an ironclad mogul in order to break it up. Most often, this "loaf" would land with a thud intact and then slide down the porcelain-like surface back to my feet. <BR>As this agonizing day wore on, 2 very dangerous spots formed - "Bunny Death Chute #1" formed right below the top near Broadway/Easy Way and "Bunny Death Chute #2" formed right below the aforementioned left elbow. These chutes bore a resemblance to the dreaded frozen McSludge commonly found at the snowmaking mega-resorts in early season. The part of Bunny below Beaver was no prize either. Some semi-negotable granular was found on the skier's right of Bunny on the other side of a small ice skating rink. <BR>It was hideous. Period. The worst I had ever seen at MRG. <BR>At the end of the day, snow began to fall. Sweep was pretty easy. With the forecast of snow, we were told to report at 6:45AM the following day in <BR>order to possibly re-open several trails. Snow was on its way with the most glowing forecast being one for 10-18" !!! <BR>We had a Mountain Appreciation Party at the HSC and the Montclair Club was partying, too. The Telemark Festival was in full gear and the mountain had <BR>a festive atmosphere. I thanked Bob the MRG GM for the gargantuan sized effort to get us at least something opened "even though it sucked" as I said to him which illicited a big laugh from him. It was an OK joke, cuz Sunday was gonna' be a powder day!! <BR>Next morning at 6:15AM, I got up in joyous anticipation of at the very least 6" of new fluff. Instead, it was 3" new with rain falling. <BR> <BR>...... <CLUNK> ..... <BR> <BR>Still, I knew I had to follow orders, so I grabbed a shovel at 6:40 and began to clear the wet sludge with the other patrollers around the base. <BR>It wasn't long before we had to perform our mission of opening up the mountain. This created a dilemna for the Assistant Director - you see, I'm still not a "real" patroller at MRG, just a "candidate". Yes, I passed my OEC and I do patrolling duties just like the rest, but I still don't wear a jacket or get any benefits except to participate in the Milk Runs. Since <BR>the A.D. didn't want to create any P.R. problems, he had me wear "Put's" jacket since he - at a barrell chested 6'3" - is one of the bigger patrollers on the staff and I ain't exactly small. <BR>My job was to assist on the upper mountain and then check the long isolated Lower Antelope. At the top, we found evidence of a heavy freezing rain event. Rocky was to check Chute, bailing out onto Catamount if necessary, John was to do Cat Bowl and Jon C - he helped haul out Matt - was assigned Fall Line. Conditions were death crust on top of ironclad <BR>bumps on Chute and Cat Bowl. Lower Antelope was then deemed a "no-go", but Fall Line was deemed as a possibility with some boot packing. I was then <BR>assigned to check the Bunny Beaver braids where I found death crust and washouts. I felt it was possible to open, but it remained closed in order <BR>to work on other projects. <BR>At the bottom, we ran into "Put" and he was "pissed" - "his" jacket on me was a wet glaze of frozen rain and John the A.D.had to do some quick <BR>explainin' to keep him from strangling me. After this, he then had to respond to rabid pinheads who demanded to know "what we were gonna' get for <BR>today" <BR>Back on the mountain ..... <BR>We planned on opening Fall Line by 10AM, which meant that I had to get out there and start boot packing. A long arduous solitary process ensued with <BR>me grooming a path one ski length wide down to the midstation traverse. I did such a good job that I did it again, joined by others this time including "Put's" 60+ y/o patrolling wife Lula. If you're half her age and have half of her energy and strength, then I'm impressed. By the time we got to the nottom, Fall Line was actually in pretty respectable shape. <BR>Up The Single from midstation I went. Lu went with some of the SKi School to bootpack Chute and I felt I deserved to enjoy my work on Fall Line. Skiing here was actually exciting - fast but edgeable over the bumps and through the chunks. I was getting low on energy and realized that I should seriously consider breakfast - it was 11:00AM, ya' know. So in my rush to eat, I naturally encountered an incident on Easy Way which I tended to and then enjoyed some sweet bumps on Waterfall - soft wet snow on hard bumps, <BR>making for an elegant descent. <BR>At the bottom, the Ass't Director approached me to bring some long pole to the top. Being the Eager Beaver, I accepted the task and headed back up. <BR>Finally got to eat breakfast at noon. <BR>Thru the day, frizzle, frozen rain, flurries fell. In the afternoon, I headed up the Double and observed nasty crust on Gazelle and Panther. Fully aware that what doesn't kill me will only make me stronger, I headed for Upper Gazelle. I was pleasantly surprised to find loose granular over <BR>easy to ski ironclad bumps. I headed into one of my favourites - Panther - and found great chunks, granular, crust and even some powder. Ditto for <BR>Quacky and another repeat of Gazelle/Panther. <BR>End-of-day sweep assignment was Slalom Hill for me. I found some great solitude and excellent crud - best skiing of the day! At the bottom, I <BR>joined up with plaid Penny and the rest of the crew It was decided that I had enough fro the day and was told to head home. I enjoyed a run through Birdland. <BR>Snow fell lightly at the bottom at the end of the long hard day. <BR>I was finally able to relax and have a leisurely drive home. I figured that the light snow would end soon and at the most, be over by the time I <BR>descended the long hill on I-89 SOuth in Sharon. Instead, snow increased in intensity and the ditches on both sides of the roadway were littered with vehicles. I kept my truck in 4WD until I reached the Bedford Toll on the Everett Turnpike (almost to Nashua). <BR>Say what ya' want about the weekend, but it certainly wasn't dull.