A
Anonymous
Guest
The best of times keep getting better and show no sign of slowing down. The calendar says this has got to stop someday, but that day isn't here yet! <BR> <BR>After carefully checking my work schedule this morning, and realizing that a) it was wide open; and b) half the students have started Spring Break already anyway, I was able to head up to the Snow Bowl to take advantage of this tremendous weather. I got kind of a late start owing to getting the kids ready for school, and getting involved in protracted negotiations with my daughter, who wanted to ditch school and go with me (she's 9). She's a great lobbyist, and I came close to taking her, but instead we set a date for Sunday. <BR> <BR>That accomplished, I arrived at the Snow Bowl at a rather late 9:30, to find myself the 23rd car in the lot (including the cars of the employees and liftees). The Worth Mountain lift was stopped, and a clump of about 10 skiers was clustered at the base. A quick inquiry revealed that they were still "digging out the lift" before it could run. (It looked like it wasn't clearing the midstation.) 8-D <BR> <BR>I managed to scramble into my boots just as the lift started, and went up with the rest of the "crowd." At the top, they all took Allen, so I took Ross. Yippee!! First tracks through knee-deep powder, heavy but dry. Scramble back up the lift again, back to Ross, third tracks through the same. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. etc. You get the picture. <BR> <BR>I've never been an especially ept powder skier, but after a few runs through this stuff (and before my legs started wobbling), I was floating, nearly flying! This is without a doubt the most fun anyone can possibly have with their clothes on. <BR> <BR>There's a spot about halfway up the Worth Mountain lift, where if the snow is deep enough, I've seen people hook their two ski poles together into a chain, lean over, and drag the tip of the bottom pole in the snow. (Don't ask me why they do this, but they do.) This morning in that spot I dragged my ski tip through the snow. Without leaning over. <BR> <BR>By the time I left around 1:00, the multitudes had picked up to about, oh, 30 or so skiers on the mountain. There's some kind of extreme guilty pleasure about having your own private ski area, especially on a day like this. <BR> <BR>The only down side was that the back side of the mountain, where my favorite trails are, was closed. (I guess a total of 10 skiers at the start of the day will do that.) Tomorrow morning it's promised to be open, and should offer plenty more freshies, but alas parental responsibilities say I'll be elsewhere. <BR> <BR>"Ski today, work tomorrow" says the bumper sticker. At times like these, the only appropriate philosophy is "ski today, ski tomorrow." (Or, in my case, "ski today, parent tomorrow, ski the next day.")