Dan Barron
New member
Stratton had only three (and a half) ways down the upper mountain, and none <BR>down the lower. And of those, it seemed only the left side of Polar Bear was <BR>not more ice than snow. Only Ursa lift was running, with up- and <BR>down-loading on the gondi. <BR> <BR>So, not much in the way of choices, but the trails surprised me with their <BR>dips and turns--a lot more character than I was expecting. (Thanks, Carlos, <BR>for the comprehensive rundown.) Sticking mostly to that one side of one <BR>trail, I still got a good variety of turns and contours and pitches. <BR> <BR>Did a couple runs down reserved Upper Middlebrook which had much trickier <BR>snow than I'd encountered Saturday at Okemo. Had first and second tracks but <BR>the snow was heavy enough so it felt almost like a breakable crust. There <BR>was no choice but to carve your turns--consistency was way too thick to get <BR>any kind of sideslip. Just set your angle, ride it out, then muscle the <BR>front ski around to turn the other way-- <BR> <BR>Except--surprise--every once in a while, with no warning I could detect, the <BR>snow would firm up to where you were suddenly skidding across the stop, not <BR>sinking in at all. Kept me on my toes. And now and then, face. <BR> <BR>Then found Moondance glades were open. Fun, tight trees, reminded me of a <BR>slightly mellower-pitched cousin of K's Julio, but unfortunately the snow <BR>surface was pretty badly skied out. Very few turns that weren't on top of <BR>twigs or worse. Nevertheless, it was worth a second run. <BR> <BR>Also did some runs with a lovely-skiing telebetty (and her <BR>teleboyfriend). She was making super quick turns with so little movement <BR>they seemed effortless. Said she was concentrating on staying on the balls <BR>of her feet, keeping her feet close in length (toe-to-heel), and angulating. <BR>It was instructive trying to copy her. Me, I'd been making deeper turns <BR>yesterday and today than I was used to. Also tried to copy her intentional <BR>paramarking exercise--one foot stays forward through alternate tele and <BR>parallel turns. Said it helped her gain better balance. <BR> <BR>(BTW telebetty and teleboy had skinned up the mountain and found that, once <BR>past the gondi, no lift tix were looked for.) <BR> <BR>Skied myself into exhaustion and am loving the ache I haven't felt since <BR>spring. How sweet it is.