1/29/11 Last Day

Today was our last day skiing here for a while.  We are off to Jackson Hole.  HELlooo!  We are meeting up with the 'woman of steel'.  That's how Mary referred to herself while declaring her skiing challenge to me.  She did qualify it though by saying it wouldn't actually be skiing but inner tubing.  She must not remember that I was a champion tuber in Sweden.  Right Amy?

I'm glad we are leaving because the mountain is finally skied out and I'm finally tired of skiing rock.  You know I love a challenge but it gets tiring playing dodge rock.  I hope we get some snow here while we are gone.  Killington was really crowded so we headed to Pico.  We did a short day and headed for the bar.  I love the Pico bar.  It's cozy and they have great bands.  Killington has great skiing but really lousy lodges.  I hope they change them soon.  Maybe the new management will change the bars to a more traditional atmosphere instead of looking like the inside of the NJ bus that just pulled in to the parking lot.  

I will give today's skiing () () because it was crowded and rocky.  () () () () for the bar scene though:)

Until then, 

s

1/28/11 Another Alpine Day

We didn't get up to the mountain until 2:00 but we still managed to find a bunch of stuff to ski.  It was lightly snowing the entire time.  We did some trees, bumps, crap, etc.  We are probably going to ski Pico tomorrow.  Not much to say.   It was fun.  We went to the Wobbly Barn after skiing.  We had $5 off coupons.  They raised the prices so you really couldn't get a good deal after all.  Oh well, we still had a good time.  ()()() 1/2 snowballs today because I just can't believe we are still finding things to ski!

Until then,

S

1/27/11 30th day

I've been skiing a lot but it's not as much as some people up here so be quiet.  I skied 77 times my freshman year in college.  Maybe that's why I'm such an idiot?  I didn't write a post yesterday because I just wasn't motivated.  I tele'd yesterday.  It was fun as usual.  How could a day on the slopes not beat a day of work? I finally have my alpine boots squared away so I alpine'd today.  I need to break those suckers in and I only have two days left before we leave for Jackson Hole to ski with the maniac's.   It was another great time today.  We found lots of things to ski.  The new owners are doing an excellent job with the mountain.  ()()()1/2 snowballs today.  Becky likes them illustrated so no more 'three or 3'  it has to be ().  Shit.

Until then,

s

1/25/11 State of the Slope Address

Every day has been great!  I don't know what it is about this years snow but it's very fun.  Yes indeedy.  The only reason I will have to give it 31/2 stars todays is because of the visibility.    It was a little flat out there.  The temperature warmed up very nicely and it was even warmer on the mountain then in Woodstock.

Until then,
Sarah

1/24/11 COLD?

I wonder if Eric is going out for first run?


Mostly Sunny-25°RealFeel® -32°

1/22/11 It Was Fun

We had to stay home with the girl so we didn't hit the road until 12:30.  It was fun staying home to watch Julia and Lindsay come in second and third in the downhill world cup.  No one would know that though.  If you looked at the sports page of any publication they never report it. Our BEST female athletes competing in the MOST dangerous sport known to mankind aren't' even acknowledged.   Lindsay Vonn is the best skier in the world but does anybody say boo to that?  It's disgusting.  Both Lindsay and Julia were gold and silver medalists in the last Olympics.  Not a word in the press that these unbelievable athletes are the best in the world.    How about Bodi?  He came in second today on the most treacherous downhill course ever developed.  He's an old man now at 32.  Is there in mention of him?  Our five time medalist in the Olympics.  What the hell is that all about???   Get your heads out of your asses is what I say@@!

Today was great, even with the heavy burden of knowing that our greatest do not get the respect they deserve and that's not even speaking about my fellow Marines, just our Olympians.   I had to ski tele today because the bruise on my shin was so big I couldn't put my alpine boot on.  I didn't do too well.  But on just one run I broke free of my tele chains and acted like I was on alpines...skiing free thru the powder.  It was magical.  It's hard to explain but imagine a perfect day, a perfect moment then you will understand.  Kim insisted that we go to the Mountain Dew Challenge.  Can you imagine?  It sounds awful right?  It was great!!!  They went flying over my head.  It was unbelievable.  The band was great.  They played Led!  I always have to listen to Kim.  She's the best.

It's going to be well below zero tomorrow, until then,  Sarah.

1/21/11 Another Great Day

We actually got an early start this morning because we needed to get back to our little angel.  She's having a hard time with the surgery and wearing that Elizabethan collar.  It snowed a bunch last night.  I can't believe how many days of powder we have had this year.   We had some awesome powder runs over really soft bumps.  Even though they are having the Mountain Dew Challenge there wasn't a huge crowd...yet...wait until tomorrow.   It was another four snowball day for sure.  It's going to be bitter cold for the next three days and crowded.  Let's see if I actually go skiing.

List of injuries so far for 2011:

-Sprained my thumb today.
-Bruised my shin today.
-Left hip (Keep injuring it as I catch tips and go spread eagle.  Over a mogul stupid!  You have such a dirty mind.)
-Right lower back.
-Left shoulder.

I really don't have a body part that's completely free of pain.  Why do we hurl ourselves down the mountain over huge bumps next to very tall trees?  Because it's there.

Until then,
Sarah

1/20/11 Look at the temps for the weekend!

Right Now

10:45

AM

EST

• 19 °

• Partly Cloudy

Feels Like

10°

Relative Humidity

62%

Barometer

29.96

Dew Point

10

°

Visibility

10.00 Miles

UV Index

1 Low

Wind Speed

W  7 mph

Today

Snow flurries this morning will give way to mostly cloudy skies during the day. High 21F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.

21 High

10 Low

30 %

Sunrise Sunset

7:18 AM

4:45 PM

FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TUE	WED
Snow Showers 21-2	Partly Cloudy 9-9	Snow Showers 1-21	Partly Cloudy 6-5	Snow Showers 1810	Snow Showers 3113

• Hourly Detail
• 7 Day Detail
• Local Doppler
• Averages & Records
  
  

1/19/11 Another Epic Day

We didn't ski yesterday even though the snow was coming down in buckets.  Why you may ask?  You want to know?   If I say : "ok we need to take the day off because my body is falling apart" then Kim really holds me to it.  Even if it's snowing buckets we don't get to go skiing.  "I want to go.  It's really snowing hard!"  "Suit yourself" the witch says.  "I won't go but suit yourself.  I'm sure your body will be fine."  Witch, witch, witch!

So we get up early today because it's been snowing (or whatever?) all night long.  I think that people looked on their cars and saw a layer of ice and didn't hit the slopes.  Their loss and my gain!  To tell you the truth we were skeptical too but we were meeting my new tele buddy (Terry) for Vermonter day.  Cheap tickets.  Not that I care because we have season passes but I like that Terry will get a $39 ticket.   I decided to start out on my alpines because maybe there is a lot of snow.  After all they said there were inches and inches of new snow.  We went down Needles Eye.  The packed snow is great but boring on alpines.  I try the bumps to the right.  Woow eeeey...  I say once again, what the hell is on the top of these bumps. A layer of crust four inches thick.  It wasn't completely bad but I think I'll pass.  I should have started out with tele's.  I'm skiing with a teleskier!  I take that very long run all the way back to the truck on the lower gondola.  Switch out my bindings and show up like a hippie at Woodstock.  "I'm ready". ( I'm always wishing I was on the skis I don't have.  It's the Story of my life. )

Ok, so after all that effort of switching skis I wish that I'm back on my alpines to ski the trees because now I find out that the trees don't have the crust just lots and lots of friggen powder@!  Oh well, I'm going for it.  I'm taking these tele's into the tree's.  "It's up to you if you want to go down the trees.  I'm just saying that your legs are tired and now you are adding trees in to the difficulty."  Ok Debbie Downer stop worring.  I fell before I even got thru the ropes.  "Are you sure you want to go down this?"  NO PROBLEM.  GET GOING!  We ended the day with mucho runs.  My legs (knees) really hurt.  I did way more runs on my tele's then I'm used to.   We tried to quit but ended up at Bear because we missed the turn.  I couldn't pass up Outer Limits even though we were very tired.  I should have.  Oh well it can't all be perfect.

Four snowballs.  Why?  It was just a crazy day all around.  We found some great snow and the company was outstanding.

Lola is going in for surgery tomorrow.  Poor liddle ting.

Until then,
Sarah

1/16/11

I skied with Richie and Kim today.  Richie: "Don't take me down those trees it's my first time out this year and last year you took me right to a double black diamond."  Me:  "You can trust me!"  It was all fun but pretty cold compared to the last few days.  We did get another 4" of snow last night.  My lower right back is killing me though.  I'm going to have to take a few days off.  We came home to eat meatball hero's made from last nights delicious dinner.  World Cup skiing is on but now the Jets/Boston game is starting.  Can't switch until Bodie skis.  Kim just left to watch the game in the bedroom.  She doesn't like not having control of the clicker.  I had it hidden:)

3 snowballs  because of my back and the cold, not because of the company!

until...a few rest days,

Sarah

1/15/11 Happy Martin Luther King Weekend!

Hummmm, it's a big weekend up here for MLK day but nigh a person of color in sight.  It's ironic, VT, liberal as all get out but no one here to share it with.  I mean even the burly women in sweater vests aren't gay.  Gay impersonators but not gay.  Is that politically correct?

Today was awesome.  I woke up in a bad mood.  Who would have thought I would have yet another great day skiing.  I alpine'd.  I had to.  As I stated yesterday, my legs are shot.  It didn't stop me on my alpine gear today though. I skied every inch of remaining powder and bumps I could find.  I took a big chunk out of my new skis going off of a bolder.  Now my back is killing me.  Richie:  "Why do you ski like a maniac?  How are you going to keep skiing for another twenty years?"  Me:  "Twenty years?  That's it?"  I'm depressed now.

4 snowballs.  I know it's hard to believe me but it's the truth and it's snowing as I type.

Until then,

Sarah

1/14/11

I skied with Eric and Kim today.  That's if you call what I was doing skiing.  I tele-skied for way too many days this week.  Then we went down Double f------ Dipper.  There was a lot of powder still and there were a lot of bumps.  It seemed to go on forever.  "What the hell", I said to myself several times when the run never ended and my quads were on fire.  I told Kim that I took back all the disparaging things I've ever said to her during her skiing experience with me.   Ok, I've said a few things like 'hurry up' or 'move it sister' but I never got mad.  Can you imagine me getting angry about how slowly someone was skiing?  Pshaw.

I will have to do the 'real' kind of skiing tomorrow - alpine:)  Sorry Terry, you can give the girl different skis but you can never take the alpine out of the girl.  I'm tired of hanging with the earthy crunchy chicks.  I'm going back to the neon, beer drinking fools where I belong.  Smoke'em while you got em that's what I say.

I'll give today a 3 snowball day just because I really wasn't able to ski.  And it is all about me right?


Until then,

Sarah

1/13/11

I tele'd with my friend Terry today.  See pictures attached.  I couldn't decide which sport to do when I first got to the mountain because there was still so much powder.  I decided I better tele because Terry doesn't alpine anymore.  I would have to switch my alpine bindings off and put my tele bindings on though.  I changed them out  in the parking lot.  Took about 5 minutes.  It was very easy.  Just a screw driver and some initial figuring out.  Usually when things are so easy there is a problem waiting around the corner but this time nothing happened.  I even tele'd down Lower Ovation.  I'm beat.  Terry is a good teleskier.  She would be even better if she didn't leave her skins on her skis while indoors hence leaving a sticky residue on the bottem of her skis when she did take the skins off of them.  They are supposed to be taken off while cold.  Lesson to be learned from people who get distracted before taking care of their gear!  Always be a gear head.

31/2 snow balls. Would have been a perfect 4 if I would have been skiing with a gear head.

Until tomorrow,

Sarah

1/12/11

I just got home from skiing an EPIC DAY.  Let me repeat that EPIC!  I just turned on the television while I'm eating my lunch because I never stopped skiing for five hours.  What's on the television that I never watch: Oprah and Ricky Martin.  They are talking about when poor little Ricky came out, wah, wah, wah...and Oprah you closet king...come out already!

Ok back to the skiing.  I can't say enough about today so I won't.  I'll just say this:  Powder up the yin yang.   As Madona says "literally".  I had snow everywhere.  I skied down cliffs of powder.  They say 14" so far but I know I skied in two feet.  To all you folks hiding in Manhattan: run don't walk to the real mecca, VT.  The trees were silent and deep, the moguls were fluffy and fun, and the steeps were 'go as fast as you f....... can and don't worry about falling'.

See ya on the slopes suckerssssss,

Sarah

1/11/11

What a date!  I was nervous all day.  I should have been.  Things weren't going exactly as planned.  Those plates that I needed to change my tele skis into alpine weren't going my way.  Oh well, maybe they'll be ready when I get done skiing.  When I got to the parking lot I was interrupted by several business calls, no good ones unfortunately.  I was trying to get my old ski bindings to fit the tight ass boots I'm trying to break in for Jackson Hole.  That meant walking all the way back to the truck for a screw driver.  It also meant that I had to go to the bathroom.  I once again opened both doors and did my business.  Last time I tried this a guy was standing above me.  This time it looked clear...until I heard someone hooting.  Oops.  Oh well.

I finally got some runs under my belt but then a great hunger came over me.  There's really no food in the house.  I decided I better go eat something in the lodge.  Believe me a bowl of chilly is extravagant.  With fries and my discount from my season pass it was still over $10.  Oh you say, it must have been the beer.  I drank water fool!

Ok to the skiing: I'm not sure if it's called Downdraft right under the gondola on the top?  See the picture of the lower part.  Maybe you'll recognize it.  It was the first time this year that the upper part was open.  I also went down Lower Ovation for the first time this year.  Then I went into the woods for two very nice powder runs.  All of these runs I did alone.  I mean really alone.  I texted Kim before I dropped into the woods just in case I never came out.   Not a smart thing to do on 1/11/11.  I have to say all in all I had a good day of skiing.  I got my plate from the tele shop when I was finished skiing.  I then took it to the binding shop so I could put some of my alpine bindings on it.  They of course proceeded to butcher the plates.  They had never seen this system before.  Let the kids run the shop for heavens sake, I say.  Now they have to order new plates to replace the ones they ruined.  In the meantime I'm going to ski on the ruined plates until the new ones come in or I blow out of the ruined ones and die,  which ever comes first.

It's supposed to dump tonight and tomorrow.  Until then...

Sarah

1/10/11 Powder Day!

I really didn't want to go out today because it was windy, there was nobody to motivate me (Kim's at her parent's house), and I had work to do.  I figured I better keep practicing that very difficult sport - telemarking -  and get some exercise.  I motivated.  Luckily the lower gondola was open.  It made it a shorter truck trip.

I didn't understand, when I took the first run, what was really going on with the mountain.  I never bothered to check the mountain report.  If I would have I would have seen that we had several inches of new snow fell last night.  What?  Where?  Not in Woodstock.  This was very unusual.  Skiing in powder in tele's right now is very difficult for me.  Oh well, I'm not going back to the truck, I thought, to change boots and skis.  Too much time will be wasted.  I would have to buck up.  My sixth run down was on Outer Limits.  Ohhhh  weeee I said to myself as I went down on my left hip (my right hip is still bruised from the last tele day).  Now I know why they sell those football type pants on the tele sites.  It's for falling over!

There is this new system that you can purchase that allows you to switch your skis from tele to alpine to AT to whatever.  It's called IQ from Blizzard.  It just takes a small screw in the plate.  Who knew that's what I purchased when I started to tele?  I called up the ski shop and asked them what I could do to make my tele's alpine because I'm going to Jackson Hole to ski with a bunch of crazy a...holes and I certainly can't be teleskiing.  My alpine skis are falling apart.  The bindings are literally blowing apart with a missing screw appearing every day.  They told me "you bought the IQ system.  you can just switch them out " (idiot they were secretly saying).  Ok it's all too much for me to keep up with.  Only kids have the time to keep up with that kind of thing.  Sorry!

I got home to garbage tossed all over the screened-in-porch.  There were no tracks on the deck so how did the animal get in?  Then I saw it, tracks in the snow and a hop up through the window which is a screen that isn't in place during the winter.  Ok, I pushed my luck.  I had been getting lazy putting the garbage back out there so I didn't have to walk to the big container.  The poor thing must have cut itself in it's adventurer for food because there was blood everywhere as well as garbage.  The tracks were huge.  I have no idea what kind of animal it was.   The tracks were ten times the size of Lola's (which isn't saying much). Maybe it was a fox or a coyote.  I thought I heard something last night but I just thought it was snow coming off of the roof.

It's supposed to snow tonight.  Until then,

Sarah  GO DUCKS!!!

1/5/10

No skiing again today because there isn't enough snow for me even though it has been snowing and it just started to snow again.  I also have to work on my new LEED projects.  Thought of the day:  Stop buying crap.

Bridgette Meinhold - Designer, Artist & Architecture Editor for Inhabitat.com

In this past year I have seen my own friends and family do more with less, spend their money on quality rather than quantity, fix and renovate instead of build new, and pair down their possessions in hopes of a simpler and more meaningful life. I believe that trend is only growing stronger and will apply even more in the fields of design and architecture. As a writer who sees a hundred architecture projects pass my screen a day, I'm seeing more and more creative solutions with existing materials, and buildings. Reclaimed and recycled materials are all the rage, Craigslist and classified adds are where its at, and your local recycling or materials exchange program is the new community hot spot. Cities like Detroit, which has been in a state of desperation for so long, is making a come back in a huge way and the renovations happening there now are an inspiration. We don't need to tear down and start over fresh - we need to make use of what we already have and turn it into something great. Men like Dan Phillips of the Phoenix Commotion, are leading a revolution and rethinking architecture from the foundation up by using discarded materials to build beautiful homes. I'm predicting 2011 to the be the year of the green renovation, where people and businesses will rehabilitate and improve upon what they already have, with a strong focus on preservation for history, materials and for outdoor space.

Read more: Green Design Predictions For 2011! Emily Pilloton, Founder of Project H – Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World 

1/1/11 A New Year

Welcome to the new year.  It's been a crazy 2010 with all the ups and downs of the economy, war, etc.  Let's hope that in 2011 we leave the Middle East and return to some sort of prosperity.  Oh, and one more thing I hope happens:  we all start talking about population control instead of just increasing taxes or giving tax breaks for increasing the population.  What's that all about anyway?  We aren't run by Rome anymore!

I never make resolutions for the new year but I'm going to this time.  I am going to resolve to never make resolutions and just try to live every moment in the present.  That is still sort of a resolution I guess.  Living in the present will be very difficult for me.  I seem to regret things I do and don't do...what a waste of my life.

Ok, now lets move on to the weather.  It's 48 degrees up here and the snow is slushy or non existent.  We had been skiing on the new 16 inches that fell last week but we never got any renewal snow.  We skied in mud and rocks yesterday.  The snow boarders scraped everything off.  That was confirmed by my snow boarding nephew.  I'm not prejudice against snow boarders but come on!  Is it just a way to abolish the last bit of civility on the mountain?  It's been suggested that we have "no snow boarder" days.  Wow, wouldn't that be something?   Chris (my nephew) has decided to return to his roots of actually skiing.  Thank you Chris.  Thank you for doing your part to keep snow and civility on the mountain.

The Hill House has been a revolving door of debauchery for the last 10 days.  First we had my amiga Mary Coyle and her family as well as our friend "the French Chef" as he was called the entire time he was here with his family.  Most of us skied.  Pictures attached.  Bruno and Olivier, the French restauranteur and the French chef, respectively, made us a beautiful Christmas Eve dinner.  There were a total of 16 of us in our modest abode, including my sister Amy.   A lot of very good wine (thanks to Bruno) was consumed.

That gang ended up overlapping the next gang because of the major snow storm that hit the East Coast.
It was a mad house.  They finally were able to get home and then the shit show really began up here.  It's been a great big blur of moguls and drinking.  Not necessarily in that order.   See the New Years Eve pictures.  We had a wonderful NYE dinner with pasta from Richie, Steak from Bobby and soup that was still here from the French visitors.  Kim cooked.  No fires and it was all great.

Tomorrow is Kim's birthday.  She really doesn't care for her birthday being so close to Christmas but that's life..be happy.  My new motto.