2/27/11 And The Oscar Goes to.... Mother Nature

Three days in a row of powder (and my sisters) made my weekend spectacular.   We did a lot of tree skiing.  It was so soft I thought I was skiing cotton candy.  Some people complained that it was a lot of work but to me it was  heaven.  People quit early today because they had to go home after the long holiday week.  We basically had the afternoon to ourselves and it was still snowing.  We are keeping our fingers crossed for tomorrows weather.  A little bit of warm and wet weather in the forecast but I don't think it's going to happen.

until then,
s

2/25/11 A.W.E.S.O.M.E

That's all I have to say about that.  Great Bday for me.  () () () () + snowballs today.

P.S.  While everyone was struggling with the heavy snow Kim went down everything.  I turned around at one point and thought I was looking at a mirror coming down the bumps.

until then,
S

2/23/11 BooHoo

I wondered why I would think the skiing would be any different today since we haven't had any new snow really and the temperatures are still not above freezing.   When I was going down my first run on Super Star I really wondered what I was thinking.  It's still the same sheet of worn out ice.  Can ice be worn out?  Whatever it is it sucks.  Its even worse because it's a vacation week and every bozo is out there skiing/boarding the pipe at Bear.  Don't go there.  Just picture this: ice and bozo's going at warp speed.  For the cherry on top, THEY CAN'T SKI!

I still had a good time because it was sunny and I was getting exercise on my tele's.  I'll say it once again and it won't be my last time: any day on skis is better than a day working!  My sisters are coming up this weekend.  We're getting snow and it's going to be warm.  I promise.  I don't tell fibs.  You are going to love it.  (I'm going to have to block their access to this blog. )  Mary, Quite Contrary,  isn't' coming up.  Something about a threat of divorce because she's away too much.  How does skiing count?  That's just not right.  Wave a white flag then do a flanking action that's what I say!  A Frenchman should understand that.

WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BURLINGTON HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING.

* LOCATIONS...NORTHERN NEW YORK AND VERMONT.

* HAZARD TYPES...MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW.

* ACCUMULATIONS...6 TO 10 INCHES OF SNOW POSSIBLE.

* TIMING...LIGHT SNOW WILL DEVELOP LATE THURSDAY NIGHT AND BECOME MODERATE TO HEAVY DURING THE DAY ON FRIDAY.

* IMPACTS...TRAVEL CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE ON FRIDAY WITH GUSTY NORTH WINDS FRIDAY AFTERNOON REDUCING VISIBILITIES AND CAUSING SOME BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW.

2/20/11

We have non-skiers as guests this weekend so we didn't ski yesterday.  We climbed Mt. Peg instead.  Then we took the Killington sleigh ride up to the dinner yurt.  Really cool.  There are only two in the United States (they say).  I think the other one is in Utah.  It was really, really windy which made for a romantic atmosphere.  We got home and climbed the eight foot mountain of snow that had come off of our roof so we could drink a beer and look at the full moon.  That was another very cool thing to do.  

I woke up today and they said they had eight inches of new snow.  I talked Kim in to skipping out on our guests for a couple of hours to hit the slopes of Pico.  Big mistake.  That wind that was blowing last night made for a nice shinny sheet of ice today.  We took three dangerous and very unpleasant runs (especially on tele's) and headed to Bently's to meet up with our house guests.  It was packed in there!

Oh here they come up the stairs now after returning from the Farmers Market where they just bought the ingredients for our dinner.  We are supposed to have six inches of snow tonight and tomorrow.  I'll keep you posted.  My amiga Mary is coming up on Wed. for my bday weekend.  My sisters will follow.  Maybe Bobby T is coming as well but we never know until he is actually on the road.  He doesn't like to make commitments just in case something comes up...literally (like Madonna again).  

Until then,

S

2/18/11

There was no skiing today because we wanted to have lunch at Simon Pearce.  Very fun.  A must for all tourists.  We climbed Mt. Tom before we went.

2/17/11 Fine Day of Sun

It was really warm today.  We had to stay up high on the mountain because I need wax on my tele's.  I would be cruising down and hit a patch of soft snow and almost blow out forwards.  The strange thing about it was that some spots on the same hill could still be slick.  Go figure.  That's what I always say about skiing.   We tried out Bear early and went down Outer Limits...nice.  We then went down my favorite Devil's Fiddle but the bumps were too soft  for those unwaxed tele's.  We liked Super Star the best because the bumps were nice and soft but not too soft.  I need to get to the shop.  I guess 40 days on one wax job isn't too cool.   Things were frying up too quickly at Bear all over so that's when we headed to the other side.  Double Dipper was great too.  It was a () () () 1/2 snowball kind of day.  People were hanging on the deck getting sun.  They say rain is coming tonight but I don't think it will rain on the mountain.

A gaggle is coming this weekend to the Hill House.  I'll keep you posted.

Until then,

Sarah

2/15/11

* HAZARD TYPES...DANGEROUSLY COLD WIND CHILLS.

* WIND CHILL READINGS...AS LOW AS 30 BELOW DUE TO TEMPERATURES 5 BELOW TO 5 ABOVE ZERO...AND NORTHWEST WINDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH.

* TIMING...AS A COLD FRONT PASSES THROUGH THE REGION THIS EVENING... TEMPERATURES WILL TURN SHARPLY COLDER OVERNIGHT...WITH WINDS REMAINING STRONG AND GUSTY.

* IMPACTS...FROSTBITE WILL FORM ON EXPOSED SKIN IN AS LITTLE AS 30 MINUTES.

2/14/11 Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all you lovers out there.  I hope everybody is out skiing and not at home wasting time doing it.  Just kidding.  I hope you are at home wasting time.  More room on the mountain for me!

It was a glorious day, 50 degrees and a kind of hero snow.  I tele'd and it was tons of fun. Kim loved it. My alpines would have been fun too because the bumps were soft but I can't do everything at once.  Ok sometimes I can like when I cook breakfast as a short order cook at the Hill House.  Then I can.  Oh yeah, and I can do everything at once when I'm surfing the Internet, drawing blueprints,  playing Scrabble on my IPhone and Skyping Juliana.  Anyway, back to the mountain report:  sunny in Woodstock but the mountain was socked in with a big black cloud.  A kind of day I've really never seen before and that's hard to say since my bday is coming up and I will have been skiing...egads....50 friggen years!!!!  If I was a gay boy I would never admit to that.  Right Bobby?

I tele'd on Friday for two runs.  Why you may ask?  My screw came out of my binding because when I was swapping my bindings around I was in too much of a hurry and not a proper gear head.   So, while I was skiing down I couldn't control my left leg.  I kept on looking down wondering what was going on but I couldn't be bothered to slow down.  If I would have slowed down I would have seen that my binding had almost moved forward on the ski far enough to completely come off.   I could have killed myself.  Ok probably not 'kill' (like going down Corbet's at Jackson Hole) but seriously injured myself.  Be a gear head everyday.  If you can't be a gear head then don't ski that day because you can really screw things up - literally (again like Madonna).

Some of the pictures attached are of our night at Suicide Six Ski Resort on Friday.  Such a cute little place and the lodge is great.  They had a torch night there.  The bar was a jumping,  Later, the Hill House was a jumping when everyone followed us home.  We even had some unexpected overnight guests.  Fun for all and all for fun.

Until then,
S

We're back! 2/7/11

We just got back from Jackson Hole last night.  I slept until 11 a.m.  I was totally wasted from skiing my asssssss offfffff.  Coyle's sister, Laura, is a kick ass skier.  I would say 'woo hooo' which means stop and rest or else I'm going into a tree.  She just kept on going.  Why???  Why do you want me to die?  She didn't want to stop because she's ten years younger and she didn't like that I beat her in basketball when she was twelve and I was twenty-two...(I won by a point).   Another Laura, the hostess, was a kick ass skier as well.  But she didn't have anything to prove because I never played her in basketball when I was twenty-two.

We had a signal..float on your back like an otter and put your paws together and that means follow me down the trail.  It was basically the same signal if you shouldn't follow me down the trail.  Everyone was really confused.  Oh well, at least they didn't follow me down the couloir cliff.  Laura, 'Coyle', Wright and I circled the cliff trying to figure out how to go off it without dying.  Not possible we decided.  Good choice I think.  Not enough snow, high winds, and a sheet of ice made it impossible.  That was too bad because I really wanted to prove to Franz's ski class (who were standing there looking over the cliff) that women can go off of that crap.  See the picture.  "Oh jump (babe). "  So disgusting.  Like they would and we wouldn't!  MFerkers.  I said "learn how to ski then you can take your digs of death!"

We had an excellent time.  Can't say enough about every moment.  Tank you, Tank you.  Laura, Jackson Hole, Yockey has excellent friends and skiers, Kathleen and Tanya.  I was so burnt that I couldn't ski VT today.  We hiked Mt. Tom.  See pictures.  So beautiful today.  I love it here but there is everywhere else as well.  What to do?  No worries.  Life is short.  Enjoy now.  Team Yockey!!!

"Jackson Hole has a famous and challenging couloir called Corbet's Couloir. Jackson Hole Ski Resort ski patroller Kathryn Miller (best known by her former, married name Hess) died March 17, 2009 from injuries sustained the previous week when she fell into Spacewalk Couloir while on a back country patrol with a colleague south of the ski boundary." http://video.forbes.com/fvn/lifestyle/ms_ski012507

Until then,
S