SallyCat

Ascutney Outdoors just built a lodge with a donated building frame and volunteer labor. They have a huge rope tow and a grooming truck and are putting in a t-bar soon. I hope to volunteer with them; it's an amazing resource for local families who want to get their kids skiing without going broke from lift prices. Brownsville is a happening place these days; even the general store is re-opening. VT mtb festival is at Ascutney this year, too.

Thanks, @Schif ! Evidently I was a textbook example of "occupational burnout" right before I quit work, so I guess I need a little time off, and I'm super grateful that I'm healthy and that I could swing it financially. I definitely downsized my living space but expanded everything else! I plan to be at Blue Saturday; hope to get to say hello-goodbye to many PASRs!

I believe the new owners are trying to make some intermediate terrain accessible as well, basically on the East side

It's funny, some trails ate groomed, many are not, and some (Wizard, e.g.) have one groomed track.

Yeah, and the Freedom gets you 50% of Killington and a few other places. I'd hate to be up here and not get to explore a bit.

Midweek Okemo for $279 and Magic/Freedom for around 400 I think. Not bad, eh? I don't plan to be working full time!

I'm getting a season pass here for next year mainly to get on the Freedom Pass. This place will make me a better skier, I hope! I LOVE the vibe here.

On my way back to PA to deal with some house stuff so I stopped at Magic for a few runs. It's $29 on Thursdays. So I did Wizard, a blue trail and was like holy shite what kind of blue trail has steep, narrow chutes!?!? I'm on the lift now having partially side-slipped a GREEN trail that had MOGULS. The snow is like butter and much of the mountain is ungroomed. It's been a crazy, amazing experience so far!

"They didn't know much about the French...."

Speaking as a historian of modern European history I can say that generalizing about Jews is definitely fine and never ends badly.

Thanks! Closed Sunday is actually good for me--I have a shite-ton of work to do around the house, but I would go skiing if I could. Good that I can't.

What will conditions be like at Blue this weekend? I think I'm going to drive back to PA tomorrow to take care of some house stuff and then drive back Monday. (Found someone to watch my asshole cat so I don't have to listen to him scream for six hours). I'm thinking fat skis and a t-shirt?

I can't do any twelve-hour marathon days up here, but am doing the best I can. I was the last bag left in an formerly crowded bag room today at Okemo. 4:15 pm: pitiful. C'mon people, if the chair's runnig it's skiable! Also FFS I left my W-2 forms at home in Bethlehem, so I have to make a quick trip to PA. Not sure when but will try to hit a weekend and bring my skis. The only tricky part is that my cat screams nonstop in the car like he's being repeatedly stabbed with a butter knife, so I want to leave him here in VT. But my mom doesn't know anything about cats and she falls for his con-man bullshit every time. (He's not starving. Look at him.) And she's very forgetful, so I have to leave notes like this all over the place. So I dunno I might shoot down this weekend, might postpone until next.

I DID know that as it happens because the two hilarious stoners at the table next to me at lunch were really passionate about snowboarding history at Stratton, so I got a brief lesson in addition to the half-pipe play-by-play. I really should have stayed longer at that table; who knows what may have happened.

Warm, sunny, and uncrowded. I drank too much, predictably, but not until late in the day. The deck of the lodge bar was just too fun. Old guys bickering, telling jokes about their wives, and randomly singing along to the Motown on the sound system, with flawless lyrics. Then two young stoner guys showed up and started doing play-by-play and color commentary for everyone coming through the half-pipe. It was all seriously funny, so I had a second beer to continue eavesdropping.

For @indiggio . Stratton today.

I decided to buy a Magic blackout pass, which also gets me on the Freedom Pass and is super discounted starting April 1. So Okemo mid-week and Freedom Pass in case something awful happens and I have to get a job.

Give a holler if you want four walls; I'm still in Quechee. I close on the tiny condo on April 12, but won't move in for a couple of weeks, so if it's late-April you could have an unfurnished place in West Windsor to yourself.

Wow! What a gorgeous city! I spent a month in Prague back in 1992; met as many Californians as Czechs. Back then you could get a bratwurst, a piece of bread, and a beer for like 25 cents. That seemed to be a very popular breakfast for lots of workers. My fav beer was Staropramen and I'll still have a Pilsner Urquel now and then for nostalgia. An American guy I met had an old "Say it in Czech" phrasebook from 1964. It was divided into chapters like "Your visit to the collective farm" and taught you useful phrases such as "what is the yearly output of your chickens?" Safe travels and have an amazing time! Hodne stesti!

Had an awesome day at Okemo yesterday. Man, being able to ski on weekdays is like discovering Narnia. It's a magical wonderland full of great skiing, low crowds, and really nice people who are happy and relaxed. I met some hilarious retirees who have their own "stash" in the woods somewhere; evidently they bring up a grill and chairs and coolers early in the season and then just carry in supplies as needed. The snow is amazing: soft packed powder everywhere you go and the day turned out to be sunny, though the wind was a bit brutal at times. I bought an Okemo midweek season pass for next year for $279, which also includes Sunapee. I'm not sure what I'll be doing for work, but I plan to keep it flexible as much as possible and try to work weekends. I'm thinking also of getting a season pass at Whaleback, because then if I wanted to ski weekends I'd be on the Freedom Pass which includes days at a lot of smaller areas (and Magic Mountain) that may be fun on weekends, and I'd also get half-off discounts at places like Killington and a few other bigger resorts. Have to do adult stuff today (real estate, health insurance. Blah!) but am going to ski Whaleback tonight from 4 to 8. Night skiing in New England!

SWEET PICS! Long Trail! I was there Sunday, parked at Bear Mtn. ; MAN it was cold and windy to start the day but it warmed up nice after lunch. I'm strictly a groomer-sloth, so I doubt we crossed paths. Looks like an awesome trip!

Yeah, crazy, right!? I didn't have a lot to spend so my options were pretty limited, then I got really lucky. It's an absolutely TINY place, (1 br with a little loft) but really cute and in an amazing location. 30 minutes fro Okemo and right on the Ascutney mountain bike trail network. I can't believe I managed to stick the landing after all this upheaval. Anyway, now my adult responsibilities are over and I can ski and drink beer until the snow melts!

Just bought a condo in West Windsor. Closing April 12, so I reckon the snow will be gone by the time I make it back to PA to pack up my apartment.

I move to VT and you get a snowstorm and we don't. Harumph. Just kidding! Hope everyone enjoys the snow at some point, if not today then tomorrow!

I don't think it's an issue of intelligence/dimness, but rather how good you are at very quickly assessing a situation under a lot of stress and uncertainty. Jumping off a chairlift is such a counter-intuitive thing to do, you'd have to fully understand what was happening to the chairs when they hit the bullwheel. If you're facing uphill and all you know is that you're moving backward, I think a reasonable person could conclude that the safest thing to do is stay on the chair. In part because not jumping off a chairlift is such an ingrained habit. And then by the time you realize you're wrong, it's too late. It's easy for us to watch with a bird's eye view and see people being dumb, but they didn't have all the information we have when we watch the vid. EDIT: Jesus, though, that last person in the red jacket. At that point people are yelling and you can hear the chairs smashing. That was hard to watch.