SallyCat

Arrived at about 7;45 to rain and fog. I was counting on soft snow and small crowds, and was not disappointed. Until about 9:30 there were more racers on the hill than civilian customers. Visibility was an issue until about 11 am, but gradually the rain showers stopped and the fog lifted. By noon it was a bright day with soft, hero snow and NO crowds. By 1pm the lift crew had taken down the dividers in the corral. There were no lines all day. Every run was awesome soft, spring snow. There were weird patches of icy boulerplate here and there, as well as dirt. All easily avoidable and metely an aesthetic issue. I had a bowl of chili at the bar without any inappropriately-young fellows asking me to ski. Ah well, a girl can only get lucky once in a while. All told, a fantastic day at the True Mountain.

Well, that explains all the beer bellies. I used to be an EMT and do wilderness first aid, yadda, yadda boring. I'm trying to get back into outdoor work with students (not skiing) and I actually asked ski patrol if I could run scenarios with them. They never got back to me.

100% agree. That's the shit I'm talking about. If one of my ski club kids were doing that I would want ski patrol to have a Come to Jesus talk with them.

Yeah that's the problem. I'm talking about out-of-control skiing, not fast skiing. But maybe that's too much nuance for ski patrol. It shouldn't be; it's really obvious who is out of control and who is not.

Fair enough, but there could be a happy medium. The dumbass kid who almost hit me the other day literally couldn't stop. He was an idiot meat-rocket. If he'd hit me at the speed he was going, he would have done serious damage. There could be more of a presence discouraging that shit. EDIT: I don't know anything about the Ski Patrol at Blue. If they're puff-chested authoritarians, yeah, they'll piss people off and be ineffective. If they're tactful and sensible, they could have a real impact.

Blue could change the culture of out-of-control straight-lining if they wanted to. Couple of patrollers on Main st. and Challenge ready and willing to take away passes would do the trick. You'd think they'd rather spend their working hours preventing injury rather than treating it. The fact that people consider uncontrolled straightlining "skiing" in the first place is cultural. So if the resort made a commitment to not tolerating it and did it with a big campaign, they could change the culture and would probably save lives and surely prevent countless injuries.

Huh, I love skiing alone, but get bored on the lift sometimes. iPod + pocket beer makes it tolerable. If I were alone with just my own thoughts, I would brood too much. Anecdotal observation: In the mornings, people tend to be chatty on the lifts, which passes the time. In the afternoon and evenings, hardly anybody talks to anybody else. Either way is fine with me, but it's a funny phenomenon.

Events aren't always black and white and not every tragedy has a villain. For all we know, this one may have two victims. Caring about the wellbeing of the living skier doesn't diminish my capacity to care for the grieving family of the dead skier.

I am assuming it was an accident, obviously.

Nice! Our faculty pub quiz team was going to add Tuesday Trivia to our schedule, but we couldn't coordinate our cardigans.

Indeed. I hope they have access to the support they need in order to cope with this.

Yes. Also my retirement plan.

That happens often enough that you have a policy!?

That is especially tragic given how absolutely deserted it was Sunday night once the Eagles game started. The odds of a collision had to have been incredibly slim; there really was almost nobody on the mountain. I wonder if lighting was a factor. I also wonder how the person who accidentally hit him is doing. If it were me I'd be thinking of taking a one-way hiking trip.

Supposed to turn a direct hit into a glancing blow sort of, but having a slipping layer inside the main helmet. http://mipsprotection.com/technology/ I don't know how much better, if any, it is than a regular helmet but I decided I wanted the best protection I could get and figured it couldn't hurt.

Same. Couple of years ago I spent three months in the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Neurology ICU watching a family member recover from a traumatic brain injury from falling off a step ladder. Ditched my then-current helmet and got one with MIPS in it.

"The increase in the number of people who wear helmets hasn’t resulted in fewer fatalities. Helmets are designed to protect riders at about 12 mph, while a skier or snowboarder who collides with a tree or another rider is typically going 25 to 40 mph." Source: http://unofficialnetworks.com/2017/03/26/7-surprising-facts-ski-deaths-injuries/

I was there Sunday night and skied Razor's; they did open it in the evening after the races were done.

A rusty Flexible Flyer would hit 43, too, if you pushed it straight down a hill. Jaysus. Just buy a kit. Or give 'em here and let me do it. https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Grayne-Ski-and-Snowboard-Tuning-Kit-with-Waxing-Iron-/332227976865

I say that all the time, I just say it at Blue.

I like a nice marathon session once in a while, though. I stayed at Blue yesterday past dark. The Eagles fans cleared out so there were NO crowds or lines and the snow was great. I took a long-ish break at one point, but basically was having a lot of fun so I didn't want to stop. Every run I was working on something (turning from the legs, hand/arm position, bumps, etc.) so it never got boring. It was great because with so many runs I could see and feel real improvement. I just rocked out to music or listened to podcasts on the lift so that wasn't boring, either, and when I got home I fell asleep hard and slept well. That was awesome, too.

I loved the vibe! Thanks so much for the invitation! Thanks @enjoralas for the great food and everyone for the great company!

Ah, bumps. That makes sense.

I'm just teasing, @saltyant Though I don't see how taking off skis and walking is actually safer than side-slipping and/or traversing, unless you don't know how to do either, in which case why are you on something that steep?

Yo, I know how to use my edges and keep my damn skis on.