Ski

Not to harsh your buzz, VT, but 10 hours of driving would be a bitch even if it was for Jackson Hole. But I've done tons of ridiculous early season road trips over the years and haven't regretted any of them. Sometimes you just have to say 'what the F'.

I can't imagine you Lackawanna people won't get the 20% off of the early discount. The current price is the early season price. They can't charge you MORE for the current pass, then take 20% off. If they tried that, then stop in it at the TV station at the bottom of the hill...they'd love to run that story.

Bamboo is light and just gets knocked over. We use it for our races at The Hideout. But the kids just ski around them and not through them. I imagine you could splinter it if you hit it really hard on a cold day. Real racers would make a mess out of a bamboo course... Haven't been there in the winter, POC, just in the summer to scout it for grass skiing. I forget who, but someone here has been. It actually has what looks like a nice diamond, so we're definitely hitting it this season. PASR Day!

Ha, shinguards...you sure weren't shinning any gates back in those days, 'Dude. It was sometimes referred to as 'back scratching', because you dipped your inside shoulder and it seemed like you were clearing the gate with your shoulder blade as you came under the gate. You did this while keeping a very narrow stance and A-framed for leverage. And now I pay huge sums of money for camps to erase all this stuff from my brain. Oh, and we never did go to that race. I think our own hill had a community race that day.

I used to do photo essays once a week, or so, for the newspapers I worked for. You don't have to live in Jackson Hole to produce something amazing that has a regional or national interest; you have to just produce something amazing looking. Of course you'll be shooting for a niche audience, but make every shot unique, whether it's angle, light, or whatever. Zaldon's helmet cam is a good starting point. And the secret to WM has always been the humor. Every skier has seen tons of footage of the Wasatch or wherever. But footage that has personality can be shot anywhere. I spent six months in the ER at Hunterdon Medical Center (in NJ) doing an essay on an ER doctor. It took six months because I had to wait that long for him to dramatically save someone's life. A dozen people a night are brought back to life at Denver General, but I sat around on overnight shifts waiting for just one, month after month. My point is that anything is possible and you aren't limited by the Poconos at all.

They're a little touchy at Masthope, for sure. I had called last winter about the race they hold during their winter fest. I asked four or five questions about whether they used gates with panels, or just bamboo, just trying to get a feel for the race. The woman basically yelled at me, saying it wasn't a hardcore World Cup event and that it was meant for families. But I was just calling to see if it was a good race for my 4-year-old...I was just going to videotape...jeesh...

If they have skiing from the top. Tickets will be $30 and $35 and there are $40 motel rooms within 3 miles of the slopes. When they run from the top, it's a pretty nice black diamond at first...not too sketchy for intermediate skiers/boarders. And then they open up lots of other trails as quickly as possible, if they have the temps.

I'm sure going.

Well, it's got a similar atmosphere as Tanglwood...it's state owned and state subsidized, which allows them to charge less for tickets, which makes Windham and Hunter management whine like crazy...it's a very basic, log cabin-type place. Some of the diamond runs off the top are steep; some are left to bump up. If they get marginal temps, they'll open with skiing that only goes half-way up the upper mountain (the mountain is broken into three levels: the very bottom level is the beginner area; the upper mountain has a lift that allows skiers to unload halfway up for blue/green runs). Anyway, when you turn into the access road, go past the lower lodge (on the left) and continue up the hill to the upper lodge lot. The goofy lift placement makes people have to hike up a steep little knoll to get to the closest lift. It's just barely worth the trip up if it's only mid-mountain skiing. It's boring after two hours at most. If they're going from the top, then it's really good early season turns. Mid-winter, Belleayre is terrific. Most people ski it from one side to the other, then back again. Each of the diamonds off the top is a straight fall line, but still unique. And there's always some tracks to follow that disappear into the woods.

It's no biggie, 'Dude...we're just coming to a collective understanding to ignore certain things. There's no hating, really. If there's a dog that tries biting you, your first reaction is to yell WTF...and so as to not give ThinSnow ulcers, we're all going to try and not kick the dog. And there will be peace in the land. ---- I was trying to picture how far up the terrain park goes, but my memory sucks.

Sums it up just fine, FD. But just ignore it and let it roll right off...no worries... Hey, what the vert of just the terrain park? Anyone know? Just curious how it compares to our hill...

I was at Bear Creek Ski Shop today and they got a fax from KMart saying they were definitely not opening this coming weekend...

Thanks, Boss, that pretty much confirms it. I emailed them a couple of times, but haven't heard back... http://www.skibluemt.com/Rates/coupons_html Ha, perfect! My folks live in FL...they spend a lot of time sitting in air conditioning looking outside.

"As for Doc Rockel, I didn't have the oppurtunity to have him, but a bunch of my buddies who are in the Bio program had him... How do you know him? You go to TCNJ?" He's my father-in-law. Better known as Road Kill Rockel for serving dead squirrels and other "found" oddities to his bio students. Welcome to PASR, btw!

All that space on Upper Runaway and Upper Fast Track at Montage really add up, I guess. Blue's diamonds are much longer and so it skis much bigger than Montage. But, yeah, it's listed as a 457 elevation. Mountain Creek is just 440 ft at base elevation, btw. It'd be kind of cool to put together a complete comparison chart.

Just some numbers: Vertical BC= 510 ft CB= 800 ft Montage= 1000 ft. Blue= 1082 ft Acres BC= 90 CB= 139 Montage= 140 Blue= 100 Base elevation BC= 600 CB= 1239 Montage= 1000 Blue= 457

Ha, wish her a safe move and tell her she can come visit you summers...

I just printed them out so I can come down on Thursday nights to have Atomic beat me up on his home NASTAR course. The less I have to pay to have that happen the better. Oh, and your attendance on those nights is mandatory, skifreak. 6:30pm on Raceway.

It used to be the way most tunes were done back when skis were straight. When you tipped a straight ski on edge, the tip and tail came off the snow, so they detuned at those spots for easier transitions. That's also why skis used to have to be longer---because during the turn, the tips and tails left the snow. Do Metrons come out of the factory with 1 degree base and 3 degree side?

Thanks, Atomic...I tried emailing them Friday a.m. and haven't heard back. I printed out a bunch and am hoping to have some free Thursday nights. BTW, anyone without a Blue pass that may wander over should go to their site and print some. Never know when or if it'll disappear.

Gettin' anxious to get on 'em, eh, skifreak?

I always ship adult or junior skis for $25 anywhere. It probably costs that shop $18 max to ship UPS Ground to the furthest destination for them; the rest is handling. But try and find new Atomic Race 5's and new Look junior bindings for less than $200 in this area. The cheapest junior binding I saw at Gunther's in Honesdale was about $100 last year. $149.99 delivered is a great deal, especially this time of year. On the topic of high shipping, I recently accidentally charged $38 to ship a small item because I forgot to change the 'saved' shipping line after selling a heavy, old IBM typewriter. It was only $6 to ship a little lamp, but they didn't complain, so the library kept the profit. Oh, well..

I meant it's cool that someone from here made it up...I don't think I've ever done any VT area as a day trip while living down here. That alone is pretty amazing.

Just a head's-up on some junior gear that is a great deal right now on eBay. Both are "Buy it Now", so there's no bidding involved; just buy it... First is a set of 100cm Atomis Race 5's with Look bindings. Brand NEW for $119.99 plus $30 shipping: http://cgi.ebay.com/Skis-Atomic-Junior-Rac...1QQcmdZViewItem Also a set of 120cm Atomic Race 5's with Marker bindings. Brand NEW for the same price: http://cgi.ebay.com/Skis-Atomic-Junior-Rac...1QQcmdZViewItem There's just 20 hrs. left...

heheheheheheh But, yeah, pooling money and hitting the small motels is what some of my friends from down by you used to do. There are some really cheap motels away from CB which are okay, but you just don't ever leave valuables...Hey, Capt'n, do you by any chance have Doc Rockel for any classes?