Ski

Blue was terrific. The snow was super considering how warm it got. I rode the lift with one of Blue's USSA coaches and he told me how the snowmakers/groomers specifically blow and groom Razor's Edge all season into hardpack for the race team to practice. I bet the snowmakers and groomers at CB don't even f*ing know there's a CAT race team. The race was like kind of like my fourth day of practice. I learned in my first run in last week's race to try to make good turns rather than simply ski fast. It's like not trying to over-swing at a baseball in spring training; slow your swing down and make contact and after a while the ball will seem to fly off the bat. Ski racing is the same thing. It had been so long since I raced anything but NASTAR that I blew out of too many turns last week. The 11.21's rock. Period. They cannot be maxed-out. BTW, where are you?

Thanks. I'll come to CB after my mountain closes. Starting monday, the weekday Montage schedule will be 4pm-10pm. That's the first bad sign...

Your guys brought my new skis right to my door this afternoon and I took them into my shed and mounted bindings, then went to Montage and used the busloads of 12-year-old's as warm up for a race tomorrow morning at Blue. Afterwards, I came home and had some chicken. And where were you ThinkSnow?

Ha ha, Postwhores.

Girls all wore stretch pants and happily slept with their instructors back in the 70's...brings a tear to my eye, just remembering.

Hey, anybody that breaks or dislocates something and is still skiing and trying to shake it off, earns repect from me. And I don't remember waiting for him... That said, I saw this pic and really did think of one particular person on this board:

The Bear Mountain lot and lodge are usually a good bet and you get to finish your day on Outer Limits with everybody watching.

Base cleaner is bad for all skis. It dries them out, which is the opposite of what wax is for. That's why I don't have any, though it'd be better than that oil. The first warm day after a cold stretch uncovers all the crap in the snow. I could scrape off about 80%, but a lot was in the pores, looking really nasty.

I didn't have any base cleaner, so I tried to hot wax and scrape it out. That stuff was evil! In the spring, you get pollen on your bases, which looks bad, but isn't anywhere near as bad as that. I ruined two corks trying to wax between runs. Oh, well.

Ha! I just skied the 2 inch snowfall at Montage and was relieved to find mostly hardpack and ice. There was just enough powder to wipe the rest of the oil off from Saturday's snow at Tanglwood.

No arguement there...some of my best days that didn't involve skiing, surfing, women, or alcohol were spent on the Ramblin' River and Little Bird's Birdbath. Uh, he wouldn't LET you?

It's going to feel like skiing at Sesame Place, pretty soon.

AAAARRRGGGGHHHH! Put your little red O making markers back in your pants next to your little red di*ks!!!! So a couple of people are ripping down a double-black and there's a little contact? Jesus Fing Cripes! I was doing some wide-sweeping tuck turns down the right side of the race course slope during warm-ups yeserday and almost put some poor guy (another racer) into the woods. We rode the lift together and I said, "Sorry, man, didn't mean to almost put you into the woods." He said, "No problem; my bad." Maybe we needed a CB ranger dickhead there to confiscate our tickets and keep world peace and make the universe more liveable. Jerks.

Has ThinkSnow survived his return?

Today was excellent; the first day that I remember feeling hot. It was day 40 for me, although most days were about two hours, or following a little kid. I've discovered that 3 to 6pm is a pretty awesome time slot for open slopes and warm temps during the week. And more props going out to ThinkSnow. Your guys did another top notch job getting my newest gear to my front door today. But I was wondering if you guys ever get bored and just start opening stuff? I don't mean any offense, it's just that I'm pretty sure I would.

Skidude, did you say you wanted this for your new Avatar?

'Cause they suck!! BTW, Dave-S, I just think it's OUR responsibilty to ensure the safety of our own kids when skiing on a weekend in the Poconos. It would be nice if the Rangers were capable, but that idea is simply ludicrous. That's not to say that if someone does a blind take-off with no spotter and lands on me or my kid that some slopeside justice wouldn't take place.

Never saw a CB shotglass. Shawnee had them way back when, though. Ask sibhusky on the other board. She's good with info like that and doesn't make up shit...

I once forgot my stiff, aluminum race poles for a beer league race and used my really nice, $80 Leki carbon fiber poles. Snapped one right in half leaving the start. I remember thinking: "What the F?" Get a great pair of poles. They aren't that much more and they really make a difference. And you'll probably never break your shoulder again!

I've met the one with short hair and lots of earings. I like her. As sexist as it is, cops and Rangers that are female are okay if they act like hard-asses. That's actually kinda cool.

And it's the wanna-be assh*le cop Rangers that have created a situation that'll never change. Being Ski Patrol used to be kinda cool, if you consider 'getting girls' some sort of measure (which I do). But being a Ranger or Patroller at CB is now like joing the A**hole Club. I get on the lift at Montage and the yellow jacket Rangers and Patrollers are nice guys that want to ski for free and every once in while help somebody. Period. I get on with one at CB and he turns up his Super Secret Dick Tracy Radio...f*ing idiots. Keep your little club.

Yes, that's usually this area's last shot at nailing the tourists. City folk figure March is to warm to have any snow. The only people at Montage this afternoon were snow tubers...

By all means, kick the crap out of him! Beatings are a good thing! But like skigurl says, some racers just go brain dead when they are in a race. In football, you get killed if you start thinking; in ski racing, you get killed if you STOP thinking. Racers get fast when all things come together. It's a lot of shit that has to line up and it's only the kids with absolute determination that ever get there.

Skidude has his edges tipped nicely and is working a two-footed carve in about a 50-50, which would probably be 60-40 or more in the next frame. He's begun his comma shape, but it'll get better when he forces those fists forward and keeps from letting the left arm from lagging. He has a good lean into the gate, trying to put his belly button into the snow over the uphill ski. The only thing truly missing is the balls-out aggression. You "get it" skidude. And when you trust that downhill ski to carve and increase the forces on it, your turn will look more like Mike's.

Doh!