Ski

He wouldn't get a bite for those prices on eBay, but maybe in a shop on consignment. That gear would have to be mint race stock to get even 2/3 of his asking price. Race skis lose their value of being race skis because--after just so many runs--their pop is gone.

I was mostly just giving Doug crap, Big. Elk lost a lot of season passes to Montage when they first opened, so a lot of that damage was done years ago. Sno will hurt Elk more, especially after the new quad and two more mile long trails, but Sno will never be as bad as CB or Blue in regard to crowds. We just don't have either the quick access or the skiing/riding population to draw from. Sno can---and eventually will---increase it's visits by 500%, but will still be manageable on busy Saturday afternoons. I want Sno to be a raging success because the guys that bought it are great people---but it doesn't mean I won't really miss corduroy lasting four or five days.

I suppose it's part of the overall plan to market Sno as a four season resort. And if you're building a water park and need to run rides to test them, it's probably not too hard to break even. I mean, if you are installing a multi-million dollar wave pool, I guess you'd want to fill it with water, turn on the heaters, and run it through all of the cycles, just to make sure it's been built correctly. So, if you have it up and running, why not sell some tickets? Just a guess. And I'm curious to see how committed they are to the new lift, as well as the new trails. They interviewed every employee on the mountain and I can't believe a new lift wasn't the #1 priority to at least 80% of the staff. It's the complaint I hear every day on the lift. I suppose we'll see. Just as long as they don't steal all of Elk's customers and it winds up as crowded as Blue.

Dennis Carlson has been a little crazy with his optimism about getting open. He's learning the hard way that making good on his promise to hire all local construction workers may have it's downside. The original opening date was July 1st, which was cool because Ty's b'day was July 2nd and that's where she wanted her party. It really sucked that it ended up at Camelbeach. Anyway, Mr. Carlson then promised July 15th, but they discovered burried electrical wires that needed to be moved to meet code. The local PBS TV station moaned like crazy in the newspaper, saying they had wasted effort and money publicizing a big party they wanted to hold, but was now postponed. Why any business would make a big investment in holding a function at a water park that wasn't even built yet is a little sketchy in my book. With tons of concrete to pour, some steady rain could have put them way off schedule. So now it looks like mid-August. The upside is that people will get a taste of what'll be there next summer. I just don't know where they expect to get lifeguards and ticket takers for a couple of weeks, right before school. The Sno Cove management is Philly based, where, if you have the money, you can get things done in a hurry. Up here, well, just try to get a plumber to return your call...

I think it goes without saying that she could be truted with Chippy.

Holy crap, Sib, you have a 20 yr old? I can't imagine what that must be like...oh, wait...was yesterday July 10th? BTW, Schif is just about the only guy on here that I'd trust with a 20 yr old daughter. TP4 is a nice kid, but waaay too shady with those lap dancers.

Yeah, sure...what school? Even if I wasn't there for your school, I might have been covering your opponent. We contract with more than 500 colleges and high schools, but I'm usually at one of about 30 regularly. Any PASR member is more than welcome to drop me a PM at the beginning of their sports season and I'll be more than happy to grab a few good shots if I just happen to be at one of their games.

Ha, thanks, Sib...

Cool, thanks. Their snowcats had been repoed and it looked really bad for them just a few years ago. I didn't read a lot about it, but I was interested because I used to ski there every once in a while in the late 80's. I vaguely recall that a group from Philly (like Sno) were going to buy the place. It sort of reminded me of skiing Haystack, but with two pretty steep runs thrown in.

MRG has a few snowboarders hiking for turns a lot of weekend mornings. They used to have a policy that if you showed up with a board at the ticket window, they'd give you free rental skis (eh, for whatever that was worth). Doug, have you heard whether Magic will be open this winter for sure?

We did it a couple of times when I lived in Massachusetts...drove up to Jay, then worked our way down to Snow, where I worked weekends. Pretty easy to hit seven in a week, or even more.

Sno's new system is is very similar to BB's. All things considered, including source water temp and average daily highs, it will come down to who wants it more. And as we all know, that early window of opportunity lasts for about a week before temps jump back up. Any area that passes up on that first cold week can end up losing three weeks of early season skiing and a lot of really good press. I'll be reminding the Sno higher-up's of this repeatedly in Oct/Nov.

Wow, Maier had one third place podium in December 2006, then never finished higher than fifth all season. I thought he might announce his retirement. Hermann was one of my favorite skiers, but it was pretty sad to watch him race on one good leg...Head may be calling Tomba next.

Sno's pr release said they plan to be the earliest to open in the Poconos. At one of the meetings, a Sno rep (I forget which one) said that they would take advantage of the first cold stretch in late Nov or early Dec, rather than waiting until mid-December, as Montage had in the past. Until Sno builds a jib following, attendance in late season won't keep the lifts running like at BB. But everyone is jonesing to ski/ride by November, so it makes sense to open early.

Shadows, those pics are great. Not good. Great. There's such a noticeable difference between some PR guy that heads out for some shots for a daily update, or even to cover an event for the ski area. But it's really cool to see pics taken by someone that knows/loves the sport. For example, Skimom or 'Dude or Jeffy would probably dig a close-up shot of boots impacting the base of a Break-A-Way gate that nobody else would even understand. Anway, cool sh*t.

Very sorry to hear, Sib.

IDK, Sib...Big Mountain always seemed like a hard name to get a grasp of. Like when we tell people we're headed to The Big Island of Hawaii, they then ask which island we're going to... I guess I give it a thumbs up. It's logical, specific, and very year 'round oriented...just smelly.

I'd be happy to give you a few lessons, DH...when you're back from your summer camp.

Eh, and I mean that in the nicest way, DH...we had a backpack just like it...

You need access to the equivalent of a mild blue square trail, Sploosh. And that was Doug's first ever day on grass skis...maybe DH would be stylin' better, but grass skiing is 20 times more ballsy than anything DH is doing this summer...unless he's booting-out on rocks at 40mph... I'll sure miss your Hello Kitty backpack, DH...

We're going to meet at Sno late in August, Metzy, but PM me your address and I'll stick your's in the mail tomorrow. As is common, I was scheduled for an assignment about 20 minutes from your shop today, but got a last minute change for something in Scranton. Sorry about that. I can't wait for winter!

What happened to your old wing man? And when did our little 'Dude end up the most mature person in this forum?

Who would be more insulted by that? Sorry, Metzy, j/k...

Hmmmm...is that the root of the disagreement? Is it simply that 1st Grade is going off the literal post on the NASTAR website, as opposed to all the added information and instruction that is presented to resorts and pacesetters? 1st Grade, as far back as the mid-80's, the handful of participating resorts at the time were told to standardize their courses through measured offsets and the cap times. To this day, Bill Madsen has continued this process. It really isn't that hard.

Jesus, 1st Grade, you are the thickest person I've ever been 42-0 against. At the same time you are screaming that CAP time has nothing to do with a turny course, you state as a point of fact that it's what the times are compaired to. The purpose of doing a CAP time is to standardize courses, especially when courses are set by ski school newbies. CAP times are checked to make sure courses aren't too straight. CAP times are checked to make sure courses aren't too turny. I have said this from the very first thread. I'm saying it again. I got the freaking memo when I was a volunteer for NASTAR for YEARS. Here's a note from Bill Madsen last year: "Yes, we encourage resorts to periodically check cap times to help ensure a more standard course. A course that is too straight will tend to unreasonably lower handicaps, while a course that is too offset tends to raise handicaps." How many NASTAR courses have you set, 1st Grade? How many have you pulled? How many NASTAR racers have you checked in? So as to my career as a journalist, I'll let you pick ANY pasr member you trust and I'll show them as many newspaper clippings as you decide is proof enough. Pick carefully, since $5000 is a lot of money, eh? Would you also like them to see some of my coverage when I was a combat photographer? Maybe some of my work from Nicaragua, El Salvador, Haiti, or Cambodia? Or I'm pretty sure I have a Gannett newspaper clipping with my photos and a story about when I was in Panama during the invasion and hunt for Noriega and was stabbed dozens of times, yet still smuggled the film out of the country. Instead of running down and hating on people, 1st Grade, why not go out in the world and experience a few things? It doesn't have to in some dusty Third World shithole, either...look at all the kids on this MB, like DH and skierboi and Mark and the others that are adding up adventures. It's just my opinion, but I think that after you've faced some real challenges in life, you reach a place where you can sit back and enjoy things at a different pace. I remember DH came home one time and had posted ahead that he welcomed anyone to board with him, but not to expect to be competing with him. So, relax, 1st Grade...take a deep breath...stop the hate...