Ski

Metzy must have locked himself in the pro shop... Yes, he's one of eight members of the Racewax.com Ski Team. The league has been racing on the NASTAR course...sometimes as a dual course. They are also considering moving the start house up to the top of the headwall on Switch, which would be cool. It might make it the longest NASTAR course in America, since it's pretty close as is. They also plan to set a practice slalom course on the left side of Switch for us, which is freaking great. Anyone that has fun skiing GS gates HAS to try slalom---you need pole guards, but not shin guards---it's sort of the same feeling as a country carnival that has a junk car and a sledge hammer.

I'm going by what they said at the meetings prior to the purchase. One new high speed lift and two new top to bottom trails at the far right of skier's right. They also posted on the website that new lifts and trails were "coming", so they've carried the thought past the initial purchase. Upper Runaway and Upper Fast Track are both just green circles (even though they are rated blue) that drop into black diamonds, which make for pretty strange runs. I like to do a lap on them every day just because they're empty and it's fun to tuck down the tops and fly onto those headwalls. And, yeah, the terrain right next to Lower Fast Track is even steeper than the Fast Track headwall. It's what's further over that might make it possible. But, again, this is conditional upon getting the new lift (or overhauling Long Haul). I'm not suggesting piling newbies into the Phoebe lift line.

Yes, but I'm taking for granted that there will be a new lift on the other side of Long Haul (or, at the very least, Long Haul gets an overhaul). The funneling would be into the new lift or Long Haul, which is where the newbies would want to go anyway, since they are the ride back to the top. I think that if Sno opens up the whole mountain on the left side to everyone, the North Face headwalls will still feel separate. Looks like I'm gettin' voted down on this, though

I totally agree that the current way is the best way for experts. It's just like Mount Snow's North Face area, where you feel like you can take blind headwalls at full speed and if some bunny skier gets his hair parted, he shouldn't have been there in the first place. But if Sno wants to compete as the best in the Poconos, it needs a Nile Mile/Lazy Mile sort of run. Right now, it's a really small mountain for beginners/intermediates. Why not a long rambling blue at the far perimenter that funnels directly to the new quad? The only time you'd deal with newbies is when they come into the other side of the liftline. It might actually pull a lot of he newbies off of Cannonball and Boomer, let alone Lower Fast Track. People get bored up top, then wander down and side slip places they shouldn't be. Just my 2 cents... And I'm really freaking glad to even be having this discussion...

I know that before SMLLC bought the place they interviewed just about every employee for their thoughts and ideas...but I'm wondering if they got feedback about the lack of intermediate access to the bottom of the mountain. I've talked to a lot of people and noticed how people use the little cut-over trail between Lower Runaway and Lower Fast Track---seems most intermediates have been going down Runaway, then using that little access spot to cut the top third off of the Lower Fast Track headwall. Seems to me that the little flat spots at the bottom of the consecutive headwalls of Lower Runaway are easier for them, but that's what they do. It really does take a pretty fair intermediate skier/boarder to make it down the North Face, as it is, without risk. But I can't imagine the terrain beyond Fast Track as any less steep, unless they cut a trail at least 50 yards out, or so. Probably the number two problem people have with Sno (behind lack of a high-speed) is that it splits up groups and families too much. It's the same problems Belleayre faced, but they fixed them both over the last two seasons with the new quad and the new trails. We'd be really interested to know what the bosses are thinking...

We didn't open until mid-February because the hydraulics went on the groomer just before opening. And the longtime ski school director retired, so there was nobody that cared to continue the weekend races. We didn't even have the traditional Hideout Ski Hill Championship Race, which we'd attended for years. So there was no reason to go... But as soon as Sno's lifts stop, Ty and I hike for turns at The Hideout. There's so much snow that it should hold up close to May, as long as it doesn't get crazy hot.

I picked Ty up at school, just as the snow started falling. By the time we got to the almost empty lot, it was coming down pretty hard. We spent most of the afternoon doing laps on Lower Runaway, then a few Highballs (she's working on her hockey stops). We raced down Easy Street once, which is the goofiest possible slope---maybe if it was banked and steeper...IDK. Conditions are absolutely mid-winter and the falling snow made it seem really quiet. A lot of the runs still had corduroy grooves all over them, even by 6pm. (The lifties, btw, caught all the chairs and were great.) We had a blast and can't imagine the season ending.

Exactly right...but it's not much different than any other construction project in so much as once contracts are signed, it's 100% transferable. Once it looks like it has the appearance of coming in within budget, CB will be for sale again. Mr. Berry is pretty jazzed about seeing just how many people will fit on Honeymoon Lane on a Saturday afternoon.

No, don't fire him...just train him if he's going to be working the chairs. I don't even care that he gave me attitude, I just care about what was happening to my daughter and my friend's son. And you might also explain to him how close he came to having a really pissed off dad kick his knees out from under him. But this is the only time it's every happened to us at Sno. All but one person on your lift staff has been TERRIFIC and FRIENDLY. I know it sucks, but this is just an example of how one person having a bad day can make everyone look bad. It happens in my business on a daily basis. All in all, your lift ops are the best we've experienced in the Poconos. And when you have a little kid, it really makes a difference in how your day goes. Heck, just check an earlier thread I had made about them: http://www.paskiandride.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8397 Thanks for listening, liftguy.

And yet they were hesitant to come up and be put to that test

Your BMW is faster than my Jeep.

Jordan, CB now stays open until theyre isn't enough snow for them to be open? Cool! That must be a new policy. And Sno stays open, yet it's colder and gets more snow than CB. But if you step back a little, the Poconos are the Poconos and you're really talking about a few inches, a couple of hundred feet of varying vert, and four to five degrees---I think it's pretty safe to compare areas within this region. I know Jeffy and Doug are a little harsh with CB in a neverending sort of way, but CB needs a kick in the ass as a reminder that passholders are still out there.

Yep, as do a lot of us, especially if it's a fixed grip that doesn't slow down. But people with really little kids rely on the lifties to catch it, since they have poles in one hand and are boosting their kid with the other. Yeah, two things I always do on any lift are to expect to catch it and say "thanks" to the liftie...eh, except to this dope.

I know lifties can take an expired or stolen pass away, but I didn't know they could do it for patrol reasons...

Closed? I'd be pretty upset if my home hill closed when it's mid-winter conditions, especially after such a bad start.

When you buy a business, you inherit all the old problems and it's up to you to get them fixed. CB has so much capitol that they are puking money...but I sure don't see where they are investing back into the ski side. Here's a new story from 2 years ago: "Considered the gem of the resorts in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains, Camelback is the largest area in the region, with a solidly profitable summer season to complement its winter operations. Those factors alone make Camelback appealing as an acquisition. But it was locally grown and faithful Camelback skier Arthur Berry -- he first skied at Camelback when he was six -- who plunked down $48 million and walked away with the prize. Berry, a 40-year-old entrepreneur who has founded and turned over a number of enterprises in the Poconos, formed a new company, CBH2O, LP, to acquire Camelback. The seller, Sam Newman, had been in charge of the recreation center for the past 19 years and will stay on for three years as a consultant. Camelback began operations in 1963. Camelback's new owner at Camelback plans to keep the existing operations teams intact and do little to the mountain in the short term." Berry bought it to flip it, just like he's bought and flipped everything else. When you buy to flip a property (buy something low, do small improvements, then sell it for a profit), it isn't about taking care of customers, or anything else except making it attractive to the next owner. Berry openly stated that he wasn't planning improvements and certainly hasn't worked the customer service end. He wants status quo, nothing to get broken, avoid lawsuits, and have his property appreciate to a certain level before dumping it for a small fortune. I'm sure glad he didn't buy Sno...

I think your making fun of Metzy again...

Internet through cable via satellite. Tiger Woods? Is he a tennis player, or something?

Anybody wanna take a guess how Bode did in the last slalom of the season? Anyway, here's the Eurosport story on a surprise overall winner: Aksel Lund Svindal did just enough to claim the overall World Cup title, as Benjamin Raich had to content himself with victory in the season finale and the slalom crown at Lenzerheide on Sunday. Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal held off Austrian Benjamin Raich to win Alpine skiing's overall World Cup title on Sunday in one of the most exciting finishes for years. The 24-year-old kept his nerve in the season-ending slalom in the face of a fierce Raich charge to become the first Norwegian to claim the sport's most prestigious prize since Lasse Kjus in 1999. Skiing superbly, Raich blazed to the victory he needed to keep his overall title chances alive in one minute 39.78 seconds, beating fellow Austrian Mario Matt by nearly a second. However, down in the finish area double world champion Svindal was already celebrating, safe in the knowledge that the points he needed to stay above the Austrian were in the bag. It could not have been any closer though. With only the top 15 skiers scoring points at the World Cup finals, Svindal crept into 15th. Had he been one place lower, Raich would have retained the title he won last season. Instead, the Austrian finished with a total of 1,255 points, 13 behind Svindal. "I was so nervous....when I was only fifth on the leaderboard after my run I thought I would lose it...but then I found out that I was in the top 15 and I couldn't believe it," Svindal told reporters. "I knew that Benni would be fighting to the end...I didn't really want to celebrate too early. The overall World Cup is the biggest thing in ski racing, I really enjoyed the fight." The 29-year-old Raich at least had the consolation of snatching the World Cup slalom title from Matt. He began the final race 15 points behind the world champion but the 100 he gained for victory leapfrogged him to the top of the standings by five points. There was a lot at stake for me to day, the overall and slalom World Cup...I just gave my best," Raich said. "For me to win the slalom cup is a big achievement. Aksel is just so consistent and he is a worthy successor of mine," he added. Coming into the final four races of the season here in this Swiss resort, Svindal was third in the standings behind Raich and Switzerland's Didier Cuche. However a stunning hat-trick of victories on the Silvano Beltrametti course in the downhill, super-G and giant slalom rocketed him past his rivals and put him in the driving seat before the slalom, his weakest event. A conservative first run left him in 12th place, and although he lost more ground in the second leg, the Norwegian was rewarded for a spectacular end to the season. Just a month ago at the world championships in Are, Sweden he won golds medals in giant slalom and downhill.

Ty is in celebration mode as her fav won the overall title today: Nicole Hosp secured the overall World Cup title with a dominant victory in the final race of the season at Lenzerheide on Sunday. A sensational weekend for the 23-year-old, which also included a shock victory in Saturday's slalom, meant she overturned a daunting 70-point deficit to surge past team mate Marlies Schild for the overall prize. Hosp snaps four seasons of domination by Croatian Janica Kostelic and Sweden's Anja Paerson, becoming the first Austrian woman to win the coveted globe since Michaela Dorfmeister in 2002. Last year's champion Kostelic decided to skip the season. Knowing that either victory or second place in Sunday's finale in the Swiss Alps would be enough to secure the title, the giant slalom world champion responded with a faultless display of technical skiing, winning by a huge 1.42 seconds. Germany's Kathrin Hoelzl was second with Michaela Kirchgasser in third spot while title rival Schild, who began the day 30 points behind Hosp after a dismal slalom performance on Saturday, finished in a solid sixth position. A top eight finish would have been enough for Schild to take the title had Hosp stumbled in her second run. Hosp, who burst on to the scene as a teenager in 2002 when she won a World Cup giant slalom in Soelden, has occasionally struggled to live up to her early promise. After winning a world championship gold in Are, Sweden last month, however, and now taking the World Cup she has joined a select band of great Austrian women skiers. "My idol was Annemarie Moser-Proell and it's always been my dream to win the World Cup," Hosp, who has nine World Cup victories, told reporters. "To do this five years after my first World Cup victory is very emotional. Today was the biggest win of my season because I knew I had to finish. "It was not only important to win the overall but also the giant slalom crown because we were looking to snatch all the titles this season and we've now done it." Hosp's double means Austrian women have swept the World Cup honours this season. Schild can content herself with the slalom and super-combined titles while speed queen Renate Goetschl reigned supreme in the downhill and super-G.

There's lots to be said for the underdog role, Metzy.

Did I see an overhead cam on a wire? It did sorta seem like you guys were in groups trying to figure out what was happening. Shit happens in racing, too, where there's actual time and then there's 'race time'. Race time is always an hour slower than reality. And the wind is always upslope at Sno...maybe 95% of the time. We run the race course mostly in a tuck---I kept seeing you guys fighting the wind. In fact, there was one little kid that did a 360 right on the lip and nearly went back down the in-run, pushed by the wind.

IDK, Jeff, I don't want to post all the names right now, but the top three guys on our team have a NASTAR handicap of less than 20...that's total, not an average. But since they use the NASTAR team scoring system, it's okay to not be as fast, as long as you are old...for example, you'd have to run a 9 handicap to score as many team points as me running an 11 handicap next season...not that I wouldn't just beat you outright

Wow, the first time I read that I thought you wrote 'that will never happen again'.

The City Treasurer in Philly was corrupt, so every person he had an contact with over a specific period ended up with an indictment against them, mostly to force testimony against him. Some completely innocent people got caught up in it and were dragged into court...for doing something like allowing someone to stay in their vacation condo for two weekends, despite their being ZERO evidence of any returned favor. I recall you've had PASR friends come out and visit you---imagine if they turned up with legal problems and your were indicted for letting them stay with you. It's not just me that found it that simple and straightforward---even the judge chided the prosecution for being "wreckless". And it sucks to be talking about it now.