Ski

Hahahah... I agree with Ride on the lighting...those 20w bulbs have to go.

Jeez, that's horrible. I was just watching a tape of Kernen's Bronze run in the last Olympic downhill...

Hey, my side won and you went on a bitter rant about good people who are race dads and want to create the best experience in the Poconos. Maybe you have a bad memory, but I tend to remember defamatory personal attacks. You called a friend of mine a criminal in a written post---you get no respect from me. BTW, all the shit you posted about how it was a scam, I bet you never ONCE showed up to see what it was like under the new ownership. It just kills some people when good things happen, eh? One season is now almost in the books and guess what? Every person I ride the lift with that's been a longtime passholder says the same thing: it's the best season ever. Period. Get over that.

Webkinz are stuffed animals that come with a tag that has a code number. You log onto webkinz.com and enter your new pet's code and it becomes your virtual pet. You can play games to raise money to buy it a bunch of shit like a bed, furniture, and clothes. She might have mentioned she bought her polar bear a trampoline, or something like that. Anyway, it's a fairly sophisticated way to keep your child from reading and being otherwise productive. Her mom plays Spiro by the hour and I'm on this f*cking MB all the time, so, well, you see where that arguement would go... Her older sister is a far better skier than me, so I've already been through that. But I try to keep learning and plan to hold her off for a few more years. As to Parental Ski Porn: when you have a little TP4 to take snowboarding one day, you'll get the title a little better. Like when my dog stopped crapping in the kitchen, you start marveling at things you used to take for granted---eh, like not having dog crap on the kitchen floor. Or a kid that boots up on their own. Or does his first butter box.

Nick? You collect 'em, too? I figured you more for a Grand Theft Auto sorta dude...

She can push the bar up, but she can't pull it down, even over at the side. Just no leverage. Where most 6 yr old's weigh 55 to 65 lbs., she's in the ultra-lightweight division of 40 lbs (and that's after a Happy Meal). I just don't seem to grow them very big.

Yeah, and next week's temps aren't horrible...a little cold rain isn't so bad.

You're right. The quotas for leaving the state are set strictly by racer population and how much state reps want to negotiate. They make the kids commit or decline post-season races right after Derby, just so the "next on the list" can accept and make hotel reservations. Nothing discretionary about that. I just meant that deciding what's more of an honor inside the state might have some discretion, but I really don't have an opinion one way or another.

20 hours of this crap left, then: Friday, Mar 16 High: 33

I took her directly from Sno to a Hallmark for her 14th Webkinz, a Lil'kinz Red-Eyed Tree Frog...

I remember the first time I was allowed to ride the lift alone...it was as good as when I got my learners permit...the whole mountain suddenly opened up to me and I didn't have to rely on my parent's friends or their kids. Even though I grew up at CB, my first ride up alone was at Vernon Valley/Great Gorge. Despite today's rain and melting snow, we had one cool mother of a day...and thanks again to the Sno lifties that went above and beyond, especially since I was giving a lesson and couldn't keep an eye on her...

The J1/2's had discretionary spots for who made Finals (before Finals were recently opened up to all PARA racers). I believe those spots were filled by the PARA Age Chair off of recommendations by coaches. I'm pretty sure J3's still have discretionaries for Derby, as well. Again, I don't have strong feelings one way or another, although my daughter was a discretionary and ended up jumping 10 spots at Finals to finish in the Top 20. So it seemed to be appropriate, although even she had mixed feelings.

PFFFFTTT...THIS IS TYPO WORLD. YOU DON'T GET SH*T FOR BEING SPELLING CHALLENGED. BUT GOOD TO SEE YOU CAN TAKE BEING GIVEN CRAP FOR OTHER THINGS. WELCOME HERE, LIFTGUY! BTW, THE THREE PEOPLE RUNNING THE BUNNY LIFT FROM 4 TO 6PM WERE ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC. I WAS GIVING A LESSON TO A REALLY LITTLE KID AND THEY ALL HAD SOMETHING FUN TO SAY TO HER EVERY TIME UP. GOOD STUFF! SPECIAL PROPS TO THE LADY LIFTIE...

Wow, Sno got hit hard in some spots. Not so much a lack of snow, but all the stones and crap that got turned up or melted down to. The snow around the top of Phoebe is 1/2 gravel. Great to see you've come to terms with failing high school, Nick! BTW, two different lifties told me that they were planning to make snow Saturday night.

On the one hand, I totally disagree that state teams should be anything but earned through head-to-heads...however, I think there should be discretionary spots which would def have been used in Ridge's case. Ridge had winning runs and showed he could race with the top kids in his division. But I suppose the lesson learned is the old saying---ski fast and keep your fate in your own hands.

Should be pretty interesting...mid-60's and some heavy duty sun. Sort of a drag that Ty's making me bring along one of her friends that's just barely able to stand up on skis. I suppose Wolverine is too pissed that I ignored him yesterday (iPod!!!!) to babysit one of the girls while Ty and I take a few runs? I'll pay in beer if you're at least 15

IS THE COMET 6PACK HAS TISSUES LIKE AT CAMELBACK IS GOOD.

HI, DOUG, I WAS WONDERING IF YOU TAKE THE SIX PACK UP, CAN YOU THEN TAKE THE QUAD BACK DOWN? OR IS IT THE OTHER WAY AROUND? THANK YOU.

I haven't really thought a lot about this before, but I sort of think it is a fair system. Firstly, you don't want J4/5's travelling too much for races because they miss practice on race days. Secondly, it is not totally unlike the J1/2's, since only seven specific J1/2 races during the season count toward the final standings...it's like the J4/5 Derbies are like a compressed PA Cup Series. And you can't carry points or any sort of standings (except for seedings for start numbers) into a 'tournament' where kids haven't raced head-to-head. If you think about it, Derby is very parochial. It's a chance for kids in their own state to get together and compete and has no other baring except quotas for post season spots. It's the same with PA Cups...I recall some kids skipping Cup races for great point races up north. Just my $.02

Am I total dick, or what? (Sorry, but I when I'm skiing alone I have my iPod up pretty loud.)

PARA released the final standings for the J4/5 Future Stars State Team...(since PARA and all the race clubs post full names and mountains, it's already public knowledge.) So congrats to the fastest kids from the Keystone state! There are going to be some awesome battles between these kids for years to come. Future Stars State Team GIRLS 1 Horner, Lauren Blue Mtn. 2 Rowland, Kelly Camelback 3 Brackup, Julia Blue Mtn. 4 Harlan, Merritt Camelback 5 Kendall, Creswell Elk Mtn. 6 Joyce, Kailey WPRC BOYS 1 Tindall, Bergen Blue Mtn. 2 Steinbach, Thomas Sno Mtn. 3 Blanchard, Marc Blue Mtn. 4 Connors, Shane Elk Mtn. 5 Hall, Stepper Elk Mtn. 6 Rutledge, Andrew Whitetail 7 De Carle, Mackenzie Tussey Mtn. 8 Field, Robert Whitetail 9 Pyke, Geoffery Blue Mtn.

Jeez, Big, you sound like you're havin' it rough...no pics of teen girls in tank tops...I may be shady, but I'm not quite THAT shady...well, yeah I am, but I didn't have my camera. Nick, they changed the clocks just so you can ski in the warm sun an extra hour. 4pm to 7pm and home for dinner...

We apparently got really used to having the world's sh*ttiest snow over the years...even with the incredibly late opening, it's been the best season ever---absolutely no comparison to when it was county owned, or even years ago when it was privately owned. These new owners better not slack off now that they have us used to these conditions. People have also been turning out--there would have been 20 people at Montage on a day like today last season; today there were maybe 100. It doesn't sound like much, but it was still 5 times what it used to be.

Nick? SMS? How did you guys miss today? Half naked snowboarding chicks in the park and amazing spring weather... Tomorrow's warm rain will only really hit skier's right on Smoke's first headwall, which was turning a little muddy where the guns didn't reach, as well as a couple of spots above the pipe. Otherwise, coverage remains edge to edge.

There's no official cutoff date. Each mountain can run their courses as long as they have snow. Sno, for instance, is waiting to see how the snow holds up through this warm period before making a call for next weekend. Belleayre will probably run NASTAR for a few more weeks...you can usually call and ask for the ski school desk to get info.