Ski

Ha, no he wouldn't My favorite judging scandal was that French figure skating judge....any judging has a built in degree of error, even at the highest level. I've seen Olympic and World Cup level mogul comps destroyed by poor judging. You just have to go into it doing your best and hoping it's judged fairly...and not worrying about the judges. And Rob's right that it would simply turn into what's now the current aerials...baggy clothes will go for judges to be able to better see the rotations. I bet that's where it'll be in a few years no matter what, though. Judges will score a 1440 higher than a 1080 and all the jibbers will hit the stores where Eric Bergoust shops :

I would definitely go with a $1 set of disposable toe warmers before anything else. They are much flatter than the hand warmers and have a sticky side to hold them in place. My daughter never skies without them. My wife never skies without her Hotronics, which are closer to $200. They are customizeable footbeds that are wired to rechargeable batteries you wear on your boot strap. Your third choice are the Basix Thermics, which are about $40 for the footbeds, then $60 for the case that holds AA batteries. This battery pack also clips to your boot strap. I know Bear Creek Ski Shop (across from the Lackawanna Stadium) carries them.

We skied three or four inches of fresh powder yesterday. Coverage is edge to edge and will be true machine groomed packed powder today and tonight. Right now, conditions are as good as they've been all season, which means they are awesome. Also, the cold chased everyone away, so I was usually only one of 8 or 9 people on the entire North Face yesterday from 1 to 2pm.

Yeah, but have you ever been drunk for 72 straight hours? I think that was my tip-off for cutting back just a little.

Nah, Schif, they make a 'glove' that goes over the lower part of your boot. Sib's out in a state where some people have to keep their car engines warm at night with an electric heater. It's okay to wear boot gloves where she is, but you'd get beaten up i the Poconos for wearing them. Glad to hear you're fine, stever...better to be a live dog than a dead lion.

Stifler's mom, of course, is the most famous...

Nick, have you been drinking before 5pm again? You're gonna end up like Doug... Or are you really doing laps on the bunny hill?

bumped

You don't ride Short Haul, Nick?

Niiiiiiice! BTW, I just got done with a quick hour and the conditions are amazing. I skied untracked poe on Boomer from 1 to 2pm...today was actually the first totally dead day, with lots of open spots along the wood fence. Next week's 50+ degrees with edge to edge coverage should be awesome.

Bump.... I may have my (major) disagreements with Rob, but anyone that rips into either of his kids abilities is simply jealous. As to the Nextsnow comp, it's one of th reasons I've always liked racing: no judges, just a clock. With such a wide range of catagories, I'm sure they do a pretty good job, but it's still qualitative...

Hell ya. And the all-time coolest big air was that guy doing a Lawn Dart at the '98 Olympics.

I just noticed a bunch of 14 byr old's on the results page, then this 9 yr old stuck in there toward the top. I understand what SI is doing, but was curious if he could really hold his own and was doing the same tricks but with less amplitude.

Was the little 9 yr. old, Colby, really that good, or was he getting credit for being so young? There's such a huge physical difference between a fourth grader and a high school freshman.

"Sn

Got it. I look forward to our small ski hill closing every year for that same reason. April 1? That's amazing news... Come to think of it, Sno could end up the only Pocono ski area with a full four month ski season every year.

Three podiums in three days and the lead in the overall World Cup standings: this weekend's ski racing marked a milestone in the rise of Julia Mancuso. The 22-year-old American, who is strong in all the World Cup disciplines except slalom, is one of the brightest young talents in skiing. She was 93 points behind overall World Cup leader Marlies Schild of Austria when she arrived in the little Italian resort of Tarvisio. A second place in Friday's super-combined event, a win in Saturday's downhill and third place in the super-G on Sunday lifted her to the top of the standings, level on 1,199 points with downhill great Renate Goetschl. Schild slipped back to fourth on 1,170 points, 13 points behind another Austrian, Nicole Hosp. Mancuso's results have put her in a strong position to become the first American woman to take the overall title since Tamara McKinney in 1983 - an amazing achievement for a skier who had not even won a World Cup race until 11 weeks ago. "You know, there are some people who turn up at the World Cup and win their first race but it took me a long time to get my first win," she said. "Every year I got a little bit better but you have to be patient. Patience is the key. Maybe now my maturity is finally coming around." Some have said that the American would not be in such a strong position if not for the absence of last year's champion Janica Kostelic, who is sitting out the season, and the erratic form of Anja Paerson, the champion for the previous two seasons, who is coming back from knee surgery. Goetschl, however, was full of praise for Mancuso after winning Sunday's super-G. "She's young and very talented and she is pushing, pushing, pushing in so many races," the Austrian said. "She is also very strong -- not just physically but also mentally. That, I think, is one of her biggest strengths. She is very focused. I think she will have a lot of success in future."

absolutely

I believe they want to get some attractions opened for this summer, but IDK much more. I remember that CB tore down the CAT team/patrol building and had their wave pool up and running that summer. As far as the lift and new runs go, they haven't said much publicly beyond the original plans and sketches. The rain that was forecast to be 2 to 4 inches turned out to be about a 1/2 an inch...we're headed right back to late-winter temps after one bad day.

Right! And Chippy can straighten our bent poles and polish our bases

Everyone will take a hit from this rain, but conditions have been amazing. Nice soft bumps at the top of WL, then good snow down below. Cannonball and Boomer were great, too. Both Switch and Whistler still had grooming marks on thm when I got there at 4pm, today, so the snow isn't being screwed up by day skiers/riders. They need to set the first pilings for the water park. I believe the beginning stage of construction will be where the current water slide is, over to the bunny slope. No loss. Sunday won't be spring conditions...it'll be low-30's after a cold night with some snow showers. Should be a good winter day of skiing. It'll be the first empty weekend, too, since most ski trips are done and the race kids are all at away events.

Just got home from the race league and the latest word is that while no date has been set, they will probably begin construction and close slopes that are needed for the machinery (all on the upper mountain), BUT plan on being open through March. Riderossi: you'd rather they just shut down than pay $10 to ski the North Face? Doesn't that mean you'd be paying $30, or whatever, to ski somewhere else in the Poconos? It was Washo's fault they didn't open as planned...it had nothing to do with the new owners. The $10 ticket idea was just an idea presented to the owners, not one they proposed. Every f*cked up thing that happened was because of Washo's bullshit lawsuit---the construction work that has to be done later this month was supposed to have been taken care of in November, if you recall. The new guns were held up because of the lawsuit, so a lot of my friends lost paychecks...and all the hotels and restaurants that had cancelled reservations for Christmas week can also thank Washo. I don't mean to rant on your opinion...I just have a pretty good memory of what that lawsuit did to the skiers, riders, and new owners. I'm pissed at Washo, NOT the owners. On the good side, the owners have said that Sno Mountain will be the first ski area to open in Poconos EVERY year.

As of last week, no decision has been made, although they are probably looking at a fairly early closing to be able to begin construction. They want to do some of the things the Washo lawsuit held them up from doing. Again, another product of the jerkwad commissioner making it hard on the new owners because he got greedy. One of the really, really smart employees approached the owners with the idea of closing the upper slopes, but running the Phoebe Sno lift on the North Face late into the spring. Everyone, including season pass holders, would have to buy a $10 lift ticket. We'd be able to ski until the snow was gone. There's even a ticket window in the blue trailer right next to the lift in the parking lot. Everybody wins. I like it.

Wow, Blue doesn't allow the race team to use the ski school line? That sucks. They'd be the only mountain in PA that didn't allow it.

I think the whole mountain is a teaching hill...except what's roped off for the race team