Ski

Oh, yeah, you're right...how'd I forget the MOOSE? I guess at some point they'll be paying some guy to ski in a moose suit.

Where'd you find the 819? The lineup of headwalls probably run from 450 to 600 ft as you move to skier's left...just a guess, though.

Nothing like watching retired racers make a quick buck. The Jeep King of the Mountain downhill series was kind of sad. The announcers kept calling the guys the "elite speed racers of the world", but their last World Cup win had been 15 years earlier. There's a saying called "jumping the shark", which is a reference to the very end of the show Happy Days in which Fonzie is water skiing and was so cool that he jumped a shark. Then the show was cancelled. The Jeep Series took a dive when they literally had racers jump a parked Jeep that was tucked into a whaleback. It sucks that the Paul Mitchell Celebrity Ski Classic gets better rating than the World Cup in the US...oh, well.

I skied in their mini-mogul competition a couple of times...and my oldest and I did their weekend races for a while. The mogul comp was held on the very short but kind of steep headwall right at the very bottom right of the mountain as you look from the lodge. Alpine has super slow lifts that just creep up the flat terrain. It's an almost total beginner/novice hill, but a good place to take kids. I remember one weekend that a group of club racers (Jeff has met some of the Joe M. crowd at Blue's NASTAR) showed up for the Coke Classic and were a little upset that they had to pole and skate through the middle of the course. Avoid it on busy weekends. It's so close to Shawnee that they even take some of their overflow from holidays. But midweek nights, you might be the only person on the hill. If it were the only hill around, I'd buy a season pass. Otherwise, there's really no reason for us to ski Alpine.

Ha, the Jet's fans will be too scared over there anyway. Sno Mountain must have the highest percentage of skiers that wear jeans and hunting jackets of any other Pocono mountain. Maybe it's just that good intermediate skiers/boarders tend to go Elk and just leave newbies and Northfacers. I can't wait to see what they do for tv commercials. No more 'Jimmy/Johnny--ski Montage or you'll have to piss in your car' ads...

The lift was running at 9 1/2 minutes; about a minute for the Swedish Fish routine; then, >2 minutes down. I'm pretty sure that lift has three speeds: slow, slower, and ultra-slow---it was running on "slower". There weren't any lines---maybe 20 people on the mountain that day. The best hour we did 11 runs. And it wasn't because she was skiing slow; I'd go down Mainline to race her and we'd meet just above the lift and she wouldn't be far behind. I once did 14 NASTAR runs and nearly died of boredom on Iron Horse. It's those last 300 yards after you pass the start house that's a killer. I got to know every piece of trash (Blue has much better trash). It's going to be a different world with even just one fast lift.

MC, I'm not trying to be defensive of Belleayre---and I don't know the upper vs lower vert stats---but I've skied the lower mountain quite a bit with Ty and I don't think there's 900 vert down there. And the elevation drop from skiers left down to skiers right isn't much more than 70 or so ft. (you have to pole in spots). So the mountain has 1400 vert. The highest peak is skiers left and is---at the very most---100 ft above the triple by the midstation lodge. So if there are 1300 vert from the top of that lift down to the very bottom of the bunny slopes, I'm thinking they open with closer to 750 vert at the very least.

Pretty good, Sno...we were doing 13 minute laps (lift ride, then a stop for a Swedish Fish at the top of the run, then tuck Highball), so it was just under 6 hours. I bet we skied for less than an hour of it.

I'd rather ski off the triple and avoid the slushy flat ride down to the quad, but I bet they want to showcase their new lift ASAP. I know you're not hating...but Belleayre--FOR ME--is more than just the terrain that's open. I gladly give up some steeps and vert to spend my days there.

Ha, they run the Phoebe so slow on weeknights so they don't have to come out of the shack to catch the chair. The Long Haul has been a sketchy ride for years. They just never put the money into fixing it correctly. Just band aides...I kind of have an idea of what they had been doing because our main Hideout lift has had the same problems. But the Phoebe can def be cranked up with no problems---they just don't bother. Last year, Ty wanted to do 25 runs down Highball---it was one of the longest days I've ever skied.

MC: why do you refuse to believe Belleayre installed a new high speed quad? You were one of the last riders on the lift they tore out and you even mentioned it.

That's the bad attitude I was talking about.

Tracking vertical at Sno is like a method of slow torture. I'll be up for it next year when the new lift is installed.

Nancy boy.

There's lots of info by Googling "Fortress Investment Group LLC"...they did buy Intrawest. FIG LLC is a New York City based investment group and had a ton of cash to get rid of. Now they own lots of ski hills. http://skisoutheast.com/article.php?table=...mp;article=1118

We usually stay at the Delaware Court Motel, which is pretty much a dive, but clean enough. But I'll drive up the morning of day 1, then drive back after day 4...so just three nights someplace. Belleayre is just 100 miles from here going the back way. Hotels/motels usually completely book out during XMas, so I guess I should find something soon.

After two seasons at the Sugarbush Race Camp, I decided to give Belleayre's camp a shot. It's four days (12/26-29) and just $250, which INCLUDES lift tickets. Four lift tickets alone would be $192... The camp is run by Stephen Mergenthaler, Alpine Program Director/ Head Coach at National Sports Academy in Lake Placid, New York. He's a level IV USSA coach, which means he knows his sh*t. Anyone else?

They may not have mountains, but they do have downhill skiing...Buck Hill has even turned out one of the best slalom racers in the US (Koz)...they do their best with 300 vert. Eh, just for the record.

Bode was 2 seconds behind Raich after the first run. I wonder if he still plans to start his own race series...

Men's RESULTS from today

Now you know why drinking is bad. It looks like Versus (OLN) will carry one race on Sundays, starting at the end of this month. Better than nothing. Not much, though...

Some do, some don't.

Bullriding replaced ski racing in America. If Bode had slept instead of partying and hadn't gone 0-5 at Torino, maybe OLN would have had some insentive to contract for coverage. Bode has burned too many sponsors for anyone to take a major risk with him. This is some of the fallout of Bode's Olympic choke.

The women raced slalom today in Levi, Finland; Bode and Ligety go at it tomorrow. Women's results: http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/604/610.html?sec...mp;raceid=47799

I don't get why you see it as such an arbitrary number, 1st Grade. I bet someone like Sib would match up pretty close to what ski manufacturers consider a "day of skiing". I know she likes to get out in the mornings, then take a break for an 'off hours' lunch, then go back out for a couple of hours until the snow gets too soft or she's just feeling done for the day. Five or so hours on softer snow than the Poconos. And I can tell you there is an enormous difference between a ski that is new and one that has seen a 100 days on the snow, especially on hardpack. I get the feeling you think I'm making this up.