sibhusky

Like I said, I just wanted her to finish the race. Now, hopefully today she can actually run a good race. All the Northern division girls had a tough time as they haven't had any gate training to speak of. In fact, someone told me most of the other resorts in our region aren't open yet.

Actually, I interpreted this question differently than the rest of you. Atomic had said he took the advice of skidude and ski999 when he bought his skis. Therefore, as I understood it, bcboy wanted to know why he was getting advice from racer-types, he was asking if Atomic was a racer. If he had used a question mark where he should have ("Why? Do you race?") it might have been clearer. By leaving out the question mark and making it all one sentence, it sounded like he was asking the reason for Atomic liking to race. At least I think that is what is happening here.

Ya got Ray Panella still skiing at, I think, 89, so what's the issue with a woman ten years younger still skiing??

Out here I have to ask if it's alright if I put the bar down. Very few people do it, although I've had a few who said THANKS. When you're on a chair that rises 2100 feet, then that's a lot of time for your legs to be dangling and it's tiring. I hate places that have the bar but no foot rest!!!

That ain't happenin'. I just want her to 1) FINISH the race, and 2) improve her start position. She's up against people who almost all have points in the low hundreds or below a hundred. If she can just hold her own, I'll be happy.

Naturally, she is off to a set of ferocious FIS races and she hasn't had ANY gate training yet this year. At this point, all I hope is she finishes and gets back to me in one piece. If you're out there skiing Dec. 18-21, head toward the course for me and cheer her on.

I'll be catching up, I'm only behind 40,000 from where I was last year at this time and already averaging more each time than I was at this time last year.

Ski, just to bring you up to speed, once he hits J2, JO's will be even less likely. There is now only the National JO's, no regional JO's once you hit J2 and above. The reason I am told is that the best racers at that age are doing FIS races at that time and were skipping regional championships. The result was the best racers weren't at the JO's anymore. So, now there are just the National JO's this year. That is the word from our coach out here anyway.

Well, unfortunately, for December I am mostly working. Also, this place is also known as Big Foggy. For three days of skiing, two have had terrible visibility with great snow. Then this third time, great visibility with terrible snow. And I decided I prefer visibility.

First, let me emphasize that we had views today, but lousy conditions. Two days of rain and temps in the 50's, followed by a sudden drop to the teens produced hardpack and lots of "chicken heads" and larger chunks. But, to a CB skier, it was "normal". These westerners complained a lot, though!!! The K2 XP's handled it in stride. They are not just a powder ski! View of the Summit house and over into Glacier National Park: View of the Summit house and Moe-mentum. Note the crowd level: View of Moe-mentum from Inspiration: View of the Flathead Valley from Inspiration: View of Whitefish Lake from Inspiration: View into Canada from the northside of the ski area:

Hey, a few years back I also got within a few feet of 1 million skiing mostly in PA. The trick is to be among the "less employed".

Get a job? There must be some part time jobs left at the malls still.

I demo'd it last year and liked it, but I was looking for a wider ski. We don't have a heck of a lot of ice here, but it seemed like a ski I would have liked for CB. Which, of course, is why I didn't get it!

And I ski K2 Axis XP's in 167 (5'8", 150 pounds) since I'm out west. The XT was a good ski for groomers in the east. But both have been replaced this year by the Apache series.

I stupidly went out and got a JOB which has been interfering with my ski time. Then we had 20 people for dinner last night, so the last few days off were spent getting Christmas decorations up, cleaning the house, and cooking. Now that the party is out of the way, I will be devoting my free time to more skiing than cleaning. Unfortunately, there was a misunderstanding between my boss and I about when I was cutting back my hours and that can't happen until January. We'll see if I make it that long without quitting, but since only about 30% of the mountain is open, I guess it's a good time to not get much skiing in.

Well, I finally got out today. 100 feet down the hill and I fell....so much for a perfect year! Conditions were extremely foggy, getting worse each run. The snow quality, however, was excellent. Now if they could just get more open. I might be able to go again on Wednesday, we'll see.

What you saw was taped.

FIS story about runs on Birds of Prey

Well, just remember if you don't already have an iron with the holes all plugged up with wax to buy either one without holes OR wait until the holes are filled up with cheap wax before using fluoro or you'll be losing a lot of that pricey stuff filling up holes!

I guess Atomic has more money to buy racers with. Face it, the best ski FOR YOU might be made by any brand. Skiing what the top racers use when you are not a top racer is not going to MAKE you a top racer. In fact, since few of the racers, if any, are on PRODUCTION SKIS, then the average person has NO HOPE of skiing on Bode's skis. And, um, how many brands has Bode skied in his career...like a new one every year or something? (I know of K2's, Fischers, Rossignol, and now Atomic...) Maybe his recent (too soon to say it'll be long-lived) success has more to do with maturing as an athelete than what he is skiing on. And I bet if Atomic came to skidude and said we want to sponsor you, but you have to use our skis, then he'd be on Atomics......

I guess as someone who has skied Elk, Jack Frost, Big Boulder, Shawnee, Blue, Blue Knob, Seven Springs, Mountain Creek (and back when it was Vernon/Great Gorge) and Camelback over a 25 year period, I have to comment. First of all, any mountain you ski all the time will gain from familiarity. That is, once you know the mountain's rhythms, the crowd issue diminishes. You know how to time your breaks, when to get there, when to ski which trails, etc. I like Elk's ambiance, but haven't found a trail there that keeps me challenged. I love cruisers, though, and they have some GREAT cruisers, so when you combine that with the ambiance it's a winner. I think over time the slow lifts would drive me nuts, though. Jack Frost, Big Boulder, and Shawnee are the pits. Once you know how to ski, there is NOTHING there to interest you for more than about 15 minutes. Maybe there is some terrain park there for boarders, but as a skier they are not worth the trip. Seven Springs has the unusual feel in Pennsylvania of being a "destination resort", but the runs are spread around a lot and the integration of the various sections leaves a lot to be desired. They don't funnel into a base area very well, and some of them are really short. Plus, it's clear on the other side of Pa. Blue had a terrible cafeteria set up with the smoke from the bar getting to most of the eating areas in the place. Some of the black runs are terrific, but the bottom of those runs has safety issues with the boarders, beginners, and experts all converging into what I can only call a large field. Blue also has the same ice and crowd issues that Camelback has. The only benefit is there are less NYC people, so that the populace is more "blue collar", less "glitz". I don't feel there is good integration of the two parts of Blue into "one mountain". Camelback is well located from an access standpoint, which is why it gets so many crowds. They have a great variety of dining options and those who know can actually have a relaxing lunch without a lot of stress. Most of the buildings are smoke free. They have one challenging run, Cliffhanger, and some runs that are challenging, but way too short (all the central blacks) as they dump onto runouts half way down. They do a good job of managing their crowds and as many of us have said, there are "secret chairs" if it gets really bad. They do seem to have a high level of skiing jerks there, possibly because they are so accessible. They do a good job with their snow. Major problem areas in past years (I once called Honeymoon Lane "Suicide Alley") seem to somehow have been improved over the years to where they are not quite as bad as they used to be. (I think that the new groomers have created a surface that holds up a couple of hours longer, enough for me to get all MY feet in, anyway. I used to leave at 2 PM, last year I skied there I was able to get thru until 3 or 4.) Anyway, comparing any of the Pocono areas to each other may be splitting hairs for the most part. Most of their problems come with their location -- lack of real vertical, closeness to large metro areas, lack of natural snow. The reason Elk keeps getting mentioned is it doesn't have these built-in problems to the degree the other areas do. It would be nice if they ever got enough money to throw some more of it on the lifts and the mountain, but the lack of crowds actually causes their lift issue.

There were a number of incidents of bears ripping off garage doors and demolishing sheds. We apparently had two very busy bear people darting bears and transporting them elsewhere. The siblet saw bears on six different occasions while driving in the AM. I, of course, only saw my bears when hiking in Glacier. Yesterday AM there was a herd of elk, though, crossing the street right in town. At least I got to see them!

The ski area here doesn't mind if you ski when they are closed as it's mostly federal land which you have a right to access. BUT supposedly the grizzlies mind. In the autumn they are trying to pack in as much food as possible before they go to sleep. (This year we had a problem in the valley with both black bears and grizzlies because the huckleberry crop was poor.) In the spring it's been a long time since they ate, so when they wake up they are feeling pretty ornery. SO, you can ski, but you better be ready with your bear spray, and watch those blind corners on the way down the hill!

He's not the addicted picture taker that I am.