Montage Sunday 3-9

[Mess]

Had a great morning session at Montage today with my father and son. I was expecting spring conditions but was surprised to see some flurries and fast frozen cord. We arrived at the Mountain at 8:30. We were a little tired waking up at 5:30 but it was worth it to have the mountain to ourselves. We got out 9-1 ticket for $29. Great Deal.

 

We started off on Hardball and Mainline to warm up our legs. My son was feeling smooth so we worked our way across the blue terrain. We did a run on Switch that was fun especially since they were not racing on it today. Then we took a run on Upper Fast track. It is a fun wide trail for beginners and the connector was a little challenging since it was fast and icy. We did a run on upper runway next and I was really impressed with my sons turns and ability to stop using a hybrid wedge/hockey stop so I had my Father take another run with him while I checked out the conditions on the lower mountain to se if he was ready for a black diamond.

 

I first checked out lower runway. The conditions were pretty tough especially on the headwalls. There were some real icy spots and it felt like i was skiing on golf ball sized ice balls. Next I took a run on Cannonball and the conditions were a little better. There were a few thin spots but I found better snow especially along the tree lines. I had a nice conversation with a guy who was ski patrol at Jack Frost on the lift and then another guy who said he had been on White Lightning twice the day before since it was totally groomed with no bumps.

 

I decided to take a run on Smoke. Once again the trail had a bunch of ice balls that were making it difficult but it was manageable. I almost had my first fall of the year when a bunch of ice balls slid from under me on a steep section. I knew that I needed to take a run on White Lightning. As I have said many times I am not comfortable on the bumps especially on a trail as steep as WL. The run was fun I was a little surprised that there was not a steep headwall at the top of the trail but a gradual drop. It was the steepest trail that I have been on in Pa. I tried to stay on the left side along the tree line hoping for better snow. There were a few icy spots where other skiers had pushed the snow so I tried to stay away from those spots. It was a lot of fun but I was very controlled going down especially with the challenging conditions. Later in the day I talked to a guy that said it had really softened up after the sun hit it and the conditions were great.

 

I went on another run on Switch and Upper Runway with my son. He was doing great so I asked if he wanted to try a black diamond and he said he did. I took him to Cannonball. I was a little nervous since he does't turn 7 until April. It is a weird feeling being excited for him but also worrying that he is ready and doesn't lose control and get hurt. He basically followed my tracks for the first two headwalls. On the third headwall I told him to wait for me to get to a safe spot and for him to control himself and stop where i was. I watched him start with a nice turn and then he decides to straight line the rest of the hill and he flies in towards me and stops about three inches from me. I said why didn't you turn on your way down and he said "I wanted to go fast, you kept making me stop."

 

After that run we took 1 more run on Upper Runway than 1 more on Switch to Mainline so we could get to the lodge.

 

We stopped at the Waffle House on E. Davis street and headed home.

 

Skiing with my Dad and son is so much fun. What a great family day.

 

 

 

 

[Ride Delaware ?]

Glad to hear you got after it. Thanks for taking the time to write the report.

[Schif]

Hey All, It's Monday, and I'm back from an awesome Saturday Session at the wonderful Montage Mountain Resort. I pulled into the lot at 8:40 and booted up, my friend pulled in right next to me at 8:45. We got geared up and headed down to the lodge to get him a ticket. We ran into 2 other guys that my pal was meeting up with and we started cruising the upper part of the mountain. 2 of the guys I was with used to work there, so we ended up meeting up with the head of the park crew, and lapping both the Spike (bigger) and Whistler (smaller) parks for a while. Features were prime, really smooth poppy jumps, and a nice array of boxes and rails to mess around on. After an hour or so, we did a few top to bottom runs on Long Haul, which was prime time for cracking a few beverages on. Snow was fantastic, super smooth groomed, and mid morning it was perfect, it softened up into a really great carveable surface. Boomer and Lightning were flat again, so a few big arc turns was all you needed to tear White Lightning up, I felt like I had conquered a beast after that. It started warming up a lot, (I only needed my shell all day over an under armour turtleneck and t-shirt), and the snow started to get sticky in spots. around 1 or so my pal got hungry so we stopped in the lodge and he grabbed a burger and we chilled on the deck outside while he ate it.

 

Here comes the beginning of the end folks. We decided to head back up the mountain, and go back to the park on Whistler, it really was prime today and we were having a blast in there .We hit it about 4 times, then decided on the lift ride, that we would do it one more time, and then cruise down Ratter to Cannonball, and up Phoebe Snow to the waiting cars. I hit all the jumps, they were getting a little slow, so the air wasn't great, but it's all good. 3rd to last feature in the park was a very simple flat box that I had slid about 9 times already that day, but on the 10th of course I lost it at the end trying to spin off, and landed directly on my left shoulder. No biggie I thought, not much pain, but when I tried to push myself back up to my feet my left arm was pretty much dead.

 

I pushed myself up and rode down with my left arm dangling by my side, and instantly decided it was time for my first trip to Ski Patrol in my 15 year career. Unfortunately since I was at the Iron Horse lift, I had to walk uphill to the Fist Aid building, but realistically I could have been stuck a lift ride away so it's all good. I could feel my arm now, and unfortunately I realized something was pretty messed up with my shoulder, especially when the patrollers got my jacket off and could see pretty easily through the under armour that my shoulders were not the same shape anymore. It hurt too much to move my arm up, so I didn't take a sling, and my buddy pulled the car around and we headed off to the hospital. Now my pal doesn't handle situations like this well, and as I found out in the past few weeks he actually has been drinking a lot, so I shouldn't have been surprised when he cracked a beer in the car, but I was a tad shocked when he stopped at the bottom of the access road to buy two 24 oz cans of stella. Guess a brew to calm the old nerves is more important than a busted shoulder.

 

Anyway, we got there, he insisted he comes back into the ER with me, and we chill and make wisecracks about the lack of hot nurses and such, while I get evaluated. X-rays show a sprain/separation of the AC joint, which holds the clavicle to the scapula. No surgery needed, but I'm in a sling for 4 to 6 weeks, and some minor PT.

 

Good Bye Sweet Ski Season, you shall be missed.

 

 

Here is a fun picture we made the nurse take, for anyone who started reading and skimmed to the bottom, I'm sure you'll be going back up to see what happened now hahaha

[Johnny Law]

Damn dude, heal up quick.

[NMSKI]

That's rough man. Season not necessarily over. Heal up in 4 weeks and come to Blue for closing day!

[Schif]

This and camelback and big boulder will likely be open even longer.

That's what I"m hoping for, we will see. Maybe worst case scenario, I can be a parking lot pimp at closing day and not even get on the snow at all.

[toast21602]

Get better soon. You will be riding in 2 weeks. And see you closing weekend at Blue!

[Mess]

It is always a bummer when injury ruins a season. I missed an entire season with an ACL rupture and I was depressed. Hopefully you heal quickly but if not it sounds like you had a great season. Get well

[RidgeRacer]

Schif get better man.

[vinnyv11]

Hope you have better luck than I. Pretty sure my injury is season ending.

[phillycore]

Get well soon man, but to you it's just a shoulder had it been GSS it would've been his girlfriend as well.

[RootDKJ]

And see you closing weekend at Blue!

This.

 

 

Heal fast man.

[AtomicSkier]

I've had my fair (and unfair) share of shoulder injuries. 2x right dislocations and 1x left. I injured my shoulder earlier this season and have been rehabbing it ever since. Every time I hurt it, I need to get it stronger than ever to make up for the lack of support from ligaments.

 

Hope ya feel better dude. Rest up.

[Schif]

Thanks for all the well wishes guys. The update is that it's Tuesday and my arm is feeling better already. I'm down to just Tylenol to manage the pain, and I'm already starting to get some movement back. My shoulder still has a bump on it, and I'm still taking it really easy, but now I'm confident I won't need an amputation. I'm going to call the Orthopedist today and set up an appointment for early next week to see what's shaking. I've been on the phone a few times with my med school friends, and they seem to think it's a fairly easy injury to bounce back from, and actually told me there was no excuse to not go to the Scranton St. Patrick's Day Parade on Saturday.

 

I'm still citing my "really bad shoulder" to people who want me to go though. Sorry, but paying $5 for a warm can of Bud Light in a sea of drunk assholes who smell like vomit and are covered in springtime mud isn't my idea of a good time. I skipped the parade the past 2 years to have some slope brews at Montage and actually watch from the top of Upper Fast Track the wildness going on in the city below. Pretty spectacular view from up there actually and I recommend it.