Opening Day
     -----------

     This is how good it was:

     When I was putting my skis on at the bottom of the Sterling Lift, I
laughed out loud. A kid was getting ready to unzip his jacket while asking
the lift attendant: "Do ya wanna see my pass?" The guy stood there, getting
soaked in the rain, as he said to the kid: "No."

     A Smuggs employee was riding down on a lift chair when the kids in the
chair in front of me tried to harrass him as their chairs met. One of them
said to the employee: "You're going the wrong way, man!" He turned his head
and retorted: "No I'm not, YOU ARE!!!"

    There was one way down, through the rain, from the top. The coverage was
top to bottom; but nearing the bottom, it was certainly not side to side!
Snow for the last 300 yards or so varied between 15 and 50 feet wide. Above
that though, the coverage was side to side. Under a steady rain, all morning
long, the snow was at least very soft. Making big, smooth swooping arcs was
easy (and believe it or not, FUN) and was 2 steps better than no skiing at
all. I stayed for 6-7 runs, then went home to sleep.


     11/28

   Today, it was only 1 step above not skiing at all. The temp has dropped
below freezing up there and all the rain-soaked snow has set up pretty
solidly. There was actually a snow squall that lasted about 15 minutes,
leaving a translucent frosting of white visible on the otherwise green and
brown Madonna Mt. The snow guns were blaring on most of the trail and near
them, the solidified groomer grooves were getting covered with some
thick-but-not-sticky chalk. It was actually far better than the usual sludge
that Smuggs blows on their trails. I was glad to see them making snow, but
it would have been better if the snomaking crew was a little smarter about
it. The guns were set at stupid angles for the most part. They were pointed
too high and caking far more snow on the trees across the trail than they
were on the trail itself. I don't mind snow blowing in my face if it's
actually landing on a very needy trail!

    If anyone's interested, I still give the Igneous skis a very big thumbs
up. I was able to carve well at speed, even on the grooved pavement that was
the only way down today. On opening day, the saturated snow was like melting
butter under them. We need major snow, and pronto, to actually test them on
terrain they were really designed for though.



mpd

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SkiVt-L is brought to you by the University of Vermont.

To unsubscribe, visit http://list.uvm.edu/archives/skivt-l.html