Ski Blog

cheap, effective accident insurance...ski bum fantasy or reality?

BMander — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 17:23:00 GMT

How, exactly, is a dedicated skier supposed to live the dream, upping the ante on burly lines all day, working for some appallingly paltry sum supplying overpriced services to tourists all night, and still manage to eat, much less pay for health insurance?

It's an upsetting conundrum, no doubt about it. In an attempt at personal responsibilty, you may purchase health insurance for an exorbitant monthly fee and deductible. If you have to use it though, you may be left watching in dismay as the company weasels their way out of a multitude of charges you assumed would be covered. They may have a point. After all, is anesthesia really necessary? or is that guy's bill just a frivolous luxury? Hmm.

I was recently told about a non-profit insurance company called Adventure Advocates, which supplies accident insurance for a very affordable monthly charge. I looked it up at www.adventureadvocates.com, but still filled with suspicion I called them up and spoke with one of the founders, Ryan Hill. After a grilling session, I was completely satisfied and sold on the product. I signed up right then.

Designed to work on its' own or as a supplement to cover your deductible, co-insurance, and all the things your charming insurance company just doesn't feel like paying (they will find plenty), I cant even count the amount of people I know, myself included, for whom this coverage would have saved a lot of grief over the last few years.

Designed for high risk candidates and competitive athletes, there are some exclusions, but also options you won't find often (heli-evac coverage, for example). This is accident only, so don't expect help with your sniffles.

If you can't afford the ridiculous BCBS style rates; if you are not carrying anything right now, with the highest pay-out of $25,000 for medical expenses priced at $30 per month with Adventure Advocates, the question is can you afford not to get a policy? It is exPENsive! when you have to get a surgeon to glue you back together. Check it out, call them up, protect yourself.

Don't let this crap ruin your skiing happiness!

a whole powder hill, and all to ourselves

BMander — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:07:00 GMT

Cold frigid temps, howling winds, potential frostbite, bad visiblity, closed lifts...none of these things sound that inviting at first. But if all you need to add is two friends, trees, and untracked powder...things start to look up pretty quickly.

When we headed out to the the hill yesterday afternoon, we hadn't missed much. It was bitterly cold at the base, Sublette had been closed all day, Thunder was 10 minutes in frozen hell, and it seemed as though there were about 25 people (generously) out there to share the hill with. And we knew most of them.

Sublette began to run by the end of the day, with only a few souls braving the winds. It didn't take much analysis to know that since the closure meant no one had been able to ski that terrain...virgin powder awaited! With no crowds to fight in the usual powder scene, with just a quick donning of the nerdy balaclava and hunkering down in the chairlift turtle pose (head tucked down hands curled up into mittens, using the bar to become as small as possible), and some good company, we were soon at the top of untracked, completely empty woods, chutes, and ridges-run after run.

Probably lucky for our frositbite status, the chair eventually closed, and the 10 or so people we were sharing it with and ourselves were sent down to the base, skiing new and windblown snow all the way to our apres PBRs.

Today, all the snow that remained unskied due to zero visibility, closed chairs and no people to track it up is amazing, perfect cream. Still rather chilly, but sans the gale force winds, we've finally got a bluebird pow day - it is going to go fast, even though the hill is still pretty empty- a few hardy skiers can inflict plenty of damage on soft new snow.

Rider: Brandon surfs the crags

nothing but good! in ski land

BMander — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 16:43:00 GMT

Maybe it's the seven days of deep snow skiing and skier exhaustion preceding today. Maybe it's that these are traditionally the slowest weeks of the year for ski tourism. Maybe locals are getting spoiled and only get up early for at least a foot of new right now.

Whatever it is, the crowd for the gondola this Saturday morning was only a fraction of the size of that that mobbed the base area last weekend. Kind of small, even. So far it looks like it going to be a pretty empty Saturday at least for now but the amount of pow that still awaits both inbounds and out is still on the level of ridiculously good.

Which is fine with me if the crowds are nowhere to be found. Everything we skied yesterday was as deep as it had been all week, except the snow had consolidated a little bit to become slightly denser, into perfect hero snow. Today will be more of the same, and that is all we'll need to tide us over till the next snowfall next week.

friday's last turns of the day, near the bottom...and it's nothing but good

Skier: Sean McCarthy

no rest for the weary (and it is a beautiful thing)

BMander — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 14:41:00 GMT

It is so deep we are literally choking-and unlike most of the country it is on pow, not politcal rhetoric. Everyday since Saturday has brought snow, with Saturday's 14" just getting piled on top of by consecutive storms. For many locals, there really is no rest-only ibuprofen.

Yesterday was literally the deepest snow you could ski at Teton Village...overhead deep,light fluffy powder, everywhere, and the snow continued to hammer down all day. You could ski off anything, and we did, followed by sick pow turns and untracked everywhere-inbounds! A friend who usually scorns the resort for the backcountry could only marvel, "that was not a bad day at all," with an ear to ear grin and an end of the day beer.

Since this weekend, when a mob scene reminiscent of some kind of massive outdoor concert swarmed the base on Saturday, we have been getting pounded with powder that gets lighter and fluffier by the day. Monday and Tuesday had tons of pow but no crowds, and Wednesday's foot of snow on top of the previous days brought out the crowds again, but things cleared out as people either went in from exhaustion or spread out on the hill.

It s going to stay good for a while, with still unskied pow all over the place and a new series of storms is supposed to be heading our way...it might be time stock up on the Vitamin I for the forseeable future.

Toby Stegman, gettin' some on the headwall

keeping it real in the global playground...

BMander — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:52:00 GMT

"Oh, you are from Jackson too? There are so many people from Jackson..." and then the voice inevitably trailed off, pondering this. Over my couple weeks in Las Lenas this past September, this was pretty much what I expected to hear everytime someone asked my winter address. As many North Americans and Euros (to be referred to as 'gringos') as there were descending upon the Valle de Las Lenas, it seemed that the the biggest concentration from any one town this season was good old 83001 and vicinity. The last time I was in the area, that dubious distinction belonged to the Whistler skiers, but maybe they know how to pick 'em better: that year had seen the most snow in several decades, and this year was well, alright. Or, as one ski patroller told me, "mucho viento y muy poco nieve." (lots of wind and little snow). But, in my book, you really cannot go wrong on such a ski trip, because you are still in an exotic locale with a myriad of unusual experiences to be had at your fingertips.

According to friends who have been coming down for years, the amount of gringos at this particular hill has increased exponentially over the last few years. JH skiers I knew were there, people I knew had left, and more were still coming, and the same goes for the people I did not know but heard were around, and from the Jackson area. It was definitely an interesting feeling, if not a little overwhelming, to see so many familiar faces everywhere amongst the castellano being spoken and the frenet and cokes being drank (the cocktail of Las Lenas...somewhat like our PBR). Wyoming faces aside, the big mountain community brings lots of familiar faces to the area from all over North America and Europe, from Tahoe to Fernie and Colorado, Sweden and France.

Although there are plenty of other ski resorts offering big terrain, none is as accessible as the terrain under the famed Marte chair. As well, the plethora of discos with house music, glittery clothes, and dancing until dawn are pretty intriguing to those who are suffocated by the coach and brew pub-type scenes all year long. People tend to come and plant themselves in the valley, upset if the snow does not allow the best terrain to be skied but easily entertained by the nightlife.

The Andes, however, are huge mountains, both vertically and longintudinally, so if snowy adventure is what you seek, you have endless opportunity. Getting out of the valley, or "Planet Las Lenas," as a friend from France termed it, is a little like leaving a security blanket for some. But outside is the all rest of Argentina and Chile, ready for adventures though places where people have never seen skis, rarely see travelers, and after long conversations of explanantion, think you are totally nuts for doing what you do. But this sort of sometimes uncomfortable travel is what it is all about, isn't it, when you travel to a far away land to ski and enjoy foreign mountains and foreign culture? If luxury and security was our thing, we'd being working in cities and taking one week five star ski trips. My crew and I wandered off after our fill of Las Lenas, gained entry to one of the few Andean ski touring refugios, reveled in a pow storm, exhausted ourselves with big touring days, drank mate with gauchos, crashed in our cold stone huts, and saw the Argentina that is impossible to see from the big resorts.

Although our pow days were few this trip, in my opinion, it is never a loss when you have traveled so far to ski. If you travel to Salt Lake to ski and there is less than optimal snow, that is a loss. You don't go to Salt Lake for culture or excitement. It is a relief sometimes when far from home to see lots of familiar faces, but sometimes, it is best to get out and go seek the strange ones to really make the trip, pow or no pow.

The end of a ski day, far from resorts, on the Chilean-Argentine border

one week less of Argentina winter, one week closer to our winter...

BMander — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 18:31:00 GMT

The time has come to say ciao to Valle de Las Lenas, and it seems like it might be the right time for us to take off. After two weeks of endless fall line corn runs, interspersed with interesting runs in steep scary ice chutes and drop-in zones, and one after another of towering couloir walls, we have had our fill. And it seems not a minute too soon, since the snow line is creeping up, and some of the outs from the backcountry have become epic walks in mud and dirt. The snow remains packed on the flanks of the mountains up high and the skiing is still good, but the clouds that were supposed to become the Santa Rosa have so far not presented any powder beyond a trace of new. (The clouds are still hovering with potential, although, clearly this is affecting the quality of our corn snow. It has caused it to turn into frozen chunder and icy hell, to be quite honest.) But even with the snow not softening up as much as it was due to colder temperatures, we had a great last couple days. Some were most fun in the disco at 5am, but that is another story.

But when you are out there, a lucky phenomenon here is that under the couloirs, fingers of snow still snake all the way down to the valley floor, with wide patches of grass tufts in between, like little snow highways that take you all the way down, if not all the way back to the resort. I have never seen anything like it, since as we all know usually the snow melts from the bottom up, not in stripes...but I really like this stripe thing, it has come in pretty handy. You can check out Duct Tape Pete and Jess McMillan, skiing the corn ribbons down low, who have posted some photos on powder.com. However, the word is that some of the crew from 307 are over the spring skiing and beating a hasty retreat to places like Brazil for surfing, or making their way back to Wyoming to get ready for our own winter. But, as far as our crew goes, we are pretty stoked to move onto our next task, a small refugio northwest of Las Lenas, near the Chilean border, and since the mountains west of Las Lenas have way more snow than the resort, we are very excited. It is about time to be in deeper snow, and as fun as it is to run into familiar faces out of the blue, on foreign ridgelines, it will be nice to not feel quite so at home. Certainly, we will not miss feeling like mackerel in a can in the lift lines, or the temptation to stay out all night (did you know they still serve alcohol at 5 am in the discos here? they do. just for people dumb enough to get some at that hour. and not me, of course.) But now it is time to really get down to business, and we will report on the pow if we find any out there in the middle of nowhere...and soon, hopefully, it will be in our own backyard.

Jackson´s Mot Gatehouse, attacking a (not soft) line he claimed ended in winter powder

Esperando Santa Rosa (and the powdah!)

BMander — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 19:00:00 GMT

The sky has finally clouded over here in Argentina, and after many days of fabulous corn runs and blue sky, it looks like we might get some snow here in Las Lenas. The Santa Rosa is a storm that is supposed to hit here every year in August or Setember, and pile the snow on, but it hasn't come yet this year. Waiting for the snow with the ski blog is about 20 Jackson locals that I am aware of with more on the way, definitely outnumbering the other ski hills represented from around the world. Now with the addition of the famous Duct Tape Pete, who has left the Cadillac`s imbibers to their own devices to ski big lines in the Andes, it is practically feeling like home. (Pete is also, scandalously, not wearing ski pants with duct tape on them, which was quite disconcerting. What are you thinking, Pete?)

We took a down day and went out to explore a cave full of crystals, and of course the only skiers we ran into on the out were Jess McMillan, Eric, and Pete. It is almost a little weird at this rate, like JH has taken over. At the last day of the film festival last week they showed Darrell Miller's Trail and Air, supplied by Matt Annetts, which was a big hit and a nice showcase of what people are up to in the Tetons. But of course with Las Lenas lacking a real local population, it is never really anybody's ski hill - just a big, global skier-gathering spot. So, we are still trying to bang out the corn laps, wait for the new snow, and get ready for the upcoming winter at home. We've had a little trouble loading photos with the connection here, but soon some big mountain scenes should be on the way....

Allison Kreutzen, Martha Burley, and Sarah Light wait to drop into one of many Labyrinth couloirs

bright days, big lines, and long nights...

BMander — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 23:13:00 GMT

Summer is a season which is getting longer, hotter, and more unbearable, if you call yourself a skier. Unless you go the route of some and take up dirt biking, the only remedy for this problem is to flee the Northern Hemisphere, and help yourself to a bit of South America's winter. This is why my shins are killing me, I have blisters from touring, my ski pants are ripping, and my tan is fading from everywhere but the lower half of my face...and I only managed to escape summer a week ago.

A fellow Jackson resident by the name of Aaron was supposed to meet us this particular morning, to show us the way to an arch here in the Las Lenas backcountry. But, he never showed, (I still don't know who he is, someone else had set up the day), so we set off on another adventure. We took the Marte chair, and headed out to an area called the Labyrinth, (aptly named for its steep, convoluted, twisting, mulititude of 3,000 plus feet couloirs). After struggling for quite a while not to blow clear off the ridge we were walking on, we put our skis on to cross a snowfield. As I leaned over my pack, I heard my name-from the opposite direction of my crew. Glancing up, it was none other than another of Jackson's own, Mot Gatehouse. On his way to ski a wider couloir, he changed his mind and joined us for more fun.

The descent was worth the trek, which also had a bright spot of crossing a shale field chock full of fossils from when the Andes under the sea!...darling it's better...anyway - After voluntarily adding rocks to our packs, we dropped in to a long, beautiful, corn run full of steep rollovers, towering walls, and fantastic turns. After the descent, we traversed a huge snowfield to the road, where we were met by the Argentine version of the 10th Mountain Division. After my first fears were allayed (that we were in trouble), we discovered they merely wanted to chat and check out our gear, in comparison to their own, followed by a session during which they tried to buy all our things. We sadly had to turn them down, and after some beers and more pictures, we were on our way hiking back to the resort, completely satisfied with our one-run day.

Despite the fact that this ski hill is in Argentina, we still ran into one Jackson local just inside the resort, Jess McMillan at the bar, and a couple of others from Jackson, lurking around drinking Quilmes or Andes beers. Despite its international population and crazy things that can happen in one day, it seems like you'd have to go to a resort that is a little less exciting to escape Jackson. Full of Canadians, skiers from all over the US, as well as Europe, Las Lenas is still a mecca for the big mountain crew even as we head in to spring here. Tonight, the Las Lenas Film Festival, put on by our friends at southamericaski.com, is onto North America night, featuring- North American ski films. The showing starts at 11pm, early by Argentine standards, so we are trying to acclimatize by taking apres-ski naps to be able to hang with the Local population. Then, it is time for the disco...so if you don't like summer that much either, start saving, because what I just described is one typical day here...

Martha Burley checks out the task at hand on Torrecillas

the quick way to sober up

BMander — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 15:07:00 GMT

It was hard for many people to go from one of the biggest party days of the ski season to one of the biggest powder days we have had all year, since usually it is the other way around. After a day of completely inane behavior, it was time to get serious the next day with unexpected snow piled up on the hill.

Gaper Day was, a hilarious success, and the definitely the most socially entertaining day of the year. At least 90% of the people riding on Sublette and Thunder chairs were dressed up in anything ranging from 80's rock star to the redneck look in jeans and plaid shirts, retro suits, mono-boards...to much more creative and a few even bordering on the obscene.

It was like the Blizzard of Ahhs times 200, with people jump-turning and noodling their way down Thunder bumps, and gleaming very brightly in chosen costumes, and really good skiers from today re-visiting the style of our fore-runners in skiing. Spread eagles ruled the day off every kicker and roller, and alot of people's abs hurt now, they say, from laughing alot at everyone else's antics or from jump turns...(they are really alot of work all the way down Thunder bumps).

The party continued down at the base after 4, with a costume contest that no one could see, obscured up on Nick's deck, and everyone else just wandering around and enjoying the scene. An inordinant amount of alcohol was involved for many people, so when the next morning dawned with a foot of new back at the village, alot of early morning cures were being put to the test.

Even with a foot of amazing, really light-for-April-snow, the crowds didn't really show up. Way more people were there than the last few weeks, of course, but the mazes were never full, and most often closer to almost empty. The snow was fabulous, and the bowl was completely blown in with perfect cream cheese snow. Cold face shots were the order of the day, although Sublette and the East Ridge kept blowing down, but when they were open-it was good. Visibility in the bowl was terrible, and the wind was howling, but it didn't matter....the bumps were gone under the snow and you could just mach down the completely smooth surface, lap after lap until it closed again. Thunder got pretty tracked out, but still it wasn't as skied as usual on a powder day. Giant soft stashes were still around after 2pm, usually an unheard of event at JHMR, but so refreshing. If most people are done with skiing, all the better for those of us who are not over the season yet

Thunder Bumps, populated by gapers

where is your inspiration?

BMander — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 23:20:00 GMT

As I stood shivering at the top of my first run this morning, (not because it was that cold, probably, but because I am used to 60 degree days), I realized that despite the one inch of blower pow on top of scary blue ice that I had just skied, what lay ahead actually looked...good. And so Yo and I dropped into the first of many runs that had us pretty stoked by the end of the day.

The hill was really empty...no revelers, no wigglers, just a very few locals and some tourists hardy enough to brave the elements. It was definitely not as empty as yesterday, however, when no one at all seemed to want to ski in the rain. I did, and it was fabulous! I ran into a couple of friends, and Thunder lap after Thunder lap, all the lines we hit skied like absolute butter. A quarter inch of new on top of some rain softened crust....I am not joking, it was amazing. There was a surreal mist in and out all day, and me and the little crew we had all were amazed at how good it was, and how it was so empty the hill was like our own little Yellowstone Club.

But today, although it wasn't raining, gray skies and our rained on valley didn't scream 'go skiing' to me. I knew yesterday could be good due to seasons in Fernie, where rain in the valley could mean the most epic days up high. But today? I went, just to see how it was, since you never know. It was cold. And hard. Gros Vente was a complete skating rink from top to bottom. The wind was howling, the lifts were about to blow down, and we didn't even get the four inches reported. Or else it blew away, or something.

So I visited my favorite spots to ski iin iffy conditions, and there was teh new snow, binding deep! And not even that hard underneath. At the top of my second run when I was debating going to the base and leaving, I heard a funny little exchange. A kid visiting here couldn't contain himself: "You can do it, Dad! Look at all this powder!" And he flung himself enthusiastically into the three inches of fresh in the trees. Sometimes, all you need is a little reminder that it is pretty much always good to be able to be on your skis, and with a little effort, amazing skiing is to be had.

Sure we skied some pretty nasty stuff today, but we also found deeper powder ( calf deep, I say!), with no crust underneath, froze on the lift, saw a few people we knew, and had a fabulous time. I was about to leave after each of my first four runs, but skiing, and skiing with friends, is sometimes too good to stop, even when it is, well, less than perfect. After all, if conditions were always perfect, you wouldn't know how to appreciate them.

Skier:Yo-Yo getting after the pow in the trees

Photo: Brigid Mander

wiggle scene

BMander — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 02:40:00 GMT

Another day of fun in the sun, and the wigggle scene continues to rule in my world. The people who are still stoked on skiing are really stoked, and the little jib lines, and worker's wiggle laps, and trips to the base for the halfpipe never get tiresome. I haven't taken my pack to the village in a while, and couldn't be farther from bored (in addition to the fact that the outs from most slackcountry trips are now dirt). The wiggle is pretty much my, and many other people's, favorite thing to do right now, as I keep repeating. My friend Danny proclaimed he did 17 wiggles one day- I am so impresssed-I haven't made a commitment like that yet. But I could: The trenches are so deep, and you get so high up in the birms, that when you drop into the next turn, and your spray from the last turn is still coming down on your head...it is ridiculous fun. People line sides and watch, and sometimes you get 5 or 6 people stacked in it at once which is so amusing to see from the lift. Amusing as long as they are good skiers, that is, otherwise it is a little scary to watch. I really just wish it was few turns longer, or even the whole bowl length, and then things could be even more exciting.

Also ruling the spring scene is the ten sleep roller. This is clearly the time of year when one or two good hits makes an entire run very worth it, espcially when you can get a whole run that is mud-free. Everyone collects up under Corbet's for this roller, lining up their in-run and launching as big as they can, and as long as you clear the flat it is smooth like butter. Unless, of course, you launch too big like some of my friends- it is a pretty hard flat landing. I'm going to aviod this problem I am sure, but you should aim for the most NE facing ramp if you want to really launch it, in case you need to know. Since the park is so slow, the roller is just way better-much colder snow makes things alot more exciting. Besides, the higher up you stay the more removed from the mud you are, so you can keep pretending it is sort of winter...

(P.S. the fortune cookie show is awesome)

Skier: me: wiggle all day long

Photo: Andy Wilke

where is everyone?

BMander — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 03:41:00 GMT

Springtime, blue skies, warm weather...empty gondola cars, empty chairlifts, empty slopes, and an empty base area...isn't this the time of year when everyone is supposed to be out? Yet, they are not at the village skiing, they are not at the pass, and it seems like more than half the people in GTNP are there for the biking over the last several days.

The skiing, however, at the village is still so fun. Sure the bottom half of the hill is somewhere between rotten and straight dirt, but that doesn't mean that there isn't still a ton of things to do while getting in the last few weeks of lift served access. The snow is staying nice and corny on most things up high, and since it is slushy by late morning due to our ridiculously high temperatures, so we have had all day to ski amazing spring snow.

Powder is always the best, but there is nothing like sending up huge sprays of snow..er..melted corn granules, flying through the air, smashing through slush bumps, and lets not forget the workers wiggle in Rendevous Bowl. I think that the three major things that are going to define my spring skiing here inbounds at JHMR are the wiggle, the halfpipe, and the kiddie terrain park.

Skiers riding in the wiggle completely disappear in the trenches, and I have to say the only nice thing about having the East Ridge chair is it makes about 10 wiggle laps an hour possible. The absolute lack of people on the hill of course contributes to this cause, since as slow as loading the top chair is, I haven't had to wait in line in what seems like a long, long, time. Tourists line the sides of the wiggle and watch, hilariously, people get spit out more often than not, but the wiggle remains fabulous to those who commit....it is too bad it is about to hit the dirt at the bottom of the trenches, since if the banks got higher -that would be a good time.

The pipe is so soft, it is the best time of year to go in the pipe hands down. Although some days it gets to be a bit slower than you want, it is not as slow as the KTP (which is still fun), and at least is doesn't have alot of rocks and gravel in it like most of the groomers now sport. Let's just hope it all lasts till closing day...

Skier: my hat, deep in the wiggle

Photo: Andy Wilke

it's getting deeper (the mud, that is)

BMander — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 22:57:00 GMT

Early morning at the hill was pretty empty, with not much soft only the groomers were skiing good. The lifts were close to empty, and little groups of people gathered here and there, waiting for the sun or something to happen. Luckily the sun didn't come out until much later, since we don't need to lose the snow any faster. By mid-afternoon it felt like the sun was cooking through my jacket (don't wear black right now..), and the sluch was very deep.

Things are still skiing alright though, despite the huge mud patches and the need to keep really warm wax on your skis. It's still fun, if not the most exciting skiing ever. Despite the sunshine in the afternoon, the hill stayed empty, which we thought was weird for a spring Friday. The terrain park was closed, they are re-shaping it (we heard they were really going to be stealing snow from it for the groomers). But the halfpipe and the KTP were skiing well as always, and the usual crowd swarmed the KTP ent5rance eventhough the ext was through a mud patch.

It was the last day for UP, the Hobacks are closed, the lower faces are closed, and the base area is becoming increasingly devoid of snow. The grass is growing green and the mud is thick! Even the apres scene was non-existent today, perhaps it is because, as my friend Joey remarked, "all this mud is really ruining the apres-ski feel."

Well, what can you do? there is still snow, and it is still fun, but it isgoing away so fast, I can;t think too hard about it, as I might get pretty sad.

streaker!

BMander — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 15:16:00 GMT

Saturday afternoon at the freeskiing comp at the hill, competitor after competitor charged their line on hard snow...until one skier....bib-less, shirtless, pantless....came ripping down out of the treees, hit a few little airs in toilet bowl, threw a spread eagle and mached away just above the finish zone.

The crowd had wild applause and laughter, clearly appreciating the humor in the incident. The unkown skier had snuck in between skiers, of course, and the contest continued without a hitch. He probably would have gotten, like a 5 line score, and considereing the stress of being naked, skied pretty fluidly-so amusing. I couldn't hear the annoucers over the cheering, but I am sure he entertained everyone watching.

After all the trauma that has come upon streakers in Jackson recently, the guy wwas pretty brave, especially considering that a skiing comp is more kid friendly (in my opinion) than cars crashing and burning into each other.

Not that I am necessarily advocating streaking, but I laughed pretty hard, and I am advocating not making such a big deal of it so that people get so fixated on it.

Skier: Anonymous

Photo: Sara Deutsch

that time of year already?

BMander — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 01:04:00 GMT

Over the weekend, all the snow around my house melted. The snow markers are down from the highway, and the rapid melting up on the pass is leaving piles of mud and rocks across the road. People are digging out their funny old school ski suits and thinking more about the apres scene party that stetches on for the last few weeks of spring sking than actually skiing.

Not everyone is only interested in partying, but the pickings are getting thin in alot of spots for serious skiing, with punchy snow, melted take offs, and the outs are getting a little bit difficult. Skiing is still really fun, since skiing is always fun, and of course while the melt happens every spring and makes me sad, this year seems pretty harsh. I mean it is HOT! so hot out there, people can barely wear ski clothes. It is taking away the snow so rapidly, and while we are not the only hill in this boat since most of the US ski resorts are cooking and losing what little snow they had, it doesn't make it any better. What is the spring touring going to be like around here this year? Are we even going to have any?

Some guys I rode the lift with today were talking about the last time they remember a season like this, which was apparently seventeen years ago. I never remember one like this, although I have a lot less seasons to remember, I guess. It is also pretty interesting how many times I have heard people reminisce about the season everyone had to download from Tower 3 because there was so little snow. Youknow it is not so grat when everyone is inspired to bring out their 'remember how bad it was when...' stories.

A less than perfect winter never stops anyone from having fun, though, and the village is still tons of amusement, but you'll be alot happier if you get the warmest wax you can afford on your skis. And of course, the PBR party that began early on in the year when it stopped snowing, has just moved outside where you can find it for the restof the season, spread out all over the base area.

Skier: Pope, having fun not skiing

Photo: Tyler Horne