One more ski blog...

Over the edge

Just to make my son jealous....Perhaps my last for the season as Brighton closes on Sunday, and I don't know for sure if I'll head up this weekend or not... kind of depends on the snow report. But last weekend was another great spring ski weekend. I skied with the girlfriend who is my normal Brighton ski partner. We usually ski Sundays, but this week, because we wanted to hit the good snow, we skied Sat. Her husband is a ski patroller, and since he works Saturday we were able to hook up for a couple of runs.

One thing about ski patrollers.... they are good skiers. My friend is a quite an excellent skier. His wife, my friend, not near as good, and she has a bum knee. Of course we should be safe out with a ski patroller, right? Problem is, for a great skier everything is easy. And my friend figures if it's easy for him we should all be able to do it, and that the best way to learn is to just go for it. So he is happy to entice us to go challenging places, maybe a bit more challenging then my girl friend needs or wants. Occasionally hard for me too, so I always get a bit hesitant when he says "follow me" unless I'm sure I know what I'm getting into. It's been this way for 10 years or so... He suggests a route, and his wife gives him this look. The "are you trying to kill me" look. He responds with the "it's easy, really it's easy" look. Sometimes we follow, sometimes we say see you later. One thing for sure, it's never "easy", but varying degrees of "more difficult". I'm a decent skier, and know I can get down anything, albeit slowly if it's tough, and am usually up for anything, so I usually defer the decision to my girlfriend.

Last weekend he said lets head out to Desperado, which looked pretty decent from the chairlift. She acquiesced and we skied off... past Desperado to the resort boundary.... where "the snow was great this morning, and it's wide and smooth".
Ha, ha.... you would think after all these years we'd know better, especially my girlfriend. Wide? Ha Ha, maybe 15 feet. Smooth? Chunky spring snow. From the top it looked like the edge of the world. My patroller friend bombs right down. I follow, no problem, just slower and not nearly as elegantly. My poor girlfriend has to slowly pick her way down and manages to to take a tumble or two. Maybe cursed a little. So much for wide and smooth. I think she may have wanted to kill him. Then back to the lift, and up again, and he suggests a slightly different route... and she agrees.... and we get more of the same, although this time it is wider. I really enjoyed challenging myself a bit, but at this point I think my friend will be asking me for the number of my divorce lawyer. You'd think by now, after all these years she'd know better... LOL ... but she, bad knee and all, is a great sport. I think now I know why we usually ski on Sundays, his day off.

Funny thing, the those runs didn't prove to be the hard runs for the day... Our last run down an easy cheesy blue run was the hardest. By late afternoon the day had warmed considerably, into tricky snow. The melty spots get really slow and sticky, but the cooler spots, like where it's shady stay a little more frozen and your skis glide faster. That last run down was weird, you'd get a little speed, then hit a slow patch and your skies would nearly stop. With all the built up momentum the slow spots are killer, skis halt, and you get abruptly thrown forward. A thigh killer for sure. Fast snow, slow snow. Start, stop, nearly wreck, all the way down the mountain. I call this "Donkey skiing" because in the fast spots the voice in my head is going "Eeeee" and in the slow spots it says "Awwww".... so in my head it's Eeeee-Awwww, Eeeee-Awwww, Eeeee-Awwww just like a braying donkey, all the way down the mountain.

Challenges and weird spring snow... still a great ski day! Maybe the last for the season, maybe there will be one more... and then again Brighton may close Sunday but Snowbird will have lifts running through June,,,,

Not wide or smooth!


My friends!