Mark Renson
New member
<I>(Note from the Administrator: This report was originally posted on 12/3/99. Due to our move to new servers, the date and time attributed to this post is incorrect.)</I> <BR> <BR>It's open! Got off the Fitchburg train from North Station and was on the hill at 7PM. Skinned up to the summit in 34 minutes (phew!) with my AT gear. Conifer something-or-other was open. Farily nice trail, actually, with some twists to it. Made a few runs with Dana and Steve Kijak. Decent snowmaking conditions and good coverage. Temps below freezing. Nice activity to do after work.
<BR> <BR>The trail surface had been skied down into that nice shiny frozen granular in the middle of the trail, but there was plenty of skiable crud near the trail edges. Plenty of testosterone-poisoned teenage snowboarders too! The trailside kickers had appeared like mushrooms after the rains and were everywhere, meaning one had to keep an eye out to avoid cutting someone's line while skiing the trail edges! The center of the trail was like playing in the freeway! <BR> <BR>Getting off the lift for a 2nd run we discovered that Renson had bumped into Steve Kijak, and they were waiting for us. <BR> <BR>Us telemarkers flailed a bit on the granite runways, and I found myself wishing I were on Steve's nice long cruiser skis (more edge to hold ya!) But we had fun in spite of conditions & crowds (wall-to-wall snowboarders waiting their turn on kickers in some places at times!) <BR> <BR>The Ski Patol got in lots of practice, offering sled rides to all worthy victims (of which there were several). The big excitment of the evening was when we stopped to help out a guy who'd face-planted on the hard stuff and had a clearly broken & bloody nose. I fished out the remains of a first-aid kit out of my pack to help him staunch the flow while Mark & Steve summoned help. With another friend we kept him quiet and assessed his mental status until the troops arrived. (Same name, 3 times in 5 minutes- he was probably OK ). <BR> <BR>Unless they open more terrain the weekend will most likely be more of the same, with longer lift lines. To really have fun, bring a helmet and a bowling ball