Mark Renson
New member
"Cold enough to freeze the nuts off of <BR>the Jacques Cartier Bridge". One of the elder <BR>patrollers was telling me that's what a DJ on CHOM outta' Montreal in the early 70's used to <BR>say and it came in loud 'n clear over radios in <BR>summit patrol shacks across the North Country. <BR> <BR> .... and that's what the weather was this weekend. <BR> <BR> On Saturday morning, did trail check on <BR>The Practice Slope and then headed up The <BR>Double. I found nice bumps on Panther with a few <BR>icy troughs. Later in the morning, I finished <BR>off my first aid practice requirements in the <BR>Starks Nest. Demanding practices have paid off <BR>with great results in some nasty incidents we had <BR>to tend to, recently. <BR> <BR> Skiing in the woods was very pleasant. <BR>The lower part of Quacky was lousy. <BR> <BR> At the end of the day, I squeezed in an extra <BR>run down Bunny, getting a buncha' speed. At <BR>around the crossing of Glade, I felt what seemed <BR>like a very cold drop of water on the bridge of <BR>my nose ....... then that feeling swiftly went <BR>down my entire nose. Musta' been frostbite as I <BR>covered my nose while cruising. I thought I got <BR>rid of it, but the liftie at the bottom of The <BR>Double saw otherwise and had me cover my face <BR>better before I loaded for sweep. <BR> <BR> Sweep was enjoyable, but intensely cold. At the <BR>end of the day, I grabbed a beer and put a blob <BR>of Bag Balm on my nose. <BR> <BR> For Sunday, we had an NSP Senior ski clinic at MRG. Opening temps were minus 25 with <BR>a minus 55 wind chill. Prior to stepping out, we <BR>put Bag Balm on our faces - Indian warriors put <BR>war paint on their faces and Vermont skiers put on <BR>Bag Balm for protection. <BR> <BR> So, it was MRG, Smuggs and Sugarbush patrollers <BR>getting some intensive training for most of the <BR>entire day. Started off on Fox/Vixen and <BR>Porcupine/Bunny. Anything even vaguely <BR>resembling a skid turn or a zorro turn was <BR>quickly picked apart and analyzed. So, we all <BR>were on top of our skiing, carving and pushing <BR>our technical limits. Brennan - one of our <BR>patrollers - frequently got mischevious and even pulled off a Heli-Telly. Not only was the <BR>skiing demanding in the clinic, but also a lotta' <BR>fun. <BR> <BR> Bump skiing down Cat Bowl was pretty good <BR>in most spots, but one had to watch for some <BR>slick hardpack here 'n there. Good skiing could <BR>be found as long as you paid attention. In the <BR>afternoon, we picked up the pace even more. <BR>Slalom Hill offered the same type of skiing as <BR>Cat Bowl and we worked on hop turns in Birdland. <BR> <BR> As the day went on, we MRG patrollers <BR>exerted some more influence as we suggested more <BR>places to ski. I suggested some tree skiing and <BR>a good time was had by all. Like I said about <BR>Saturday, the skiing in the woods was very good <BR>- light fluff on edgeable packed powder. As the <BR>day went on, we could also find more wind <BR>deposited snow. Lower Canyon was AWFUL. <BR> <BR> We MRG skiers wanted to show off Paradise <BR>to the visiting patrollers and we did just that, <BR>having agreat run and sampled some quick tree <BR>shots on the way. <BR> <BR> On-piste had some ice to be wary of, but again, <BR>much good skiing was to be found if you paid <BR>attention. Some thing for Ferret-Upper/Lower <BR>Glade. We finished the clinic by doing a classic <BR>mountain run - Lower Antelope. To get there, I <BR>suggested Cantelope Chute. Again, a great run <BR>was had! We skied very hard in the afternoon. <BR> <BR> I got in on the end-of-day sweep. The <BR>lower part of Quacky had been not-so-brutally <BR>groomed and was in much better shape than the <BR>prior day. <BR> Great day, though. It's fun when you are <BR>forced to push the envelope of your technical <BR>abilities and good skiing was to be found, <BR>especially in wind blown deposits and in the <BR>woods.