Mark Renson
New member
Hit the road at 3:45AM and it seemed like my truck just wouldn?t warm up enough to ward off the subzero chill through NH and VT. At Stark Mountain, the snow was showing signs of wear and patches of glare ice would pop up.
Later in the morning, I got in some sled practice. Halfway down Fall Line, I got in the handles. Even though temps were moderating, the snow was still cold and grippy which made running the sled a chore. I was having an enjoyable run and wanted to hit that narrow steep slot right above the Creamery intersection, but couldn?t pull it off as I drifted left and onto the traverse which added meant more grunting and straining. The examiner exhorted me to go faster and I took that as a complement meaning that he had confidence in me and wanted me to push the envelope a little harder. So, I cranked it up and hit the steep inside corner of the Creamery/Fall Line intersection which got me excited, especially when I looked up and saw bumps that I just knew I could handle all the way to Broadway. I got a nice adrenaline buzz off of that and remembered some tips from Jep and Geordie about really honking on that crossbar rather than the ends of the handles. It was nice having Linc, one of our better sled dogs running the tail, too. I had an enjoyable tail run with Margie running ? who revels in running sleds and is no slouch in the handles - down Upper Glade afterwards.
We had an injury at the top of one of the Panther headwalls later on. That headwall was awful ? rocks and wretched sheets of glare ice. Even McSkiing couldn?t have made conditions that awful. Running a sled down that was quite a feat with the PD in the handles and Linc (again) running the tail. I skooched into the brush on the right side and sideslipped carrying an armload of some poles down into some friendlier snow. It was actually nice snow down below.
For sweep, Bart the Assistant PD assigned me Panther to which I burst out laughing. Oh well, I signed up to be a Patroller, ya? know. I actually froze a bit on some glare ice before I opted to butt-slide down the nasty headwall.
I had some work to do on my laptop PC that evening ? UGH! Oh well, money for gas and gear has gotta? come from some place.
On Sunday, the opening of The Single was delayed. I was able to get some nice skiing on the far right as well as some solitude. After 3 runs, The Double was getting a bit overwhelmed, so I opted to help out with some 1st Aid practice. In the afternoon, I got in some nice turns, especially on Duck/upper Lark. Nothing real special though and I?m still a bit spooked by the woods ? still a bit too thin for my tastes.
For Sweep, we gave the former PD the honor of assigning responsibilities ? sort of an unspoken way to honor his past service. Monk ? who at age 67 entertained us with some great stories about being on the Dartmouth Ski Team (Nordic and Jumping) ? volunteered for the gnarly Partridge/Slalom Hill and gentle giant Charlie volunteered for the dreaded Panther. So, I felt obligated to step forward and take on Gazelle. Snow was actually very nice in between the thin spots at top and then came the nasty headwall with some slick hardpack in all of the wrong places. But, it actually got nicer below and some nice steep turns were yielded.
Later in the morning, I got in some sled practice. Halfway down Fall Line, I got in the handles. Even though temps were moderating, the snow was still cold and grippy which made running the sled a chore. I was having an enjoyable run and wanted to hit that narrow steep slot right above the Creamery intersection, but couldn?t pull it off as I drifted left and onto the traverse which added meant more grunting and straining. The examiner exhorted me to go faster and I took that as a complement meaning that he had confidence in me and wanted me to push the envelope a little harder. So, I cranked it up and hit the steep inside corner of the Creamery/Fall Line intersection which got me excited, especially when I looked up and saw bumps that I just knew I could handle all the way to Broadway. I got a nice adrenaline buzz off of that and remembered some tips from Jep and Geordie about really honking on that crossbar rather than the ends of the handles. It was nice having Linc, one of our better sled dogs running the tail, too. I had an enjoyable tail run with Margie running ? who revels in running sleds and is no slouch in the handles - down Upper Glade afterwards.
We had an injury at the top of one of the Panther headwalls later on. That headwall was awful ? rocks and wretched sheets of glare ice. Even McSkiing couldn?t have made conditions that awful. Running a sled down that was quite a feat with the PD in the handles and Linc (again) running the tail. I skooched into the brush on the right side and sideslipped carrying an armload of some poles down into some friendlier snow. It was actually nice snow down below.
For sweep, Bart the Assistant PD assigned me Panther to which I burst out laughing. Oh well, I signed up to be a Patroller, ya? know. I actually froze a bit on some glare ice before I opted to butt-slide down the nasty headwall.
I had some work to do on my laptop PC that evening ? UGH! Oh well, money for gas and gear has gotta? come from some place.
On Sunday, the opening of The Single was delayed. I was able to get some nice skiing on the far right as well as some solitude. After 3 runs, The Double was getting a bit overwhelmed, so I opted to help out with some 1st Aid practice. In the afternoon, I got in some nice turns, especially on Duck/upper Lark. Nothing real special though and I?m still a bit spooked by the woods ? still a bit too thin for my tastes.
For Sweep, we gave the former PD the honor of assigning responsibilities ? sort of an unspoken way to honor his past service. Monk ? who at age 67 entertained us with some great stories about being on the Dartmouth Ski Team (Nordic and Jumping) ? volunteered for the gnarly Partridge/Slalom Hill and gentle giant Charlie volunteered for the dreaded Panther. So, I felt obligated to step forward and take on Gazelle. Snow was actually very nice in between the thin spots at top and then came the nasty headwall with some slick hardpack in all of the wrong places. But, it actually got nicer below and some nice steep turns were yielded.
