Mad River Glen VT, 12/24/05

M

Mark Renson

New member
Being too much of a goodie-2-shoes dork, I droned 'til 4:30 on Friday. After that, it was the standard drill - hubs locked, refuel at Purmort, white knuckle driving on I-89, 2 pints at the Hyde Away (didn't even have to ask - as soon as I sat down, a Long Trail was poured for me without even asking), shovel in the morning and then ......aaahhhhhh! a nice cool ride on The Double with my new boards (Fischer Big Stix from Ski Gear Direct - last year's model, so the price was right!) 8) . A fresh 1 or 2 of dense new awaited us and I got Upper Panther for Trail Check. Jon, one of our pros, complemented me for bringing out the new boards without hesitation. So, on my 3rd turn, I scraped a rock. So what, it's gonna' happen anyway. Panther was a great run as was going down into the skier packed (with 1-2" of new on top) Snail for some Cool Greeness and Blue Heaven.

Skiing was enjoyable and great! Everything was open except Partridge. The toughest part of the day was trying to figure out where to go. I did not go off-piste - ya' gotta' be kidding :shock: - and on-piste was fine, anyway :D . Fall Line had a few rocks popping up, LA was very good, as was Cat Bowl and ....blah and blah ......

I got a good complement about my improved skiing from one of the more important persons - it's been a tough road trying to improve my turns, but crusty Vermont Yankee bluntness followed by tips and instruction has been the ticket and I doubt that sugar-coated political correctness would have generated the same (if any) results. Still gotta' improve, though.

A good part of the day was the opportunity to say Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to friends.

Sweep was a good one down Quacky. The "Mashed Potatoe" line had moved up on the mountain, but coverage remained good and the snow was still manageable.
 
Jon, one of our pros, complemented me for bringing out the new boards without hesitation. So, on my 3rd turn, I scraped a rock. So what, it's gonna' happen anyway.
Click to expand...
=D> great attitude! all skis are rock skis, some just have less base damage than others.
 
A good day always includes a dual sacrifice to the P-Tex gods. First, you lay some out on a rock for all to see, then you burn some in atonement.
 
I remember reading in my early days of skiing that the average life of a ski was 50 days in the East and 150 in the West. Only in pursuit of freshies do I tend to risk hitting rocks.
 
I too sacrificed some ptex to the ski gods, and learned a few things about rock skis.

I used my X-Screams at Sugarbush. They are my rock skis. I've got over 150 days on them, so they owe me nothing. They are ground down to the bases. I think that was the last day I will use them. They are pretty dead and it felt like more work than usual.

The next day at Jay I used my newer Pocket Rockets. While there was not a ton of new snow, it was wet and I figured life would be happier for me with the fatties, and indeed I was correct. I just LOVE those skis and I would rather ski on them than my X-Screams any day. My PRs got a little scratched, but nothing a little tune won't take care of. Don't even need any p-tex as far as I can tell.

From this experience, I'll have to say, I'd rather ski on the new skis and have more fun, than ski on old beat skis. Though I will also say that i might not have skied Rumble and Lift Line on Castle Rock had I been on my newer skis. The only reason I went was because I was on rock skis because I knew for sure it would be extremely rocky on those runs, and it was. There were plenty of places where there were no rock-free turning zones. Just think light. It worked for me. I can still give those skis to a friend who wants to try skiing again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top