Great Ones...

 You can check the website, look at lift status, check the webcams and all can look good till you get up to the parking lot and see the lift not spinning or the closed sign up... use of many expletives come at this point typically, but once in awhile it all works in your favor and your in the right place at the right time.  As I came around the corner into the parking lot the truck was buffeted by gusts and visibility was marginal. But... the chair was spinning and the pop fences were going in... things were looking good so far.

Despite heavy wind and snow first chair loaded at exactly 8:30 today and all nine people loaded the slow ride to the top, was it windy? Well, all of us were happy that someone had the balls to yell "Bar Down" when a wind gust grabbed our skis and tried like hell to lever us out of the chair. Arrival and we cackled "Have a good one!" into the wind and dumping snow and took off on our independent missions. I and another gentleman took Bonanza and owned that bitch... you never quite know what your first three turns will be like but as we sunk into 4" of pow or so we were not feeling the bottom and then just let'em run. Consistent and near perfect, we were not holding back too much. As the guy on the left opened the throttle so did I so we were neck and neck hell for leather in fresh pow and low vis just flying down and loaded Chair Two together. "Wow" I said, I had no idea it would be THAT good. "Definitely free refills" he commented and I wondered aloud whether even the trees might be good to go. "Lets go find out" he echoed as we unloaded. Cruising past Bruces into the Zephyr trees my first turn was soft and perfect as was my second and third until my slalom turned into GS and I was flying through the trees and fresh untracked pow like it was feet instead of inches deep. Third run was as good as the second and again, crossed no tracks as us nine skiers were pretty spread out. We had the entire mountain to ourselves as NW never loaded. 

As things too good to be true often do... it all came to a blazingly fast halt though when we skied up for the next ride only to be met by a red "Lift Closed" sign. "Noooooooooooooooo" was heard by each of the nine as they skied up. 

"What a bummer!" said one of the last guys in as we were clicking out of our bindings... yeah but "hey", I said, "those were the best three runs I've had in months." A couple guys shook their heads affirmatively. Yep, the juice was definitely worth the squeeze on this one. Sometimes the rarity of something makes it even more valuable. Definitely so in this case. Made my 8 hours of office work so much better as part of my mind just kept reliving those three runs over and over...

Sven



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Season Winds Down with a Bang & a Whimper...

Image
Lots of BBQ's, beer wagons and costumed patrons led to a great last day of the season at Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe. Many closing days have been less than extraordinary with frozen crust, snow or high winds. Today was the exeption. Although there was some wind at the top it didn't amount to much and the snow softened quickly with temps in the 50's. The Chutes almost didn't open. Understaffed, the lift department just didn't have enough liftees... in stepped Mikyla (pictured below) a ski patrol rookie who volunteered to run The Chuter Unload... thanks to Patrol for making The Chutes happen the last day. They were absolutely sublime with all gates East of El Cap open. One could also downhill traverse over to El Cap which was the best I've seen it sans pow in many years. Pic is of Naia Selby ripping down it like it was a groomer. I can say with confidence The Chutes were absolutely stunning today and so forgiving that even I felt pretty good dancing with gravity. Groomer
Read more

The Rose Legion of Honor (Part 1)

Image
There are those that do their job and then there are those who rise above their position description and become an exceptional employee and host to the area. Come along and meet some of the exceptional staff who have proven themselves once more as those that go above and beyond and make Mt. Rose Ski Area a special place. Some of these folks are up front who you see all the time while others are in the background working to make things better behind the scenes every day and night. Lets start with Ted... he has been grooming for years and his experience and stoke to provide perfect cord for the public makes him our number one choice from the grooming department Next up is Darja from the Food and Beverage Department. Darja is one of the most positive and wonderful people one could ever meet in the lodge. If you haven't met her yet, this last weekend is the time. Make it your mission. She can probably be found cashiering. She is seen here with our very own 98 year old Raymond Josep
Read more

The Chutes... 45 days on

Image
On Saturday a kid in the Skytavern Junior Ski Program took the Oblivion Express into a tree on the Cut Throat run in the The Chutes at the Mt. Rose Ski Area. He ended up in the ICU but is expected to fully recover.  The results could have been much worse.  Most of us are tired of seeing patrol rescues, ambulances and Careflight rides resulting from skiing or boarding and then losing control in The Chutes the last five weeks. This post addresses where we currently are in The Chutes in an effort to minimize future accidents and point out that you are putting more than yourself at risk when you ski beyond our ability.  Occasionally I get asked "Why are The Chutes still closed?" or, less occasionally, "Why are The Chutes still open?". My stock answer is something about snow safety, patroller safety, the time it takes to open complex terrain or the neglected skill of skiing within one's ability etc. And I only hear the question a 10,000th of the times patrol hears it
Read more