skimom

Congrats to you all for getting your butts out there and racing. Given that we haven't had a scrap of decent snow to practice on, all of you deserve credit. I saw my first gate of the season Sunday. It was delightfully fun.

Wow, this is sad. I met Sibby, ski999, and most of you other freaks there. Granted, I don't use that board much anymore, but have great memories of trying to figure out who was who, identifying and befriending those with parallel interests, and laughing it up to escape the more repressive aspects of life.

It's starting to look better - at least the ski racks are covered - maybe with better aim, the trails would get covered too. CB doesn't have the capacity to white everything out. But, with skilled blowers and groomers, they can whack it out quickly on a handful of trails. Unfortunatley, this winter, they don't seem to have as many of these folks around...IMO their conditions are much worse, even given the issues with Mother nature.

OMG, I just checked the webcam and there is NO SNOW at CB. All I see is the Lazy river, and Camelbeach slides.

Looking good, Sibby. Did it help her points?

Thanks, guys, it's nice to be missed. Metzy, i also can't believe I haven't done any gates this year yet - not even NASTAR. They are still saying a lot of snow the second half of the winter. ASRAs Tanglwood race is officially cancelled this weekend, but the have a possible TBA race next weekend.

Tanglwood looks iffy by their webcam, but the next two nights should be cold enough to make snow.

Another sad bit of ASRA news. ASRA Racer Linda Bain died last week while bicycling in Vermont. Linda was an enthusiastic skier and racer, as well as very active behind the scenes in the Columbia Ski Club. I don't know how many of you knew Linda, but you could count on her to be upbeat and fun. I met her at K-Mart, and she was amazingly helpful and supportive. She stayed with us in our Pocono home for some races. I will really miss her next season.

It seems wierd to me that they are promoting their ski/park programs as kids programs, then their summer festivities exclude those under 18.

Now how old is the '999let?

Maybe because skidude wasn't there.

Alcohol can cut a big hole in the ski budget, especially if you drink at bars and restaurants. I'm glad my family only dabbles in alcohol. Good luck with the downhills. I'll leave that to you younger guys - though I may try another SG, if conditions are good.

You would feel out of place racing master's w/o a speed suit - even GS and SL. 'bum, if you are serious about SG and DH, get the suit - it's the perfect time of year too - last year's models are on sale...

I don't know if I could go without the 'dude. He'd feel too excluded. Could you take on a 17 yo as a bartender? He's almost 18.

Are those under age welcome? A commemorative tasting beer/bear glass? Ha, that's a new one. Does it have winter pics of the slopes?

I'm seeing a few flakes drift past my window here in Phili. But, not enough to add up. I agree with brtndom that it is salt in the wound when ski season is over.

Mack v Dutchmen? That's a no brainer for the RacerMums- the Dutchmen are really young, fast men who advocate the testosterone approach to racing. Mack has a variety of 40+ who seem to be getting faster. Their women aspire to beat the men rather than settling to beat their female counterparts. If Mainline doesn't start to offer reasonable training options, I may switch to them. Watch out, Pops, maybe I'll put a target on your back next year.

A weekend program for J4/5's sounds like a good idea. The person I spoke with received an update at Steamboat from Fred. She's an aspiring 50+ yo racer i.e., she was looking for another program thinking it unlikely that they'd have much to offer adults and older juniors for evening programs. But, she must have been wrong. Bear Creek would never fail us older athletes looking for night training.

I heard they decided to restrict the growth of their racing program to J4/5's.

Sibby, I agree. In addition to knowing inside info, their ability to update racers puts other kids at a disadvantage. Some teams had fantastic communication with racers receiving updates on course conditions through the entire process. But 'dude is right about hiking. He's fast enough that if he has to hike, it's impossible to hike and make it up. I'm continually impressed by how many straddles and other close calls are missed by gatekeepers - maybe 50%. For most races, if it isn't obvious, a fast racer is better off continuing. How many of us would have picked up on Bode's straddle in the Olympic games? BTW, '999, your pics were MUCH better than those of ELK's "professional" photographer.

If you were racing Ligety, and I was your 'Mum, would you want me hovering while you gave all the cute chicks your autograph?

Looks to me like he needs to bring that outside hip forward a bit.

I'm not sure what my Mom would do, but I agree with Sibby, exactly. Powder detergent, gently, then redo.

If it worked well I would. Optimally, one would carry fluoro powder, cork, cloth, an alternate overlay or two and a brush. That's in addition to the usual chapstick, hand warmers, misc drugs for aches and pains, money/IDs/insurance cards, rain wipers, comb, ski lock, keys, food, etc. I've had shoulder pain from lugging around too much stuff, and it gives me the physique of Santa Claus.