Best Things heard on the mountain....

[Tricia]

@Chris Geib or @James can you come up with the quote when James was keeping you up late.
So Bob...(something funkenwagnle)
I thought the word James came up with was made up, but turns out it spun into a deep late night conversation about ski technique.
I have to say, I listened to every word, but I'm not sure I understood much of it. I'm betting I'd have a better grasp now....or maybe not.

 

[KevinF]

I was riding the quad at Stowe today which goes over the aptly named Liftline trail. The top of Liftline is invariably a wind-scoured sheet of ice. And once you're actually standing atop Liftline, you really have no choice but to ski it.

Anyway, today a boarder was standing atop Liftline with his friends, looks down the run , sees the ice and exvlaims "Holy s--- there's no f---ing way!".

 

[skibob]

One of the nice things about Aspen is that people smoke a higher grade there, so it doesn't stink like that.

I thought the good stuff was what was so stinky? I am so out of practice . . .

 

[mdf]

All 2nd hand info (or 2nd hand smoke) for me, but I have noticed two distinct families of aroma. One is the super-stinky skunk smell, and the is the mellow smell I remember from college. I walked by a lot more mellow in Aspen than in Jackson Hole. (It was so bad next to the Hostel that it took me a couple of days to realize what it was.) My guess is that when it was underground, the plant breeders tried to maximize strength. When it is out in the open, there is more room for nuance and for marketing nuance. Also, older customers are less interested in getting as wasted as possible as quickly as possible.

Think of the alcohol parallels -- young guys pounding tequilla shots, or moonshiners making 150 proof during prohibition. It s too bad that there isn't some moderately alcoholic drink for us older guys that engages the senses of smell and taste.

 

[Freaq]

Second run on a small pow day, I stop to take a breather right in the middle of bump run with no one in sight. After a few seconds a guy skis up from behind, stops where we can see each other and says, "Hello......pardon me but I'd like to cut across the hill just below you. I won't mess up your line." I grinned and told him it was all good, he cut across, ducked into the trees and that was that.

What a polite dude, no friends on a powder day, pfft!

 

[luliski]

Most hardcore: rode the lift today with two Squaw ski team girls, probably about 9 or 10 years old. Someone had crashed on Granite and was being brought up the Shirley lift by patrol behind us. This prompted a conversation about crashes. One of the girls told me that last spring she crashed into Squaw Creek and was in the creek for an hour before she was found by patrol. She broke her femur in three places, her hip, her arm, and ribs. She had hypothermia from being in the creek for so long. She had to have surgery to fix some of the fractures, and she'll have to have more surgeries after this season since she's still growing. But there she was, out skiing!

 

[Freaq]

The other day I saw an awesome display of technique while riding the lift.

There were three singles on the six pack, old timer on one end, dude in the middle, freaq on the other end dude and I were having an animated discussion about our skis and ski evolution. Old timer says his dad made his first set out of hickory, conversation goes on and I notice that dude is very discretely loading up a onie. Smoothly but suddenly dude ducks down and pops his whole helmet into a sweater that I didn't even realize he was wearing then five seconds later pops back out like it never happened. Onie was not seen again and smoke was stealthily emitted and carried away on the breeze.


Awesome.

 

[Monique]

I participated in this conversation today, and at the least it entertained me:

Instructor: "It looks like you're half-assing your pole plants."
Me: "That's because I'm half-assing my pole plants."

(It is pretty much a guarantee that unless I'm frantically poling across a traverse, my poles are vestigial at best.)

A quick discussion later, I started full-assing my pole plants, and suddenly became a much better skier. At least for the day.

 

[DoryBreaux]

I participated in this conversation today, and at the least it entertained me:

Instructor: "It looks like you're half-assing your pole plants."
Me: "That's because I'm half-assing my pole plants."

(It is pretty much a guarantee that unless I'm frantically poling across a traverse, my poles are vestigial at best.)

A quick discussion later, I started full-assing my pole plants, and suddenly became a much better skier. At least for the day.

Correct pole usage is key to having a good time.

 

[Monique]

Correct pole usage is key to having a good time.

I choose to read this as a pun

 

[DoryBreaux]

I choose to read this as a pun

I did too.

 

[Varmintmist]

Not a pun, but a innuendo. Which is also a innuendo when poles are considered.

 

[Freaq]

Probably a bit fustian for me to report but it really was said.... although the accuracy of what was said is mosdef up for debate.

For the past four days I've been skiing with a group of 'friends of friends', good guys, good riders no doubt. One of the guys is a L2 and a very impressive skier. Late in our day today we were skiing Retta's, a fairly long bump run. I stopped near the bottom and waited for the posse who were about half way down. They arrived thoroughly winded and the L2 said to me, "Man, you make that look so easy!" I told him that my tactic had been to get out of his sight so that he wouldn't be mentally MAing all my flails and bails.

 

[dbostedo]

There was a little girl, maybe 5 years old, skiing into the base area at Taos today telling multiple people, with a huge smile on her face, that "I turned left!!".

I suppose she must not have had a problem turning right, and finally conquered the dreaded left.

 

[crgildart]

Absolute madhouse yesterday, 45 minute plus wait on some of the main lifts. As we were coming in to the fray walking up to the lifts we witnessed what appeared to be mom and dad heading the other way but 4-5 year old kid was standing his ground crying, jumping up and down.. shouting "I WANT TO SKI!!! I WANT TO SKI!!! I WANT TO SKI!!"

 

[Sibhusky]

There was a kid screaming that in the locker room here as well. They were putting him in daycare, to ski later, but he wanted to do it NOOOOOOOOOWWWWW!!!!

 

[chilehed]

It's too bad that there isn't some moderately alcoholic drink for us older guys that engages the senses of smell and taste.

A good Cabernet, but I don't touch the stuff myself anymore.

 

[kimmyt]

There was a kid screaming that in the locker room here as well. They were putting him in daycare, to ski later, but he wanted to do it NOOOOOOOOOWWWWW!!!!

I overheard a girl on a lift tell another girl (they were probably mid-20s) that she had been skiing since she was two. "My mom and dad tried to put me in daycare but apparently I screamed so hard they decided that it was time for me to start skiing, a little earlier than they planned".

 

[Freaq]

Riding single on the C chair, I see a dude standing at a spot where the chair gets darn close to the hill. He seems to be looking at me but ya know, he was wearing goggles so I can't be sure. As I get closer and closer I become more convinced that he's looking right at me and when I finally get within ten feet of him, he says, "Is that Doobie Peterson?"

I chuckled and told him that no, I was not Doobie Peterson but I'll tell ya, it gave extra magnitude to my permagrin today that I, apparently, resemble Doobie Peterson

 

[Philpug]

Riding single on the C chair, I see a dude standing at a spot where the chair gets darn close to the hill. He seems to be looking at me but ya know, he was wearing goggles so I can't be sure. As I get closer and closer I become more convinced that he's looking right at me and when I finally get within ten feet of him, he says, "Is that Doobie Peterson?"

I chuckled and told him that no, I was not Doobie Peterson but I'll tell ya, it gave extra magnitude to my permagrin today that I, apparently, resemble Doobie Peterson

I bet ole Doobie is interesting to ride the lift with..Oh, the stories he can't remember.