Great Morning

The alarm went off at 4:32am, and I was tempted to just keep sleeping. My back had a tinge and I could have used the sleep. But I knew if I didn't get up I'd kick myself later. I slipped out of bed, careful not to wake K, the kids, or the dogs. Downstairs I turned on the stove for the coffee and got my oatmeal rolling. Into my gear I went.

By a short bit past 5am I was done eating and was working on my first cup of coffee. The rest went into the thermos and my feet went into my boots (you can drive in tele boots making life much easier). Out the door I went. When I got outside I couldn't see the stars and that left me concerned that we weren't going to get a good sunrise, but at that point I was awake and dressed- may as well ski!

The drive over saw me spill much of my first cup as the frost heaves tossed me around- oh well, that's why I bring a full thermos. Soon I was at the mountain and finished kitting up and started the trek.

We had gotten a crazy amount of snow this week (25" in the last storm) so the conditions are excellent. The skin up was good, I only had to traverse once on the steepest pitch of Headwall, and I was running the kicker skins, so I was pleased with that. By the time I got to mid station the sky was beginning to show a bit of light. I knew I had time to get to the top before the great colors started to show, but there was still that tinge of doubt that I wouldn't make it so I picked up the pace.

I hit the summit at 6:05am and did my quick swap out of hats and put on my down vest to make sure I didn't chill. Then I watched. The colors began to intensify and then I could see the very top of the sun as it made its proud advancement into the sky. The clouds actually made for interesting colors as it was just the horizon that seemed to be clear of clouds. I watched taking pictures and wishing K had made the trip with me. Soon the mountain was bathed in a wonderful alpenglow and it was time to head down.


The ski down is always nice, and I always find I appreciate every turn a bit more when I've skinned up to earn it. But this morning I kept stopping and looking to the east as the sun continued its march into the sky- just stunning.


Once back at the car, and with cup number two of coffee poured and ready to get me home, I realized that few people get to enjoy that type of a sunrise. While it made me feel good that I did get to see it, it also bummed me out that I didn't get to share it with others.

As I drove over the causeway I could see that the sun had moved into the clouds and the magic was over. People getting up at 6:30 am weren't going to be treated to the colors I had just enjoyed.

I got home and K and the girls were up and having breakfast, when I showed Liz the pictures she said when was that? I told her it had been just a half hour ago, she looked out the window, then back at me and shrugged. Back to her cereal.

But for me it was a great morning, and reminded me how lucky we are to live where we do and to have the ability to play in the great outdoors.

A Moose

There is a moose standing on the finish line. I'm guessing it's still standing there, right now as you read this- a moose. It's not a live moose, but a moose made out of wood but adorned with real antlers. It's in a field, Roger Lowell's field to be exact, and it's standing on the finish line. Not a finish line for any race right now, but for a race that I remember like it was yesterday from 1991. Every time I drive by and see that moose I laugh, and think about how I got into ski racing.

The moose and where the moose stands has more to do with where I was once I got into racing, my entrance into Nordic racing had much more to do with a giant Paul Bunyan statue. If you've ever been up to Black Mountain in Rumford, you'll know what I'm talking about. But that moose got me to thinking about my start in racing.

I had always been someone who cross country skied. I had enjoyed many adventures on my skis that included boot laces so frozen and knotted that it took until the second mug full of hot chocolate before my mom or I could untie the laces. I remember many times using the old three pin bindings, that I would just lean has hard as I could on the bail to pin down the front of my boot, as the soles were no longer three pin, but about 12 pin with so many other holes having been pressed in. I remember crossing brooks, and skiing down hills that we termed "Death Hill", I remember home made knickers and itchy wool socks that the snow balled up on and made me look like the abominable snowman after a couple hours out skiing.

But ski racing wasn't something I had done, in fact I fancied myself much more an alpine racer with heroes like Pirmin Zurbriggen, Billy Johnson, and Alberto Tomba. Or if it wasn't ski racing heroes it was those fancy mogul skiers and "extreme skiers" that people like Greg Stump made cool movies about. Unfortunately many of the kids my age at that time felt the same way, at least in our areas, and that left our high school cross-country ski team a bit short of skiers. By the time I got to high school, if you were a freshman and you wanted to race alpine you had to do at least one cross-country race. In retrospect, this was a good idea on a number of levels, but for me in particular it had a profound impact on my life.

I'll never forget that first race. I had tried this new fangled skate skiing the day before at ski practice. I was awful. The coach, Peter Anderson, had asked me to go to the race at Black Mountain in Rumford, just to watch. I had agreed.

We go to the race, the Rumford Invitational, and there were a lot of racers as this was very big high school meet in Maine. I was glad to not be one of them, as I was not ready to race and didn't want to embarrass myself. I was hanging out near the back of the bus talking with some of the kids on the team while they waxed skis and I could hear Coach talking to someone.

"So Peter, who's this ringer you've got this year?", said the unidentified voice.

"Who are you talking about? I don't have any ringers," Coach answered.

"This Sven kid- is he Scandinavian? I bet he's fast," the unidentified voice continued.

I stood there wondering what they were talking about, then the realization that they were talking about me hit. It sank in even further when Coach tossed me a bib and told me he needed me to race.

For some reason I'll never forget this next series of events. One of the kids on the team lent me a pair of tights- blue and black tiger stripped. They looked like they had been stolen from some 80's hair bands lead singer. I coupled these stylish tights with a white cotton long sleeve t-shirt, a blue and grey fleece hat, and a pair of heavy alpine ski gloves- the padded cool kid race gloves with the zipper on the cuff that you always left unzipped (those gloves were always cold, but they looked cool so we all used them). Before I knew it I was in the starting gate being instructed by some guy wearing a blue and yellow parka with Lake Placid Olympic logos all over it and a pair of matching moon boots (not like the ones you can buy at Spruce Hurricane today), a headset and big pair of deer skin mittens. It would be years later but I would come to learn that it was likely that the starter was none other than Chummy Broomhall.

So there I am in the starting block, all decked out looking like a rejected rocker wannabe, and the starter says "GO!". This is where it gets interesting or from my point of view- horrifying. I slide through the wand, trying to double pole my way out onto the course, which immediately goes uphill and has spectators on either side cheering you on. I make it about 20 meters and someone; a female (I can still hear her voice) yells "NICE TIGHTS!" Being the polite adolescent male that I was, and excited that some girls was cheering me on, I yelled back, "Thank You!" and promptly planted my ski pole between my legs and fell flat on my face in front of a large group of people. In my mind now this riotous crowd of ski racing fans numbered in the hundreds of thousands, but the truth be told it was probably: four coaches, a bus driver, five mom's, a sister (who didn't want to be there- so she yelled to some kid wearing funny tights), and two dads- but I like my memory of it better.

That fall got a reaction from the crowd, one of laughter followed by encouragement. My face turned red and I picked myself up and flailed my way out of sight and around the course (SLOWLY), finishing 108 out of 120 starters. I could leave it at that but I think a more accurate representation of my placement is I finished 108 out of 109 finishers.

Believe it or not this race was what got me fired up to get into racing and figure this crazy sport out. Some of my fondest memories from high schools stem from ski practice and races, culminating with our team winning the overall State championship my senior year of high school.

This brings me back to the moose. The other day I was skiing with my wife and our girls, along with one of my best friends and her kids. Her father was with us, it was his field, his grooming, his moose. I reflected back on his encouragement, never pushing racing but always trying to get us out there skiing. And there we were, now three generations out cruising the trails and having a ball. The moose was on the finish line in my mind, and soon the kids were looking to race each other back to the moose. Maybe that finish line was still there after all.

Holy Storm Batman!

This most recent snow storm was one of the biggest I can remember in recent memory. It snowed OVER 24 inches (25 at our house) of real deal snow. I snuck over to Shawnee Peak yesterday and enjoyed skiing that left me giddy. I can't remember the last time I was taking snow up the nose as I was skiing as it was rolling up my chest and into my face- super good.

Snuck out this AM for a skin up and ski down at sunrise, such a great way to start the day. This weekend should offer up fantastic conditions, and the next storm we get will just be the icing on the cake. If you've been wanting to get out and do some back country- now is the time!

Enjoy.

Cheers,

sven

The WVT Story- finally!

Here is a link to the photos from the trip.

There are certain ski routes that I think about on a fairly regular basis, wondering what the conditions are like and always planning when I can make the trip. One of those routs is the Wildcat Valley Trail that extends from the summit of Wildcat ski area all the way down to Jackson.

This is a classic back country trail, no grooming, no fancy bridge work, no guarantees, and sometimes no tracks- but always full of fun and adventure. It is a trail that many people know about, and many people want to do (and certainly have the skills to do) but for one reason or another never make it up to the top of Wildcat to do the trip.

The trail is part of the Jackson Ski Touring trail system, and here is how they describe the trail, "Wildcat Valley Trail - 17.8 km, Most Difficult; connects the summit of Wildcat Mountain to Jackson Village. Skiers should be in top physical condition and thoroughly prepared before attempting upper most section of trail. Skiers must walk 1/2 mi. from Carter Notch Road to Black Mountain Cabin Trail before trail picks up again 150 meters along Melloon Road. Upper trail closes at 2 PM. Elev. Differential 3,240 Ft."

Read that last part again- Elevation Differential 3,240 feet. Let's put that into perspective. Wildcat has a lot of vertical for a downhill area in the east- just over 2,000'. The most lift serviced vertical in the East at an alpine area is 3,166' over at Whiteface in New York. This trail has almost 100' more vertical in total descent. Just to keep the comparisons going, Snowbird in Utah has the same vertical drop- 3,240.

The beautiful part is that you can buy a one ride ticket at Wildcat and start at the top so the bulk of your journey is downhill. This is how I would suggest you do the trip, because who would want to start out by skiing uphill, I mean really.

So we began our journey by skiing up Wildcat (hey, nobody, and I mean nobody has ever said I was very smart). When I say "we" I am talking about my wife Karen, and a friend of mine who is known to the world as Matt, and of course myself. We began with a nice leisurely ski up Wildcat, which again is not the best way to do this- take the lift it is much easier. I'll fast forward past the climb (namely because my wife beat me to the top and wasn't even breathing hard) and get to where you (the smart person) would be getting off the lift, nice a fresh and ready for your adventure. This is where you can freak out the skiers at Wildcat as you ski straight off the lift and duck the boundary rope and climb up to the entrance to the trail. It is amazing how quickly the air becomes quite when you do this (not that it is ever windy up on top of Wildcat) and you find yourself standing in a cave of pine trees with a trail marker in front of you. Every time I do this I feel a sense of excitement as to what is ahead, and this trip was no different.

Karen was the first to push off as she was getting cold and wanted to start moving. Matt and I were still getting our gear all sorted out. I was the next off the start line and began to enjoy the glide. I should point out at this point what we were using for gear as I get asked this question all the time. I was using my trusty Garmont Beluga with a set of skins for the climb up. Karen was on a pair of Salomon Blades (a metal edged, waxless ski) with skins, Matt chose full telemark equipment with skins for the climb. My personal feeling is the perfect set up is either a beefy cross-country set up or a light back country set up. Telemark gear is great for the few steep pitches, but a lot of weight for the climbs and not that much fun for the traverse sections. If you do run full tele gear bring either kick wax or a set of skins to make sure you can do the traverses.

Back to the trip, the descent is mellow in regards to pitch, but it makes up for it in being narrow and twisty. You can never see too far down the trail, and it seems like if there is going to be a blow down then you will find it just after some hairy corner. One thing that works well in soft snow is to just use the untracked snow as a natural brake when the speeds gets to be a bit much, jump out of the track and you'll slow down pretty fast.

After a bit of descending and traversing you get to a beautiful birch glade that just opens up beneath your feet. It's worthwhile to stop and enjoy the view before you drop in and make a great set of turns. It is not uncommon to do a few laps in the birch glade when the snow is good as it just such a fun section of trail. Karen and Matt both hooted and hollered as they made very nice looking turns with the birch trees serving as a perfect backdrop. After the glade we headed back into the tight and twisty fun that is the Wildcat Valley Trail.

On this trip we had staged a car at the Dana Place Inn, and with that in mind had our eyes peeled for the Dana Place Trail. When we got there we noticed we were the first to ski this particular section, and with the amount of snow that we've had we found that there was some work to be done with the trail breaking. Fortunately there were three of us so we shared the work, although we found that when we put Karen at the front it seemed like she barely broke the surface, I was finding the easiest skiing was when Matt was at the lead. There were a few open water crossings that got entertaining and we had our own "gap jumps" that would have made any terrain park aficionado proud.

We eventually got to a section of the Dana Place trail that had been groomed earlier in the season and had snowshoe tracks making the skiing much faster. The terrain was beautiful and the sun had come out giving us a blue bird day. We didn't see any other skiers out on the trail (although no to far way close to 300 were giving it their all in the White Mountain Classic that was held at Jackson Ski Touring on Saturday, January 24).

When we got to the last section of the Dana Place Trail we found that skiers weren't the only ones using the trail as it looked like we were skiing along a moose run. It was entertaining seeing their tracks and trying to avoid their droppings as we made our way down the mountain. We eventually made it out to Route 16 and did the short walk back to the car, looking up Pinkham Notch and feeling an immense feeling of accomplishment at the trip.

It was such a great way to spend the morning and a great way to explore the mountains and wilderness in which we live. I would encourage you to take the trip, and if you are little concerned about your ability take a lesson at your favorite touring center and let them know you want to work on back country skills. You can purchase a Wildcat Valley Trail ticket at either AMC, Jackson or at Wildcat (where you can also purchase your one trip lift ticket as well). I would encourage you to check in with Jackson Ski Touring in advance to get a trail conditions report as it is an un-groomed trail and conditions can vary greatly. In addition after you make the trip report back to let them know what you thought as it is a great way for them to compile trail condition information.

This originally ran in the Mountain Ear on January 28, 2009.

Makes It Look So Easy

A cool video of a guy who has the removal and mounting of climbing skins down to a science. Enjoy (I would fall on my ass doing this).

Know the Code

Do you "Know the Code?" Ok I'll give you a hint, I'm talking about the "Your Responsibility Code" that is promoted by the National Ski Area Association and is posted on the back of trail maps, on lift towers, in ski shops, and all sorts of other areas around ski areas. In fact the National Safety Awareness Week just wrapped up as part of a nation wide effort to promote safety on the slopes.

So back to the code- do you know it? There are seven items on the list, and here they are verbatim from the NSAA website:

* Always stay in control, and be able to stop or avoid other people or objects.
* People ahead of you have the right of way. It is your responsibility to avoid them.
* You must not stop where you obstruct a trail, or are not visible from above.
* Whenever starting downhill or merging into a trail, look uphill and yield to others.
* Always use devices to help prevent runaway equipment.
* Observe all posted signs and warnings. Keep off closed trails and out of closed areas.
* Prior to using any lift, you must have the knowledge and ability to load, ride and unload safely.

KNOW THE CODE. IT'S YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.

This seems like a pretty straight forward list, but if we stop and think about it I'm guessing we could ride any lift that rides over a busy trail and see many of these rules broken on a regular basis.

The first item may be a bit subjective. There are plenty of times I'm pretty glad I'm on the lift when I see a skier or rider come careening down the hill in what I would argue is a situation of little control. That particular skier may argue that fact, but my guess is that some skiers rely a bit too much on luck.

The lack of compliance of the second rule on the list irritates me to know avail. I'm pretty sure there are skiers who understand that rule to read, "as long as you can eventually get in front of the downhill skier, regardless of risk, at which point you will become the downhill skier with the right of way. Since you will eventually be the downhill skier and have the right of way then why not just skip the semantics and assume you have right of way regardless of your position on the slope." Ok maybe they don't put that much thought into it, but the skier or rider who is in front of you has right of way- so let them have some space and make a safe pass.

You must not stop where you obstruct a trail, or are not visible from above. I think NSAA should have said, "Stop where people can see you from a safe distance, and do so on the side of the trail". Again in peoples haste they miss the nuance of "must not" and they assume that stopping in the middle of the trail beneath a knoll is the safest spot, the old "if I can't see them they can't see me." Just think about it- that skier who is questionable in their adherence to the first rule may be the one coming around the corner or over the knoll.

The merging and yielding- oh my. These seems like it should be fairly easy, we do study merging and yielding in drivers education. Of course if we just look at the difficulty people have at the round about near Hannaford and then apply that to snow- enough said!

Always use a device to avoid run away skis. This one, I think, has good compliance. Most alpine skiers have brakes and most telemarkers and snowboarders run their leashes. The bigger issue is when the skiers loose their skis on a powder day- can be a bummer looking for a ski as everyone snakes by and steals you fresh tracks!

Signs. Ok this one is tough, the number of signs we have to try and pay attention to is a bit much. I'm pretty sure I didn't have on my sunscreen the other day, and I think I saw a sign saying I needed some. I'm also sure that the Parking Lot Full sign doesn't apply to me when I drive our Honda Fit- I can park that anywhere. That being said trails are closed for a reason, usually involving hazards that you're inner Glen Plake may not be ready to deal with. Nothing is more embarrassing than hurting yourself on a closed trail, where the added insult is losing your ticket in addition to a toboggan ride that isn't nearly as much fun as it looks when you watch someone else get carted off the mountain. It's not just the closed signs, but also the SLOW and the Trail Merge signs- they are there for a reason, and just because you can cut your way through a crowd like Zurbriggen used to cut up a slalom course doesn't mean you should- my kid might be in that crowd and I get a little edgy when people ski by her at speed in a slow zone.

The final rule on this admittedly abbreviated list is to know how to use the lift before you load. This one reads more like a self preservation rule, but I'm always amazed at the group of teens out at the mountain for the first time that think a quad is made for five or six- or think that the unloading area will have an usher that will walk them down the ramp. I don't know about you but the idea of any contraption that is going to take me up into the air, to 40 feet up, I want to have an idea of how it works. When it comes to surface lifts it's a good idea to know how they work as well- but I have to be honest watching people try to figure out a self loading poma lift of t-bar can be very entertaining.

So those are the rules. Give them a read. Share them with your friends. Quiz each other, and understand there is a reason for the Code- it is to keep all of us safe out there while we are having fun. The one major addition I would like to add- be courteous. We are all trying to have fun, no need to be rude out on the hill, in lift line, in the lodge, in the parking lot, in the food line, anywhere. Take a deep breath, heck take three since they are free and just relax. Skiing is the best sport in the world, so take an extra moment to enjoy it right.

Originally printed in the Mountain Ear- 2/5/2009

I love mornings like this

Watching the sun's light creep into the sky before that blazing ball even breaks the horizon is one of the wonders of the world. I sometimes think that the powers that be made it so spectacular just so those who get up early to see it get to enjoy something special.

I busted out of the house this morning at 5:15am for a quick up down over at Shawnee. I tried to get Karen or Matt(or both) to go but neither were up for the adventure so I was on my own.

It was colder then I had expected, -6, but no wind so it wasn't too bad.

I used my BD 80mm kicker skins instead of my full skins, and had no issue, even going straight up a couple of steeper pitches. That made my morning as they are smaller, lighter and easier to take on and off.

It was a great climb, tried to stay fairly even. I used my Garmin 705 that K got me for Christmas, here is the trip according to Garmin. You can play with the map view- I like the Satellite version.

I got to midstation just as the first light started hitting the sky, and I wanted to try and make the summit before the sun broke the horizon.I juiced it up and enjoyed the view, trying to snap some photos that showed the color- they just don't do justice.


I swapped hats, donning my Eldora hat in honor of my sister, who I'm sure was still sound asleep (at least I hope since it was around 4am in CO). Threw on a down vest, took off my skis, shortened my poles and headed down the hill.

The snow was excellent (as always) and it was nice to have the hill to myself. I enjoyed the view and took my time making nice easy turns. Once at the bottom I stripped out of gear and headed home, even stopping to snap a shot of the alpenglow on Mt. Washington.
I got home in time to help get the girls ready and then on the bus and now it's off to work. A great way to start the day, and as a bonus- it's Friday!

Enjoy the day.


sven

When I was a kid.......

I hate to admit this, but I didn't ski on Sunday. It was a beautiful day, but I had a few projects that took precedent and by the time I was done I decided to kick back on the couch and watch some television. A buddy had come over and we were chatting about skiing and low and behold Winter X-Games was on. We watched skier-x, skier slopestyle, snowboard super pipe and some crazy snowmobile freestyle contest.

The things these athletes were doing were unreal. It was impressive to see how far these sports have progressed, it was cool to see athletes like Shawn White who have grown up before our eyes. It was all good, well not all good. There was a darkness growing as we watched the events. Neither of us said anything at first, but it was there, then it came out- Dan said it first- "where were these events when we were kids?"

The door had been opened. Two late thirty somethings sitting on a couch watching television feeling like the gods of fate had cruelly either put them on the earth too early or had let the evils of a litigious society shape too much of their skiing youth in the 80's and early 90's. Ok you might be wondering where this is all going, but if you skied a great deal in the era of neon then you will remember the great ski movies that showed crazy jumps followed by the reality of ski patrol taking your ticket away because you caught a little bit of air- the era of the "NO JUMPING" sign.

I hated those signs. As an adolescent skier jumping was as much a part of skiing as being wet was a part of swimming. Being on skis allowed you to escape gravity for short periods of time. Sometimes you went way up in the air, other times you travelled great distances, sometimes you did both. But no matter what jumping was one of the coolest feelings around, yet doing so was equated with crime- and we're not talking white collar crime where you just get a little slap on the wrist, we're talking gritty crime where the patrol served as judge, jury, and executioner and would take you golden ticket away and leave you grounded at the base of the mountain without another ride up.

To alleviate this we used to bring several jackets and hats (this was well before helmets) and we'd go session a jump and when the patrol would come to nab us we would boogie down to the base at warp speed, blast out of our bindings, run into the lodge and change our jacket and then come back out and do it again. It was a great game and most of the time you could keep your ticket, but sometimes you'd get caught and either lose a corner of the ticket (again before scanning so they would actually cut part of your ticket off), or if you had already lost a corner they would take the ticket away.

I recently took a run with a long time patroller over at Shawnee Peak who had taken my pass when I was a young one and told me I could get it back if I brought him a pizza. No big deal, except he was in the patrol hut at the top of the mountain and I didn't have a ticket to ride the lift. I walked that pizza up to him and got my ticket back. I did get even though, we had the same size foot- so while he was scarfing down the pizza I took his skis and skied back down.

I bring all of this up as I have realized I have become one of those who now say, "when I was young…..," and Winter X-Games brings that out in me. So while I watch these amazing athletes twist, grab and slide through the terrain park, or as they bump shoulders as they race down a banked course full of jumps, I think back to those who went before them and paved the way by sacrificing their tickets so that jumping and skiing fast could live on, and someday make it to the big time. Ok that's corny, but funny.

As a side note, watching the Winter X-Games we also were treated to local skier and Ability Plus director at Attitash, Erik Corbett, making it to the semi-finals and placing top 5 in the mono-cross event in the Winter X-Games. Congratulations to Erik- great job.

First published in the Mountain Ear- 1/22/2009

Home Spun Trails

My wife and I got a chance to sneak out and do a bit of skiing with just the two of us, a luxury that I am sure many parents out there can appreciate. We chose to hit up some local trails that are maintained by a long time family friend and former ski coach. They are his passion, or as his wife says, “his obsession.” Either way they made for a great day out skiing.
It was like a throwback in time, as the woods we were skiing in were the woods I grew up playing in. A large soft wood grove that had trails winding around interesting trees and finding fun ways to use the terrain. The trails reminded me of the first groomed trails I had ever skied, as they were narrow and gave you a sense of being a part of the woods, not just in the woods.
We skied for a couple of hours and in that time saw a great horned owl, which we later learned had taken care of the squirrel population at the trail builders home. We say hundreds (or at least I’m saying hundreds) of spots where wild turkeys had bedded down. Deer tracks, rabbit tracks, and a whole mess of tracks that I had no idea what they were.
We glided through the woods enjoying the trails all to ourselves, feeling like we were in the middle of nowhere, but never more than 15 minutes from the truck. We found old stone walls, and barbed wire, we found a tree that looked to be several hundred years old. It was a day of skiing that I won’t soon forget as my mind just shut off and all that I was aware of was what was around me, very therapeutic.
We crossed a road and headed out on another section of trail. It wasn’t long before I could hear the sound of a snow machine and guessed it would be Roger (the trail builder) out doing some dragging. He had his home built groomer behind his snow machine, with other tools of the trail building trade: shovel, chainsaw, ax, etc, each attached in very deliberate ways. I asked him if he had had a chance to get out and ski, he said not yet but he figured he would in a few days after he groomed out the next big storm. It takes him about a full day to groom his entire system. It was at that moment that I realized how there is perfect harmony in the world when you have people who so enjoy building trails so that others (like myself) can get out and enjoy skiing on the trails.
Karen and I thanked him for his efforts and continued on our way. At times feeling lost, at other times seeing a house or other landmark that told us exactly where we were. It was a great day of skiing and one that I look forward to doing again very soon, this time with a field guide to animal tracks.
First published in the Mountain Ear 1/22/2009

Cool video that my Dad is in

A couple good clips of my Pops skiing- on the timeline from 17 seconds to 31 seconds and again from 54 seconds to 1:05. Not bad for a man collecting social security.

A Cause Worth a Few Minutes of Your Time and a Few of Your $'s

Give this a read and if you can try to support, either by spreading the word or sending in some cash. I know that we all check the avi conditions via the web before we head up, but the boards are certainly a nice final check before you start the trip up!

Thanks!

sven

super cool event

February 2nd, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Thomas Prindle
Director of Marketing & Sales
Wildcat Mountain
(603) 466-3326 X216
tprindle@skiwildcat.com

6th Annual 100K Vertical Challenge To Benefit Make-A-Wish Foundation® of New Hampshire

Marathon Skiing & Riding Event at Wildcat Mountain Scheduled For Monday, March 2nd

Pinkham Notch, NH – Are you capable of skiing or riding over 100,000 vertical feet in one day? If you are, the bar has been set again for a potential 40 participating skiers and riders who are up for the challenge that includes also raising associated pledge donations to benefit Make-A-Wish Foundation® of New Hampshire.

Held the first Monday in March, last year’s 100K day saw 25 of the 28 participants completing at least 48 runs via the famed Lynx Trail’s 2,100 plus vertical descent from summit to base. It is hoped that even more participants in this year’s Monday, March 2nd event will help to raise donation amounts equal to or possibly exceeding last year’s total pledges of just under $30,000. Since the first 100K challenge took place in 2004, the annual event has seen total donations exceeding $81,000 directly benefiting Make-A-Wish Foundation® of New Hampshire in their endeavors. The annual 100K event is unique to Wildcat Mountain coupling the accessibility and speed of the Wildcat Express high-speed, summit lift and the ski area’s greater than 2,100 vertical foot drop.

Registration for the event is only $65 ($35 for Wildcat Mountain season passholders) and includes lift access for the day, a ticket voucher valid for another day this season, exclusive lift-line privileges while completing the 48 runs (maximum 50 runs), light breakfast/lunch items, snacks, and refreshments during the event, and prizes awarded for the top fundraisers and participants during an awards pasta dinner held following the event. All ages and disciplines are welcome to participate, but a limit of 40 participants and a minimum $250 in pledge donations to the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of New Hampshire must be acquired and provided the morning of the event, Monday, March 2nd. For more information and to register, visit skiwildcat.com/100Kday.html.

The mission of the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of New Hampshire (www.newhampshire.wish.org) is to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. It strives to provide children with the hope for better times, the strength for the tough times and the joy to experience the present. The Make-A-Wish Foundation® of New Hampshire is part of the nation's largest and most recognized wish-granting organization, with chapters and volunteers throughout the United States and the world.

Wildcat Mountain is a year-round, family-owned business, located 100% within the White Mountain National Forest in Pinkham Notch, NH. It is home to the 75-year-old Wildcat Trail first cut by the Civilian Conservation Corp in 1933 and is renowned for its proximity to Mt. Washington and Tuckerman Ravine. For further information, please visit www.skiwildcat.com or call 1-888- SKI WILD.

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Thomas Prindle, Director of Marketing & Sales
Wildcat Mountain
Route 16, Pinkham Notch
PO Box R Jackson, NH 03846
Tel. (603) 466-3326 X216
Fax (603) 466-5813
tprindle@skiwildcat.com
skiwildcat.com/media.html
See the most up-to-date photos, videos, audio, and special offers at skiwildcat.blogspot.com.

A good article for the Ladies

For all the ladies out there who are looking to tune up their technique, here is a good piece by Heather Burke. Enjoy!