Pat Donnelly

http://www.sunvalleymag.com/Sun-Valley-Magazine/Summer-2004/BOOK-TALK/

X-Games Jan 28 - Jan 31 Feb 6-12th - would end before Pres Weekend but would include the opportunity to be part of the World Carving Session and ride with the gang from Pure Boarding Jan 31 - Feb 10

Might be able to search here http://www.americanwaymag.com/AW/SiteSearch.aspx

Go Wings!!

Considering putting up an antenna to cut $100/month to DishNetwork and better yet, get an improved HDTV picture and sound. I borrowed a small Terk antenna for comparative purposes and was impressed with the picture quality improvement. It will be a few more weeks before we install a roof top antenna but thought I would share a few links for anyone interested: http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1 Enter your address and antenna height to see what channels are available. http://antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx http://www.highdefforum.com/index.php Find out what's showing OTA in your area, just enter your zip code . . . http://www.titantv.com/ http://www.winegard.com/offair/index.php DTV and HDTV received through an antenna provides a higher quality picture than cable or satellite with no compression. HDTV broadcasts also offer room filling, ultra realistic 5.1 channel digital surround sound. http://www.antennacraft.net/index.html Most cable or satellite companies rebroadcast on a limited amount of bandwidth. They can only place a certain amount of channels on their system. Most systems are already at their max. They have two options, spend big bucks to update their system or start compressing the signals. Most are compressing. This results in lower resolution images. An off-air antenna gives you the highest resolution broadcast available from the broadcast station, and for FREE!

Saw an infomercial on TV and was wondering if anyone has tried one of these? http://www.trikke.com/Trikke-Showroom/hp

This is a link to the best accessory, it is a dual probe wireless digital thermometer. One probe to monitor the cooking chamber temperature and the other for the meat temperature. Takes a lot of the guesswork out of the equation. http://www.amazon.com/Maverick-RediChek-Remote-Wireless-Thermometer/dp/B0000DIU49

The bullet rules when it comes to smoking.

If the snow is not too soft, try applying more pressure on the nose when initiating your turns. Don't know what your binding settings are, but you could also try increasing or upping your angles. Take advantage of the MOUNTAINS in your area, you have some wide open runs at SB and PM.

http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/133457 Writer: Troy Hooper Byline: Aspen Daily News Staff Writer <!--paging_filter--> Legendary skier Shane McConkey died Thursday after he skied off an enormous cliff in the Italian Dolomites and his parachute didn’t open. Details of exactly what went wrong were sketchy at press time but filmmaker Scott Gaffney, a longtime friend of McConkey’s, told ESPN Action Sports that McConkey, 39, was performing a double backflip after launching a cliff when his releasable bindings didn’t release properly. McConkey, an avid B.A.S.E. and ski-B.A.S.E. jumper, was wearing a wingsuit, which along with a parachute, he intended to use to glide to safety. “But one ski did not come off. And when that happens the drag on the skis causes you to flip over, so the skis go over your head. So he was struggling with the one ski. Then he also got into a bad spin. So he may have never even pulled his pilot chute. And that’s coming from JT Holmes, who Shane was with in Italy and who reviewed the footage of the accident. So the combination of the ski, the spin and the pilot chute, apparently, [cause the accident],” Gaffney told ESPN ski reporter Tim Mutrie of Aspen. McConkey, who lives in the Tahoe area of California, reportedly fell hundreds of feet to the snow-covered ground below. Italian emergency responders arrived within minutes, pronouncing him dead at the scene. An incarnation of James Bond on skis, McConkey had performed similar stunts hundreds of times and was considered a pioneer of radical skiing. His interest in wingsuits and B.A.S.E. jumping had grown to the point in recent years that he began to combine those skills with skiing. Wingsuits are special jumpsuits designed to create lift that allow users to fly seemingly horizontally, though they are still falling rapidly. At a planned altitude, wingsuit fliers deploy a parachute, unzip their arm wings and float down. McConkey was in Italy filming a movie with Matchstick Productions and Red Bull. He was well known in the Aspen area, where he had many friends including big-mountain skier Chris Davenport. McConkey was an annual coach at Davenport’s ski camp in Chile. Davenport’s younger brother, Ted, an avid B.A.S.E. jumper himself, was also very close with McConkey. “Shane loved life and innovated both sport worlds he touched: Skiing and B.A.S.E. Jumping. Unfortunately, the sport he pioneered also carries inherent risks,” read a statement Red Bull released Thursday night. “Shane was a pioneer, a character and a consummate professional. His magnetic personality made him even more unforgettable.” Without a doubt, McConkey liked to get silly. At Davenport’s ski camp in Chile, which this reporter attended a couple of years ago, he was the constant cut-up. He was at the center of every food fight and his outrageous sense of humor left those around him in stitches. He would also organize a large group of expert skiers to bomb down the slopes “gaper style.” Nobody could pretend to look like a dork on skis better than McConkey. But in reality McConkey was the king of cool. He was admired by those around him and a rebellious trend-setter in ski fashion, etiquette and lingo. “You made everyone around you laugh and inspired a generation of skiers and snowboarders. You were a truly revolutionary figure for the ski industry. ... You will be missed sorely and remembered always,” one of hundreds of wall postings left for him on his Facebook page read. Others called him a skiing icon, a comedic genius, a great husband and even better father. “It’s like hearing Superman died,” noted another one of his countless fans. While unclear at press time, it was suggested that McConkey might have skied off the same cliff the day prior to his death. If true, his good friend and colleague, JT Holmes, had successfully launched the wingsuit ski descent on Wednesday and McConkey had skied off it deploying just a parachute. Regardless, this is an excerpt from his final Internet blog Wednesday describing his adventure of what he described as the Val Scuraa couloir in Italy: “Today was quite cool! ... This was extremely satisfying getting to ski such a unique line. Conditions in the couloir were still very hard and icy in places so the skiing was slow and careful. Traversing/hiking the ramp out of the couloir did not present much of a problem and it was a very cool feeling knowing what we were heading out to. The snow on the slope above the cliff was firm and icy and not much fun but it was only about 3 or 4 four turns long before the jump. We spent a lot of time on a rope looking over the edge of the cliff in a few different spots and throwing rocks to figure out how big the cliff was and how to manage this jump. I must say that it seemed a bit more spicy than we were expecting,” he wrote. “The cliff bulged out further than we were hoping at the bottom and this made for a very intimidating looking jump. There was a minimal amount of snow at the edge of the cliff due to melt back so the best spots to ski off from were not doable. JT threw some rocks and we got a few 9 second rock drops and then we knew it was on! I had opted to not even bring my wingsuit today so I geared up for a standard slider up ski base jump. JT had brought his wingsuit and was feeling the wingsuit ski base. We called the MSP film crew on the radio and they fired up the heli and it as time to charge off this sucker! I went first and punched it hard into a big ol front flip with as much speed as I was comfortable taking in those conditions. Everything went great and I had an on heading opening. I flew down completely stoked and landed high up on the hillside so I could watch JT from a good angle. No more than 30 seconds after I landed I see JT flying off the cliff with a lot of speed. He yanked his skis off right away and began to fly immediately. It was a perfectly executed wingsuit ski base. Skis off quick and stable and into forward flight with no potato chipping or instability. I was jealous. Today was a good day!” He is survived by his wife Sherry and daughter Ayla.

http://www.firsttracksonline.com/News/2009/3/23/No-April-Fools-Free-Skiing-and-Snowboarding-at-Okemo-April-1st/

http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/133342 Brent Gardner-Smith Byline: Aspen Daily News Staff Writer <!--paging_filter--> “Cougar Hunting,” the movie, is holding an open casting call today at the Fly Lounge on the Hyman Avenue mall from 2 to 6 p.m. “We’re looking for different types of Aspen people,” said Robin Blazak, the co-writer, director and producer of the independent feature-length film that is slated to start shooting in and around Aspen on April 1 for four weeks. Blazak said she needs people to play waiters, bartenders and ski coaches in both speaking and non-speaking roles. “We have roles for hot guys,” she said. And yes, there are background roles for “cougars,” which Blazak defines as independent, attractive and confident women over the age of 35 (all of which she is). “We’re enthusiastic about using as many Aspen locals as we can,” Blazak said. Earlier this week, the Pitkin County commissioners balked at letting Blazak’s film company, Aspen Entertainment Group, shoot several scenes at the historic Pitkin County courthouse because of the movie’s title and the way the plot was described to them. The movie is about several young men in their 20s who deliberately seek out older attractive women — cougars — whom they are interested in dating. The male characters have been cast with young up-and-coming Hollywood actors, Blazak said, but she is still working to finalize contracts with professional actresses to play the cougars in the movie. The movie includes stories of three women, including a single 40-something “working cougar” who has dedicated herself to a real estate career, a “housewife cougar” who is separated from her husband, and an “uber cougar” who is a former swimsuit model and is “definitely comfortable dating younger men.” Blazak said it was unfortunate that the county commissioners rejected the use of the courthouse based on the title and an outdated synopsis of the movie, because she said the comedy she has written will actually put older women in a good light. “I don’t see why portraying any woman who is beautiful and successful and independent can be construed as a negative,” said Blazak. “I’d like people to walk away from this film feeling that the women are empowered and not that we are degrading anyone. It is supposed to a positive film.” Blazak said she has been working on the script intensely for the last year. “I took a lot of time to make sure we put heart in the movie and that we made the people real,” Blazak said. “It is not just a dumb sexual comedy. The guys find out that these cougars are people with hearts and real situations. They end up respecting and really enjoying these woman and find that age doesn’t matter that much.” She also said that “hot intelligent women” like Demi Moore and Jennifer Anniston who are known for dating younger men are getting increasing levels of positive media attention and that being a “cougar” is no longer taboo or “classless.” “They feel great about themselves,” she said. “They are sexy. They look great.” The growing popularity of “cougars” has been spoofed on “Saturday Night Live” in its “Cougar Den” segment; there are Web sites dedicated to meeting and dating “cougars;” and Blazak refers people to Valerie Gibson’s book, “Cougar, A Guide for Older Women Dating Younger Men.” Blazak graduated from USC in 1994 and has experience in marketing with Anheuser-Busch and in production with MTV’s “Beach House” and “Singled Out” shows and on CNN’s “Showbiz Today.” She’s also worked as a consultant for production, development, marketing and financing on a number of independent films. She moved to Aspen about five years ago from Los Angeles and formed Aspen Entertainment Group. She said she has put together a growing team of creative people to work on “Cougar Hunting,” including some from Los Angeles and some from Aspen. “We have found a lot of talent in the valley,” she said. bgs@aspendailynews.com Synopsis of ‘Cougar Hunting’ as provided by Aspen Entertainment Group “‘Cougar Hunting’ tells the tale of Tyler, Dick, and Tom ... three post college boys who are over their individual failed relationships with girls their own age. They are persuaded by a friend to road trip out to Aspen, Colorado in pursuit of new and fresh experiences — particularly in the form of love from older women. “They hope that Aspen will be their saving grace, with clean slates, new reputations, and the proverbially golden paved streets of amorous, sensual, wealthy older women. Instead, what they find is a unique set of experiences and an eclectic assortment of women who teach them a thing or two about love and relationships. “Our film is not only the tale of three young men in pursuit of these older women, but also that of a variety of so called ‘cougars’ who carry with them their own set of experiences, expectations, and prove far more mature and independent than the boys had anticipated. “We highlight an array of women in various stages of life, all ultimately searching for their own unique senses of fulfillment. Whether a domineering dominatrix, a new divorcee, or a liberated new-age hippie, the boys discover “cougars” to be so much more complex than anticipated. “With all the comical mishaps of any surefire hit, the script has the boys paralyzed by their own awkward youth and naïve expectations. They learn that they know little about females or the delicate art of finesse, but ultimately each comes to a more sophisticated understanding of what he is truly searching for — true love.”

http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/133301 Writer: Brent Gardner-Smith Byline: Aspen Daily News Staff Writer <!--paging_filter-->The Pitkin County commissioners are not into “Cougar Hunting.” The commissioners on Tuesday were leaning toward granting permission for a film company to shoot in and around the county courthouse on Main Street in April until they learned what the movie was actually about. County staffers Tuesday first presented the question about a film company using the courthouse as part of a film shoot and the commissioners, except for Michael Owsl ey, thought it sounded like an OK idea. It might generate some economic stimulus and perhaps might put the historic courthouse in a good light, they mused. Then the staffers told them the title, “Cougar Hunting,” and the plot synopsis. “The film tells the tale of three 20-year-old buddies who come to Aspen sick and tired of girls their own age and overeager to catch the attention of Aspen’s infamous ‘cougar’ population,” states a letter to Pitkin County from Suzanna Lee, a producer at Aspen Entertainment Group. “The young men’s ‘Cougar Hunting’ quest, though, turns into one hilarious disaster after another — especially as they fall into awkward relationships with Aspen’s most elite and eligible elderly vixens.” “The title just killed it for me,” said Commissioner Rachel Richards. “There is no door open,” said Commissioner Jack Hatfield after learning about the film’s content. The film company wanted to shoot exteriors of the Pitkin County Courthouse for one day on April 10 and the interior of the building for another full day on April 11. The scenes at the courthouse were to revolve around a plot twist where the young men barge into a divorce proceeding, according to a county staffer. At one point in the meeting, a majority of the five commissioners were agreeable with the concept if all security and maintenance issues were taken care of, if the county was reimbursed for any staff time involved, and if the film company made a donation to a local nonprofit, perhaps the Aspen Historical Society. “I think it is good to support economic development,” said Richards early in the discussion. Commissioner Owsley didn’t like the idea from the get-go. “I just don’t see the advantage to the county,” Owsley said. “What’s the point?” Lee of Aspen Entertainment Group wasn’t at the commissioners meeting Tuesday and is hopeful she can still win them over. “We were hoping to celebrate it and showcase it,” Lee said of the courthouse. “We’re going to continue to try and see what we can do.” Valerie Macdonald, special event permit coordinator for Pitkin County, is still working with the film company to help them secure a permit to shoot at some other locations in the county, including on Highway 82 near the Northstar Nature Preserve and at a private home toward Independence Pass. Macdonald said Aspen City Clerk Kathryn Koch has also been working with the film company on permits for shooting in and around downtown Aspen. Lee said her company has gotten permission from Aspen Skiing Co. and the U.S. Forest Service to shoot on Aspen Mountain during the first three days of April. The film company plans to shoot “on and around the gondola” at the top of the hill, at the guest service center at the summit and at the top of the Buckhorn trail. Cast members are to be filmed on skis and presumably skiing as the application mentions using “trained skiers.” Lee said that outside of the county commissioners, she’s gotten nothing but positive feedback on the movie. “We’ve got such local support,” Lee said. “People have been so gracious. The town has been wonderful to us.” “Cougar Hunting” is a self-described “low budget” independent full-length film, which likely means its budget is under $15 million. Robin Blazak is the writer and director of the movie. Blazak’s film credits include playing “Cyndi the drive-by hooker” in the 1999 movie “Just A Little Harmless Sex,” which is not nearly as racy as it may sound. The movie is actually a fairly good comedy, albeit one about messy adult relationships. bgs@aspendailynews.com

Hey Cleb - we were over at Highlands Sat/Sun burning our 2for1's Snow was good and no crowds to speak of at all.

From ABC News - Mar 11th http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgr2jfsDezQ

Go to a bootfitter or try an Ankle Wrap http://www.tognar.com/boot_heater_warmer_fitting_dryer_canting_dryers_ski_snowboard.html#bootshims

<table summary="Welcome to Nubs Nob Ski Resort" width="485" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td class="bodytext" valign="top" width="478" align="left" height="260">CHANGE to Boyne Highlands 3/14 + 3/15 as Nubs has a big SKI race on 3/14. pdwlc at yahoo dot com Anyone planning to be in the area 03/14 - 03/15? Report below is from 03/09 . . . </td> <td class="bodytext" valign="top" width="7" align="left"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="pagetitle" valign="top" align="center" height="25">Fresh News from Nub's! </td> <td class="pagetitle" valign="top" align="center"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="bodytext" valign="top" align="left"> POWDER ALERT! POWDER ALERT!! 11" overnight with a bluebird sky this morning! YAHOO! </td></tr></tbody></table>

http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/133023 Published on Aspen Daily News Online (http://www.aspendailynews.com) Snowboard pro Polk remembered as happy, passionate and well dressed Writer: Brent Gardner-Smith Byline: Aspen Daily News Staff Writer <!--paging_filter--> When Chris Polk got dressed Thursday for his job at Buttermilk Mountain as a snowboard instructor, he put on a button-down collared shirt, a tie and a vest, just like he always did. “It was just his style,” said Polk’s girlfriend, CJ Monaco. “He wanted to look presentable.” On his way out the door he smiled broadly, as he normally did, kissed Monaco good-bye, told her he would see her that night and headed off for another day teaching people to snowboard. “I know he was happy when he went to work,” Monaco said. Polk, 30, always wore his shirt, tie and vest on under his ski school uniform. It was a measure of the pride he took in being a snowboarding professional and it was his own little marketing tool. “He would come in for lunch, take off his ski school jacket, and clients would be like, ‘Wow, you look nice,’” Monaco said. Thursday turned out to be Polk’s last day as a professional ski instructor. At about 20 minutes after noon on Thursday, Polk was snowboarding with speed down the Columbine trail on lower Buttermilk when he collided hard with a tree and sustained fatal traumatic injuries. Polk was off duty, but wearing his instructor’s uniform. And almost certainly, he was wearing a tie. By Friday afternoon, about a dozen suit ties had been hung in the branches of the small tree island on Columbine, right next to the Summit Express lift at tower 11. A photo of a handsome, smiling and hearty young man was posted on a stout tree trunk. A purple tie was hanging down next to the photo. And many on-mountain employees at Buttermilk on Friday were wearing ties in honor of Polk, who had made many friends on the mountain in the three seasons he had worked there. “He was so positive and always had this beautiful smile on his face,” Monaco said. “He was such a good person. And he loved the mountain. He loved the snow. He was just so passionate about it. Chris was the mountain. The mountain was Chris.” Monaco, 26, works at Fringe Salon in Aspen and had met Polk last fall in three chance encounters in town. She said the third time was the charm. “We were pretty much inseparable after that,” she said. “We were just like a little unit. We called it our little bubble.” Monaco knew that Polk was from San Jose, Calif. and that his family had recently moved to Indiana. She knew he had served in the Navy, was an avid rock climber who had worked in Yosemite valley, and that he had worked at both Mammoth Mountain in California and at Sunlight Mountain Resort in Glenwood Springs as an instructor before coming to Buttermilk. “He was such a good teacher,” she said. “He was so hands on. He just went above and beyond to teach people. He’d run down the mountain to come get you.” Until it clicks, learning to snowboard can be a trying and humiliating experience for people, but Monaco said Polk could get people up and turning quickly. “He said it was just such a good feeling when people get it,” she said. Andrew Shore, a good friend of Polk’s, concurred. “I know that his love for instructing was rooted in the enthusiasm his students showed, and knowing that he had an effect on them,” Shore wrote in an e-mail. Polk worked with Shore for two years as a land surveyor, but Shore said he didn’t really know too many details about Polk’s background. “He was so ardent about his passions that conversation was never about the past or about his childhood,” Shore said. “Conversation was always about what he was going to do or wanted to do next. My favorite thing about Chris is that he never half-assed anything. If he was going to do it, he did it.” For CJ Monaco, losing Polk has been devastating. After she got the call Thursday afternoon from a friend, she went to the hospital and just sat alone with Polk until the coroner came. “It is just not real,” she said. “It is just crazy. I keep waiting for him to show up. He was so young and had so much life ahead of him. My heart hurts.” She said a memorial service was being planned for Polk sometime next week. “He was just such a good spirit,” Monaco said. “Such a good soul. I just want people to know what a good person he was.” bgs@aspendailynews.com

http://www.aspendailynews.com/print/132963

Skiers Evacuated From Snowbird Lift In High Winds - All Are Safe Mar 4, 2009 Jill Adler, Associate Editor Snowbird's Peruvian Express, with its chairs freshly installed, November 17, 2006. All's well now that 89 wind-ravaged skiers have been evacuated from Snowbird Utah's Peruvian Express Lift. The high-speed quad was battered by strong winds and forced the cable to jump the track for the first time in it's short history. "The fixed grip on top of the chair moved into the wheels at Tower 23 (near the top of the lift) and blew off the track. That triggered the automatic stop," Snowbird's Jared Ishkanian told OnTheSnow.com. "We had a choice. To fix the chair with everyone sitting up there or get them down. We opted to evac." With gusts up to 60 miles an hour Wednesday (March 4), most of Snowbird was shut down before noon with just Chickadee, Baby Thunder, Gad II, Gadzoom, and MidGad open. Peruvian shutdown at 11:35 a.m. and, with the help of patrol from both Alta and Snowbird, everyone had safely landed at 1:45 p.m. Snowbird is repairing the troubled section today. "Winds are supposed to get stronger, not die down," said Ishkanian. A storm front moving through is expected to bring high winds ,but not much precipitation, which is something the Wasatch resorts could use right now as they head into Spring Break season. "Skiing [at The Bird] was fantastic today," said one guest. "It's like East Coast conditions so it made it fun and unique. We don't usually have this in Utah. Not wind buffed but wind scraped." Sharpen your edges. With 4-6" expected for tomorrow, the conditions will be as locals say ... "dust on crust" for the next couple of days. URL: http://www.onthesnow.com/news/a/6284/skiers-evacuated-from-snowbird-lift-in-high-winds---all-are-safe

http://www.firsttracksonline.com/News/2009/3/2/Chairlift-Cable-Snaps-at-Spanish-Ski-Resort/

order up some sport legs www.sportlegs.com

Feb 16 7:00 p.m. e.s.t Modern Marvels "Super Human" http://www.history.com/shows.do?action=detail&episodeId=396850 Clips http://www.history.com/video.do?name=modernmarvels&bcpid=1767981841&bclid=1803311459&bctid=1614612127

SEARCH function results: http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=265&highlight=washing+liners http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=9868&highlight=washing+liners

Stamp out boot stink and mildew. Spray a dash of boot juice in those puppies every now and again to keep 'em smelling sweet as a daisy and keep creepy swamp growth at bay. Big 20 oz. pump spray can. Due to its flammable propellent, we can only ship this item to customers in the lower 48 U.S. states. http://www.tognar.com/boot_heater_warmer_fitting_dryer_canting_dryers_ski_snowboard.html