Adrenaline

Q. Is that hard? A. It takes hard boots.

Its been a while since I provided an update on Clay. Here's the scoop... Clay had a surgery to debride some dead tissue from one of his legs (I don't know which one) on Thursday Feb 26th. He was able to attend the benefit, in his honor, on Sunday March 1st. This was a huge moral booster for him. He had been looking forward to getting out of the Home/Hospital. He is now at Regions hospital for more surgeries. He had surgery on his left leg to repair the broken bones on Tuesday March 3rd. He is having surgery today to replace the damaged tissues in his leg. Hopefully this will be the last surgery needed to repair the damage so he can start healing.

The benefit held for Clay on Sunday March 1st was a great success! Over 140 racers competed, mostly skiers. People came from as far away as Michigan to attend this event. Clay was also in attendance. The silent auction had many wonderful donations including an Ipod, printer, jewelry, gift certificates, ski bags, clothing, etc... Total donations exceded $5,000! This money has been already put to use to purchase pots and flats and plant materials for this growing season. Thanks to Afton Alps and all volunteers who contributed their time to make this event possible. Thanks to all donors and racers for making this event a spectacular success!

this Benefit is being put on by Afton Alps. I am just relaying the info as I am not directly involved. Amy Reents (I introduced you to her on Sunday night) is heading up this benefit and using Afton's resources to make it happen. The race will be a standard NASTAR course set up by Afton's race staff with timing and a pacesetter. It will run much like the race on Sunday night.

Isn't WRETCHED VILLA SKI RESORT located south of Hastings? I like the whole drive-by shooting idea and Happy Measles. Yes? Yes! Very funny stuff.

This is a clip of the Benefit race fly from Afton. Hope you can make it. Clay says he will be there too. ffice:office" /><O:p></O:p>

I saw Clay yesterday at the Lutheran Home in RiverFalls, WI. He is doing much better but has another sugery on Thursday Feb 19th at Regions hospital. He will be moving to Regions tomorrow, Wednesday, for pre-op assessment. He has been talking about the doctors doing some upgrades that might improve his boarding performance. We shall see.... I rode with "call me jack" on Sunday. Jack was a guest racer for the final Sunday night MSL race of the season. Jack was very nervous about running gates but toughed it out and did better that Clay on his last race...at least he finished the course!! Jack has been offered a place on the team next year since we now have an opening. He will even get Clays old number... I think its #13. I am going to start another thread for Afton Alps hosting a benefit race for Clay, March 1st @ 4pm. I will still keep this Thread going for a while yet.

I saw Clay last night and he was doing better, still in pain but he seems more comfortable. Mr and Mrs Scuff were there and had to suffer through all of Clays snowboarder jokes. He is supposed to be moved to transition care today. This will be in Riverfalls, WI. I forgot the whole name of the facility but it is a Lutheran home. I will find out were he is today and post it later.

I saw Clay for a couple of hours last night. Karen and his youngest boy Carl were there. Clay is still in alot of pain. I'm not sure how he can be moved to a transition house while he is in such pain. While I was there, he was moved to another room but is still on the 9th floor. This floor must be the broken leg floor because everyone seems to have at least one broken leg there. Clay has said several times that having someone to talk to helps alot, because then he doesn't concentrate on the pain. If you get a chance, go see him. I'm sure he would love the company of fellow boarders.

Jack, I will continue to race this year. I have one more Sunday night league race for this season.......not sure if I'm going to the championship races at Giants Ridge. I will continue to race NASTAR on the weekends, when I can. I won't be racing USASA this year, but I might take up Karl on his invitation at Buck. A few years ago when Clay and I worked for Afton Alps we used to run a clininc for racing. Unfortunately few people showed up so the progam died. However Clay was savey enough to aquire the stubby gates that Afton was going to throw away. So we have a full set of stubbies that we've used once so far at the 2009 MES. We planned to do race practice this year but it hasn't happened so far. Two things are need to set up a course; lane space and a drill. Both of these can be aquired from Nathan in the race dept. If you are intereseted in setting up a practice course this year or next let me know and we will have to work out a time. One of my favorite places to set up a course is under chair 9 in the Meadows. This hill starts out flat and increases to a moderate slope. This is perfect for playing the game I call "shin the stubbies". When you get comfortable shining every stubby down that hill, then your not as intimidated by them when you get to expert terrain. NASTAR courses are a whole different animal than snowboard courses. You cannot shin NASTAR gates without getting hurt, just ask Clay. Actually I did shin one by accident this year without getting hurt but that was lucky. NASTAR gates hurt when you hit them, even with armor. You have to keep you upper body much more upright than you do in a snowboard course. This is why Clay and I have a slightly different riding style than most other riders around. If you lay out like you would through a snowboard course then you are so far away from the gate that you can't be competative. You also need to overcome the fear of hitting a standard gate and how to do it without upsetting your line through the course. The reasons we race NASTAR despite all of the disadvantages of the course are: its cheap.... you can buy a $50 season pass at Afton; you get to be nationaly ranked...... I am ranked 4th overall and 3rd in my age group, Clay is 45th overall and 2nd in his age group, nationaly.........check it out at nastar.com; and you get to compete against two plankers and beat them!!! USASA is fun because you are competing against only snowboarders in a snowboard course. However I find it to be kinda pricey unless you plan to go to nationals. I have gone to nationals several times and its a blast. I got 3rd in slalom for my age group last time I did it. Sorry this is such a windy answer to you question. you can send me an email through BOL if you have any other questions.

I did not get to see Clay today. He was scheduled for surgery that was supposed to only take about 2 1/2 hours but he was in for 5 hours. They worked on both legs and my understanding is that his left leg is done but the right might require another surgery. His daughter K.Lee and a friend were with him all day. My wife Deb stopped by this afternoon but he was still in surgery so she left. I spoke to Karen and she said he might be transfered to a "transition house" later in the week. I will keep you posted as to where this will be. It looks like Saturday will be a good day to help out at the greenhouse. I will be there about 8:30 am and will have to leave about 3:30 pm. My plan is to finish getting plastic on the main production green houses. There is plenty of cleaning, sweeping and hauling away stuff to keep a small army busy for weeks, so don't worry about not having anything to do. It will probably be very sloppy, muddy and messy, be sure to wear waterproof boots and work clothes. Dress in layers because the temperature can get very hot in a greenhouse when its sunny even when its not heated. Let me know if you need help with directions.

I saw Clay this afternoon at Regions, he was in good spirits but still in alot of pain. He is having fun harassing the nurses and orderlies. Tomorrow he will have his first of several surgeries. He will be at Regions for a while. He received amny visitors today as the receptionist said " oh, he must have alot of family and friends". For those who would like to visit him His full name is Clayton Juelfs (pronounced Jelfs). He is currently on the 9th floor in the central wing of Regions hospital. Check with the receptionist for his room number. I will be working with Clay and Karen (his wife) to determine what work needs to be done. Much of the work will be just plain old hard labor, hope that doesn't scare anyone, just think of it as snowboard training. I will try to have some sort of schedule started towards the end of this week. I will be at Clay's this saturday for the first project, putting up plastic on the end wall of his production greenhouse. It would be helpful to know the skills of individuals interested in helping, construction and maintenance experience a plus. This is the link to his website http://www.skylinegardensandponds.com/html/about.html I'm kinda tired now and can't think straight, so I'll follow up tomorrow.

I need to report on the condition of Clay who broke both legs while riding last night, Feb 8th. Clay and I race on the Midwest Ski League team "Crash 'n Burn" on Sunday night. Unfortunatly for Clay, it is last race of the season. On his second run through the course he ran his board into one of the gates stopping his board while his upper-body continued down hill. This caused him to fracture both the tibia and fibia and dislocated the ankle of his left leg and fractured the tibia of his right leg near his ankle. Clay was in extreme pain until the ambulance arrived and was able to sedate him. I spent most of last night in Regions hospital ER with Clay's family. He was admitted to the hospital after midnight because they are not sure if surgery is needed on the right leg. I assume he will be in hospital for a couple of days if you wish to visit him. You may not be aware of how this will affect Clay's family and Business. Clay runs a greenhouse opperation in River Falls, WI. Begining March 1st he will be receiving live plant materials for this season. Its the start of the busy time for him. I know I will be spending much of my free time helping out in any way I can. If you feel motivated to help please let me know. Please Keep Clay and his family in your prayers.

Trent, thanks for putting the 2009 session together, the video and pics. I had a great time and enjoyed riding with the group. I'm glad the stubbies on chair 9 were enjoyed by so many. The conditions were great (hero snow), and the sun in the afternoon warmed up nicely. I was glad to see my wipeout, almost at the snow-gun tower, in your second video. Greg, thanks for the pics especialy the hoverboard. Is MUD going to patent the idea? Jack, you need to take off work next year for the MES. Its not to missed!

Trent, thanks for the video and editing job. It looks great. Let us know when MES is scheduled.