pm_wizard

The Northeast/Central was only doing so well because we are all in sheltering from the rain. Winter is really having a problem getting a grip this year. I am getting tired of watching rain run down my windows and being able to see the grime in the streets again. John

Chris, Just for the record, I will be there.... This is really shaping up for a big turnout! There will be a lot of unfamiliar faces to go with the familiar ones. John

Rob: Sorry to hear about Monique's misfortune. She must not have read the warning labels on the bottom of the toboggan! Good thing it wasn't the Intec heel! John

Skategoat, Since we are doing this on a weekday, we can sign in an (effectively) unlimited number of riders. We just need to have a full list of participants to give the club for sign-in. John

Chris, I don't know how busy the club will be that Friday (Jan 27), but when I have organized groups in the past I have had the option of having a slalom course set up for morning or afternoon. If they have a lot of groups booked, the staff may not be willing to set a course, and there has always been a problem keeping others off (i.e. skiers and grommets). Sunday was really nice at Osler, and we even had the sun (for a while anyway). happy New Year everyone! John

Good morning Jack, It is actually below freezing here this morning, major progress! It may even snow New Year's Eve (at least 1 or 2 cm). So much for the Ice Coast argument. John

way to go Chris... I would prefer the Jan 27 date. John

Ouch!

A travel/resort/terrain whatever topic to discuss home and away hills etc. might make sense. John

Thanks John, If the weather forecast is right (a big stretch...) there should be more snow between now and Saturday. I'll have a look on Saturday afternoon. John

Thanks, I think you are right, TekWash is a Nikwax product. The last time I bought a bottle it was in a different format, and was called something like G-wash, which is probably the Grainger product! John

Anyone know what the hills at Blue are like so far? I was up on Saturday, but never made it to the club, I was waiting for a load of firewood (we'll b ethere prompt between 1 and 2 Pm - got there at 5:30). The weather forecast says 20 to 30 cm Wednesday or Thursday plus snow squalls. Is there a base yet? I will probably go up Saturday morning and ride Sunday or in the afternoon on Saturday. I'll b emoving gear and linens and stuff into the condo for the winter. John

I use TekWash and TekRinse (I forget what the stuff is called exactly, by same manufacturer). You wash the jacket once to get it clean with the first product, and then a second time with the sealant/restorer to seal it up. They also recommend using a warm iron to really seal the surface. It works well, but does not restore water repellancy to what it ewas originally. John

yeah, I looked at the web site. That is not a vert.... but still, it looks like a fun way to pass the summer months if you can't commute to Chile. This would be an interesting addition to Ontario Place don't you think? John

Arcrider, 600m vert, now that sounds interesting. It is a BIG improvement on what we ride in Ontario.... Maybe we can make our sport work all year round. Where is this monster being built? John

The TV show was really interesting, a lot of detail on how it was built and how it operates. From looking at the web site, it must have only just opened. It showed the ski patrol team having a snow fight, and it all seemed to hold together in a nice packed granular sort of way. With the idle chairlift above the fog, it looked kind of strange, like an early evening snowstorm in December. I used to go through Dubai a lot in the years right after the first Gulf war. Things have really shanged since then. John

The shots from inside were fascinating. They keep it t -8 to -10 Celsius, so there is a blizzard like fog across the hill. If you looked ahead rather than up, it looked like a hill! If global woarming is really going to hit the smaller hills as hard as some people think, these things might make sense near large urban areas. Of the course the massive refrigeration is anything but good for the environment... John

Did anyone catch the show last night (I think on Discovery) about the indoor slope in Dubai? I missed the beginning, so I didn't get the stats on vert etc. but it was really interesting. The have even set parts of it so steep thay have an avalanche patrol and response team! For $70 a day they rent a board, boots helmet and jacket... what a blast that would be. Only problem is they said that most of the clientele has never been on snow before..... on second thought... John

You may have to give her up for your hobby.... depends on the collateral benefits... John

Dave, You are probably right, but I don't seem to have the presence of mind to keep my hands closed! Automation over free will! BTW we missed you at Charlotte's the other evening. John

I swear by the no gomers, the corners even work to chip frozen snow out of the bindings! But you are right, they scoop snow up under the part against the palm, and then it slowly melts.... into your glove. But they work and they work well. John

I couldn't resist the prolonging of this thread..... I hope this doesn't offend! John The professor told his class one day: "Today we will experiment with a new form called tandem story. The process is simple. Each person will pair off with the person sitting to his or her immediate right. As homework tonight, one of you will write the first paragraph of a short story. You will email your partner that paragraph and send a copy to me." "The partner will read the first paragraph and then add another paragraph to the story and send it back, also sending another copy to me. The first person will then add a third paragraph, and so on back-and-forth. Remember to reread what has been written each time in order to keep the story coherent." "There is to be absolutely NO talking outside of the emails and anything you wish to say must be written in the email. The story is over when both agree a conclusion has been reached." The following was actually turned in by two of his English students: Rebecca and Gary. THE STORY (first paragraph by Rebecca) At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she wanted. The chamomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he liked chamomile. But she felt that she must now, at all costs, keep her mind off Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she thought about him too much her asthma started acting up again. So chamomile was out of the question. (second paragraph by Gary) Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron now in orbit over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about than the neuroses of an air-headed asthmatic bimbo named Laurie with whom he had spent one sweaty night over a year ago. "A. S. Harris to Geostation 17." he said into his transgalactic communicator. "Polar orbit established. No sign of resistance so far." But before he could sign off a bluish particle beam flashed out of nowhere and blasted a hole through his ship's cargo bay. The jolt sent him flying out of his seat and across the cockpit. (Rebecca) He bumped his head and died almost immediately, but not before he felt one last pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had ever had feelings for him. So afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of Skylon 4. "Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel," Laurie read in her newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously excited her and bored her. She stared out the window, dreaming of her youth, when the days had passed unhurriedly and carefree, with no newspaper to read, no television to distract her from her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful things around her. "Why must one lose one's innocence to become a woman?" she pondered wistfully. (gary) Little did she know, but she had less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands of miles above the city, the Anu'udrian mothership launched the first of its lithium fusion missiles. The dim-witted wimpy peaceniks who pushed the Unilateral Aerospace disarmament Treaty through the Congress had left Earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien empires who were determined to destroy the human race. Within two hours after the passage of the treaty the Anu'udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop them, they swiftly initiated their diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The President, in his top-secret mobile submarine headquarters on the ocean floor of the coast of Guam, felt the inconceivably massive explosion, which vaporized poor, stupid Laurie. (Rebecca) This is absurb. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic semi-literate adolescent. (Gary) Yeah? Well, my writing partner is a self-centered tedious neurotic whose attempts at writing are the literary equivalent of Valium. "Oh, shall I have chamomile tea? Or shall I have some other sort of F---KING TEA??? Oh no, what am I to do? I'm just an air-headed bimbo who reads too many Danielle Steele novels!" (Rebecca) ******* ! (Gary) Bitch !! (Rebecca) F--K YOU - YOU NEANDERTHAL !!! (Gary) Go have a cup of tea - whore. (TEACHER) A+ - I really liked this one.

Oh decisions decisions! Where are these guys? John

Helmets and goggles! John

Neil, Good find! It was the flag at the bottom that got me! John