bonzo

3/29/13 Managed to create a few trenches before the 6 PM close. Since they were calling rain on Saturday, wanted to get in at least another ride before the snow melts under the sun. If there is a thing called hero slush, that would describe the conditions Friday. Met John, who works in Afton's lift department. He was on two planks but said he was riding one of the ski school's alpine boards until it softened up too much and he moved back to skiing. Sounds like he is looking for a board, but being a taller, bigger guy, he is probably going to need a lot of board once he progresses past the learning stage. If you have a big board and you are looking to clean out the basement, he may be interested next season. Afton may be open next weekend, otherwise the end will be today, it all depends on the weather the next seven days. Either way, it's been a good season.

With the fresh snowfall on Monday (3/18/13), Afton was a winter wonderland, less the breeze. The was very little traffic and pow stashes could be found off 16, and 12 until close. They never opened 6 on Monday, so if you didn't mind a slight skate uphill from 5, there was untracked available all night. It was a blast despite fighting a cough and cold. My little 2 plank racer summed it up as: "This was the most fun free skiing that I had all year." Conditions are bound to be good to excellent for today (again, less the wind). I have always believed that March/April is generally the best time for skiing/ boarding at Afton and in the mountains. You get regular fresh dumps, the days are longer, generally warmer, the sun is higher in the sky, the snow tends toward heroic consistency, and the "tourists" are gone. This will all be a faint memory in a month. Personalize it, own it, elevate it!

Last Saturday the snow was soft with the warm temperatures. Very nice. Monday there was a little fresh stuff on top of a fast base. More fresh stuff tonight. Don't forget. Tomorrow is the spring fling, a chance to see if your board floats as well as it carves. I'll be there, but I may be on 2 planks for the toboggan race.

Saturday, I saw you Scott, on 7. While waiting for you to ride the lift up I got a call to the bottom of 17. That is a long skate from 7. Lift operator told me someone hit a tree up "a little ways on the left." I decided to hike it and told another patroler who arrived the same time as me to ride the lift and one of us would get there faster. Turned out it was where Rosie's and Vicky's merged. Nice cardio workout and I beat the other patroller riding the lift. Fortunately the guest was OK. Sunday Trent bumped into me (literally but gently, twice to get my attention) in the lift line of 5. I was 2 planking for the USSA race with one of my kids. We had a nice 5 minute chat, shared board issues and repairs needed. I headed off to 2 where I was able stand around most of the afternoon waiting for the offspring to take a run, Trent wisely went home. It was a busy holiday weekend that afternoon. Conditions were nice both days. Good to see the sun. Most runs held an edge well. Easy 12 was a nice playground away from the crowds.

Thanks. My recovery trajectory looks promising right now. I am there to provide medical assistance. All I can say is that the incident was referred to Vail Management. I provide them with the facts and let them deal with guest relations. Vail is highly concerned with the safety of their employees and guests. Board safe, have fun.

Sunday 1/20 Nice groomers, cold weather. Had to take it easy with training on 7 and 12. Orthopedic surgeon on patrol examined my should and diagnosed me with a probable partially torn rotator cuff. Advice: "try not to re-injure it." I concur. No wait, it gets better. This injury was sustained Friday night when a boarder plowed into me from behind near the bottom of 14. The hit was so hard that it bent my binding and the step in heel piece has to be replaced. It gets even better, the perp tried to run and hide, then denied it, then blamed me. You think they could see me in a red coat with a big reflective white cross on the back and the shoulders. Could it get even better? Yes! I am going out west on Saturday bruised and battered. Vitamin I and rest until then.

Let me commend you on how you handled the situation. Protecting her C-Spine is highly important, second only to making sure that the patient has an open airway, is breathing, and has a good pulse (or not loosing too much blood). You recognized these issues immediately. If the patient had a spinal injury, she probably owes you a debt of gratitude for keeping here friends from doing more harm. Trust me, through misfortune often accompanied by on party being hormonally challenged, the range of accidents I have seen on the slope is astounding, but if you factory the hours of participation per injury, the numbers are not too bad.

According to the formula, I should ride at with a 20 inch stance width. For some reason I prefer 17.5", but then again I run 66/60 angles. At least now I have an excuse for poor riding.

Sorry I can't make it. But don't feel too bad for me, I'll be enjoying (hopefully) Champagne Powder in Steamboat. I know off piste riding is not the most popular option here, so I will be sure to leave a few trenches in the groomers in honor of MES 2013.

Just speaking as the guy who has to clean up the accidents: No helmet makes you invulnerable, but any helmet made by a reputable manufacturer will provide some level of protection. If you helmet is fits poorly, is old or cracked, its protection is compromised. If you are a responsible parent, don't let your kid on the snow without a helmet. Because of they are growing, their brain fits a little "looser" within their skull. They need all the protection they can get. If you are 18, I believe that it is your choice whether or not you wear a helmet, just like being a smoker. My preference is that you would chose to protect yourself to minimize what I have to do in the case of an accident. If you chose not to wear a helmet or to smoke, please don't ask me to pay for your medical care if your choice result in a unhappy outcome. You made the choice, not me. You assumed the risks and financial liabilities. Natural selection applies to all members of the plant and animal kingdom. Humans are not exempt.

Get well soon!

My condolences go out to the friends and family of the teen. Working as Ski Patrol I have seen more than my share of incidents in the parks. We respond to nearly 2000 calls every season, but surprisingly, the terrain parks do not represent a disproportionate number of calls; they do however usually involve more severe injuries. Just last week I responded to two head injuries within 30 minutes. Both teens cracked their helmets in the park. Both teens needed an ambulance ride to the level one trauma center because they had concussions. If they were not wearing helmets at least one of the teens probably would have needed to be resuscitated. The bigger threat is blood loss due to an injury such as a ruptured spleen or liver, broken femur or pelvis. If we can't get the rig there fast enough, we call in the bird.

Get used to it. The plan is to make snow 24/4 or 5. Turn off the water on the weekends (or when it is too warm to make snow), but the rest of the time blow like there is no tomorrow. Large consumers of electricity can negotiate a flat rate for certain months when demand is low.

For all the rain, conditions were pretty good early and deteriorated later. Fast snow. Snow cover is marginal. Saw my friend from the ski school, the monoboarder. Zinged me that my bindings were on wrong. Of course it took him 8 months to formulate a response to the question "Is that a snowboard?" I told him not to believe everything you read on the internet. Have an epic day!

On a plane to PR, only had the fun of driving in snow to the airport. So I am probably missing an epic day for I love the fresh stuff unlike some carvers. So tell me, how wonderful was it?

This year you can get a 25% discount off the walk up rate. I wouldn't book any flights or lodging based on free skiing out west. Also remember, Vail Resorts isn't going to borrow from the Chinese for "Afton Stimulus." Someone is going to pay for it. The market here is very different than out west. You don't see very many families in jeans or Carhartt's from Iowa skiing at the other vail resorts. That family will spend $500-1000 for their big weekend of skiing, a large portion of which is spent on lift tickets, rentals, lessons, and resort dining. These are the customers that make money for the midwestern resorts. They are price sensitive; what is the balance between the experience and price? It will be interesting to see. The season pass holders make sure that the they can pay for the electricity to make snow and run the lifts and hire a few employees, because that cash is collected before the start of the season. I'd like to see some improvements, but you have to know your customer. Believe it or not, we are not the target demographic for midwestern resorts. Oh yeah, Standard disclaimer: just my opinion.

Rather thin snow cover . We could use colder temperatures or the real stuff .

This is part of Vail Resorts expansion into "urban resorts." Now I work for two multinational corporations. I have as many details as the rest of you .

After going through a few Spring-like days, conditions should get better about midweek. The cooling pond is full to the brim. We may even get snow next weekend. Definitely a few thin spots were forming yesterday, but still enjoyable and able to hold an edge.

Scott's report was pretty spot on. He neglected to mention how busy 5 can get with tourists. I spotted Chris from the Ski and Ride school sporting a vintage (ca. 2000) Factory Prime. I was able to take a run with him before I needed to defrost my face from the compressed air snowguns giving me artificial freshies. If it gets cold enough they can turn on the Hedco's and make almost a foot overnight. Looking at the weather report, next weekend should have the whole frontside open.

They can make a lot of snow on a cold night. Who knows what tomorrow brings? I worked last Sunday when just 4 was open. I didn't even bother to boot up. I'll be there tomorrow. Hoping for the best.

That looks like the break my teenage son had, except it stopped short of the head. He did it throwing a dodge ball. They gave him fentanyl in the ambulance the 3 doese of morphine in the ER and he was in agony. Since you didn't mention the pain, you must be tough. Took him about 12 weeks to heal wearing only a brace. Heal fast and do your PT ASAP. Good to have a goal for recovery.

Oh, to be 14 again...... You will recover and be stronger because of this life event. Life often does not follow our self-scripted plan.

Best reason ever to rent a pair of ski boots.

I think it was John R. From what I gather, KSTP was there early and didn't want to stick around until 2:30 PM for the event, so they sent a few riders early so KSTP would have some footage. That's why so few people are watching. Even I wasn't there yet. Much clearer shot in the you tube video. You can see the broadcast camerman in the background. I stayed inside the snow fence to the left of the box. Nice dry spot to help point out lost equipment to the participants.