trent

i was looking at ski racing calendar, thought i'd update y'all so you can adjust your expectations. 1/16-17, 2/1-4, 2/9-11 (top level, should be fun to watch).

heads up, ski races 12/23. and 1/13-15. but 13-14 will be the top skiers in the area, so you will see serious talent!

i taught there for a few years, a long time ago! actually grew up near there, and had my first ski experience there too. thought i could figure out skiing on my own.* got down the hill fine (the chalet was off hamline, so you'd start at the top). then the hilarity ensued. i kept grabbing the rope tow all at once, would get launched forward onto my face. over, and over, and over. then i would struggle getting up, putting back on skis, etc. i ended up carrying everything back uphill to the chalet, and quit. 1 run down, probably 15 tow rope launches/drags.** * there may have been an episode of typical asshole behavior, and i didn't get to sign up for lessons with my brother, because of my usual behavior. i DID behave well enough to sign up for lessons the next year. ** yes, people tried to help. do you think i listened? see above, for my behavior profile

that's awesome! i've yet to see jim in town, but i did run into him in the parking lot at afton. can't belive he's that old, i hope we are all able to play at his age!

at least it didn't look crowded.

heads up, looks like ski racing 1/14 (night) and 1/15; 2/18 (night) and 2/19; 3/5 and 3/6. if you are there, it's the fis racers, which is the older kids. and most of them are phenomenal skiers! hands and hips on the snow during slalom.

nope, probably not making it up north this season. kids aren't racing anymore. which i guess is good.... i heard last weekend at the (spirit) race that one of the chairs stopped for over an hour. with people stuck on it. then a different chair did the same thing. apparently, at least one kid was on both chairs! i hope nobody was frostbit being stuck while in their gs suits. racing is at indianhead this weekend, and 1/28-1/31, and 2/25-2/27. racing at giants 2/12-2/13.

looks like you're having a pretty great season dave! funny how spirit looked like it might be done a year or so ago, and now it's all the hills that vail bought that are barely open / pissing everyone off. glad the northern mn crew are getting in some playtime! and i think the only reason bigmario wouldn't make a trench, is because he and his co crew aren't used to (or are too smart to) riding in sub zero temps.

yeah, this sucks donkey balls! it's not even worth going to afton at this point on the weekends. lines and runs are crazy long/crowded 45 min after opening. vail is doing an excellent job at losing all the long time pass holders.

all the cool kids live here!

sorry @bigwavedave, i haven't seen jim, or dave, in years. i would've actually thought jim was still up there. i can only hope i'm that energetic and positive when i get to his age! and thanks for all your reports and pictures! for those of us that didn't get out much this year, it's been fun living vicariously through your adventures!

sorry, finally got around to looking through these, editing, and posting. these are just some of them. if you want to see all of them - good, bad, crash, and out-of-focus, look in the "carving all" gallery. https://www.trentjohnsonphotography.com/Carving/MES-2020/Carving/

are you talking about taping the mask to your face? if so, i'm sure when i try to do it, i'll have some sort of allergic reaction to the tape, and have some nice red lines across my face. but, since home is the only place i'm not masked up, i guess it doesn't matter! time to find the duct tape

racing both sat and sun this weekend. i think it'll be mostly on lookout, but there will be a ton of kids. you've been warned.

heads up.... racing all weekend at afton. sat and sun hills 1 and 2 will be covered in gates, and kids. but, from 3 on should be clear as the d-team racers are at welch. (heading to that thread now)