boarderboy Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 standing beneath tall, leafless oaks - hanging wet laundry on our "solar" dryer - (used to call em clothes lines) - sunny, faintly warm but not hot - all of a sudden a BIG shadow glides over the ground. I look up - as a red-tailed hawk settles into a nearby treetop. This, in the middle of the "fastest growing metropolitan area in the U.S." last year. Life could be worse. Third day of spring - evening and sunny, but cooler - hour and a half to kill while my son's at Youth Fellowship. What to do? Sit quietly in a bar reading with a good beer, or longboarding the N.C. State brickyard? The old Sector Nine, camberless and rockerless and almost flexless, got a good workout. And do did I. At home, two, fully-laminated, maple Roarockits wait to be finished off. Theme for the second will be, "Mako," graphics courtesy of my son and Hormis, his "drawing coach." Raleigh has been known as the City of Oaks since the 1860's. Know who first called it that? William Tecumseh Sherman, as he largely spared our fair town on his scorching march back north. A few miles to the east is a village (really) called Lizard's Lick - and beyond that Rocky Mount, a town and region that are, of course, flat as a pancake. Like I said, Life Could be Worse ... but I'd rather be carving fresh corduroy. Gotta move... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utahcarver Posted March 25, 2009 Report Share Posted March 25, 2009 I rode fresh powder yesterday in blowing, drifting conditions. The nose of my swallowtail snowboard could be seen only when it 'porpoised' up from the depths of the fresh snow that had fallen overnight. I'll do the same thing on Thursday morning, too. I'm about 3 weeks behind you on the longboarding. Meanwhile, the beer is still cold :) Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boarderboy Posted March 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2009 and envy your fresh powder! cheers (skate)boarderboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utahcarver Posted March 26, 2009 Report Share Posted March 26, 2009 Actually, tomorrow is the last hurrah for my area. Too bad I'll be babysitting my boss instead of riding a foot of new snow. You mentioned about moving earlier. Any real intents there? There are still some exceptional areas available for riding groomers and powder in the mountain west. All is not lost. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boarderboy Posted March 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 You mentioned about moving earlier. Any real intents there? There are still some exceptional areas available for riding groomers and powder in the mountain west. All is not lost.Mark and 10:30 EDT is not the appropriate time. I can say unequivocally that my wife and I would like to immerse ourselves in the "culture of winter" for at least several years. That desire is tempered by the needs of a super-smart, but super-hyper, ADHD and oppositional son who's entering a probably rocky teenhood. He's in an amazingly good (public) school situation for at least another year. But even in one of the "hotter" job markets in the country, employment and sustenance are issues now. So yeah, we'd probably rather not move for another year, but we may have to. Given our 'druthers it'd probably be northern N.Y. or New England, but we've had some fantastic experiences "out west", and I don't think either of us would rule out living in the "Don't Fence Me In" region of the U.S. Experiencing more of that super-dry, fluffy western powder would be a real rush. And our son is completely capable of being awed and amazed by nature. That may turn out to be his great saving. So who knows, Ullr may smile on us. Thanks for the encouragement. BB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Dahl Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 Can I spend next winter at your place??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utahcarver Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 Jon: Sure, you can rent a downstairs bedroom from us. Separate bathroom, common kitchen. Access to Snowbasin (75 minutes), Powder Mountain (90 minutes), Snowbird (180 minutes), PCMR/Canyons (180 minutes), Targhee (3.5 hours), Jackson, Wyoming (3.5 hours), Sun Valley (5 hours). Or, was there something better than these areas you were looking for? Today's reports that came into my office indicated 20-plus inches of new snow with not a lot of people on the hill. In addition, the local ski area (Beaver Mountain) is opening an additional weekend to service all of the season pass holders one more weekend. Season passes here are cheap, as in cheap. Of course, the terrain is good but, by no means anything that rivals the SLC areas or Snowbasin. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boarderboy Posted March 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 Access to Snowbasin (75 minutes), Powder Mountain (90 minutes), Snowbird (180 minutes), PCMR/Canyons (180 minutes), Targhee (3.5 hours), Jackson, Wyoming (3.5 hours), Sun Valley (5 hours). Or, was there something better than these areas you were looking for? If we lived that close to any of those areas, I wouldn't live through a season! Many moons ago, hardbooted Targhee for three days before going to Jackson on a package deal. Made a bad mistake in not taking a day off before tackling "The Hole". Very memorable and very humbling! Had to spend a lot of time in the Mangy Moose salving my wounds ... Would give a lot to get another shot at those groomed steeps @ Grand Foggy! cheers BB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utahcarver Posted March 28, 2009 Report Share Posted March 28, 2009 It just occurred to me that I am probably guilty of thread-jacking here. I'm very sorry if that's what I did. Otherwise, I'll try and keep to the subject matter from now on. This,.....Possum's Pouch you speak of, any good skating hills to speak of? Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boarderboy Posted March 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2009 Though Possum's Pouch is more a state of mind than a static, bounded space, I'd have to say that in my neck of the woods, there are right smart number of hills that would seem to invite boarding of the wheeled variety. I'm told there's a very active local "scene," and there are certainly lots of gear shops around and plenty of schools and colleges to ensure a steady supply of seekers. There's a sizable indoor skate park in town, and Raleigh's just now building a public, outdoor park. The neighboring, actually abutting, town of Cary has a (pricey) municipal park that alternates skating and BMX every other hour. CARY, by the way, stands for Containment Area for Relocated Yankees, of which we have a blessed profusion. And unlike the reception for General Sherman and his troops, we have welcomed these hordes with open arms. There are more walled and gated enclaves, copycat, lush-turf manicured lawns, and nondescript cul-de-sacs here 'bouts than you can shake a stick at. (Please pardon the danglin' preposition.) You'd think you were in Poughkeepsie... One of my great re-retirement fantasies has been to purchase a sizable parcel somewhere above Montpelier and to call it Cary 2 - Containment Area for Repatriating Yankees. (Lots of em are gettin 'laid off' during the Current Unpleasantness, you see.) And surely as they seek new employment in their more natural environs, they'll need to be gently re-connected with studded tires, block heaters, and woolly long johns. And there'll have to be some kind of test and certification for permanent re-residency, of course. But I've digressed. I don't know if there's slalom competition locally, but I do see a sizable number of longboards used for cross-campus, and even thoroughfare, transportation. And that board population is about to increase by two ... I must withdraw from the field for the evening ... reluctantly Les, aka (skate)boarderboy powder to the people!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.