Author: Brownski

Kia Rio: Ski Vehicle Perfection

Posted on by Brownski

Skiers love debates. One question that surfaces regularly in the NYSkiForum: what car makes the best ski vehicle? The answers are always the same: Subaru wagons, Toyota pickups and AWD minivans. Occasionally some pervert will go on about the Jeep Wrangler, which baffles me to no end.

Kia Rio
photo courtesy kia.com

I believe there are many cars that fit the bill. Over the years I’ve had a wide variety of ski cars: a Chevy Spectrum (a serious POS.), a rear-wheel-drive GMC Safari (glorious), a Chevy Caprice (cruising to the hill on a sofa), Olds 88 (eh), a couple different 4×4 Chevy Colorados (pretty f’ing good), a BMW X5 (yeah heated seats and super fast, but meh) and an AWD GMC Safari (more or less perfect in every way).

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Tagged: April Fools24 Comments

Whiteface: Springtime, Sunshine and Skyward!

Posted on by Brownski

Standing at the top of the Summit Quad — with your ski tips sticking out over the lip of Skyward — and looking out across the whole northeast is awe-inspiring. The impression of altitude and exposure is unique in the east. It’s some of the gnarliest and coolest lift-served skiing in New York.

The place has some crust too. Good old Gore and little Mount Peter are older but Whiteface’s Olympic legacy holds it’s own in the history category too. It wasn’t a venue in the 1932 games, and all I really remember about 1980 is the hockey but those details don’t matter, to me.

Most of my skiing is done closer to home in the Catskills or Vermont, but I always try to make the trek to Whiteface at least once a season. I don’t know why I don’t get there more.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Whiteface7 Comments

Skinning: Junior Steps Up

Posted on by Brownski

Saturday night Junior slept soundly for twelve hours straight. Like any teenage boy, he’s accustomed to sleeping in on weekends until somebody makes him get up but that’s usually because he stays up late playing XBox, watching YouTube or TV or some other crap.

On Saturday he crashed early and was immediately out. I’m proud to say it was all my fault. That morning, at my insistence, he skinned up to the top of Plattekill with me for the first time. He did great.

I don’t want to give the impression that my son is in bad shape or anything. He’s a typical high school kid who plays sports. But when I told him we were gonna do a skin before riding the lift the rest of the day, he wasn’t into it.

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Tagged: Earning Turns8 Comments