A New York Ski Journey

For reasons you might know, I hadn’t skied in nearly a month. I knew I was out of shape, but not sure how far. I wondered about my wind, would it be affected? It was time to figure it out, on my first trip, back in the game. On Friday morning, I headed north toward the snow.

Plattekill

I still have this feeling that I’m on borrowed time, like skiing could go away at any moment. Planning to ski four days in a row was a sign, I was going to push it. It had been snowing all week, and physically there was no reason I shouldn’t ski.

My doctor, a skier herself, told me to “take it easy.” I think we both knew that advice would be heeded, but only up to a certain point.

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Covid: Return from the Edge

Yesterday, I finally got out of covid quarantine, and I went for a ride on my mountain bike. I did my longer loop that includes a swing though the old AT&T Pole Farm, an historical international communications hub that was active from 1927 until 1975.

On my ride, I decided that I’d have to write my story down. It’s clearly off topic, and while I am the home page police, I’m also the biggest offender of my own home page rules. My sister’s passing comes to mind. It was only peripherally related to skiing, but it was huge in my life.


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Gore Mountain: A Big Step Forward

I skied Gore two days this holiday week and — all things considered — the mountain was in pretty good shape. During the week before Christmas significant rainfall wiped out the thin natural base leaving everything very firm.

first chair

It was great to see Gore’s snowmaking firepower on display. There were issues with the gondola both days, leading to lines that left me uncomfortable. I was grateful for the AE2 and ended up riding it exclusively in the morning.

The two days I skied were before the debut of the new Lift 6, so the gondola was the only route to the top. Both days I took it only once, to access Topridge and the summit. At one point on Tuesday I considered booting it from the saddle to the top of Bear. I’ve certainly done crazier things in my days.

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