A Bad Day Skiing

By Saturday I’d been in a foul mood for at least ten days. Job stress, a seemingly endless stream of bad news from family and friends and an energy-sucking head cold combined for a perfect storm of gloom. On top of it, I missed skiing the weekend before and a mid-week warm spell, followed by plunging temps overnight, could only mean one thing for Saturday — ice.

a bad day skiing

It was one of those cycles where a little flexibility made all the difference. Friday was a spring-like day filled with sunshine and corn snow. By Sunday, the mountain ops would have time to groom everything into fresh, carve-able corduroy. With the ice locked in, Saturday would suck. Friday or Sunday were obviously better choices.

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David Lee Ghostlaw: Patriarch of a Gore Ski Family

I started skiing in 1968 at Ski Dutchess in Beacon NY. It was at night and I was on rental skis. After setting off, I promptly rotated around and proceeded down the slope backwards until I fell on my behind. Pulling myself off the snow, something was ignited inside me and that fire still burns today. Skiing has rewarded me with some of the best moments and memories of my life.

David Lee Ghostlaw on Farnum Glacier

Twenty years earlier in Bombay NY, my future father-in-law, David Lee Ghostlaw was having a similar experience in an open hayfield adjacent to his home. On wooden skis without metal edges, skiing straight down the hill, over and over, he also experienced the magic.

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The Old Stop-n-Go

Every time I’m on a lift that stops more than once I have to wonder if it’s a mechanical problem, beginners having trouble loading or just a good old fashioned Stop-n-Go.

skiing in a fur
The Ultimate Sin?

The first Stop-n-Go I saw was possibly the most egregious abuse of power I’ve ever witnessed. It was early in the season when I worked as a liftie at Alpine Meadows. I was learning the ropes at the upper loading station on the Weasel Chair. A middle aged woman was skiing in an expensive fur coat on a sunny day and she was obviously getting a kick out of people noticing her. I’m not sure if the liftie was an animal lover or just offended by the ostentatious display of wealth, but the sight of that coat set him off.

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