We had a plan for this past Saturday: a plan to ski. Last month at the ski expo the Whitetail folks gave us seven coupons for free early-season skiing. Now it was time to use them. But what ever goes according to plan?
Melanie awoke looking quite ill, and complaining about ear pain. Kathi and Jeffrey reluctantly offered to stay behind, and take her to the doctor. And it was a good thing they did, as she was diagnosed with two ear infections, and one eye infection. I have had experience with ear infections, and the pain was excruciating. Melanie is a tough one. Get well soon.
The rest of us piled in the car for the one-movie-long (2 hours) drive to Whitetail. We arrived to a brilliant blue sky, white ski slopes, and the familiar roar of snow-making equipment. The new snow was a welcome site, but also presented a potential problem. In the rush to pack four skiers worth of gear into the car I neglected to put in my own parka. The cold temps wouldn't be a problem, as I rarely get cold. But some of the chairlifts pass under or near the snow-making equipment, which leaves an icy coating on everything, including skiers. My worry was unfounded, however. The bright sun pushed temps into the upper 30s, and the snow-making equipment was taken off-line.
Whitetail has added a new green run for this winter. We made a run or two on the bunny hill, then switched to the fixed-grip quad, where we got our first look at the new run. It immediately became a favorite, and we hit Sidewinder many more times. Construction of this new run required deep cuts in the hillside between the two quad chairlifts. Many tons of earth had to be moved to create the steady downhill grade. It was worth the effort. The uphill side of the trail created many opportunities for Thomas and I to ride up for wall hits, or make improvised jumps.
Evie liked it too, but she preferred to straight-line right down the middle. She picked up considerable speed, but stayed in control. I convinced her to make a few S-shaped turns, but she said she preferred the speed. A few runs later she was ready for a break. She went with Kayleigh to the lodge, and Thomas and I made a few runs off the steeper high-speed quad.
The other new addition at Whitetail is a double chairlift which exclusively serves the terrain park. The idea is to reduce traffic on the high-speed lift by keeping park rats off the upper mountain, and on this, their very own lift. Not sure how this will work, however. Thomas and I rode a couple of times, and didn't notice a high rate of usage. But then we didn't encounter a lift line all day, so maybe this wasn't the best test.
Kayleigh was skiing for the first time on her new (lightly-used) twin-tip skis. I had picked these up last month at the Ski Expo, when the kids weren't paying attention. We had considered keeping them hidden until Christmas, but decided that Kayleigh shouldn't have to suffer through the first third of the season on her old much-too-small gear. She seemed to be enjoying herself. Kayleigh isn't a big risk taker, but I did convince her to try some switch skiing.
Days are short this time of year. By 3pm the mountain was shaded from the sun. The temps started to drop, and the slopes were getting a little icy. Soon the snow-making resumed. It was time to go home.
I often let people know that I have never had a bad day on the slopes. The streak continues.
