November 30, 2000

Old Dog and Suicide Sticks

I broke out my XC gear today and slogged up to the top of Deer for a descent that was just plain pathetic. I only got these treacherous things last year and didn't get out on them much, but still my creeping, crashing crawl down the cat tracks and Meadow was down right humiliating. While I suppose the answer is more practice, a nice bonfire seems more appealing.

In any event, the snow situation has not improved significantly since my last report. Even my floundering glacial descent resulted in numerous rock whacks (admittedly that snowplow cut a big swath), so real skiing wouldn't have been all that pleasant (at least down low) either.

The ski hill web page still claims tomorrow (Friday) as the tentative date, but that is obviously fiction and when I called the office they confirmed that the earliest opening date is now December 15th.

It is gray and gloomy and a few sullen flakes are falling as I write this at about 3:30. The temperature is hovering around the freezing mark.