A Great Ski Getaway!

All I can say is after a great weekend at Mt. Baker is: I'm pooped!

As they've been advertising, Mt. Baker was open with more snow than any other area in North America, and while it didn't snow, the sun was out, the lifts were running and we skied the entire mountain.

A bunch of our ski school's clinic staff and I skied together on Saturday, and it's really a great way to get the season started, as the camaraderie makes it fun, and the competitiveness that I think almost everybody has keeps you going hard.

On Sunday (same beautiful weather), a smaller number of us skied with my son Spencer and his friend Jake. We had a great time, including watching them catch some air in the terrain park (I thought, albeit briefly, about trying to pull off a 360 like I used to 30 years ago... OK, I thought very briefly).

With the warmer weather, the snowpack was starting to look a little thin. The forecast for the week is to have reasonably cold weather but no precipitation until later in the week.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

2005/2006 First Day on Snow

Yahoo! Even though I've only been on snow one day, it already feels like a better season than last year.

I went to a local area, Stevens Pass. On the first run, we had beautiful cordouroy to get warmed up, and then had a day that was fantastic for the second day of the season. What a difference a year makes!

My skiing thought for the season? Fore/Aft balance... what's yours?

A common theme mentioned by PSIA examiners I've skiied with, as well as a CSIA (Canada) Level 4 examiner suggested that a lot of skiers tend to put too much pressure on the front of the boot, effectively locking up the ankle. I concentrated on maintaining a light pressure on the front of the boot, and reacting to changes in the terrain by flexing from the ankles "up".

Anyway, it felt very balanced... we'll keep working on it!