Picto Diary - 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06 January 2020 - DV Report

Above: (13) Bishop's charges. Empire Lodge break. Deer Valley. 01 January 2020

Good skiers all. What does Grandpa do when they shoot into the trees?

Above: (14) Blundstones, made in OZ. 02 January 2020

Worn every skiing day for the last twenty years.

TIMDT won't go out with me if I'm wearing them. She wants me to toss them. She is probably an inch away from tossing them sans my permission. Does she not appreciate sentimentality and tradition?

Nice skiing. Jabbered with Mark, Mike, The Actuary and Visicalc.

Above: (15) Daly Chutes. Deer Valley. 03 January 2020.

Bishop don't (sic) ski over there.
Image from Dakota.
2x Reward. Best conditions possible.
Jabber: The Actuary, Mark, Bill, The Electrician and Golf.

Above: (16) Bishop Office. Empire Lodge. Deer Valley, UT. 04 January 2020.

Uncharacteristically, skied pre break on Bald Mountain.
Perseverance (2x)
Keno
Nabob
Home Run...

...before working my way to Empire Lodge for break.

Sixteenth day on the DV mountain and I'd have to say, overall, the experience has been quite good. Happily, there was plenty of snow in December. The new RFID lift management system works quite well... and the lefties do a good job to see that the chairs are filled.
There is room for improvement... but, most of the issues are "first world" in nature.

Better job needs to be done by aligning the grooming report to what was actually groomed the night before. Two days ago, Reward didn't show as groomed on the report, or the Wasatch lift grooming sign, yet it was perfectly groomed I only noticed this when I looked left towards the run as I was seated in the Wasatch chair. There are other similar examples that I could enumerate, but won't. The point is made.

A DV skiing regular used to be able to count on the fact that certain runs would always be groomed daily. Not so, this year. In recent days I've encountered heretofore always groomed runs, Hawkeye, Orion, Keno, and Hidden Treasure not always groomed. One reason may be the resort's desire to do snowmaking buildup on some of these runs. I skied down Hidden Treasure today, expecting it to be groomed, and found it treated not by a groomer, but, by a Zamboni.

New point of sale at lodges needs work. The data entry seems to be complicated and some of the cashiers are pretty slow in pushing the right buttons. When they make a mistake, they need to start over. I saw a line build up behind one cashier at Empire lodge a couple of days ago at a dozen people/transactions. Part of the cashiering problem might also be a difficulty finding labor. This being said, the cashiers are all pleasant, they all try hard. I suspect management will work out this "problem" shortly.

Above: (17) Advisory Sign. Deer Valley. 05 December 2020.

Sign says, "downhill skier has the right of way." No if's, and's or but's. Yet hundred's of skiers violate this rule, out of either ignorance or rudeness, by coming upon a downhill skier ahead and yelling, "on your left/right!" as they attempt to ski past. There is no exception in the rule book that allows an uphill skier to transfer responsibility for collision avoidance to the down hill skier. I hope that advisory signs such as shown here can work to educate skiers to eliminate the rude practice of yelling "on your left/right" as they attempt to ski past a downhill skier.

Above: (18) Stein's Way. Deer Valley. 06 December 2020.

3x Steins Way. 3 inches new atop groomed. Bright sun. Crisp air. Holiday skiers gone. Glorious.
Saw Stockli at break. Asked about his week staying with family at Beaver Creek.
"Good," he said..... "but on one day during the holiday break, it took 2 1/2 hours, to get from the ski area parking lot the lift summit."
"Yes," I said. "We love to have the holiday visitors come ski and pay the bills, but it's also good to see them go home!"

Addendum:

Steve -
You look good. Lost a lot of weight, haven't you?

Torq,
West Jordan, UT

Tks. Forty pounds down over the last year. Much suppressed carbs.