Picto Diary - 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 March 2019
Above: (50). Bishop and Bob Salerno. Deer Valley, Snow Park Lodge. 01 March 2019.
America's first freestyle skiing champion and inductee U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. Introduced to me by 'Bird at Empire Lodge. Bishop likes hanging out with ski greats. march 1
Skied with The Pope, Mrs. Driggs, Espresso, and Johann Palmstruch.
1 inch new.
Another epic day...partly sunny. Two laps Orion.
Above: Espresso, Mrs. Driggs, Johann Palmstruch, and The Pope. Deer Valley. 01 March 2019.
Park Citi (sic) not dead yet. — at Deer Valley Resort 01 march
Above: (51) Bald Mountain. Deer Valley. 02 March 2019. File Image.
Snowing. Four inches new. At breakfast...'Cake, Golf, Johann Palmstruch, 'Bird. 02 march
Seen on the mountain: LW, Bud, MDPQ, Stihl.
Skied with Johann Palmstruch and 'Cake.
Image: file.
Above: (52). Bishop and Vanessa-Mae. Deer Valley. 03 March 2019.
Foot of new snow to push around. The skilled Vanessa-Mae "grace" fully (sic) tolerates Bishop's ponderous ski pace in the deep, swaled powder. 03 march
The snow just keeps falling and falling.... See More — at Deer Valley Resort.
(53). Bish, Guzzi, 'Bird. Northside lift. Deer Valley. 04 March 2019.
Bishop memorializes in image the fact that experts will actually ski with him.
Epic day.
After a foot of new snow the previous 36 hours, today is the best groomed snow possible. Bluebird. 20 degrees. Perfect. Peeler fantastic.
Ran in to Maharaja and Comic Mom when about to store my skis....Bob Wheaton walked by and we talked to him for a few minutes.....no chance of DV taking snow boarders, he said.
Skied an extra run with Maharaja and Comic Mom. — at Deer Valley Resort.
Above: (54). Stockli and The Actuary. Mountaineer lift base. Deer Valley. 05 March 2019.
Bluebird. Epic. 2x Magnet.
Pre ski Snow Park. Golf says big storm coming before the weekend.
The Actuary says no free Ikon passes to seniors, season pass holders next year.
Medevac chopper landed at Empire Lodge as we were entering Ruby lift. Don't know nature of incident. Sad and sobering to see these situations. — at Deer Valley Resort.
Above: Baptism invite for Grr and Z. 06 March 2019.
I stayed home today to "get stuff done."
Apropos the upcoming baptism, I feel honored to have been asked to accompany on the piano for the hymns.
Breakfasted with Stihl and Golf (no image). Snow Park Lodge. Breakfast. Pre Ski. Deer Valley, UT. 07 March 2019.
Business Trends
Stihl reports his business is booming. There are some interesting, behind the scenes, observations though. Twelve Stihl franchises have closed in the state of Utah in the last 25 years. Stihl, with his great location near Home Depot and Costco, at 21st South and Third East, in Salt Lake City attracts all of the Stihl loyalists....eg. he benefits from ongoing industry consolidation.
Likely, aggregate sales of Stihl products... chain saws, generators, snow removers etc.... are not doing that well. This trend mirrors similar trends in golf, motorcycling, guns, and skiing to name a few. Millennials are not interested in the same stuff that their parents buy. In addition to the aforementioned, they don't by cars, homes, hard goods, at the same rate and amount as their forebears.
Fewer Americans are working with their hands, fixing stuff, mowing their own lawns, chain sawing down trees, and engaging themselves in outdoor hobbies. Soon we'll have a whole cohort of people who are wholly dependent on "experts" to do everything for them. Methinks that an overly dependent society augers unfavorably for the future of individual freedom... more people who are willing to do whatever others tell them to do without thinking for themselves. Just sayin'.
In any case, I love being with Stihl and Golf. They are as close to family as anyone I know. And, what an outstanding family. I want TIMDT and Mwah (sic) to be near them and their siblings when the mud hits the fan. Heck...its unbelievable. Both these guys are grandpas! It doesn't seem like that much time has passed since I knew them as kids.
Stihl and Golf are hyper expert skiers. They were headed for Triangle Trees. I would have followed them, but as the Mack Truck of skiers, I would have had a hard time keeping up.
Ski Selection:
I've been using two sets of skis this year. Kastle RX 12's for carving days on groomed snow. Kastle MX 88's for days, like today, when there is snow to push around.
Today:
Today was a weird conditions day for skiing at Deer Valley. At lower elevations, in the balmy temperatures, the snow was wet and clumpy. At higher elevations the snow was pretty good. But dividing the higher and lower elevations was a layer of fog. There had been nine inches of new snow over the last 24 hours, so there was good snow to ski.
There is a positive spin about skiing in the fog. I slow down, which requires taking more turns. Ergo. More exercise and more calories burned.
While skiing alone I can work on technique without feeling the peer pressure to keep up with accompanying skiers. I thought, as I was skiing slowly and smoothly, making tight controlled turns while skiing down semi fog, flat light, Hidden Treasure, that "hey, I'm actually a better skier this year than I was last year!" That's a good feeling to have as one gets older.
Ski Break
The Actuary joined me at Empire Lodge for the mid morning break. We skied three lifts together back to Snow Park to finish for the day. As I've said many times before, I love it when experts like the Actuary will deign to join me for skiing, even for a few runs. I learn from them.
Addendum
Excellent summary ("The Terminal List" by Jack Carr).
Do you post on Amazon Reviews? You should.
Panama,
Los Angeles, CA
Thanks for sharing this (Review of Tales of the Alhambra) Steve, I was unaware of this story and it sounds excellent. A good read to add to my 'retirement' list to challenge my vocabulary and reading skills!
Sara,
Palo Alto, CA