Picto Diary - 18, 19, 20 February 2016 - Happy Birthday!

Above: Drums and TWO3. Legacy Lodge. Park City Ski Area. 18 February 2016.

Today was a day of really nasty weather. Rain at the base. High winds enabled only the lower mountain lifts (Payday, Crescent, Three Kings, First Time) to operate, and then, only at reduced speeds.

Drums and Mwah (sic) rode up the Crescent lift and skied down Crescent run in about five inches of heavy, new, wind packed snow. Rain had morphed to snow 1000 feet higher on the mountain. It was hard skiing, but, as the run became more steep, the turning came more easily. I was amazed at how easily and skillfully Drums negotiated what was quite a difficult slope for Mwah (sic).

We took three more runs on the lower mountain (Dividend/Drift/Blanch, Treasure Hollow, Home Run, before taking a break at Legacy Lodge, where we saw TWO3.

Earlier in the day, when we were riding the lift and the ski prospects looked grim, I told Drums that I had a friend who skied every day, who always gave the same response when asked how the skiing was, no matter what the weather: "Best day ever!"

Surprised to see TWO3, I said to Drums, "Hey, this is the guy who always says, 'best day ever!'"

I told Drums that I had never seen TWO3 complain about anything. He was positive all the time. TWO3 then added, "nobody likes to hear negative stuff... whining or complaining.

(PC 49)

Second Image: Payday lift. Stopped due to electrical failure. Park City Ski Area. 18 February 2016.

Drums and Mwah (sic) fully with the intent of skiing some more after leaving the Park City base, Legacy Lodge, saw that the lines at Payday lift base were huge and that the lift was stopped due to electrical failure. Putting power of positive thinking aside, I told Drums, "No way Jose am I going to get in that line!" Drums said, "Me neither, Grandpa. Let's go get some lunch!"

When I'm on a crowded lift chair, stopped for five minutes or more, claustrophobia comes on. Yes. Claustrophobia, not acrophobia. I have to look up into the air and breathe deeply to ward off the effect. I think the reaction comes from the fear that I will have to wait an hour, with a terminally broken down lift, to be off loaded by rope by two 100 pound, female ski patrollers. I'm pushing 300 pounds. So, in my mind, the arithmetic doesn't work. Ten years ago, over the course of a ski season, all Park City's four six pack lifts had to be off loaded from the ground. The fear doesn't go away, ten years later. Interestingly, the claustrophobia effect does not come on if the chair is not full. ie. with two or three chair mates (not four or five) I'd feel OK.

I captured this image after arriving at the truck. The lift had not moved since we had first noticed the stoppage at Legacy Lodge 15 minutes previously.

Above: Happy Birthday Grr! 18 February 2016. Image by Rudy, Jr.

TIMDT and Mwah (sic) were proud to attend this event at boys' home.

Above: Happy Birthday Z! 18 February 2016,

Above: Drums. 50% of the ten foot cornice Into the abyss. Deer Valley, UT. 19 February 2016.
You can see from his tracks, that's he's the first to accomplish this today. 11:00 AM. Frankly, I don't know who, in their right mind, would like to do this. Some obscure, back route on the trail from Montage Hotel to Lady Morgan Lift.

Above: 'Cake and DV foot long hot dog. Royal Street Cafe. Deer Valley, UT. 19 February 2016. Special for the day. At left, SpaGo, laughs in amazement that anyone would want to eat the 'dog.

Above: TIMDT, Montage, Drums, Maui, and 'Cake. Atop Solid Muldoon run. Deer Valley, UT. 19 February 2016. On being asked how it was to tone down his skiing to ski with the geezers, Drums replied, "ummm.... it was OK."

(DV 50)

Above: Z and Grrr. At home. 19 February 2016. Finished constructing the roller ball track they received from Granny and Grandpa for their birthday, yesterday.

Above: Mynduveroan, center with poles raised, in her Wasatch Freestyle group, Deer Valley, 20 February 2016.

Her mother and I, skiing together, ran into Mynduveroan's group at the base of Mountaineer Lift. We didn't see Drums' group, who were likely skiing in areas where I'll never go.

(DV 51)

Addendum


Steve,

Also read it ["Freedom at Midnight"] many years ago and you have sparked my interest to read it again.

Bill,
Tacoma, WA