The snow is not always whiter…

I have a collection of shot glasses from other mountains I’ve skied/partied at. There aren’t very many… Growing up with Schweitzer in my backyard, I never really felt the need to explore other areas. While I participated in the occasional college venture or weekend family getaway, my knowledge of other mountain terrain is minimal. Last weekend I ventured to a neighboring mountain. Here’s my story…

We got up to the mountain, got our tickets and waited in a lift line. Waited. In a lift line. A concept I’m not overly familiar with….

We arrived at the top – Killer views, yes – but hardly rivaling. It was a busy Saturday, so we sought out the tougher terrain, hoping for some powder and less chance of collision.

First black diamond we dropped into – Any trace of powder had been morphed into boulder sized moguls, taunting my quivering knees and laughing at my sheer disdain for the terrain. Moguls aren’t my thing. And my knees hate them.

Funny thing is – this is how every previous powder run was sitting – give or take those that had been tracked out to a sheer ice.

Suddenly, I realized – I’m grumpy! I am on vacation, in great company, and I’m SKIING – a sport that has translated into a noun in my life, synonymous with bliss, euphoria, pure, unadulterated joy – and somehow – I was grumpy! Then it hit me – Not grumpy – just downright spoiled.

Don’t get me wrong – this mountain, I know, provides some epic skiing when the snow is good, but at home – I’ve never had to hunt this hard for it.

I did get lost and ended up in the trees near a lightly populated T-bar, where conditions and steeps prevailed, and I experienced “skiing” again – but, I have to admit, it wasn’t just the snow that got to me, but I lapped chairlifts from 9-4 that day, and I swear – not a single liftie said hello. Or asked me how my day was. Or nodded courteously in my direction. The overall feel of the mountain was the polar opposite of what I experience each day at Schweitzer.

At the end of the day skiing is skiing. And skiing with good company can make bad conditions tolerable – but that’s the beauty of Schweitzer – even when you ski alone – you’re in good company.

Winter or Summer? That is the Question!

As I sit and ponder of summer activities and how excited I am to do them, it makes me wish winter away, but…. I start to think of winter endeavors and I don’t want it to snow more! Dilemma! Dilemma! (Horrible isn’t it? J) I’m not bias towards either one, I just get excited thinking about what to do during them!

Here’s a small portion of our options:

Summer: Mountain biking, dirt biking, kayaking, canoeing, motor boating, hiking, frisbee golf, walks along the lake, BBQ’s (I can smell it now), t-shirts & shorts, horse shoes, bocce, golf, tennis, basketball, playing catch, Silverwood, swimming…

Winter: Skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, sledding/tubing, hot tubbing, snowmobiling, spinning cookies, hooky bobbing (back in Weiser anyways!)

Typing these up brings back the best of memories! All good times to pass on to the next generations. I do realize that I barely tapped into the possibilities and my summer list is longer than my winter list, but that’s mostly because of my lack of winter experiences. Then again, all I have to do is mention skiing and it could literally take up the all the winter fun if I chose it to! It never seems to get old right? There are so many different options of where to go and what style to use.

So, each has their ups and downs. Hanging out in shorts and a t-shirt is always nice, but remember how hot 100 degrees feels! And winter has those crazy storms that make getting around hard, but brings us a plethora of powder! Both sound good eh?

Ok so there obviously aren’t any cons… but which pros outweigh the others? How do you pick from one or the other? Oh wait… we can’t pick, because Mother Nature does! But, we definitely can dream! How many times in late fall do we catch ourselves checking the weather to see if any big snow storms are on the horizon or to check and see when the temps are consistently going to hit the 60’s, 70’s, and on into the 80’s!

I think that is what makes each season so dang exciting!!! The anticipation of it and all the preparations we endure to get our gear in tip top shape ready to roll when the 1^st big snow drops, when the 1^st of the dirt trails finally dries out, or when the lake is warm enough to do a running gainer off of a cliff! I think when you put a bunch of time into something, that’s when you know you like or have a passion for it, especially when it’s weeks or even months off from happening. 

So I suppose I’ll let (let… like I have a choice) Mother Nature do her thing and I’ll keep on enjoying what lies in front of me to its fullest. She wins again! Add to the list if anything fun comes to mind.

Lost But Not Forgotten

I never was all that into history class back in the day… somehow it never seemed all that “real” to me.  Maybe it takes a bit of life experience, coupled with an ever-increasing sense that our individual days on this planet are indeed rather numbered.  No matter what it is, I’ve come to appreciate an exploration of the past.  It’s fun to look back on “the way it used to be”.

Of particular interest to me is the relatively near-past — a look back at Americana of the 20th century.  I think it’s easiest for me to identify with things of the past that actually had some root in the early part of my life — the 1970’s.

I’ve found a couple of interesting Internet sites that have been fun to explore.  Did you know, for example, that there’s a pretty good history of Lost Amusement Parks from around the country?  Take a look at http://www.defunctparks.com/parks/parks.htm I know there are a bunch of parks on these lists that I actually visited as a kid.  Here’s another one that picqued my interest: http://deadmalls.com Who knew that so many malls around the US have already come and gone?

But for me, one site stands above all the rest. It started as a college project by Jeremy Davis, a guy who actually grew up one town over from my hometown in Massachusetts. He founded the New England Lost Ski Areas Project (NELSAP) which can be found at http://www.nelsap.org Currently, this amazing site chronicles the stories of 593 lost ski areas in New England alone!  Now some of them were simple “mom & pop” hills with nothing more than a rope tow, but others were full-sized mountains with big vertical that simply couldn’t survive changing times.

It’s pretty easy to spend hours reading the stories, looking at the photos, examining old trail maps and remembering what it used to be like “back in the day.”  Back east, significant rainfall and rapid re-forestation means that it doesn’t take long for lost ski areas to disappear and turn back to nature.  I think it’s a great concept to document these areas and share their stories with others that share an interest in our skiing heritage.  If this site hadn’t been founded over a decade ago, many area stories would not have been told as memories faded and visible signs of these areas disappeared.

The sad reality is that we’ve lost a few thousand ski hills in North America already… As our sports have progressed, faster lifts have sprouted and slopeside real estate has cropped up, opportunities for people to learn our sport have faded away with each area added to the Lost Ski Areas list.  Progress truly does have pros and cons, as the study of history will teach us.

As you’ll see from the site, NELSAP has expanded to include links to a few more websites specific to other states around the country. Being a relative newcomer to Idaho, I’d love to hear about any stories you have of lost ski areas in our region.   Got any photos to share?

Here’s to you…

So yesterday, I had the pleasure of viewing a trailer for one of Hollywood’s newest pieces of cinematic artistry.  It’s called “Frozen.”  And it’s a ski area horror movie.

At first, I thought… “thanks Hollywood…” the ski areas are having a hard enough time getting people on the mountain and here you go putting out a horror movie that takes place at a ski area.  Especially with tag lines like:

“It’ll do to skiing what Jaws did to swimming.”  And
“With over 5,000 lifts in operation, it’s only a matter of time…”

I was initially concerned.

Then I let the plot unfold (and I use that word loosely).

This film tells the story of 3 friends who decided to go for a day of riding on the mountain.  They begin their day of fun after somehow using the leading lady to scam free lift tickets from the ticket window.  And we all know how hard it is to get free lift tickets these days   Their day of excitement continues and they decide to get ONE MORE RUN…  And that’s when the terror sets in.

They make it about half way up the lift, the lift stops, the lights go out…and they’re stuck.  And oh yah, it’s Sunday and the ski area doesn’t open back up until Friday.  OH NO!

The trailer then goes on to show flashes from all of the horrific things that happen throughout the night:

• Frostbite sets in
• They start arguing
• One friend jumps (only to get attacked by a pack of wolves conveniently near by)
• One tries to climb the haul cable
• And of course, our leading lady somehow loses her gloves, then proceeds to leave them on the safety bar for a duration…only to rip them off later Dumb and Dumber style (you know…the tongue scene).

So yes, the ski area employee in me is asking…what about the lift operators waiting for last chair?  The ski patrollers running sweep?  The lift maintenance guys doing work?  The groomer they show passing repeatedly underneath?  But what about the simple stuff…How is it 3 twenty-somethings made it up for a day of skiing without a cell phone?

I mean come on…  So after the enduring the whole trailer, I was pleasantly relieved…and also bored.  If Hollywood thinks this will be the next Jaws, sorry guys…I think you’re giving yourselves a little too much credit.  If this is what the actors and writers of Hollywood think is entertainment…maybe they should stick to politics…because we all know how good they are at that

So enjoy the trailer…lights…camera…uh…action?

Here’s to you…”Frozen.”  The dumbest movie of the year.  May you go straight to the VHS discount rack at Walmart.

Silly Putty

Recently my office has been taken over by silly putty… Seriously it’s like gold up here… I honestly freak out a little bit when my putty disappears from my desk…

That being said I take my silly putty very seriously and look after it better than my “Christmas Cactus” which is my one and only oxygen providing desk decoration. The problem is that I play with my silly putty waaaay too much, I didn’t think it was possible either, but after weeks of squishing putty between my fingers, creating fake noses, lips, ears, moles, etc. it unfortunately turns into a gum like state becoming sticky and unmanagable.

I did some putty research only to find out that it used to be marketed as “thinking putty” and honestly it lives up to its name… After all it inspired me to write this blog. It has also been marketed as bouncing putty as well, and again lives up to its name… However in an office with a wall full of picture frames it might not be the best idea. See the picture below. “oopsie” is all I got to say about that one.

What does this have to do with skiing your may ask?? Well honestly nothing, besides the fact that when I’m not skiing I’m playing with silly putty. Tim Durtschi has Kendama, I have putty.

What Season is it Anyway?

Thank goodness it’s snowing outside. Flakes falling from the heavens are a good reminder that we’re really still in the middle of winter. Sometimes, the seasons can really blend together.

Now before you theorize that I simply can’t read a calendar, let me explain what I mean.  Working in the marketing department here at Schweitzer is great, but it can have it’s challenges.  Since we have the task of preparing advertising, brochures, radio ads, television commercials and a whole bunch of other stuff, we naturally have to be way ahead of each season in order to get things done on time.

So, while tomorrow may read February 1st on the calendar, we’re in the middle of summer in our world.  The big summer festival dates are planned and I just signed off on the summer brochure. We still have some work to do on the summer website, but the majority of “big picture” stuff is done.  And guess what happens when the big summer items are checked off our lists?

You guessed it… we’re back into winter mode, or at least the planning stages anyway.  Right now, we’re finalizing the season pass campaign for next winter, thinking about our national ads in publications like SKI and Skiing and discussing which cities we’ll be visiting for consumer ski shows next fall.  It’s pretty easy to see how things can blend together and get confusing.

Which is all the more reason why we have one weapon in our quiver that keeps us sane:  the ski break.  Fortunately for all of us, we can get out on the mountain quite a bit, even if it’s just for a run or two at lunch.  No matter how much the mind is thinking about summer marketing, once we break away from that mode, boot up and grab the boards, the real reason why we’re here becomes instantly clear. We simply love the mountains, winter, skiing and being a part of the community of enthusiasts here at Schweitzer.  Enjoy the season — it won’t last forever!

“The Feeling”

You know that feeling you get when something good happens? It’s that feeling you get in your stomach that sometimes even runs down your spine until your toes tickle! It’s one of those things that doesn’t usually happen when we’re sitting on our butts, but usually happens with some kind of momentum. I suppose there are a bunch of good feelings we get that can all be similar like falling in love or getting a job that seemed impossible to get. Those are all great feelings, but what I’m thinking of usually has something to do with gravity. Depending on what one may be doing, gravity may be in our favor or against us. But when talking about “The Feeling” gravity is definitely helping out.

“The Feeling” definitely isn’t specific with one sport or activity and some sports may cause more butterflies than others… but it’s still that same feeling. It’s what makes us go back time after time. Down in Moscow there’s a strictly downhill mountain bike trail that starts up at the top of Moscow Mountain where I do the same set of trails every time I go. People always ask me why I don’t go anywhere else or try a different trail, cuz it’s all about those butterflies!! It’s the wind making your cheeks flap, the air that you split through so fast that your eyes are tearing up because your shades can’t block it, and that feeling that nothing can stop you!! 

It’s almost like a feeling of invincibility.  I used to think I knew what that felt like, then my age caught up with my actions, a couple broken bones later I’m back in reality. But that will never stop me from screaming through gears on my dirt bike to make it to the top of the hill, ripping down the same trail on my mountain bike over and over, or slicing through powder in the latest found powder stash.

So long as I continue my career in recreation, I promise to preserve our right to be “wowed!” As long as you promise the same for me, a promise that I’ll have one more chance for butterflies to fill my stomach, rush down my spine and have that exclusive feeling that zones me out from the rest of the world! The same feeling that makes us want to go right back up to the top and do it again. I’m not one to single people out, but if you have no clue what I’m talking about, I suggest trying something new, maybe something you thought you’d never do, maybe something that scared you before. Who knows, it may just be a good time.

-         Jimmy Reed, Marketing Intern

Where Did It Go?

I can’t believe we are already half way done with our ski season. I feel like it was just a few weeks ago when we were all pining away – waiting for opening day to be announced. Those first few day when we didn’t mind lapping the Basin and Musical Chairs all day; those first few days when one inch of snow meant a whole world of difference; those first few days when we dodged alders like we were running gates.

As people slowly seem to be getting more and more into summer mode, especially in the cities of CDA and Spokane, we up and Schweitzer are still in full-on winter mode with half a season of skiing left, and I find myself getting more and more paranoid as each day goes on that the season will be over before I know it.

I think about what is coming up and I see nothing but fun events that I’ll be looking forward.

• First off, starting the first Friday in February will be a 5 week long Starlight series (aka beer league ski racing.) I’ll be looking forward to the social festivities every week of meeting up at the NASTAR shack, winning swag at the after parties, and running gates on my super fast fat powder skis.
• Then March starts going and we have Outrageous Air, Grom Stomp and Stomp Games
• Finally April kicks off with Tropical Daze and what I hope to be a string of sunny spring daze sitting atop the mountain at the Church of Jimmy Wang’s sipping a cool beverage while working on my Gog tan.

With this kind of exciting schedule ahead you can see why I think the rest of the season will zoom by. I just hope I can hit all theses events and enjoy them as much as possible, because as far as I’m concerned winter is far from over!

Mountain or Molehill?

Over the past few days, I’ve had the pleasure of skiing and touring with a great group of folks from around the country.  Most are ski club members that have a passion for skiing or riding and have interest in bringing their clubs to Schweitzer in the future.  It was a diverse group of folks from Florida to Texas to California and many points in between.

One common story that was shared by many of them (particularly those from the Midwest) centered around their “home hills” — the likes of Buck Hill, MN, Paoli Peak, IL, or Boston Mills/Brandywine, OH (there are countless other examples).  For those of you who grew up around here, let me tell you a little about these places… they’re usually 200-300 vertical foot hills, most near major population centers.  The ride up the lifts is usually much longer than the quick run down the slope.  Yet these tiny areas are brimming with personality, history and are responsible for introducing millions of people into the sports of skiing and snowboarding.

I have a personal connection to one such area.  When I was five years old, I lived in Dayton, OH with my parents — my dad was stationed there in the Air Force.  Somehow, our neighbors from across the street convinced my parents to take some ski lessons at the local hill — Sugarcreek Ski Hills, in Bellbrook, OH.  My parents didn’t ski up to this point and fortunately for me, they decided to have me tag along and take lessons, too.

I can’t remember for sure if it was after my very first day on snow, but I established a connection to skiing almost instantly.  I loved everything about it— the freedom of bombing down the bunny hill, the joy of my first chairlift ride, the mystery of how they could actually “make” snow.  At age five, I had become an addict.

Thirty plus years later, I’m still an addict.  I’ve chosen to make a career out of my passion. Sadly, Sugarcreek Ski Hills closed in the late 1980’s, a product of some tough snow years, southern location and changing demographics.  A few homes now dot the hillside and the lodge has been turned into a community center.  For those living where I grew up, the nearest skiing is a couple hours away now — certainly a barrier when it comes to exposing new people to the sports.  I’m bummed that I’ll never be able to go back and ski the slopes where I learned and developed my love for this sport.

That’s why it’s so great to hear about these small areas around the country that are still thriving.  Every day after school, hundreds of thousands of students jump on buses and head for the hills, learning to ski or ride in after-school skiing programs. At many of these areas, our future Olympians are running gates, honing their skills in top-notch racing programs. They may not have 2000+ feet of vertical, 300 inches of snowfall or high speed lifts, but they do have heart.

So, for those who learned on a small hill far away from the mountains, I’m with you.  We’re all part of the greater community of skiers and riders enjoying what we do — and that’s really what counts.

Recreation Heaven

First and foremost, I’d like to tip my hat to all of the riders who finished up “24 Hours at Schweitzer” this morning at 10am.  It was exciting and humbling to see them strolling through the village to the stage after their last run down the hill. It was definitely humbling because they skied and boarded for 24 hours straight, but it’s even more humbling to think of something as physically and mentally challenging as that race and how small of a task it really was compared to the reason why they were all there, for Hank and the challenges he faces with cystinosis. I think everyone out there showed that if Hank can endure what he is going through day in and day out, then they can handle 24 hours of skiing. Amazing job everyone!!

I’m moving on into my 3^rd week of work up on the mountain and 4^th week living in Sandpoint. I’m starting to catch the recreation fever!! I’m from a small farm town down in Southwestern Idaho on the Ore/Id border. When someone asks me where Weiser is, I usually just refer to it as an hour from Boise. There aren’t many places to refer to down south that people can relate to. Maybe that’s why I like it. Sort of a secret that us “Weiserville” people like to keep on the down low, just like up here Schweitzer to the rest of the nation. “It’s the best kept secret,” is what I keep hearing people from back east and down south say (Schweitzer of course). I’m starting to agree.

For people who love their recreation, this really is the land of opportunity up in the Sandpoint/Schweitzer area. For me, recreation is my life. You’re thinking to yourself, “That’s what everyone says!” I say it’s my life not only because it’s what I do in my leisure, but because I chose it to be my major during my stay at U of I (yes there is a recreation major). Along with Recreation I’ll finish school with an Outdoor Leadership minor, which only gives me more of a reason to feel at home!

I’m here in Sandpoint and up at Schweitzer mostly thanks to my girlfriend and her family talking it up and telling me about the job fair up at Schweitzer before the season began.  I always laughed and thought there was NO WAY I’d like to live in what I like to call a resort town. But as my stay here grows longer, I begin to wonder why I would want to leave? I’m just getting into snowboarding (& having a blast!!) and I already want summer to come so I can tear down the mountain on two wheels and then head down to the lake! 

The easiest way for me to describe what I’ve been blabbering about is like this: picture a 5ft deep underground swimming pool full of pudding (I love pudding!). The cement frame of the pool would represent Sandpoint and Schweitzer.  The pudding inside the pool represents recreation. Of course there I am standing on the edge eagerly waiting to jump in. (its chocolate pudding if you’re curious!) I dove in and I tried eating all the pudding! I couldn’t even get close! There was so much of it! It was like an endless supply!

I guess this marketing internship really is rubbing off on me as I just got done talking up the slope and the town. I wouldn’t blog about it if it weren’t all true.

 -Jimmy Reed, Marketing Intern