Park City - Day 2
Only because nothing really exciting happened Day 1, including no skiing. We got into Salt Lake City late Wednesday night and didn't get to sleep until 1AM (3AM EST) after taking a taxi to Park City. Didn't sleep well, so Thursday was an altitude acclimation day. Walked to and fro in Old town of Park City, trying to find celebs, but none were to be found. Apparently this Sundance is running at about 60% of normal capacity. The first weekend was crowded, but a lot of the celebrities left for Obama's inauguration.
So haven't seen any movies, and don't plan to until Sunday, we have tickets for the Grand Jury Documentary and the Dramatic Award winner. On Thursday, went to rent some skis for the next two days. I had tried on my old boots before I left, and my toes were butting up against the front. And to think I only used them last in 2004. So I'm renting the whole package. And in this day and age, renting a demo set (for we ex-experts) is costing me $39 a day. Ouch! And how things have changed. The skis go to about my forehead, and the amount of shaping/scalloping is just incredible. The one downside of this is that it takes much more effort to cruise now because the skis don't hold a line nearly as well because they keep trying to find an edge and turn.
I had been in touch with Catherine Greenwald about coming out here, since she moved here in July. She is now a snowboard instructor at Park City. She was doing a training clinic yesterday morning so I met her at the base lodge at 8:45 to get a couple of discount tickets for the day. Walked back to the house, suited up, and then we walked out to the Old Town Lift to take the double chair to the main mountain. The ladies went off to cruise the greens and blues while the boys started off with a couple of quick blues before heading over the blacks. $83 is the undiscounted price for a day for skiing at Park City. At Snowbird, which is higher and significantly bigger, it is only $62. I guess they charge what the market will bear.
So, with Sundance going on all of the lodging is taken for the people seeing the movies and the mountain is empty. And it was. I did somewhere between 12 and 16 runs and never had to wait more than 2 people. Crazy! And I guess since I last skied the 6-person high speed lift has made an appearance. When we started in the morning, it was POURING wet snow. By the end of the 3rd run, my Patagucci gloves were soaked. Fortunately it wasn't very cold (if it had been, it wouldn't have been as wet). There were 3 of us, 2 skiers and a boarder. The boarder was the one whose house we were staying at, so we followed his lead. He brought us to a glade on the second run, and David and I (the other skier) ended up in a really narrow portion with bare spots so it was no fun trying to bail out, miss the rocks, and pretty much lose control. It got better after that. We were all sucking wind because of the exertion at altitude. At least I'm getting in my aerobic training for Kaimana (to be covered in another entry...). And building up my red blood cell reserves. After a few more runs, we ended up starting to hit some more moguls which are my favorite, although they ravage my shins and ankles. Finally pulled in for lunch at 1:15 and then I met Catherine at 1:45 and we did a bunch of more runs. Probably my favorite slope (and best run) was at the McConkey Bowl double black at the end of the day. It was very steep with a little cliff start for the initial jump, and then great snow with well placed moguls. My first run down it was great, my second run was not so great, which informed me that it was time to start heading back and avoid the accident on the 'last run of the day'.
Made it back safely at the base of the Old Town Lift, walked to the rental place to pick up my boots and carried the equipment back to the house. A little ice on the ankle bones followed by a LONG hot tub (and beer of course), walk into town for pizza dinner. All in all, a good day.
So haven't seen any movies, and don't plan to until Sunday, we have tickets for the Grand Jury Documentary and the Dramatic Award winner. On Thursday, went to rent some skis for the next two days. I had tried on my old boots before I left, and my toes were butting up against the front. And to think I only used them last in 2004. So I'm renting the whole package. And in this day and age, renting a demo set (for we ex-experts) is costing me $39 a day. Ouch! And how things have changed. The skis go to about my forehead, and the amount of shaping/scalloping is just incredible. The one downside of this is that it takes much more effort to cruise now because the skis don't hold a line nearly as well because they keep trying to find an edge and turn.
I had been in touch with Catherine Greenwald about coming out here, since she moved here in July. She is now a snowboard instructor at Park City. She was doing a training clinic yesterday morning so I met her at the base lodge at 8:45 to get a couple of discount tickets for the day. Walked back to the house, suited up, and then we walked out to the Old Town Lift to take the double chair to the main mountain. The ladies went off to cruise the greens and blues while the boys started off with a couple of quick blues before heading over the blacks. $83 is the undiscounted price for a day for skiing at Park City. At Snowbird, which is higher and significantly bigger, it is only $62. I guess they charge what the market will bear.
So, with Sundance going on all of the lodging is taken for the people seeing the movies and the mountain is empty. And it was. I did somewhere between 12 and 16 runs and never had to wait more than 2 people. Crazy! And I guess since I last skied the 6-person high speed lift has made an appearance. When we started in the morning, it was POURING wet snow. By the end of the 3rd run, my Patagucci gloves were soaked. Fortunately it wasn't very cold (if it had been, it wouldn't have been as wet). There were 3 of us, 2 skiers and a boarder. The boarder was the one whose house we were staying at, so we followed his lead. He brought us to a glade on the second run, and David and I (the other skier) ended up in a really narrow portion with bare spots so it was no fun trying to bail out, miss the rocks, and pretty much lose control. It got better after that. We were all sucking wind because of the exertion at altitude. At least I'm getting in my aerobic training for Kaimana (to be covered in another entry...). And building up my red blood cell reserves. After a few more runs, we ended up starting to hit some more moguls which are my favorite, although they ravage my shins and ankles. Finally pulled in for lunch at 1:15 and then I met Catherine at 1:45 and we did a bunch of more runs. Probably my favorite slope (and best run) was at the McConkey Bowl double black at the end of the day. It was very steep with a little cliff start for the initial jump, and then great snow with well placed moguls. My first run down it was great, my second run was not so great, which informed me that it was time to start heading back and avoid the accident on the 'last run of the day'.
Made it back safely at the base of the Old Town Lift, walked to the rental place to pick up my boots and carried the equipment back to the house. A little ice on the ankle bones followed by a LONG hot tub (and beer of course), walk into town for pizza dinner. All in all, a good day.
posted by Alex de Frondeville at 6:26 PM
1 Comments:
sounds like killer skiing. next time come out here. i got a dvd player and cable (but that's no sundance) but the skiing is cheaper and the lodging is free. but it sounds like the terrain there is better, but there's decent skiing here (lack of headwalls, but plenty of fun terrain features). and it is a 25min drive. but we got 5 micro brew pubs in town. keep it mind for next time. but if you want to ski in april, check out bend. hope the training is going well. didn't run this week, but i've been doing long runs and intervals every week... i need to throw in some shuttle runs, but i'm just going to hawaii to hone my tan. wait. hone my burn. i'm pasty white. where'd you learn to ski? chamonix or hunter mountain?
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