Whitey
Member
Being a parent I am hostage to my kid's school schedule and I have to synch my schedule to their vacation schedule. One thing that our town's school system does that's kind of unique is give our kids an extra day off for MLK weekend. So they not only get Monday off but they get either the Friday before or the Tuesday after off as well. Between my work schedule and the holidays we don't get to do much other than day trips until early January so it's good timing for a long weekend to get out for our 1st big ski trip of the season. Being life-long New England skiers we set the bar pretty low, just give us something to ski and we'll make the best out of it.
Sounds great, right? Well here's a summary of our last 4 yrs:
2015 Jay Peak: Icy, bitterly cold, rock hard snow. We got a little snow on Sunday and that helped a bit but that was largely offset by the other family that was with us (just dads and sons on this trip), the "other dad" took a minor spill near the end of day 1. He landed on a hard frozen ice mogul. He fractured his pelvis. I spent the better part of the next 2 days driving back and forth to Newport for hospital visits, picking up prescription pain killers, etc. I missed the snow on Sunday AM because I was driving to and from Newport and the pharmacies there didn't open until 9AM.
2016 Sunday River: Icy, rock hard, no bumps or woods. Near the end of day 1 freezing rain, then rain. The rain on top of the ice was the slipperiest thing I have ever seen in my life, like oil on top of a teflon pad slippery. Walking out of South Peak lodge you literally couldn't stand up. I was parked in the lower lot and I didn't think I'd be able to get to my car except by crawling to it. People were falling down everywhere, it was like a scene from a disaster movie. I saw one older guy go down so hard that they had to take him out in an ambulance. The next morning was better as they had sanded/salted the main roads but everything else was still icy. I go out to get a cup of coffee. When I get back to the hotel I am doing about 5MPH as I turn into the parking lot, still being very careful. Very few cars in the lot. My truck stops turning and just starts sliding. There's about 50 yards between me and one of the few vehicles in the lot. It's about a 2% grade in the lot. I keep sliding but going slow enough that I am talking to myself as I slide. Slow enough that I actually thought about getting out and trying to stop my car by grabbing it and using my feet. I slid across the whole lot and end up diagonally hitting the back rear corner of a POS car. Minor damage. I work it out with the other guy to just take care of it and keep it off of my insurance. 3 weeks later the guy turns out to be just as much of a POS as his car and screws me out of $1400 to fix his car, get him a rental, and to get him to go away. The rest of the weekend's skiing sucked too.
2017 Sunday River: Icy, rock hard, no bumps or woods. Conditions suck, coming off a rain/thaw/freeze cycle. The only run that was any good (and that's a stretch) was the last day when they had some guns going on a run at Oz and that was OK to ski. Otherwise it sucked.
2018 Sunday River: Rains all day Friday and into Sat. Then goes to about 23 degrees an hour after the rain stops. Temps keep dropping from there. Total disaster. Took 2 of the worst runs I've skied in my life on Saturday, didn't even go out on Sunday, left Sunday afternoon.
So the gods are obviously speaking to me and telling me that MLK and skiing in New England are a bad combo. 4 straight years. It may be even more than that but I can't even remember what I did for MLK wknd 5 yrs ago. The irony is that one of the big reasons we have been going to SR the last 3 yrs is on the theory that they have good snow making and that will be better for an early season trip. I am finally getting the message from the gods; MLK hates me and my ski plans.
Sorry, end of rant.
Sounds great, right? Well here's a summary of our last 4 yrs:
2015 Jay Peak: Icy, bitterly cold, rock hard snow. We got a little snow on Sunday and that helped a bit but that was largely offset by the other family that was with us (just dads and sons on this trip), the "other dad" took a minor spill near the end of day 1. He landed on a hard frozen ice mogul. He fractured his pelvis. I spent the better part of the next 2 days driving back and forth to Newport for hospital visits, picking up prescription pain killers, etc. I missed the snow on Sunday AM because I was driving to and from Newport and the pharmacies there didn't open until 9AM.
2016 Sunday River: Icy, rock hard, no bumps or woods. Near the end of day 1 freezing rain, then rain. The rain on top of the ice was the slipperiest thing I have ever seen in my life, like oil on top of a teflon pad slippery. Walking out of South Peak lodge you literally couldn't stand up. I was parked in the lower lot and I didn't think I'd be able to get to my car except by crawling to it. People were falling down everywhere, it was like a scene from a disaster movie. I saw one older guy go down so hard that they had to take him out in an ambulance. The next morning was better as they had sanded/salted the main roads but everything else was still icy. I go out to get a cup of coffee. When I get back to the hotel I am doing about 5MPH as I turn into the parking lot, still being very careful. Very few cars in the lot. My truck stops turning and just starts sliding. There's about 50 yards between me and one of the few vehicles in the lot. It's about a 2% grade in the lot. I keep sliding but going slow enough that I am talking to myself as I slide. Slow enough that I actually thought about getting out and trying to stop my car by grabbing it and using my feet. I slid across the whole lot and end up diagonally hitting the back rear corner of a POS car. Minor damage. I work it out with the other guy to just take care of it and keep it off of my insurance. 3 weeks later the guy turns out to be just as much of a POS as his car and screws me out of $1400 to fix his car, get him a rental, and to get him to go away. The rest of the weekend's skiing sucked too.
2017 Sunday River: Icy, rock hard, no bumps or woods. Conditions suck, coming off a rain/thaw/freeze cycle. The only run that was any good (and that's a stretch) was the last day when they had some guns going on a run at Oz and that was OK to ski. Otherwise it sucked.
2018 Sunday River: Rains all day Friday and into Sat. Then goes to about 23 degrees an hour after the rain stops. Temps keep dropping from there. Total disaster. Took 2 of the worst runs I've skied in my life on Saturday, didn't even go out on Sunday, left Sunday afternoon.
So the gods are obviously speaking to me and telling me that MLK and skiing in New England are a bad combo. 4 straight years. It may be even more than that but I can't even remember what I did for MLK wknd 5 yrs ago. The irony is that one of the big reasons we have been going to SR the last 3 yrs is on the theory that they have good snow making and that will be better for an early season trip. I am finally getting the message from the gods; MLK hates me and my ski plans.
Sorry, end of rant.
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