March 15th @ Blue..nice bumps..meeting..

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Hey All,

I'm back from a fun session at Blue mountain the true mountain. I arrived in the lower lot at 736AM and it was 38 degrees under mostly cloudy skys. Atomic Jeff was already booting up and we actually got scanned in a few minutes early for stoke. We first skied Razors which was really sweet soft cordoroy. NazarethSkier Jay then joined us and we did two more laps on Razors before hitting Switchback which was really good. Then Challenge which was also decent. We then hit Dreamweaver which still had a little bit of fresh cord at 840AM. Johnny Style was in the house and we rode the lift with him twice. At some point, I went into the Sidewinder park and Sammy and his buddies wanted to hear me rap. So I skied down the steps and busted out a freestyle flow and although it wasn't one of my crispiest raps, the young jibhonks enjoyed it.

Barneys Bumps were really nice and we skied them several times and even had a nice train going with 4-5 of us skiing the same line about 15 feet apart.

Speaking of Jibhonks, PASRs finest jibhonks were in the house including Toast, T.Maki, Justo and skier112. Park Crue was out doing their thing..shout out to Stevo..what what. Terry, Jack and Fritz were skiing and I saw Kevin and Jimbo in the parking lot. Near the end of my session, Root joined us for a few runs. At 1040AM after 18 runs, A-Jeff and I quit due to our 11AM meeting with management. By this point the snow was pretty slushy and smashed tators. As we were about to leave, TP4 pulled in. Sorry TheProgram4 for not skiing with you but I had to head to the Summit Lodge.

A-Jeff and I drove up to the top lodge which had a decent amount of cars due to the Cardboard box race. The meeting with Barb, Dennis, Bruce and Chas went well. It was an hour and 40 minutes long and we learned more about Blue mountain and voiced our opinions on how skier/patrollers relations can improve along with others ideas that would make Blue better for all. I really appreciate the time Barb and Dennis gave us to hear our concerns. Maybe we'll get a chance to ski with them sometime. After the meeting A-Jeff and I hit up the BMDI..I had the corned beef and cabbage which was delicious and Jeff had an Italian hoagie and fries with some Diet Stoke. I'll most likely be back skiing Blue tomorrow afterwork..anybody else??

 

[Warp Daddy]

Hey All,

I'm back from a fun session at Blue mountain the true mountain. I arrived in the lower lot at 736AM and it was 38 degrees under mostly cloudy skys. Atomic Jeff was already booting up and we actually got scanned in a few minutes early for stoke. We first skied Razors which was really sweet soft cordoroy. NazarethSkier Jay then joined us and we did two more laps on Razors before hitting Switchback which was really good. Then Challenge which was also decent. We then hit Dreamweaver which still had a little bit of fresh cord at 840AM. Johnny Style was in the house and we rode the lift with him twice. At some point, I went into the Sidewinder park and Sammy and his buddies wanted to hear me rap. So I skied down the steps and busted out a freestyle flow and although it wasn't one of my crispiest raps, the young jibhonks enjoyed it.

Barneys Bumps were really nice and we skied them several times and even had a nice train going with 4-5 of us skiing the same line about 15 feet apart.

Speaking of Jibhonks, PASRs finest jibhonks were in the house including Toast, T.Maki, Justo and skier112. Park Crue was out doing their thing..shout out to Stevo..what what. Terry, Jack and Fritz were skiing and I saw Kevin and Jimbo in the parking lot. Near the end of my session, Root joined us for a few runs. At 1040AM after 18 runs, A-Jeff and I quit due to our 11AM meeting with management. By this point the snow was pretty slushy and smashed tators. As we were about to leave, TP4 pulled in. Sorry TheProgram4 for not skiing with you but I had to head to the Summit Lodge.

A-Jeff and I drove up to the top lodge which had a decent amount of cars due to the Cardboard box race. The meeting with Barb, Dennis, Bruce and Chas went well. It was an hour and 40 minutes long and we learned more about Blue mountain and voiced our opinions on how skier/patrollers relations can improve along with others ideas that would make Blue better for all. I really appreciate the time Barb and Dennis gave us to hear our concerns. Maybe we'll get a chance to ski with them sometime. After the meeting A-Jeff and I hit up the BMDI..I had the corned beef and cabbage which was delicious and Jeff had an Italian hoagie and fries with some Diet Stoke. I'll most likely be back skiing Blue tomorrow afterwork..anybody else??

HAPPY to hear that teh Meeting went well !! Things always have a better chance of improving when open , sincere and non confrontational communication occurs . Hope it works out to everyone's satisfaction . Gotta go get my GAPER clothes for a sunny beach day at Titus tomorrow got a mondo wierd multi colored patchwork Descente ski jacket for tomorrow

 

[AtomicSkier]

First off, I'd like to thank Dennis, Barb, and Bruce (Blue's other owner) for taking time out of their Sunday to meet with us. The meeting went extremely well, a lot of great ideas were exchanged, and some things were clarified. The director of ski patrol was present, but he wasn't the main focus of the meeting. He was not extremely friendly, and was just as bad as any of the other patrols at Blue. He never considered what we were saying, and just kept repeating the same patroller "party line" over and over. When I gave a few good ideas that both Barb and Dennis liked, he immediately struck it down.

It also came to light that Blue Mountain ski patrol as a whole does not like PASR, but Barb and Dennis weren't complaining, they love the great PR that comes from PASR. They don't read it themselves, but Dennis mentioned that every day someone from his staff comes in to update him on what's going on here. He knows when we're on vacation because there aren't any TR's posted.

You know what I have to say to patrol? If you don't like what is said on here, stop giving us ammunition.

Regardless, I got a chance to say everything that I wanted to say (it was a one page long document). I touched on access to Dreamweaver and exiting onto Paradise. We talked about signage on Paradise, and "adult swim times" where we can go as fast as we want. I had mentioned that a lot of these chases happen because people have their iPods on and can't hear them. SP director said "Why don't we ban iPods then?". It's ironic that when we mentioned all ski patrollers should wear a helmet, he said it's a personal choice. Wearing an iPod is a personal choice for me.

We also touched on the fact that we'd like to see every patroller introduce themselves like "Hi, I'm Rob Cook with the Blue Mountain Ski Patrol, the reason I stopped you is...". It's an automatic way to deescalate a situation. Like I pointed out, no matter how big of an asshole you are, you can't say "Hi, I'm Rob Cook with the Blue mountain ski patrol" and be an asshole at the same time.

Barb had said that Blue is sending their patrollers for training on how to deescalate situations over the summer, to avoid any tense situations, such as the ones we've dealt with. It's glad to see they're trying to clean up their image. News to me, but Barb mentioned, contrary to what I said, that the NSP gave rave reviews about Blue's segment on the TruTV "Ski Patrol" TV show.

On to the good stuff. Blue Mountain has purchased winch cat. We had mentioned prior to the meeting to Dennis that the grooming has been much improved over previous years. It's not a coincidence, apparently. They've had more groomers out all night making sure things are smooth. The winch cat is going to allow them to groom the steeper headwalls of Razors and Challenge much more thoroughly. I'd say those two headwalls are the "weakest link" in their grooming. In regards to skiing fast from Dreamweaver onto Paradise, Dennis had suggested that they widen the trail where those two meet. He said there is no infrastructure on that side, and would only require some tree removal and minor earth moving, and would allow those coming off of dreamweaver to keep their speed up, while staying clear of the beginners.

We spent a great deal of time dealing with the issue on Paradise. The director of ski patrol did not budge from the "slow skiing at all times" mentality, while Barb and Dennis liked the idea of the adult swim time. She even admitted to enjoying bombing Paradise. She suggested 8am to 10am on the weekends for free skiing on Paradise. She also mentioned a "zig zig" at the top of Paradise and Burma so there was absolutely no question wether you should be skiing fast or not, really driving the point home. I told her if she gave us a time where we could ski Paradise as fast as we wanted on the weekends, I wouldn't ski Paradise outside of that time. The director of ski patrol did not like the idea, but everyone else seemed to like it.

Some other minor things we touched on were the ticket windows not opening early enough, especially in the bottom lodge. Dennis said that they're open early up top, but they might be slacking a bit down below. We're watching out for those PASR's who frequent Blue in the morning and have to buy tickets. I also mentioned the trash issue, and both Dennis and Barb were in agreement that it is out of control, and both realized how quickly it can be fixed. I'd bet that the trash will be gone this week.

There was talk of some new trails, and there was a rendering of the proposed new upper lodge in her office, which looked awesome. Good news is that "Nightmare" that leads into Dreamweaver is going to be open and be reasonably steep at the top. Barb had an arial map in her office that outlined Blue's property line. Doug and I had mentioned that we had hiked all of that terrain east of Paradise and that it's some really nice land in there. They're hoping to expand into that land to create more downhill routes that are top to bottom, as well as offer more intermediate cruising terrain.

As a note to all season passholders, incase you didn't know, there is a season pass holder's party next Sunday, 1-4pm in the upper lodge. Free food and soda. Also, Barb Green will be there to talk to pass holders, so feel free to mention any ideas you have to her. It was a great meeting and we're back on Blues good side

 

[Philpug]

Impressive that the owners were there and it is a shame regarding the continued arrogance of the Patrol Director. Funny, even up here in Vermont, the subject of Blue came up and the same issues were brought up in that conversation, and not by me.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Impressive that the owners were there and it is a shame regarding the continued arrogance of the Patrol Director. Funny, even up here in Vermont, the subject of Blue came up and the same issues were brought up in that conversation, and not by me.

Wait..people in Vermont were talking about Blue????

 

[Philpug]

Wait..people in Vermont were talking about Blue????

Some of the people I was skiing with are from the PA/NJ border and we were talking about why we ski in Vermont vs. Pa.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Some of the people I was skiing with are from the PA/NJ border and we were talking about why we ski in Vermont vs. Pa.

I have to keep it real and ski Blue..two seasons ago I skied Blue 61 days in a row..it's not possible now because I take more ski trips..but I'm lost without Blue..

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

It was cool seeing the proposed drawing for a new lodge..it looked like Windham..and the topo map shows alot of room for future expansion to the east..Blue is having their best season ever..alot of people don't want to drive to VT or NY on a regular basis but still want to ski alot..

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Root you should post up those cardboard box derby pictures..

 

[RootDKJ]

I'm going to add a full TR after the gym tonight....I got more pics then the 3 I put up on PASR

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I'm going to add a full TR after the gym tonight....I got more pics then the 3 I put up on PASR

steezy

 

[RootDKJ]

looks like fun

Ok, so I left this off the internet, so AS and GSS can have their meeting with Blue, as intended. On Wednesday, March 11th, I went to Blue for some night skiing, and mostly to learn if my pass would still work after getting the lesson in ski resort exodus the previous Sunday. On my way to the snow, I needed to make an adjustment to my left boot. As I was sitting on the bench opposite the mens room, Barbara Green asks me "how the snow was today".

To make a really long story short, we talked for about 40 minutes, me giving up some nice vert. She basically explained to me she gets 50-60 emails about people getting hit (or near misses) on Paradise/Burma, and what would I do in her shoes. Reaching back to my pre-EMT days, I used to lifeguard, and we used to run "adult swims" every hour on the hour. for 15-20 minutes, where we would make everyone under the age of 18 exit the water so the adult can get some "play time" depending on crowd density, and there's no real reason why Blue couldn't adopt a similar concept. Perfect example being the Sunday GSS and I got chased off the mountain, where less then 500 people there...all day. We also talked about the brashness of the patrols and she acknowledged that there's some serious room for improvement in that category, and plans are in place to make that happen before the start of next season.

We both agreed that the situation could have been handled better, on both sides.

That being said, I've made my peace with Blue and I'm 90% sure I'll be renewing my season pass there. However, no matter how wrong I may or may not have been on that fateful Sunday, the Blue Mountain Ski Patrol owes me an apology. (Or based on the GSS/AS meeting, should we re-name the place...the Red Mountain Ski Area, since they seem to want to run/ruin it) Nothing personal guys...just calling it like I see it. If that offends you lurkers, tough. It sucks when a few bad people give everyone a tarnished reputation.

Now...on to a much more cheerful topic. Spent some fun time Skiing with GSS, AS, Toast, Nazareth Jay, Johnny Style and a few others. After finishing up a peaceful day in some really slushy snow, I decided to take a spin up to the Summit Lodge to check out the soap box derby I'd been hearing about.. This looked like it would have been a lot of fun to watch and I couldn't believe the high turnout!. Unfortunately I didn't stick around long enough to watch the racing. Next year...PASR/AZ needs to participate. Would be great fun. Enjoy the pictures. Nice job on this event Blue!!!

Snow Conditions

Panoramic

Soapbox Derby Pics - 1st one is the funniest!

 

[RootDKJ]

soapbox derby continued

More soapbox derby

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

nice pictures