Are you free to ski? Free from common faults or mistakes that might be holding back your success in skiing, that is? This blog is for friends, family, and others who enjoy the sport of alpine skiing, would like to improve and share experiences. Whether or not you're just beginning to learn basic alpine skills, improving turns on different terrain, or chasing a medal in your next ski race, hopefully you'll find something.
Thaddeus Adam was kind enough to join his Dad for dryland training this morning at Lake Seneca Elementary in Germantown, MD. This is what we do when we're waiting for the snow to fall on the slopes. Thanks to Sarah for the photo here. We're hoping for a kinder (less gentler) winter than last season.
How about 17-year-old, Mikaela Shiffrin of the U.S. Ski Team. She recently won 1st place in slalom over in Are, Sweden. She is the youngest American athlete to win on the FIS World Cup. An amazing achievement. Go Shiff! Go USA! Come on cold and snow! Merry Christmas!
I recently attended my fifth Blue Ridge Ski Council Western Carnival with my original ski club, the Columbia Ski Club, of which I've been a member of since 1997. This year, the BRSC assembled in Snowmass, CO, one of the 4 ski areas under the Aspen/Snowmass umbrella- the others being Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, and Buttermilk. Conditions were quite good. Aspen Mountain seemed to have the most advanced terrain and Buttermilk (as you would expect) was geared toward beginners and learn-to-ski programs which is great for families with young children. One of the highlights of every BRSC Western Carnival is always the inter-club council race. I want to congratulate all of my fellow club members for competing and especially for winning 1st place in the Club/team competition for the 3rd consecutive year. There is a trophy that goes to the winning ski club, the BRSC Club/team trophy which apparently will remain with CSC for yet another year! This blogger was happy to win his 3rd BRSC Fastest Skier Award to bring home to his son, Thaddeus Adam. That medal is hanging in his room as I write this.
I want to say thanks to lots of people that enabled me to attend this carnival, especially my beautiful wife, Sarah and my son, Adam (I hadn't been away from him this long before). I had a great group to ski and hang out with during the week- Doug & Sue Powell and Lee Wilk with whom I got to share lots of LMRT stories and political banter. I want to really say a big "Thank you" the CSC trip leaders, Ted Dietz and Alexa Fair for the awesome job they did with getting out all the pre-trip information, the on-trip coordination, and handling any unforseen problems. It's much appreciated! Now that I'm back, it's the end of February and temps here in the mid-atlantic are hovering in the 60s again. Winter never really came here at all. I might be up at Liberty Mountain to workout for the next 3 weekends if the snow coverage remains. Maybe.
It's now the 2nd week of January and the temperature was near 60 degrees this past weekend. Those of us (myself included) who live and ski in the mid-atlantic are stuck in this stagnant balmy breeze or something as the jet stream stays retreated up north. I don't usually like to complain but this is unacceptable. But I hear we're not alone. Other areas of the USA are also suffering from warmth and lack of snow. What can we do? Say a prayer, wear the pajamas backwards (for the superstitious), anything so we can GET THE JET.....stream that is down here where it needs to be. Think snow or just cold. We can blow the white stuff. We just need cold! Rant over.
