The Old Man and the Sea

It was an "activity" day when it was too cloudy to fly after we'd had had three days of endless joy, and I hitched a ride into town to get an ice bag and pain relief for my swollen knee, and spread a little money around to help stimulate the devastated economy of Cordova. After buying some books in the neat little bookstore, I wondered over to a little ice cream joint to see if they had my favorite, Jamoca Almond Fudge, and when I walked in, I heard a familiar voice I couldn't place immediately. Looking around the corner, there was this big burly redneck looking guy, watching "The Ed Show" which I enjoy occasionally. I was surprised and commented on it and he said "Oh yeah, I love this guy!" which was even more surprising and we got to talking, about progressive politics and the Exon Valdez oil spill. He's a captain of a fishing trawler who used to make a nice living pulling tons of Herring out of Prince William Sound. They're gone now, and no one knows where they went or when they might ever come back. Theory is that they can sense the oil still coating the bottom of the Sound from far out to sea, and just won't even come near the area yet. They were an integral part of the food chain, and without them, a lot of other species don't come around much anymore. Exon Mobil finally payed him for one year's lost catch after years of litigation and appeals, and so far, he's lost 20 year's income and he was one pissed off fisherman!!

I cautiously asked him what locals thought about "The Quitter" and he said "Who?" and when I repeated it he said "Oh, you mean the "Half Governor!" and he told me the story about when she was running for Governor and came to town. His good friend and fellow boat captain who he stayed up with late into the nights arguing politics went to see her at the little local watering hole and came back just raving about her. When he asked his friend what her positions were on any number of issues he kept getting the same answer. "Well, I don't know where she stands on that, but she sure is good looking!" Over and over again, all he could say about her was how good looking she was and it was then that he realized "we're in deep doodoo with this gal!" She got elected only because the past Democratic governor had been so corrupt that nobody could vote for him!!

We then got into Woodstock and the Monterey Pop Festival and how we were both in NYC at the time and he was so bummed he missed Woodstock and I was so glad I did, what a muddy mess that was, and I had been to Monterey and nothing would ever top that! He looked a lot older, but we were about the same age.

He did thank me for coming to ski in their mountains, before the oil spill no one had thought to develop that area into a heli-skiing destination, and it was helping a lot to stimulate their local economy, but nothing like the lost fishing revenues. His biggest regret was all of his fellow fisherman who had died penniless before the settlement was settled for 10% of what the original court case had imposed.

It's been heartbreaking to watch the developments in the Gulf of Mexico since I've come home (now named the Gulf of American because, your break it, you own it!) knowing full well the long term impacts this will have and the unlikely compensation that will be paid to all those suffering from it's effects. Dig six inches down anywhere on the coast of Prince William Sound and you still come up with oil, 21 years after the disaster!!

But the skiing was spectacular!!!

"Nail It"

I've been encouraged to write more stories, so here goes.

I've studied all my pictures and still am not sure which run is "Nail It". I know we didn't have any cameras running, the entry was a narrow, steep couloir bordered by lots of rocks. Jimbo positioned himself at the top so that he could keep a close eye on each of us as we skied down it, but the rest had to wait uphill a bit where we couldn't see down the run at all. When it was my turn I fell into a real nice rhythm working each side and watching my sluff race ahead of me down the middle. Suddenly something happened, right in the center, I'm still not sure what, but I was falling face first into the sluff. Somehow I tucked, I rolled, and I landed back on my feet nailing the next turn and a few more after that before I stopped to take stock. I wasn't even sure I had just done what I thought I had and continued on to the bottom.

When the next skier caught up to me at the bottom, he was all smiles and high fives! Jimbo had seen it and had said to the others still waiting "You should have seen what Hugh just did! He nailed it in "Nail It"!!" The move was the talk of the Lodge at dinner that night, and all these young hotshots showed me just a little bit more respect after that!

I know one thing for sure, I couldn't do that move again if I tried!!!

Helmet Cam

The link to the helmet cam is down for now, not sure why. :(

It's back. :)

The Helmet Cam

Well, it's taking forever to upload, but for me, it's worth the wait. It's like reliving those runs all over again and will be crucial getting me through the hot months, and keep me training for next year! I'm getting a helmet cam for next year! I doubt I'll be as smooth as Keenan, but a bit of footage of me closing his eights would be worth it. You can easily see why I nicknamed him Smooth. Keeping one's head pointed down hill, turning the lower body to make your turns, and not bobbing the upper body up and down is an ideal we all strive for. Keenan has got it down pat!

There are twelve up now, thirty two total, so more to come!

Hugh

New pics

New pictures of Keenan from Dr. Bill's camera. I started calling him Mr. Smooth because of his style, closing his eights was one of the more enjoyable parts of the trip, perfectly synchronized turns by him forced me to do the same! I've got video from his camera and his helmet cam but haven't figured out how to load them up. It'll happen soon.

Another productive work week for me, and I got to get a little taste of Alpental yesterday with 14 inches of nice light powder to play in. I didn't overdue it this time and the knee is feeling good this morning! This may be our last shot for the season, you just never know around here.

The story of "Quickie"

In the sequence of pics from Dr. Bill there are a few of us hiking our way out of "Quickie" and a pic looking back at the entrance. What that shot doesn't show is the 17 feet of loose shale we were going to have to belay down over to get to the run. It didn't look bad to Jimbo from the heli, and he knew the run would be worth the effort and was checking out the aspects as the four of us stood at the top waiting. Never having belayed before, I was there for the challenge and more than willing to give it a go. Much to my relief, the other three were all about 50/50 on doing it, and when we expressed that to Jimbo he wisely said that if anyone's uncomfortable, we won't do it. If I would have realized that we'd have to hike up and out of there for almost an hour, get picked up by the heli again and taken elsewhere, I would've been a little more adamant about doing it!

As we flew around that valley the rest of the day, I would occasionally get a glimpse back at "Quickie" and lament the fact that we left that beautiful run untracked!! Maybe next year there will be more snow on the entry and we can tear it up good!

The reactions from some people...

Thinking me crazy or insane! They don't get it, and never could, but I tried to put into words something words can't really convey.

Yes, I'm insane with a passion to LIVE, to EXPERIENCE, to push my boundaries and do the impossible! To fulfill a 31 year fantasy and empty my bucket list! I'm insane with the love of the perfect turn, the drive to stay in shape and develop my skiing abilities and knowledge to the best of my ability. I'm crazy for experiencing the pinnacle of the skiing experience, endless, bottomless, untracked powder with the steepness and stability to ski it safely. That's what The Chugach has to offer anyone with the cajones to GO FOR IT!!!

I'm going back next March, anyone want to join me for the experience of a lifetime?

Old Farts Rule,
Hugh