garbage bag weather!

Don't wanna be a fair weathah skiah, do ya?

After listening to Spalding Gray's "It's A Slippery Slope" about 125 times over the past four years, I finally got to live it.

I drove up to Belleayre early this morning -- ignoring the weather forecast for showers -- and arrived in the midst of a light, but steady rain. I reached into the trunk of my car and took out a bright blue recycling bag, cut holes for my head and arms, and put it over my non-waterproof ski jacket. The first two hours were beyond unpleasant: pea-soup fog, rain, and snow that had become the consistency of wet, frozen sugar. All I could think of were Spalding's words, running like a tape loop through my head:

I'm skiing in a garbage bag! I'm skiing in the rain in a garbage bag! And I'm paying to do it!

But by 11 am, the rain stopped, the skies cleared up, and I found three top-to-bottom runs on the most luscious, carvable spring corn I've ever experienced.

OK, so it wasn't Alta, it wasn't Jackson Hole, and it wasn't Les Trois Vallees. It was a dinky (1,400 vertical feet) hill in the Catskills that had just lost 60% of its trails to the rain. But it was great skiing... I did lap after lap after lap on those three trails until 4 pm, without wishing for one moment that I were someplace else.

There was something extremely satisfying having to deal with dog-poop weather, and then discovering near perfect conditions. And in this less than ideal East Coast winter, you've got to take your victories wherever you can find them.

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ March 16, 2002 09:16 PM: Message edited 2 times, by jamesdeluxe ]</font>

Some of the most delicious snow I've ever enjoyed has been while skiing in and immediately after a rain.

outstanding!

I can relate. Left no snow last Tueaday at home, drove 1.5 hours to Snow Ridge, and low and behold they had snow. No people, no lines some fresh powder down the sides. It wasn't Whiteface or ALta, but for the day, it brought a great big smile to my face. When there is no snow , any is better than none. To all you folks out west, next year is our turn .

The best skier is the one with the biggest smile.... [img]smile.gif[/img]

"And in this less than ideal East Coast winter, you've got to take your victories wherever you can find them."

Amen James.
Nicely done.

Yup, have skied in the rain ALL day quite a few times. Last time was at Stowe at the end of the season. Top quarter of the mountain totally fogged in. But skiing was excellent! Rain was warm. You get it when you can! [img]smile.gif[/img]

Always keep a full rain suit in my ski bag just for days like that.