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Gathering Clouds (Time for Reflection)

Thread Starter
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Tony S

Tony S

I have a confusion to make ...
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@Pasha , here is the correct version:

No guarantees, but the pattern is the last week of January for Taos and last week of February for the National Gathering. Assuming life is more-or-less back to normal by then.
 

KevinF

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@Tony S , your list of Pugs that you skied with is much longer than mine. I skied with @LKLA and @Erik Timmerman . Maybe a run with Mr. and Mrs Josh at some point? That's it. I missed the Gatherings; obviously the NEG just came to a crashing end as well.

My Stowe season ended with 606,266 vertical feet over 345 lift rides over 26 days. Definitely on the low end with the season being terminated early. I had at least five or six days that were great in February, but other then that... yeah, the New England season sucked. Jackson Hole was fun for the Steep and Deep camp as well.

I was halfway home before Erik texted me about going XC skating today, so I missed my opportunity to demonstrate my ability to flail wildly. Time to bust out the bike and the hiking boots.
 
Thread Starter
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Tony S

Tony S

I have a confusion to make ...
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Kay-Beck!

Count me in!!

@Jilly, don't let this dude get you all excited. The closest he's come to attending a gathering in recent memory - despite several having been held at his home mountain - is waving at us from across the Stowe cafeteria. ;) He's too busy pulling down the big tips and autographing new pairs of Fischers. LOL. :duck:
 

KevinF

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Not to throw too much of a wet-blanket on the Quebec idea...

The (aborted) Killington gathering had more sign-ups than any Stowe gathering did. Stowe gatherings always had more sign-ups than the Saddleback / Sugarloaf gathering did.

There's a correlation between driving distance and attendance. Quebec makes all those places look close, at least for those of us who don't count polar bears among our neighbors. I am intrigued by the idea of skiing the Quebec areas... until I look at how long it takes to get there. :(

I think a retry at Killington and a Saddleback (assuming they get open) gatherings are on tap before we aim for Quebec.
 

MarkP

Saturday, and Saturday, and Saturday...
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Great thread Tony S.

I'm definitely saddened by the closures and "suspensions" which may well turn into full closures. Also not ready for the season to be over; was hoping to get in another handful of days on the slopes, but glad for what I was able to have.

My reflections:
  • Highlight: Skied again (after missing last season due to surgery)!!!!! 22 days. I'll take that infinite increase.
  • Lowlight: 0 days at local slopes (combination of poor conditions, work schedule, other trips and working on house)
  • Highlight: Skied 6 new to me resorts (Winter Park, Copper, Solitude, Brighton, Deer Valley, Park City) as well as 9 other familiar ones.
  • Lowlight: skied with only 2 other Pugsters
  • Highlight: those Pugsters were @MattSmith and @dbostedo
  • Lowlight: chickened out on signing up for the Taos mini gathering (too cautious about the new hip)
  • Highlight: caught up with @VickieH for lunch (who knew that retired folk actually have busy lives and can't just go skiing when I'm available)
  • Lowlight?: never once fell
 

Ogg

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I'm definitely not ready for the season to end. The JH gathering was a great experience and I was looking forward to the NEG. I was also looking forward to using at least some of my Ikon K and SB days this spring but reopening of either is doubtful.
 

bbinder

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Nice post, Tony. Thank you.
 

Steve

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I had a great season. The weather and lack of snow certainly changed it, the trip to Tahoe when it was hardpacked NE conditions felt like poorly spent money, it coming to an end so early sucks of course.
2016 came to an end in mid March due to weather.

However I got in 62 days (still far short of the 90+ of the last 3 years) finished the season skiing 12 days in a row (at least I set that numerical record) and most importantly made huge advances in my skills!

It would have been great to build on those for a few more weeks for sure, and I could have skied the last few days, but didn't out of personal and societal caution.

But assuming there will be a next year (fingers crossed) when I get back on snow, the movement patterns I'm close to having mastered are going to make for some really great skiing.
 

KevinF

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Ooops, I realized I forgot one name in my post above -- I skied a few runs with @surfsnowgirl at Bromley one afternoon.

Like @Steve , I feel I made some big jumps in my skiing this year. I was hoping to continue to build on those skills through the spring but... I'm sure Erik till criticize me as needed in December if I relapse over the summer months.
 

Steve

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You'll come back right where you left off.
 

David Chaus

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I was hoping I’d get some skiing in after the Gathering. There are a lot of people I missed skiing with at the Gathering, both people who attended and those who didn’t, among others, you, @Tony S, and @KevinF (Shamora says “hi”, BTW).

This morning I finally unpacked everything from my road trip, though I still have 3 pair of skis in my roof box. I was on a 19-day road trip, shortened to 18 days due to household repair issues that came up, plus in-laws with heart attacks and still wanting to go out in public after discharge from the hospital and apparently dismissive of CV-19 concerns. That said, I skied 15 of those 18 days (Lookout Pass, Big Sky, Jackson, Grand Targhee, Park City, Deer Valley, Snowbasin, and Big Sky again), in addition to my regular season, teaching 6 weekends at Stevens, a multi-week training clinic (5 Wednesdays) at Alpental where I learned a whole lot, and a few days skiing at Crystal.

My last day of skiing was 3/6 at Big Sky. I’ve had 31 days on the snow. I can say that I’ve gotten enough of my money’s worth of my Ikon and Epic passes. And, it isn’t nearly enough, it’s still is too soon to end my ski season.

So, who knows, maybe some places around here will reopen, or I can travel to some locations in BC. Or I can stay home and focus on yard work and property maintenance. We have 10 acres, and I have lots of wood-chipping, tree pruning, hole digging for new plantings to do, and while it’s below freezing at night, it’s upper 40’s during the day and we’re getting some sunshine. I will get plenty of exercise without having to leave the property. My counseling office is 15 minutes away, and more of my clients are choosing Telehealth sessions. I’ve been able to order pretty much anything on Amazon, other than hand sanitizer.

The hand sanitizer would come in handy particularly for cleaning off a baseball bat or garden tool after wacking zombies, should it come to that. Fortunately that hasn’t happened. Yet.
 
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James

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I missed two months due to a concussion. Was looking forward to late season, which is like another season and often great. Looks like Abasin in May is out. Was even thinking of driving 2-3 days to get there to avoid a plane. At this point, the concept of skiing in May will likely seem trite in two months.
 

Marker

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@Tony S I was really looking forward to my first Gathering with Killington at the end of the month. A chance to meet you and the other NE posters. @Guy in Shorts showed me the ropes at Killington last year and gave me lots of great suggestions, but mostly encouragement that I really appreciated (@Wannabeskibum as well)! I only got to ski sporadically with him and his crew this season, not enough due to a variety of reasons. I know moving to Killington has forced me to improve my skiing with lessons and all, and I was looking forward to getting into the spring skiing as a first for me. I exceeded my previous season total, so there is that, but this season has come too fast to an end.
 

Bad Bob

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We appear to have another month around here, and I have a little personal stach I have found that will require about 100' of hiking Hoping to get a couple of days on. 25 could still be realistic; working full time that isn't bad.

So in those immortal words; "it ain't over till it's over".
 

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