Craziest Bravado story
 

Winter time being a great time for story telling, and having been
involved in some story telling on another thread, I thought I would try
moving in to its own topic. I know there are some good stories and
story tellers out there, and we're all ready for a good laugh or sigh.

The funniest situation I ever saw of bravado, and only funny because it
turned out ok was regarding a skier here in Colorado.

I was skiing at Keystone in the Out Back, when I came across a young
man maybe in his 20s, in T-shirt and jeans. He had no jacket, gloves or
hat. He had rented skis that day, and without lessons, set out on his
own to learn to ski. He figured that if he went to the highest lift,
and found the steepest run, that by the time he got to the bottom, he
would know how to ski.

I passed him probably 15 times on the Triple Black Diamond, and offered
help each time. I saw others also offer assistance, and with the same
result -refused, he was going to teach himself. Someone apparently
notified the SkiPatrol eventually, though they were not able to do
anything as long as he did not consent to their help.

At the end of the day they were sweeping the runs, and just in time,
because they found him hypothermic and disorientated. This time they
did not need his consent, as I saw them bundle him shaking onto the
sled. I heard later that he had survived.

The part that was funny, was I remember seeing him going down the mtn,
head over heels, skis going every which way. Like they say "Yardsale!"
Then he would have to scramble through the snow to get his gear
altogether, strapped back on, go five feet and start all over again. A
moving living Disastor zone.

Sorry about the OT story, but I have not been kayaking long enough to
have my own kayaking story, so I look forward to yours. TnT

On 15-Jan-2005, "Tinkerntom" wrote:

Someone apparently
notified the SkiPatrol eventually, though they were not able to do
anything as long as he did not consent to their help.

Colorado's freedom to die. Around here, ski patrol can kick
you off the hills if they think you are not qualified for
the conditions or are at risk.

Mike

Melissa, the most common serious ski injury use to be broken legs with
the old binding system. So you don't feel so bad, the most common
injury now is broken thumbs. Which is due to skiers holding their poles
improperly. Seems sort of weird, but its true.

The above story occurred close to 15 years ago, and I suspect that the
Ski Patrol can take you off the mountain now for your protection. I
hope that there is never a time when kayaking gets so regulated. That
is why it is probably important for the community to check up on itself
to make sure we are advocating sound practices. TnT

Melissa wrote in news:75ko29r7x26b
:

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Hi Tinkerntom,

On 15 Jan 2005 18:58:56 -0800, you wrote:

He figured that if he went to the highest lift, and found the
steepest run, that by the time he got to the bottom, he would know how
to ski.

That reminds me a bit of my very first experience on skis, though I
did happily accept a bit of training help from a friend who was an
experienced skier.

I was 15, and a group of us went for a weekend at the local ski
resort where one of our friend's parents worked. Only two of our
group of five could already ski, so it was up to them to help the
rest of us get started.

We spent the first day on the rope tow (I think they called it the
"bunny slope" or something like that), and we practiced a few basics.
I felt pretty good after that first day, so the next day, I took the
chair up to the "intermediate" slope. It was great! I skied all day
and even into the night under the lights. Several nice runs, and I
never fell.

If you don't fall you're not trying hard enough.

Since Tinkertom specifically mentioned Keystone I can offer a similar
Keystone experience. In the mid 70's I was working for a band that was
playing at a hotel near Keystone. I had been skiing for five years or so
but no one else in the band had any experience. I gave them some pointers
on the bunny slope down near the parking lot and then went up the chair for
a couple of runs before coming back to check on their progress. One of them
(Bruce) seemed to be getting it so I suggested we take the chair up and take
the long meandering beginners run down. Once on the chair up into the trees
and away from the parking lot the beginner commented that "this is real
skiing...not that flat spot near the parking lot". We spent the rest of the
day up on the mountain skiing progressively more difficult slopes until he
was skiing intermediate runs with ease. Four weeks later we were skiing the
advanced upper bowls of A Basin along side a woman from the ski patrol. He
was ski patrolling himself a couple years after that, married the woman from
the ski patrol, who learned how to play the bass and played in Bruce's band.

BTW, to Tinkertom...where is the triple black diamond run at Keystone? When
I skied there they only had one black diamond run and it was pretty marginal
for that classification.

Tinkerntom wrote:

Winter time being a great time for story telling, and having been
involved in some story telling on another thread, I thought I would try
moving in to its own topic. I know there are some good stories and
story tellers out there, and we're all ready for a good laugh or sigh.


It's a story all right. As in "Tall Tale."

There is no such thing as a "Triple Black Diamond" at Keystone or
anywhere else in Colorado. It's sort of like telling a story about a
class nine rapid.

Anyway, I'll let you finish:


The funniest situation I ever saw of bravado, and only funny because it
turned out ok was regarding a skier here in Colorado.

I was skiing at Keystone in the Out Back, when I came across a young
man maybe in his 20s, in T-shirt and jeans. He had no jacket, gloves or
hat. He had rented skis that day, and without lessons, set out on his
own to learn to ski. He figured that if he went to the highest lift,
and found the steepest run, that by the time he got to the bottom, he
would know how to ski.

I passed him probably 15 times on the Triple Black Diamond, and offered
help each time. I saw others also offer assistance, and with the same
result -refused, he was going to teach himself. Someone apparently
notified the SkiPatrol eventually, though they were not able to do
anything as long as he did not consent to their help.

At the end of the day they were sweeping the runs, and just in time,
because they found him hypothermic and disorientated. This time they
did not need his consent, as I saw them bundle him shaking onto the
sled. I heard later that he had survived.

The part that was funny, was I remember seeing him going down the mtn,
head over heels, skis going every which way. Like they say "Yardsale!"
Then he would have to scramble through the snow to get his gear
altogether, strapped back on, go five feet and start all over again. A
moving living Disastor zone.

Sorry about the OT story, but I have not been kayaking long enough to
have my own kayaking story, so I look forward to yours. TnT



--
// Walt
//
// There is no Volkl Conspiracy

for flat water paddling it's a great way to learn

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
warning: non-FreeNet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned

John Fereira wrote:


BTW, to Tinkertom...where is the triple black diamond run at
Keystone? When
I skied there they only had one black diamond run and it was pretty
marginal
for that classification.

There you go getting me confused with the facts. That was 15 years ago
or so, and I thought it was Keystone, but then it might have been a
green run as well. All I remember was this human snowball slowly
rolling down the slope.

I will tell you another OT story, which is my favorite, and has to do
with the worlds greatest athelete (well at least IMHO)


This has to do when I was learning to ski, and I was playing the part
of the human snowball. I had taken 3 or 4 days of lessons, and the
instructor told me I just needed to go out and get time on the slopes.
This was great fun until I started pushing my limits on the blue/black
runs especially with moguls.

One day, while setting on Lower Columbine @ Mary Jane, amongst the
moguls probably having fallen for the hundredth time, and not totally
convinced that I was having fun, and generally feeling sorry for
myself. I all of a sudden heard a hoot behind me and figured I was
about to get run over. With a great deal of effort the two skiers
coming down together missed me, but piled up on the side of the run. I
expected them to be mad at me for setting in the center of a narrow
run, and for causing them to fall. Surprisingly, all I heard was
laughter as they untangled themselves and their skies and poles, and
with out missing a beat, they took off down the moguled slope. The ski
instructor holding the leash of the blind skier, and then I realized
that the blind skier had only one leg.

I realized then that I had nothing to complain about, and if he could
ski the moguls, then there was no reason stopping me except what was
between by ears. I can still remember them skiing away down that slope,
and the last thing I heard as they turned out of sight, was the worlds
greatest athelete, laughing. TnT

On 16-Jan-2005, "Tinkerntom" wrote:

Surprisingly, all I heard was
laughter as they untangled themselves and their skies and poles, and
with out missing a beat, they took off down the moguled slope. The ski
instructor holding the leash of the blind skier, and then I realized
that the blind skier had only one leg.

Some of the best cross-country skiing I've done was guiding a
blind skier. She was a paralympic competitor and really put me
thru the paces. She set the line downhill and I had to set my
line accordingly without falling. The most challenging skiing
I've done and the most rewarding. It makes it hard to listen
to whiners telling me how tough their skiing is, though.

Mike

in article , Walt at
wrote on 1/16/05 6:10 PM:

I was skiing at Keystone in the Out Back, when I came across a young
man maybe in his 20s, in T-shirt and jeans. He had no jacket, gloves or
hat. He had rented skis that day, and without lessons, set out on his
own to learn to ski. He figured that if he went to the highest lift,
and found the steepest run, that by the time he got to the bottom, he
would know how to ski.

I had a jacket and gloves, and the skiing here probably doesn't offer hills
of equal challenge, but that is exactly how I learned to ski. I'd never been
on downhill skis in my life, my buddies took me up to camp fortune, pointed
me towards the side with the more difficult hills, and off I went. A great
many people learn things simply by doing them.

Melissa ) writes:
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Hi William,

On 16 Jan 2005 23:17:53 GMT, you wrote:

for flat water paddling it's a great way to learn

Care to define "flat water" for us? :-)

flat: no surf

eg: Rideau River, Meach Lake (both popular flat water paddling venues)

it's also the perfect way to learn to run rapids, starting small and
working up. it's the way it's been done for thousands of years before the
invention of "certified padding instructors", and before the invention of
railroads and automobiles when canoes and kayaks were used for every day
transportation by all the residents of Canada. instead of a car parked in
your driveway you had a canoe or a kayak. even as late as the 1960's
prospectors and trappers still used canoes every day in season to earn their
living without the advantage of a "certified paddling instructor". most of
North amercia was explored, mapped, and surveyed (eg Geological Survey of
Canada) from canoes before the invention of "certified paddling
instructors", often by wilderness novices right of the boat from the old
country looking for any kind of work or serving in Her Majesty's forces.


--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
warning: non-FreeNet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned