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

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

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.

"Walt" wrote in message
...
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.

I'd like to know how the subject of the story got to the Outback if he
couldn't ski, as it's the third mountain back from the front, and you have
to do quite a bit of skiing to get there. And there's no triple black
diamonds there! At all. Just some greyish blackish ones.

ant

I think I acknowledged that my memory may be fuzzy as to it being the
OutBack, and that it may have been a green run for that matter. That's
what happens when you get older, too many stories, and they get all
mixed up together. However the basic story was correct, so I apologize
to you and all, if you had trouble connecting the dots in my story. TnT

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

Red Deer River running high (but not stupid high)...

No big deal until Big Rock. Still getting over the year before's ass-kicking on the Kicking Horse, I decided to walk, with a number
of our beginners. But sit back and watch the carnage! There was the pair in the ducky, travelling with a raft company (why the
raft co. let them go in a ducky is a question I don't have an answer to). Right over the pourover at the start of the rapid! Swim
the rest.

Then there was the group of three people in two canoes. The pair in one was completely clueless. They avoided the pourover (which
really isn't difficult), but were unable to avoid the big waves and swamped. Swim. The solo canoeist really looked like he knew
what he was doing, nonchalantly and skillfully paddling around the pourover. But then, all he needed to do was put in two or three
good strokes to miss the big waves, and he never did... Maybe he wanted to ride them, but in an open canoe without floatation, I
wouldn't think that was a good idea. Swamp. Swim.

So, get down to Gooseberry. The raft company is there, and all but one make it through safely--even the pair in the ducky got
ejected but they did make it through. One raft is off line and gets stuck. Now for those who haven't paddled the Red Deer,
Gooseberry is a river-wide ledge, and the river is probably over 200 feet wide. There is an angled tongue down the centre, which
can be ridden at any water level. Some people will boof the left edge of the ledge as well. At high water, like it was that day,
the line is razor thin, and the consequences of being off line would be rather unpleasant (though a swimmer would be most likely be
spit out after a spin cycle or two). Once again, I walked. As I said, one raft missed the line (just barely) and got stuck in the
hole. All the passengers were ejected (a couple had some unpleasant recirculations in the hole for a few seconds which probably
seemed like a lifetime to the hapless swimmers) but the guide stayed in. And he stayed in for the full fifteen minutes that his
raft was stuck!! Apparently he was a very experienced guide who had never once flipped a raft--and he still didn't flip it.
Anyway, a couple rafts unsuccessfully tried to knock him out of the hole. One of our kayakers ran the drop with a throwbag in his
teeth, throwing it at the right moment--he hit the guide in the face with the bag, but the guide was unable to grab it! Then there
was the guide on shore trying (two or three times!) to hit the raft, 80-90 feet away, with his 60 foot throwbag... And glaring at
me for not trying to throw my bag!

So we get down to the Nationals site, where the raft company takes their customers for a swim off a small cliff. One decides it
would fun to attack one of kayakers... At first, we thought he was panicking and was just trying to get out of the water, but it
was soon obvious that he was just an a$$hole.

Eventually, we get to the takeout, where we saw the remains of the canoe that the guy was paddling solo. We later found out that he
had tried to line his boat through Gooseberry, and it got away from him... He actually tried to accuse people of stealign the gear
he had had tied into the boat!

An amazing day of crazy bravado...

(I missed the really crazy day of bravado, when the river was stupid-high...)

-Paul

Paul, I did a section of the Red Deer, at lower water, but do
not know the names of any of the rapids. Can you post enough detail
so I know what section this story is about, and whether I've seen some
of the same section or river? I remember a riverwide ledge, which is
the only one we bank-scouted prior to running. Possibly the one you
call Gooseberry? A smallish river, clear water, very pretty in
places. Saw lots of wildlife, elk, wolf. Tom McCloud


On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 17:05:24 GMT, "Paul Skoczylas"
wrote:

Red Deer River running high (but not stupid high)...

No big deal until Big Rock. Still getting over the year before's ass-kicking on the Kicking Horse, I decided to walk, with a number
of our beginners. But sit back and watch the carnage! There was the pair in the ducky, travelling with a raft company (why the
raft co. let them go in a ducky is a question I don't have an answer to). Right over the pourover at the start of the rapid! Swim
the rest.

Then there was the group of three people in two canoes. The pair in one was completely clueless. They avoided the pourover (which
really isn't difficult), but were unable to avoid the big waves and swamped. Swim. The solo canoeist really looked like he knew
what he was doing, nonchalantly and skillfully paddling around the pourover. But then, all he needed to do was put in two or three
good strokes to miss the big waves, and he never did... Maybe he wanted to ride them, but in an open canoe without floatation, I
wouldn't think that was a good idea. Swamp. Swim.

So, get down to Gooseberry. The raft company is there, and all but one make it through safely--even the pair in the ducky got
ejected but they did make it through. One raft is off line and gets stuck. Now for those who haven't paddled the Red Deer,
Gooseberry is a river-wide ledge, and the river is probably over 200 feet wide. There is an angled tongue down the centre, which
can be ridden at any water level. Some people will boof the left edge of the ledge as well. At high water, like it was that day,
the line is razor thin, and the consequences of being off line would be rather unpleasant (though a swimmer would be most likely be
spit out after a spin cycle or two). Once again, I walked. As I said, one raft missed the line (just barely) and got stuck in the
hole. All the passengers were ejected (a couple had some unpleasant recirculations in the hole for a few seconds which probably
seemed like a lifetime to the hapless swimmers) but the guide stayed in. And he stayed in for the full fifteen minutes that his
raft was stuck!! Apparently he was a very experienced guide who had never once flipped a raft--and he still didn't flip it.
Anyway, a couple rafts unsuccessfully tried to knock him out of the hole. One of our kayakers ran the drop with a throwbag in his
teeth, throwing it at the right moment--he hit the guide in the face with the bag, but the guide was unable to grab it! Then there
was the guide on shore trying (two or three times!) to hit the raft, 80-90 feet away, with his 60 foot throwbag... And glaring at
me for not trying to throw my bag!

So we get down to the Nationals site, where the raft company takes their customers for a swim off a small cliff. One decides it
would fun to attack one of kayakers... At first, we thought he was panicking and was just trying to get out of the water, but it
was soon obvious that he was just an a$$hole.

Eventually, we get to the takeout, where we saw the remains of the canoe that the guy was paddling solo. We later found out that he
had tried to line his boat through Gooseberry, and it got away from him... He actually tried to accuse people of stealign the gear
he had had tied into the boat!

An amazing day of crazy bravado...

(I missed the really crazy day of bravado, when the river was stupid-high...)

-Paul

"Tom McCloud" wrote in message ...
Paul, I did a section of the Red Deer, at lower water, but do
not know the names of any of the rapids. Can you post enough detail
so I know what section this story is about, and whether I've seen some
of the same section or river? I remember a riverwide ledge, which is
the only one we bank-scouted prior to running. Possibly the one you
call Gooseberry? A smallish river, clear water, very pretty in
places. Saw lots of wildlife, elk, wolf. Tom McCloud

The Red Deer has many sections. The parts of interest to whitewater paddlers are all upstream of Sundre. The main section starts
where the Forestry Trunk Road crosses the river, at Mountain Aire Lodge. (AFAIK, that's the only currently existing bridge upstream
of Sundre.) Various take-outs are used. Gooseberry is the only significant river wide ledge on the main run. If you did the lower
section, near Coal Camp, there's a rapid called double ledge which is also significant--the river is much narrower and constricted.
I doubt anyone would see that section on the same run as Gooseberry--or it would be a very long day! At lower water, none of the
other rapids really have any significance. There might be a hole at the bottom of Big Rock (which is the first "real" rapid), but
it's probably playable.

Low water (depending on who you talk to) is anything below about 50 cms--I know people who are happy to run it at 30, but that seems
a waste of time to me. High water is anything over 80 or so cms. That day it was over 100 cms. (The year before, a group paddled
it over 200 cms, experiencing severe carnage...)

-Paul