Almost a Grooming Report October 26, 2020
Kind of like the Mars Rover, one never knows if the grooming reporter is still alive for months at a time. Then, sun hits the solar collector and it shakes off the dust. I remember buying milk from dairy farmers a lifetime ago. I would call on every dairy in the U.P. One nice gentleman was in his late 80. He lived alone and was typically in the barn addressing one of the many chores when I would arrive. He was always quite jolly and happy to see me. I would imagine; twice a day, 365 days a year, 3,652 days a decade; he would answer the bell. I like to think he is still in the barn today but that would make him a super centurion now. One day I expect the cows had to wait a little longer. Not having to answer the bell twelve months a year makes my job pale in comparison. The old saw goes, “We have three months of poor sledding during summer.”. Of course, the truth is, there is actually no skiing for over four months. The last real skiing was in May but expect some die hard was looking for a shade patch on the ski hill in June. I know we often see U.P. snow in September but I don’t ever recall using it to ski. Please let us know if either of you have been on the boards before October 1st. So, in any case, although one never knows when that pesky aneurysm is going to pop, it looks like you are going to be stuck with me for a few more days (or until they change my password).
I did ski yesterday and will go again today. Every year we agonize over the reporting criteria. The standard classifications remain unchanged but the criteria is subject to change as are all cultural norms. So we will continue to report skiing as being Race Ready, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor and To Win a Bet (RR, E, VG, G, F, P, TWAB) but what is TWAB to some is Fair or even Good to others. Take yesterday; the warm ground caused my dry skis to stick from time to time. I was so angry with myself my ski technician for failing to perform the proper ski prep for the conditions. The wrong prep left me feeling skiing would rate TWAB but expect today to rate Fair or even Good. The snow depth was ample and years of careful off season prep allows one to ski on a heavy frost much less six inches of high moisture content snow. Now, I have been called a Pollyanna when it comes to ski conditions and, for that matter, life itself so I have to temper my opinions when it comes to official classifications. Hence, the agony referenced above. We really do take reportage seriously (even if we don’t take ourselves so). In any case, pesky aneurysm notwithstanding, I will let you know what we found tomorrow.
See you out there,
Sondo