Rock Ski Video Makes Your Knees Feel Kind of Gross

Ever skied over gravel that was covered by just a little bit of snow, only to come to a screeching backwards-knee-bending halt?  Shudder.  Somehow, this French guy makes that look easy, and a little fun.  There are so many excellent parts to this video.  How about the massive rock he dislodges at 0:44, or his assertion that "The people who can ski on the stones can ski in any kind of snow," as though anyone besides him is doing this. Best part:

Q:  So you skied Mt. Fuji without snow?
A: Yeah.
Q:  How was that?
A:  What can I say?  One turn to the right, one turn to the left.

Pretty much says it all right there.



PS - this dude is wearing leather boots.

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Spillway Back Up and Running

The lovely lift riding experience that is Sugarloaf’s Spillway Double has risen from its earlier defeat and is now back in service.  Yes, now you can once again enjoy the second half of the classic 25-minute ride to the windiest place on Earth, the only lift-serviced above-treeline skiing on the East Coast.  Reports are that if you don’t know where the lift broke in the first place, you wouldn’t totally be able to pick it out now because they’ve done such a nice job repairing it.

Sugarloaf has also announced what had been rumored before the crash:  they’ve been planning on putting in a high-speed quad there all along.  The Spillway is the kind of lift that makes you think twice sometimes, so it’s unfortunate that the worst possible thing actually did happen with it before the ‘Loaf could give us all the good news about the new quad.  Now it just looks like they’re trying to re-shape their image, even though they’ve been planning the new lift all along.

Too bad America just can’t learn a few things from other countries.  Surface lifts, anyone?

Before:

After:

The Good Old Days

You used to be able to ride this bus/lift from Government Camp to the Timberline Lodge back in the day.  Now you have to drive up the road, or ride a whole bunch of chairlifts which means sitting outside in the elements.  Unclear if the bus would transport you immediately to Charlie's after skiing, or whether it could drive at all, but it doesn't appear to be adorned with tires in either of these photos.  In either case, it inspires the mind to think about what other sorts of novelties you could shape a chairlift or gondola into.

Thanks to www.VintageSkiWorld.com for the second photo.

On a similar note, wtf.  Why is this a website? Why can't you stop browsing it?