Eastcoast Slopeside

I would love to be able to catch a flight to Utah everytime a big snowstorm hits, but that is not (yet) in the cards. So instead, I have bitten the bullet and taken to East Coast skiing. Meghann and I went to Ascutney in February for a couple of days. I decided to do a little snowboarding, which I am still working on...

We were up there we a few friends. That's Kenny with Meghann and I. This is the view from the top!

And here is looking up from the bottom, and us with the Storm Trooper.

Meghann is the one who taught me to snowboard. She is pretty sweet.

So the skiing is still good out here. You just have to get used to a few things. Actually, just one thing really. Ice. In Utah we complain when we have to ski over icy patches on the trails. They are hard, frozen snow. Here, that is the good kind of ice. The bad kind here is like a frozen river under the snow. There will be huge 30 ft wide sections with clear/blue ice covering them. It gets nasty, especially when those sections are hiding under a thin layer of snow.

We found some good groomed runs through, where the ice had not infiltrated. The video below was cool as I tried to imitate Kenny and do a slide on this ramp. It actually ends with by most painful crash of the day. You don't get to see it, but it you look at the last image of the clip, you will see me cringe in pain. I remember feeling like my rib-cage had been crushed.

I brought my skis too, just so I could feel capable again. But I am improving on the board!