Anyway, we got up there a bit late, but the boys were pumped. They didn't seem to even mind that Brian's daughter Abby was there for the weekend with her friend Sam. Owen was surprisingly social as well. That is, he never said a word to either girl, or made eye contact, but he also didn't hide in a corner and hide his face either. At one point, he actually sat in the same room as them.
Friday we got up early and hit Bolton Valley. It was COLD, and the runs were fast and hard. The conditions never did soften up that much, but that wasn't a problem. Owen was pumped because he got to try his brand new Oakley goggles. We had a few falls, including Tom messing up the down and up chute (we got that one on video). For lunch we stopped in the Timerline Lodge, in which we were the only patrons. The cook/cashier was an older guy named John who actually grew up in Weymouth, right on the Fore River. He's a street musician when not flipping burgers with big plans in Nashville. Anyway, he gave Tom and extra beer, and the boys all got some free pudding. We got pizza Thursday night, watched a couple of movies, and then the boys camped out in Brian's cellar.
Saturday we got off to a later start and hit Bolton around 1pm, juts in time to watch the pond skimming contest. Meatheads from around the area strip down in the freezing cold and try to ski across a 30 foot pond. Some actually made it, but most took a tumble in what had to be freezing water as it was maybe 34 degrees outside. Someday I can see Liam trying that. The conditions were somewhat better on Saturday, and we skied until after 7pm. We ran two ski races down Sure Shot. The first race saw everyone start together, and the surprise winner was Evan. He powered past Owen and me at the last minute for the win. For the second race, we staggered the start, and let Thomas and Liam lead off. Owen, Evan and I started last, and once again, Evan stormed by everyone for the win and the near spectacular crash when he decided to cross the finish line face first. Other than a mouth full of snow, he was a-OK. Owen's response when asked how Evan had beat him twice, "I'm not sure, I think I'm just having a bad day". Speaking of a bad day, all of us had trouble with the very hard and powder-less trail Hard Luck. Owen wiped and lost a ski, Evan almost managed to slide sideways into the trees, I slid a good 50 feet on my side, and Liam did the butt slide for the bottom half. The only casualty of the day was Owen. He tried for some real big air at the terrain park, and he got it, but in the process he kneed himself in the face causing a bloody nose. We got that on video too.
By the way, Liam continues to improve with his snowboarding. There were a number of trails where he was doing some perfect shredding, balancing between his toes and heels. He tried a number of jumps and tricks throughout the day and is getting more confident as the days go by.
Saturday night we ate Liz's lasagna that she sent up. My GOD, was that good. It was a relatively early night for everyone, including your truly.
Sunday we got up early, packed the car and headed to Killington. We weren't sure what the conditions were going to be like, but we wanted the kids to experience a big mountain. We lucked out and bought some discounted tickets at the mountain, and we were off. We started on the right mountain called Ramshead, and then proceeded to ski all of the peaks; six or seven in all. We did the long, winding greens that were Liam's favorites, and we hit a lot of Blue and Blacks that still had lots of snow coverage on them. There were a few falls, and I think I got the winner with a heads over heels tumble on Skyelark, a fun black diamond that my legs just gave up on. At the end of the day, we made our way back to Ramshead and the final race of the weekend. Owen, Evan and I all lined up and headed straight down Header, a wide, straight downhill. At GO, Owen and Evan took off like mini-rockets, and I tucked in behind them. One third of the way down, Evan had opened a 10 foot lead on Owen, and the two of them just kept pulling away from me. By 2/3 of the way down, Evan was 30 feet ahead of Owen, and I was a good 100 yards behind. At the finish, Evan still held the lead, and Owen was left shaking his head. 0 for 3 against his baby brother.
This is likely our last trip of the year, with the rain coming to wipe it all away. From where we all started the year, each and everyone one of us has jumped leaps and bounds over where we were. Liam is now able to cruise a lot more comfortably then before, Owen keeps getting higher and higher with his jumps, and Evan no longer needs to use the pizza slice technique for turns. I'm very proud of my guys, and look forward to years and years of us skiing together. Now if we could get Nancy to get back out there.....
Other notes from the trip:
- Tom's new nickname is Uncle Giney, short for....never mind
- Thomas is now Giney Junior, or the Brown Eye Boy, short for....never mind
- Saw Zombieland. Not a bad movie, although the male lead tried to much to be Michael Cera
- Saw some of New Moon. ZZZZZZZ
- 2.5 hours to Waterbury from Pelham, 2.5 hours from Killington to Pelham, 1.25 hours from Waterbury to Killington - go figure
- Thomas and Evan sat in the back together and had a blast. Owen and Liam sat in the middle together, and twice Owen suckered punched Liam in the face, once with a book binding. By the end, they were giggling like schoolgirls.
- Scary 10 minutes at killington when Thomas skied away from Tom and we had no idea where he went. Found him soon thereafter, but that kind of sucked.
No comments:
Post a Comment