10 Ideas to
Kick the Pre-Season Blues
11.22.03 - Jay Peak may open December 4, 5, or 6. This is what I read on the Jay website today. Last week President Bill told us we could get our boards ready to go right after we finished our turkey dinner, November 28th. And before that, we were promised we could hit the snow on the 22nd. And so goes the waiting game we play every season.
Skiing, more than any other sport, leaves it’s participants waiting for the coveted ‘Opening Day’. From watching the weather channel to bouncing from .com to .com, we attempt to guess when Mother Nature will start up her snowmaking guns. I already know Pedro will take the mound in Camden Yards on April 5th for the Red Sox opener. In football, we get 5 pre-season games to wet our appetite before ‘Week #1.’ But skiing is different. The calendar plays no role. Resort owners hands’ are tied. We just have to sit and wait, tune our skis and wait, learn the intricacies of meteorology and wait some more.
In the meantime, here are 10 preseason ideas to keep your ski sense sharp and help pass the time:
- Rent a ski house. What better way to make sure you won’t miss an inch
of snow this season than securing a place to call home, ideally within 10 minutes
of your resort. Besides, the quicker you can start drinking on your couch, the
sooner you’ll be passed out, and awake again for another powder day.
- Get in shape. When the season starts, it’s gonna start with a bang
and you don’t want to be sucking wind or yelling at your quads to keep
up with your brain at 10am on the first 10” day. So get on your bike,
do some sit-ups and push-ups, and start getting your body ready for what
your
mind
wants to do.
- Check out your equipment. Your bindings may need adjustments, your edges
could be dull, or you may have forgotten about the 4 core shots you put
in your base
on the last day of the season. See ‘Tech Tips #1’ for more
advice.
- Buy new gear. Here’s some suggestions: skis, boots, bindings,
poles, gloves, snowshoes, ice axe, crampons, under-layers, goggles, back
pack, 2-way
radios, and a helmet. Equipment is constantly changing and improving so
go spend the cash to stay geared up.
- Build a ski website. It’s fun. You’ll need some fresh ideas
and a Gerlt to get started.
- Set a ski goal. From beginners to experts, there’s always something
to improve on. Maybe it’s to learn a trick in the park, ski a new
aspect on your mountain, or find a new favorite apres beer. Just set a
goal and
when you achieve it, set another one.
- Watch ski porn. Start with the new
stuff (Focused and High Life) and then move onto the classics; 1999,
Chapter 3, Propaganda, Immersion, Further,
Mind
the Addiction, Ski Movie I, II, III, and Blizzard of Ahhs. No Warren
Miller.
- Plan a ski trip. Whether it’s a day trip to a new local mountain or
a week long get-away to Tahoe, Colorado, or Washington, plan something special
for yourself this winter. If you don’t go this year, you’ll
be one year older when you do.
- Buy a camera. For most of us, this life style can’t live forever. And
when you’re 50 and don’t have the knees, back, or balls to ski like
you can now, you’ll need proof for your kids. Get a video camera
and you can make your very own ski flick, or better yet, convince a friend
to
buy one
and you can star in it.
- Just wait. It’s what makes it all the more worth it when you’re
floating through powder in Timbuktoo!
~FC Staff
12.07.03 - Over the past 24 hours, the NOAA (www.noaa.gov) weather radio station forecasted 16"-24" of fresh snow for Jay Peak, VT. When we left for the Belfry early Saturday evening the snow was falling at 3" per hour. The anticipation of the following day's powder filled turns sent us to bed early and stoked...
Tech Tip #1: Pre-Season Tune-Up
11.01.03 - Many skiers and riders drastically underestimate the importance of tuning
their equipment. Maintaining gear not only improves your day on the mountain
but also goes a long way towards prolonging the life of your skis and snowboards.
Dull, rusty edges and dried-out bases cause sacrifices in speed and control,
which are essential to beginners, intermediates, and experts. This first edition
of Tech Tips offers preseason advice for tuning your equipment. I will provide
basic approaches to maintenance and things to keep in mind early in the year,
leaving in-depth tuning advice for later discussions...
Tenney Mountain Opens – October 4th
10.04.03
- Tenney Mountain promised an early opening to the 2003/2004-ski
season and on October 4th, they delivered. Breaking Killington's
41year history of providing the first turns of the east coast
ski season, Tenney hooked up 200 skiers and riders with spring
corn snow. Incorporating
state-of-the-art Japanese snowmaking technology into this mid-
New Hampshire ski mountain, owner-operator Dan Egan built a
terrain park
worthy of the jib scene that converged on it...
FC Magazine Launches Online Winter Home
09.01.03 - As we look past the fall season and start gearing up for another winter, we're excited to announce the launch of our new ski and ride website: 'First Chair - On Line Magazine' (http://www.firstchairmag.com). This site will actively serve as an on-line epicenter of the 2003 East Coast powder movement, which exists at Jay Peak, VT. Our Boston-based ski and ride brain trust developed this site as a definitive resource for a multimedia, interactive destination to prepare for, document, and remember the 03/04-winter season. Full completion is scheduled for Nov. 1st, ideally coinciding with the first turns of the season...