RSS
By David O. Williams
Headline RSS FeedMeltdown in Vail, but snow on the way
February 14, 2008 —
The last few days, after more than two months of seemingly ceaseless snow, have been blissfully balmy in the Vail Valley. I’m sure it wreaked havoc with the snowpack, not necessarily melting much of it up high but setting up the surface and glazing it a bit for powder-primed snow riders who have had it so soft so far this season.
Thing is, I don’t care. I mean, I care, because in the grand scheme I want there to be tons of snow and therefore cash registers and hotel rooms filling up with eager skiers booking last-minute trips because of our near-record December and January snowfall totals. But I don’t care about a few days of sun, because, if you’ve been following my blog, I CANT’T SKI!
And being injured and unable to ski in a ski town is like (pick your metaphor):
a) A crack head in a crack house without his crack pipe.
b) A buffalo hunter in stampede without his buffalo gun.
c) An astronaut in orbit without his Tang.
d) Bill Clinton in a presidential race with a spouse who’s fading fast.
But to prove there’s still a ton of snow, I’ve included this pic of my son Nick in our West Vail hot tub, surrounded by snow walls just a couple of short days ago. As I said, there’s been a bit of melting (in fact, I witnessed a massive roof slide off the Evergreen Lodge while hobbling to my PT session at the Vail hospital Wednesday), but there remains a massive amount on the ground, with another foot or so forecast for today (Thursday).
Nick, meanwhile, remains the Williams family member most likely to enjoy all the fresh snow, since Mom and Dad can’t ski (me, ACL – her, fractured ankle and tailbone). He’s an international powder hound at the age of 7 who actually made this statement to me the other day: “Dad, I think I like skiing in the Alps better than skiing Vail.” Sorry, son, I couldn’t disagree more, but gosh that was a pretentious thing to say. Which leads me to my Olympic retrospective feature.
On this date two years ago I was working the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, when Kristin brought Nick and younger brother, Max (the source of her fractured ankle in a recent ski accident), across the pond to join me for some Winter Games folly and a quick ski trip up to Lech-Zurs, Austria, where Nick and I captured this video of a self-wiping Austro-potty. Enjoy.
Comment on "Meltdown in Vail, but snow on the way" using the form below
