Throckmorton Sees a Moose

Photo by  Throckmorton: "Jay Peak Moose, I think she should be 

named Kokomo as that was her designated run."

There has been much ado about the moose at Jay Peak. The hill managers have even given it a name, Jayne, and dutifully called the Vermont wildlife folks to come and check on it. There have been, to date, four posts on the official Jay Peak blog about the creature (and here they are in order: one, two, three, four). Pudd reported that the moose caused displays of unprecedented gaperism during Ontario March Break, with assorted morons trying to pose with the moose, poke it with their ski pole, etc. The patrol dutifully erected barriers around the poor thing, and lifties created signs displaying "moose facts," suggesting, for example, that if you you get too close to a moose, you are in danger of getting stomped to death. Can you imagine the headline: "Jay Peak Skier Trampled By Mangy Moose!" But were they wearing a helmet? Alas, I digress, it must be the Percoset typing.

JPSP attempt at gaper-proofing the moose.

I stole this image from somebody else's Jay Peak trip report

Here at the JJSC, there is a a great fondness for moose in general, so I (as founder and Chief Ski-xecutive Officer) propose that the moose be renamed Kokomo, as per Throcky's suggestion, and that the Trail Formerly Known as Kokomo be from hereafter known as The Moose Sanctuary. Actually, I can see a whole new moose theme for the mountain: Moose Walk Woods, Green Mountain Moose, The Mooseway, Moose Run (not to mention Upper and Lower Moose Run), Moose Glade, St. George's Moose, Moose's Wiggle, oh dear, the list goes on....

Photo by  Throckmorton: "Hope your knee is fully functional 

for a run on the Moose sanctuary next year."

When I woke up there were all these holes in my knee...

 Swelling is much reduced on post-op day three

It is quite amazing, really. All the work is done with the arthroscope through the various holes poked in my leg. Five in front for the inspecting, cleaning and drilling, one in back for the hamstring collection.

The blue smudge above my left knee is what remains of the surgeon's initials. If there could be a "best part" to knee surgery, this was it. In the pre-op waiting room, just before going in, Dr. Korkola comes up to me, grasps my left leg with both hands, looks me right in the eye and says,

"So, do we agree that this is the leg we are working on?"

I look him in the eye and reply,

"Yes, we agree."

It was April Fools Day, after all.

Then he writes his initials on my leg with magic marker, in BIG letters.

SBR and Blue Toes' Run of the Year - 2010

Waiting and Watching

Thin boy takes stairs two at a time.
Birkenstocky man ambles by ones.
Pretty girl texts as she struts.
Shorts with hairy legs is too cool
to be cold, this grey afternoon.

Gord’s in recovery, they’ve said
but I’m still in the coffee shop,
waiting to be beeped, summoned
to see the results of knee-bone
drilling and tendon macramé.

Round, reddish woman sips her tea,
hot pink phone pasted to her face.
Blonde butterfly girl ignores Daddy
and dances at the muffin stand
long as she dares, then chases him.

I’ve had five coffees so far today,
and it’s almost time for lunch.
Gord got up at four this morning
just to have one last cup before
we left the house to drive south.

Blue-smocked volunteers kibitz
with customers at the counter,
hawking rice crispy snacks, gum
and gooey goods “for patient care.”
Hard hat buffs the hallway floor.

Is this pager-thingy really on?
It’s past the expected call time
and I have to pee again, but
it won’t work in my pocket,
they’ve said, just hard surfaces.

Grandma grumbles about date squares.
A couple of pals complain about
the cost of parking and comment
on people they knew; now dead.
The cancer took ‘em, or the devil.

Finally, I’ve been buzzed, called
to recovery, where my dreamy-eyed
mate tries to be coherent and not
to groan too much when he moves.
Heavy-duty drugs round the edges.

Physio’s on lunch, says busy nurse,
so you (me) may as well eat now too.
Not him though; only clear liquids and
handfuls of pills, but no beer, dear,
and get him a hand-held urinal!

His knee’s a neoprene sausage roll.
There’s an X on his left foot,
marking the right one for surgery.
I’ll have to re-dress him, ever so
carefully, and haul him home.

But the pants won’t fit over that
sausage roll of a lame left leg.
So, he escapes like a Cuckoo
with Johnnie-shirt discreetly
draped about his drugged-up butt.

Hours later, we’re home before
he knows it; he’s been dozing.
He calls siblings to give reports.
They’re glad to know he’ll live
to ski another day, unhinged.

– Jennifer R. Cressman
April 1, 2010

The phsysio said to alternate heat and cold therapies. 

How about combining hot sun and cold beer?

What is YOUR Run of the Year?

Is this really Jay Peak?

JJ ski report for the weekend of March 6 & 7, posted by SBR who is feeling a little unhappy about his self-imposed "no more skiing before ACL surgery" rule....

Believe it or not: two weekend days of sunshine, perfect temperatures and great snow all in harmony! Saturday, no wind and a bit of a crowd (for Jay) and Sunday a little bit of wind and no crowds and fabulous skiing. First run up on Saturday was the Tram at 9:00 AM for our “annual” bluebird trip down the Vermonter – perfect. Get there if you can cause it isn’t always like this!

JJ

Take your pick at this time of year: collect sap or go skiing

 Look at all the snow on the Face Chutes!

All smiles at the summit and not a rock in sight

Perfect conditions on the Vermonter!

Jay Wins!

Jonny Jay reports, posted by SBR:

Having not posted a blog since my early season epistle, I thought it time to provide an update. How was the skiing this past weekend at the end of February? In a word – awesome!

We went down Thursday evening since Pudd had informed me that there was some 24-30” of new snow being reported on the Jay website. Always torn between wanting to believe and the possibility of disappointing reality, we hoped for the best. Upon arrival in Montgomery Centre we were greeted by a muddy driveway and about 6” of compressed wet snow – could this be what’s left of the two feet plus of new snow? But the next morning at the mountain revealed the truth – there really was that much new snow. It had compressed and was quite thick in the glades on Friday but skiing was fabulous no matter what. Then a good 6-8” topcoat on Friday night made the Saturday snow amazingly good – it was western skiing at Jay – beautiful packed and tracked snow on the “groomers” and highly skiable fresh snow over the heavy underlayer in the glades and the less groomed trails. Awesome!

Even got Suse Q doing bumps on Liftline (a first time for her and it was so good she wanted to do it again – and we did). Timbuktu, Powerline, the upper Kwai was the best I’ve seen it in years, etc. Sunday was another epic day as we practised bumps on lower UN, Exhibition and ventured into lower Everglade for Suse Q’s first real glade experience (we even found the ditch where Gollum got stuck the last time they were down). And then, to prove how amazing the snow was, she jumped from Everglade to North Glade. Some trepidation of course at the start but with the beautiful snow conditions, mild temperatures and no wind, how could you not enjoy it? No falls and by the end she was hooked. I had to bring her down a bit because I know the conditions won’t always be so forgiving and I didn’t want her to think she could just saunter into any old glade and expect the snow to be like that – soft with some resistance so you could commit.

Some Kudos to the Mountain for keeping things in such good shape this winter and I was very impressed to see they had the flag of Georgia flying on the towers in recognition of the luger who died pursuing his dream at the Olympic Games. A nice touch. On a funny note, I was reading the conditions report as I was waiting and noticed a big bold statement about a record snowfall of over 500”. I assumed they were talking about this year, which seemed very unlikely since I remember many more snowy years, so I mentioned it to a regular at Stateside who was also surprised. Of course when you put your glasses on you see that this year’s snowfall is only about half that but the bold print of the record sure stands out without any year reference – an amusing senior moment!

So it looks like we’ll have some snow for a while – see you there soon.

JJ

A milestone in Jay Peak history

In case you hadn't heard, Jonny Jay turned 60 on Valentine's Day. What better way to celebrate than gather the members of the Jonny Jay Ski Club (or at least most of them) for a Jay weekend. The hill certainly cooperated: gale force winds, whiteouts at the top, holiday crowds, wind-scoured groomers and occcasional excellent snow conditions made for a fun-filled weekend with classic "Jay Conditions."

 SBR limbers up with the Vermonter in the background

Everybody was skiing well. After a year's hiatus from skiing, Blue Toes ripped it up on the Derrick and Haynes. DC cruised the ice of Hell's Crossing and Claire had her "run of the day" going face-first, tummy-down on the JFK. SBR's knee held up, despite hearing a wierd clunk while telemarking on Saturday. One highlight was hearing a poor tourist yelling, "get me off this f&#%$#g hill" halfway down a very icy Angel's Wiggle on Saturday afternoon.

 

Can we go skiing now?

I think the highlight of the ski session was on Sunday afternoon. After the more sensible members of the posse retired to the Clubhouse for drinks and baths, JJ, Pudd and SBR toughed it out on the lifts. We gave JJ the choice of runs, since it was his birthday after all. The resulting "tour of the mountain" was both surprising and inspiring. We started with UN, a run we rarely ski since the advent of short skis. This day the infamous moguls were firm, snowy and quite skiable. Surprise! After using Pudd's secret traverse and a turn-for-turn GS on Moonwalk, we headed up the Freezer. With my face buried in my hands to avoid frostbite, I wondered why we pay money to go up lifts like this. A pretty much blind descent of Alligator Alley led us to North Glade, always a run to be counted on for good snow at the end of the day. Pudd launched a cliff that he didn't know was there and stuck the landing. I thought he planned it. Another frozen trip up the Freezer took us to Expo Glade and Perry Merrill, back to the Bonnie. And what does the birthday boy pick for last run? Powerline, top to bottom. As JJ skipped over the off-camber bumps in fluid style, I turned to Pudd and said, "not bad for an old guy." Inspiring!

 

Hey, 60 isn't so bad...

 

A lovely Valentine birthday breakfast spread

 

Pudd got an early birthday present. Go Habs! 

Yes, he went skiing after the champagne and OJ

 OK, Eggs Benedict is better than oatmeal. Thanks, Mike!

JJ emerges from the gloom of Timbuktu

Same word, same season, different sport, opposite attitude

These two slednecks were wandering around the store the other day, not spending money. Trying to be friendly, I ask them, in my hippest sno-mo lingo,

"So, how is the riding?"

Fully decked out in ninja-snow-warrior Arctic Cat team colours, one replies,

"Oh the trails are a little rough, we need a little fresh so the groomer can get out and pack it down."

Alrighty then, I give up. Though the thought balloon would have read: just dial back the throttle on the motorized sofa there, buddy, and the trail won't feel so rough. Or maybe, if your butt is too sore to go sledding,  you might be interested in renting some snowshoes today? And getting some EXERCISE...

Oh wait, is my bias showing through?

Who would have thought that snowmobilers would talk about "fresh" - don't skiers OWN that word? And then wishing for said fresh to be instantly packed down for their enjoyment. Other end of the winter spectrum, dude.