incoming incomingMarch 31, 2011
Look what showed up in the mail today . . . pretty excited to get these mounted up and for the monsoon to stop so I can go out and try them!
Le pastis, le couteau, les fixations . . .
Works of CNC'd art. One toepiece and one heel, without screws = 332 grams
March 13, 2011
I spent yesterday doing lap after lift-served lap in Crystal Mountain's Green Valley, skiing in support of my old friend Hunter Eng's "Luckiest Person" team in the American Cancer Society's "Hope on the Slopes" fundraiser. Hunter, who's been battling multi-site cancer for the past couple of years, has really embraced this event, and filled the team with a number of ringers in his quest to repeat as winners in 2011 (Luckiest Person also won in 2010). His daughter Wylie took over as captain when Hunter developed brain tumors a few weeks ago, and forged ahead with the enthusiasm and brashness of youth, bringing the team in as leaders in almost every category.
With this group, everyone skis at more or less the same speed (read fast) so the differences in accumulated vertical are due to strategy. Getting up early for the "First Tracks Breakfast" so you're already on TOP of the mountain when the flag drops rather than in the lift line, taking one or two less pee breaks or wearing diapers (don't laugh, it was done), and picking the right singles line when you show up at the bottom and there's a wait or sighting an empty seat just as a group of three is moving toward the chair and "sliding" in makes all the difference. Kind of like ski touring; knowing the little tricks and using them throughout the day adds up.
It was a special treat for me to roll with the old crew again; many of our team members were part of my old Sunnyside Sliders gang, their spouses or kids, or racers I'd known since high school. When a report came back via text message that another team was closing the gap on us, the Luckiest Person group just downed a few Ibuprofens and started skiing faster. The really cool thing was that Hunter, with the assistance of last year's winner Stan Larsen, was able to follow the race in real time with updates every 15 seconds via the flaik.com website from his bed at the Kline-Galland Home. In addition to stomping the competition, Luckiest Person exceeded their fundraising goal of $15,000 for Hope on the Slopes, with over $16,500 already "in the bank" and more coming in by the hour.
Luckiest Person "kicked ass" (as Hunter would no doubt say), with the team win and 9 of the top 10 in the individual standings (click image for larger version)
Here's the team, minus Hunter Eng and Stanley Larsen who were holding down the fort at Kline-Galland
Hunter follows the action from his command post at Kline-Galland Stanley Larsen photo
March 2, 2011
It's taken Tim Tietjen a couple of weeks, but the work that's gone into this video will be evident when you watch it, with multiple on-mountain cameras and POV shots to synch and edit into a coherent narrative. It's nice to be able to watch the fast guys in transition, as I wasn't close enough to see it in person. Tim's follow-footage of Andy Traslin blowing by numerous other racers FTW is pretty exciting to watch as well . . .
Previous Incoming Pages:
China: Wandering in the Middle Kingdom
"Incoming" covers developments that have personal interest to me (ie. gear I might consider acquiring, or events I feel may impact the sport of skiing) - it is by no means meant to be a comprehensive enumeration of gear or events in the ski world at large. Feel free to contact me via the randosaigai.com link below with news or images that may be of interest . . .
© 2010 Gregory C. Louie
