Here is Miss January Cyber tree. There were several contenders, but she best expressed the high winds of January. She got bent over in the high wind and frozen into place with freezing rain. It wasn't windy when I took this snap.It was beautiful on the mountain today. A blue bird day in the morning with sun blue sky and no wind. But the slopes were frozen solid. All of the trees were coated in ice from the freezing rain of yesterday. If I put my giant slalom skies on a clean edge I'd be going a million miles an hour in nothing flat, and I don't like to skid my skis if I don't have to even when I'm free skiing. So I went pretty fast all day. And not many people on the mountain. In the afternoon the clouds moved in and the cold air they had predicted moved in. It is supposed to be very cold tonight.
I rode the chair with a guy from Utah. He started talking to me in the parking lot when I got there and followed me to the chair, talking the whole way. The guy never shut up. I could tell you his whole life story. He just lost his job as a med salesman right before Christmas. I felt sorry for him, but I really felt sorry for his wife. He told me about all of the ski resorts in Utah. And he even brought up Cedar City. So I tried to ask him about that, but I coudln't get many words in, and I gave up trying.
I rode up two chairs with him to get to the top of the mountain. At one point he was going on about something and got side tracked. Then he apologized to me for getting sidetracked! I was sitting there not saying a word! I was thinking, Are you crazy?! What do I care what you tell me? I'm not even part of this conversation! Don't get me wrong he was a nice guy. I just couldn't talk to him. He wouldn't let me.
At the end of the day I was skiing down a trail and saw a guy skiing back to the lodge with cross country skis. So I asked him a few questions about the cross country trails up there. I've never been on them. He was an old guy and really cool and helpful. I really enjoyed talking to him. He must have been from somewhere in Europe at some point as he had a hint of an accent.
7 comments:
I get customers like the med salesman. At times, it is annoying while I am trying to work. I have to realize sometimes that these people just need somebody to listen to them, not give them advice or even a response. It's strange.
Miss January looks lonely. :(
What was the guy's mention of Cedar City all about? Brian Head Ski Resort is near Cedar City, kind of. It takes about an hour to drive to though. There are some nice slopes there, ranging from a very easy bunny hill to double or triple diamond stuff.
Maybe he is just having a rough time with losing his job before Christmas and having to wonder how to provide for his wife and kids (he had kids, right? Since you know his life story and all. ;) ). Hopefully he felt better after a day on the slopes.
My favorite Math professor likes to cross country ski. I think he does some downhill skiing too, but he gets more enjoyment out of cross country.
Yes grewuprural, I think he did need someone to talk to. He was actually a pretty nice guy. Good nature. His company gave him a pretty nice package so he was just taking time off to ski and was going to go and see his family. He was going to go to Big Sky, so he must not be down to his last dollar. I'm sure he will land on his feet.
diane,..He did talk about skiing outside of Cedar City, We talked about the mountains in that area which I assume are an extention of the Wasatch. He also lived in Provo where I think he went to school, No mention of kids.
Hmm. I'm not sure about which mountain range Brian Head is part of. Provo means BYU. (Or YBU depending on the level of sarcasm the person you're talking to has)
I'm glad he turned out to be a nice, if somewhat lonely guy though. Hopefully he felt better after talking with you.
I did get the impression he went to BYU when he said he went to school in Provo.
I feel for Miss January. I've seen her type a lot this winter in Ottawa what with an unusual absence of snow and all. Is it stupid to feel sorry for the trees when it freezes rain? I don't like to see them bent and frozen under a cloak of ice. What's worse, I absolutely hate to hear them break under its weight.
As for Utah - I think it was awfully good of you to listen to his story. I might have jumped. Don't get me wrong, I'm a good listener, but deep personal sharing scares me beyond all reason. Sometimes I can glue on a smile and empty my head but other times my mind is agape in a kind of deer-in-the-headlights paralysis when a relative stranger exchanges personal information that I can't help but think is really none of my damn business.
Just one more character deficit to work on I guess. :)
He actually didn't get that personal other than the part about loosing his job. Most of the rest had to do with where he lived, went to school and skied in Utah. I was actually kind of interested in what he had to say as I've only skied at Park City.
I just thought it was strange that he apologized when he got off point.
It's amazing the variety of people you meet on the chairlift.
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