First Snow

For the first 60 years of my life I loved winter. I loved the snow, loved the cold.  Now, not so much.

As a kid, snow meant, first of all, a chance for 'No School'!. Snow was fun, build forts, snowball fights, sledding. We had a great hill in our backyard and my father and my grandfather would work for hours perfecting a luge for our flying saucers, complete with huge banked corners. My Dad would sprinkle water on the track at night and wax the bottoms of the saucers. We flew down that hill, almost like Clark Griswold in Christmas Vacation!

Then I discovered skiing. I got a pair of Northland wooden skis, bear trap bindings and leather boots. Believe it or not, in south eastern Mass and northern Rhode Island, there were five ski areas within a half hour of our house. All but one are gone now, the hills covered with expensive homes.

As soon as I could drive, it was off to the 'real' mountains. The first big ski trip I can remember was with my friend Brad, he took the family Bonneville and we loaded up and headed to Stowe, Vt. We stayed in bunk beds in a hostel, cooked our own meals. That first day on the mountain was an eye  opener for us, the temperature was below zero, the wind howling. Stowe had a single chair, that was at the time, the fastest lift in the country. Two attendants would load you on and launch you as the third attendant tossed a packing quilt over you for warmth! The 'Front Four' at Stowe were and probably still are four of the steepest ski trails in the country, and we had no business being on them! From the lift we skied across the top of Liftline, yikes, really steep, then National, yikes, really steep, big bumps, then Goat, yikes, really steep and narrow, and big moguls, finally we came to Starr, end of the line. I remember looking down, it seemed to be dead vertical, all I could see was several giant moguls and the the roof of the lodge! Yikes. My way cool Head black metal skis all of a sudden seemed really long and heavy. Somehow, we made it down it one piece, had some hot chocolate in the lodge and spent the rest of the day on the easy trails.

We took a lot of ski trips over the next few years, skiing as early as Thanksgiving and late into the spring. As the years passed I continued to ski with new friends. My friend and business partner John and his friends loved to ski, all my motorcycle buddies loved to ski. Then I got into climbing and ice climbing and winter camping.  Winter was fun...

To be continued....