|
|
|
|
A Social Club For Snow Skiers and Sports Enthusiasts
March 2003
Texas Ski Council Member
Contents
Date and time: Tuesday, March 11, 2003, 7 - 9 P.M.
Location: AUSTIN SAIL & SKI CENTER
12971 RESEARCH BLVD. 258-0733Program: WATER SPORTS - ALSO WINTER CLOSEOUT SALE!!
"Spaghetti Western (Italy and Steamboat)!"
by
Roger Coyner, Assistant Trip ChairThat's not "rocks" as in geological formations and outcroppings you try to avoid while cruising downhill, but rather the "rockin'" great time experienced by the seasoned crowd of 43 Austin skiers and boarders who took in a midwinter break. Champagne Powder® is a registered copyright of Steamboat Springs Resort celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2003 and the ski conditions proved up to that title. Our last visit to Steamboat two years ago meant some pretty patchy conditions, but this year accumulations throughout the Colorado resorts were above normal, and Steamboat's 56" base made the skiing exceptional. Thanks to the timely pre-trip party a week before we departed and hosted at the home of Kent and Micki Browning, the excitement was already building as we heard about predictions of new snow just in time for our planned arrival. That and Trip Chair Gary Roth's almost daily updates with photos of the day from the Steamboat web cam, were enough to keep our expectations high all week long.
A way-too-early morning exmountain virtually to ourselves the entire week. Monday saw another great day of skiing, but it seems that James Wayne disappeared - he took off for an intensive week at the Billy Kidd Performance School starting out on Monday morning and we hardly ever saw him again until hot tub time. Bob and Sue Sharpe seemed to be permanent hosts of the daily après ski hot tub get-togethers. Jim and Gwen McKinney started out the week by making the most of their very first adventure on skis, skiing with daughters Dena McKinney and Micki McKinney Browning. By week's end, Jim was hitting the blue slopes in stride but not quite up to speed yet with son-in-law Kent "Mogul Monster" Browning. New members Carlos and Christine Montoya got to know a whole bunch of folks in a hurry since we put them in the party condo! Despite a little trepidation upon finding out that they were booked in a condo with a bunch of way cool single guys, they managed to fit right in since Christine had thoughtfully packed a blender in her suitcase. Dave Sackmary and Paul Zukowski were able to avoid the dreaded Sonny Bono syndrome in the Christmas tree forest on the backside of the mountain. Paul proclaimed that the 2-mile Longhorn is by far the best run on the mountain, but had no idea how to read the map to get back there and promptly got fired as group leader. Carol Jens' trail map had most of Steamboat's 142 runs checked off by midweek that's 65 miles of named trails. Dave and Paul apparently found many more that were not named. Dale Young wore Brenda Herman out on an extensive tour of all of the expert runs on the entire mountain.
Dale also had his Grand Cherokee at the resort, which came in handy for rounding up pizzas for the mid-week pizza party on Tuesday evening enter Nancy Roth once again with those 2 for 1 coupons cut from the local shopper's rag and coupon book. Mark Fantacone waited until mid-week to demo several sets of new shaped skis and finally settled on a pair of Atomics. After skiing on the new technology about an hour he pronounced his ancient straight-side flatboards "junk" and left them on the mountain by donating them to the ski school they gladly used them as kindling for the fireplace in the lodge. Dave Grayson, Rob Gjertsen, Gary Roth, and Gary Goble were brave (or is that dumb) enough to take an all day lesson on Wednesday under near white-out conditions. The fact that they couldn't even see the instructor didn't matter - the wind was blowing so hard, and the French instructor's broken English was so bad they couldn't understand anything he was saying anyway. To get out of the snow the instructor took them down a double black mogul run and they paid for this? Keith and Debbie Finley also abandoned the mountain by 10 a.m. because of the visibility and then proceeded to jump-start the local economy by investing in some new computerized fit custom boots at Sure Foot. Vicki Leonardo accompanied the "party condo people" to a Swiss Restaurant on Wednesday evening where they all dined on fondue and "raclette" she laughed so hard she lost it entirely and had to leave the table. On Wednesday night, I could not convince anybody to stay up late with me, but I managed to track down the South Austin Jug Band, one of our own local Bluegrass favorites, who happened to be booked for an 11 p.m. 2 a.m. gig at a local nightclub in Steamboat. They were surprised to see somebody there from Austin, especially since they had spent the entire day driving there from Keystone in the blizzard. I spent a few hours teaching local women how to dance the polka to up-tempo breakdown music and then somehow managed to make it through a full day ski lesson on Thursday. John Kimbrough dialed into some tracks on a portable MP3 player while tagging along with a crowd on the Billy Kidd tour of the mountain. Billy apparently swears up and down he can teach anyone everything they need to know about skiing in one lesson to be able to enter Olympic competition, so now John thinks he's ready for Turin in 2006. By Thursday, Vicki Leonardo and Christine "K1" Montoya are skiing black runs. They had been struggling with the greens on Sunday must have been that fondue dinner on Wednesday night. While skiing with Gary Goble, Ben Cooper hit a cat track on the One O'Clock run late Thursday afternoon and broke both bones in his right leg just below the knee! His right ski did not release from the binding as he tumbled head over heels over the lip of the trail about 3 times down a fairly steep slope. He had to have surgery that evening which was delayed because "parts" had to be flown in from Denver. Yet, Ben was smiling the whole way down the mountain on the litter and vows to ski again well maybe not on this trip what a trooper! Tom Vance skied the Mavericks Superpipe on Thursday, but didn't bother to pick up the application for the ESPN2 Winter X Games at Aspen the following week. On Friday more sunshine, blue skies and fresh powder. Carol Hampton and Laurie Hoffman decided they had experienced enough skiing and headed out on a snowmobile tour. They found out riding a machine for 3 hours can be just as exhausting as picking yourself up out of a powder bank. Meanwhile, Gary Goble ventured back to the scene of Ben's terrible previous day's fall and noticed that the trail was newly marked with a warning sign on Friday! And speaking of warning, I ventured over to the Morningside Park Bowl with Dave Grayson and Tim Atkinson, but chickened out in the face of the huge moguls beneath the lift run. I wound up just traversing the entire face back into the trees I'm not sure if those moguls might have been easier than the two feet of powder in the trees. Greg and Jackie Bryant set a group record of seven runs down the mountain before lunch that's over 21,000 vertical feet! Vicki Leonardo found out why her Völkl skis are called "carvers" by skiing over her thumb in a freak accident and then discovering her glove was filling up with blood. After emergency surgery to suture up a tendon, she showed up late to Friday's "empty your refrigerator potluck" at Club Montoya, but gave everybody the "thumbs up" and vowed to ski on the Vail trip two weeks later, which she did apparently! And it seems that the margaritas were enough to stave off the need for any painkillers. Eliot Franklin and Christine "K2" Frenzel, assisted by John Kimbrough and several other thirsty revelers, consumed most of the bar while everyone recounted the week's adventures into the wee hours and debated why our condo smelled not unlike a gymnasium.
Alas, soon the week was over, and after having enjoyed
moderate temperatures in the 20's all week, it was zero bone-chilling degrees
when we left Steamboat on Saturday morning. The week's adventure was done, but I
believe everyone was secretly hoping we could stay another week. Well, at least
we could relive the good times at the post trip party hosted by the Cooper's on
February 16. We're happy to report that Ben is healing nicely, moving around
with the aid of a brace and a walker, and is off of all pain killers except for
Shiner Bock! Next time up, we'll arrange for the Club to take in the clothing
optional Strawberry Park Natural Hot Springs, as well as make a trip over to the
Olympic ski jumping training center to participate in the amateur ski jumping
contest on the 90 meter hill, which by the way, I hear is Ben's secret desire!
by Peggy Foreman, Trip Chair
Italy is a place you just have to love. This must be pretty evident since this is the second year in a row the Austin Skiers have headed to Italy for skiing. The last week of January Peggy Foreman led a group of 26 Austin skiers to the small resort town of Sestriére, Italy. It may be a small resort town but it is one of the premier ski resorts in northern Italy, with a long history of providing winter activities for the all who come to enjoy.
The group was a great mix of long time and new members who got a taste of the Club's European ski adventures. New members Rome Lorenz, Chuck Bueche, Lan Williams, and Pam Udall kept asking themselves why they hadn't joined the Club sooner. Even the occasional skiers like Barbara Bobo and Barbara's sister-in-law, Jo Manning, found plenty to do, including a train trip into France for an afternoon of shopping. France proved to be so much fun they convinced Tim and Kelly Harrell and Lan Williams to make the 4 hours train ride to Paris for a quick two-day visit. Rome Lorenz also decided to visit France too but took the more adventuresome route by leading a group of brave skiers through the Vialattea runs into France. The trip took the entire day and they were exhausted when they returned but they DID IT!
The more serious skiers had no problem finding slopes to challenge them. The Sestriére ski area is part of the large "Milky Way" interconnect ski system. If one area didn't provide the prefect snow conditions the groups would take the lifts and runs to get to the next area. Monday night and most of Tuesday, the area received about 8" of new snow so the powder skiing was fabulous. Of course, Rainer Vanoni was out early every day and was usually the last one in at night. Pat Gabella and Priscilla Johnsen were out to find the longest, steepest, and best runs in the area. We think they found them but kept the secret to themselves! Those who skied the Borgata #9 run will get to claim they skied the run designated for the Giant Slalom and Down Hill for the 2006 Olympics.
Austin Skiers were not the only Americans on the slopes for the week. Ski clubs from St. Louis, California, and New Jersey joined us. We even had a combined Happy Hour with the Newark, New Jersey club and had several of their members join in some of our activities. Doina and Dorel Toma had long-time friends, Tito and Michaela, from Romania join them for the week. It was fun to see how quickly all the different groups of skiers blended.
On Thursday, the some of the group took a bus into Milan, the host city of the 2006 Winter Olympics. The city is home of the Fiat Company so Don Howard and his son Doug Warren took a tour of the factory, looking at some of the finest cars in the world. The city is also known as a center of European fashion so Alicia and Pam Howard, Pam Udall, and Lan Williams spent most of their day filling their shopping bags so many shops, so little time. The site seeing group spent the day viewing various city sites including the church that houses the Shroud of Turin and the Cinema Art Museum.
The only unpleasant part of the trip was a nasty flu bug that went through about half the group. When Will Edwards succumbed to the flu, Tom Remaley tried very hard to stay out of the room he shared with Will but it didn't work. Luckily, several bottles of Gatorade and Imodium had most back on the slopes in a few days.
It was a wonderful week of skiing, but a week in Italy is just not enough for some. Arjen Foreman led the group heading back to Austin while the remaining group headed in two directions. Peggy Foreman, Mary Panella, and the Brothers clan (Charles and Jim and their wives Kathy and Karen) headed to Florence on the train. Will Edwards joined them as far as Genova where he planned a week hiking the Cinque Terre. Barbara Bobo, Jo Manning, Tim and Kelly Harrell, and Lan Williams headed to Lake Como a few relaxing days by the water and then on to Milan for a final dose of culture. Everyone agreed it was one of the best trips to Italy yet but there are those who will be back to Italy to try to top this one.
The winter is quickly fading into spring and we only have a couple of trips left this season. It's been a great ski season, the weather has cooperated (for the most part), and most trips have had very good snow conditions. I was on the Vail trip and we even had a couple of days with fresh, deep powder. Skiing in deep powder through the trees at the new Blue Sky Basin was a wonderful experience that we don't get to encounter often enough.
Our VP Trips, Neil Martin, reports that each trip has been very successful, with everyone having the opportunity for a great time. More importantly, our members have not suffered many injuries. One of those, unfortunately, was to our trip chair for Jackson Hole, Lou Horwitz. He was injured while practicing on the Nastar course at Vail, only a week before his trip was to leave. Fortunately Rainer Vanoni graciously stepped forward and took charge of that trip. And I also found out that despite a serious leg break Ben Cooper was up to it enough to host the Steamboat post trip party at his place! We are very lucky to have such capable volunteers like these two in our Club.
Gary Roth and our Trip Planning Committee are hard at work selecting next year's trips. As we've said many times, those member surveys are important in determining our next slate of great trips. Another important part of the trip
selection process is the annual Texas Ski Council bid meeting at the Holiday Inn Riverwalk in San Antonio, held this year from April 4 to 6. This meeting is a great place to hear the resorts discuss their bids and to meet with ski area representatives one-on-one. The early registration deadline has passed but you can still sign-up. The registration fee includes the meetings and ski show, welcome party Friday, continental breakfast, lunch, dinner, and party Saturday, and continental breakfast Sunday. The registration form is available on our website, www.austinskiers.org or you can contact me and I will send you one. I also have some extra rooms reserved at the Holiday Inn, so please call me if you are interested in a room. The cost is $132/night for a double room. You'll have a good time and help the club by providing your input into our selections.
As we are approaching the end of the season, we also need to start selecting candidates for next year's Executive Committee. A nominating committee has been selected, composed of Gary Roth, Cindy Berry, Carter Rowles, Priscilla Johnsen, and myself. To maintain continuity, we try and have a blend of experienced and new people on the board each year. If you are interested in serving on the Executive Committee, please contact me or one of the committee members. This is the way to get involved, meet fellow skiers, influence the operation of the Club, and have some fun in the process. Maybe you feel like you're leader material; even if not, you'd be surprised at the sense of satisfaction and reward for helping the Club in specific needs and general direction. I hope you might consider and talk to me or a fellow current officer!
Doug Jordan - Austin Skiers President
Austin Skiers 2002 - 2003 Trips
Editor's note: Ther's still room on our Quebéc trip! Act now and you can make it on!!
Québec, Canada March 15-22 (TSC Final Showdown)
Trip Chair: Julia Buchanan 257-7611 e-mail: quebectrip@austinskiers.org
Want to go to France without a long overseas flight? As the only fortified city in North America, Québec City has sat at the crossroads of colonial history, attracting visitors (and attackers!) since it was founded by Samuel de Champlain in 1608. Québec City is located on a high, scenic bluff above the St. Lawrence River from atop Cape Diamant. Greater Québec City comprises five historic areas with buildings representing four centuries of architectural history and the influences of Aboriginal, French and English you can experience the heart of French culture and language seasoned with other heritages. And we'll get a great view as we're flying directly into Québec City no long bus rides! There are just too many to-do's to mention here; of course there's skiing - three ski areas within 30 minutes of downtown: Mont-Sainte-Anne, Station touristique Stoneham and Le Massiff (plus over 30 cross country ski centers in the city). Beyond this, there's enough to keep you busy for a lifetime, never mind a week! You can tour and shop the oldest commercial district in North America (Petit-Champlain), or visit the Place Royale, the Île d'Orléans, the colonial Citadel, or the Old Port; you'll find premier shopping, museums, galleries, artisans' workshops, renowned designers' boutiques, and over 1,000 restaurants and exotic food shops everywhere. You can even take in all these sites in from your 5-star window - the TSC is hosting its Final Showdown from the fabulous, historic 19th century Chateau Frontenac, high on a scenic bluff; you'll feel like royalty with this treatment! And, we'll have several excursions, including one to Montreal. Come see what the English and French found worth going to war over in the 1750's join us for a French-flavored taste of Canada in Québec!
Approximate price: (click here)
Costa Rica (TSC Summer Expedition) - June 27(Friday) to July 5, 2003
Trip Chair: Cindy Berry 248-9544 e-mail: costaricatrip@austinskiers.org
Austin Skiers first-time exclusive! Our first formal trip to Central America features the best of the tropical rain forest, beaches, hot springs, and eclectic and quaint shopping. Costa Rica's reputation as a tourist and residential destination has exploded in the past few years come see what makes it so great! The first night we will be in San Jose at the Barcelo San Jose Hotel Casino. Then we'll be based for the next four nights in the fabulous Hotel Mariposa in Quepos/Manuel Antonio on the mid-Pacific Coast. The hotel is integrated in the rainforest hillside overlooking the Pacific and Manuel Antonio National Park, with a short walk to the village of Quepos' many restaurants and shops. Later that week, we'll move to the Lake Arenal /La Fortuna Region in the Northern Zone, where our stay in the Tabacon Resort features a view of Volcan Arenal and Lake Arenal. The thermal hot springs and mineral pools are within the resort making it a destination in itself; in addition, the Iskandria Spa offers a variety of relaxing treatments. Optional excursions include rafting, kayaking, outrigger canoeing, rainforest tours, clout forest (above the canopy) tours, sport fishing, and hiking, to name a few). The final price will be firmed up in September and includes; air, lodging and ground transportation. So are you ready for a grand time, Latin American style? Vamanos a Costa Rica!! Price includes a TSC dinner and continental breakfest.
Approximate price: (click here)
Last Chance For Bid Fest in San Antonio! , April 4-6
This is your last chance to sign up to attend the annual Bid Fest in San Antonio April 4-6, at the Holiday Inn Riverwalk. Come see how resorts bid for the TSC trips, and how we in turn vote and choose! Plus there are parties, a silent auction, and other great activities. Registration is $55, and covers a welcome party on Friday night, lunch and dinner Saturday, the silent auction, dancing with a dj after the dinner on Saturday, and of course admittance to the bid presentations. To register, access the form on our Web site, call the Club hotline (335-3662), or e-mail President Doug Jordan (president@austinskiers.org) see Doug's article on p.2. Also, if you want to help out with registration on Saturday morning, please contact Nancy Roth at nancywroth@austin.rr.com.
Happy Hour - Maudie's Milagro in Davenport Village
Mar. 11 Monthly meeting at Sail and Ski, Research Blvd.
Mar. 23 Gospel Brunch at Threadgill's
Happy Hour - Serrano's on Anderson Lane
Apr. 4-6 Bid Fest in San Antonio
Apr. 8 Monthly meeting at Sun and Ski, Anderson Lane
May 2-4 Spring Campout at Inks Lake (details in future issues).
For questions on Special Activities, contact Cindy Berry, Activities V.P. at activities@austinskiers.org
Austin Skiers supports TSC and our own sponsors:
We also continue to support our advertising sponsors in this issue.
Remember Our Ongoing Activities!
Anyone interested in doing occasional bicycling tours should contact Kevin Collins, who will be leading biweekly or monthly outings. Contact Kevin at kevinmcollins@earthlink.net. And for you roller skaters/bladers out there, contact Marcia Honeycutt if you want to join a weekly outing. Marcia's marcia@ewenix.com.
There's another great Gospel Brunch coming up Sunday, March 23, 11 a.m. at Threadgill's on Riverside Drive. For more information, attend one of our March Happy Hours or contact Cindy Berry at activities@austinskiers.org .
Stay Tuned for The Spring Campout!
Plan on attending the Spring Campout at Inks Lake, May 2-4. Get your boats and water toys in shape! Details to follow in future newsletters. Questions for now, contact Cindy Berry at activities@austinskiers.org
Check out "Inside the Texas Ski Council"
See what's news for the TSC in their online "Inside" newsletter. This contains key events, info, and goings on which just might be relevant to you and a TSC trip you're on. To view the latest issue, just go to their link at http://www.texas-ski.org/insidetsc-news/inside-tsc.htm . The TSC appreciates your continued support!
February Door Prize Winners
| Jackson Hole vest | Keith Fargason |
| Ball cap from Beaver Creek | Donna Peterman |
| Ski hat | Phyllis Penniston |
| Ski hat | Cindy Berry |
| Breckenridge T-Shirt | Ron Dusek |
| Ski hat | Cindy Swannack |
Let's talk about equipment. Frankly, this is a subject that has pretty much bored me to death. Why, because I've rented for over 20 years! The last pair of skis I owned (K2 "Five" Winter Heat's) were worn out by 1980, and it was then that I found it much easier to rent for the number of days I skied. Before 1980, rental shops were akin to Soviet bread distributors, full of cold, angry people who shelled out hostility, along with shoddy, tattered, ancient, ugly equipment. But eventually rental shops actually had to get nice and stock the best gear (including top-notch demos) to survive in a declining ski industry; it worked. Rentals now account for 53% of equipment used on any given day at a resort. And with the rapid change in ski technology through the '90's, it just didn't seem to make much sense to buy a pair of skis which became obsolete in a year or two. Renting's been a great way to sachet breezily through airports, while eyeing owners sweating out the ordeal of hunting down ski bags, toting a cumbersome boot bag, and endlessly tweaking their waxing and tuning rituals. Having a godsend "normal" foot has helped too, as I've never had a boot hurt on me in 15 years - never!).
Yet, after an eternity, I'm actually considering buying. Not because of the stabilizing in technology (though that helps), but rather for an unexpected reason: I can actually tell the difference in one particular brand of skis from the others. This topic has been a years-long hot button with me, for I frankly have seen some people use equipment to justify ability (or lack thereof). How many times have I read the buy-induced mumbo-jumbo, y'know, like "it really cuts through the crud," or "these babies carve like Grandpa on the Thanksgiving turkey." Huh? Or heard some know-it-all spout off about his skis in wine terminology: "Brand X ski is subtle, not too rigid, has a light feel, the right flavor for me, blah blah" (are you skiing or swigging?). Or worse, "I can't do the bumps Brand Y ski is 'holding me back'" (uh, how 'bout you just reek in the moguls?). But about three years ago I tried one particular brand of skis, and I swear my skiing improved noticeably- I really could tell the difference! Since then I only rent that brand and it's still working!
So owners, I might just be joining you lugging ski crap through airports again! I'm working on a deal right now what's the brand, you ask? Oh, well I can't be accused of favoritism here what's right for me not be for you. Huh? Okay, okay, sheesh, here's a hint: they're not the brand of roosters, Biblical kings, European accent marks, mountain peaks, bathrooms, or occupations or wine!
Mike Hagye - Austin Skiers Newsletter Editor
A non-profit ski club
President Doug Jordan
president@austinskiers.org
V.P. Trips Neil Martin trips@austinskiers.org
V.P. Trip Planning Gary Roth tripplanning@ austinskiers.org
V.P. Programs Jon Martin programs@ austinskiers.org
V.P. Marketing Marcia Honeycutt marketing@austinskiers.org
V.P. Membership Donna Peterman membership@ austinskiers.org
V.P. Special Activities Cindy Berry activities@austinskiers.org
Secretary Barbara Bobo secretary@ austinskiers.org
Treasurer Wendy Buck treasurer@ austinskiers.org
Newsletter Editor Mike Hagye newsletter@ austinskiers.org
Webmaster Kevin Juhl skiwebmaster@ austinskiers.org
Past President Tere Ayson pastpres@ austinskiers.org
Board of Directors
Kathy Colins director1@austinskiers.org
Cindy Carlson director2@ austinskiers.org
The Austin Skiers' newsletter is published monthly, 12 issues per year. Subscription is included with payment of yearly membership fee. Articles and correspondence should be addressed to the Editor by e-mail at newsletter@austinskiers.org or by phone (see above). Deadline for submission is the 15th of each month. Send issues regarding the Club Web site to skiwebmaster@austinskiers.org. For more information on the next Club meeting or other related activities, contact any of the following:
Austin Skiers Hotline 335-3662
E-mail: skimail@austinskiers.org
Web site: http://www.austinskiers.org
|
