Hunkered Down

It's a good thing the weather's been frightful because I've been cleaning up after my lost wallet all day! It's 2AM now, and I just made a nightcap...

Still Life With Piña Colada

I never realized how many monthly bills I've automated! I think an encrypted document with everything in one place is in order, with a copy on CD stored in the safety deposit box!

I talked with one helpful Customer Service agent in Ohio, and they've had an unseasonably mild winter too...

My day began  at 10AM when Mrs Landlord called. She said she was down with a chest cold and taking a sick day, that Mr Landlord was on the road, and not to worry about taking out the garbage and recycling...she'd made arrangements for a special pickup Friday!

I couldn't have agreed more! The wind blew like crazy all night (It's still blowing now) The DaveCave's front porch is still clear of snow, but up in front of the garage, copious drifts have accumulated.

I told Mrs Landlord that I'd blow the berm as soon as the plows came by. The sooner you get on a fresh berm the better.

I made a pot of French Roast and did the dishes. Looking out the kitchen window, I could see the neighbors' driveway was still berm-free. An hour or so later I clicked on Where Is My Snowplow and saw that there was a plow getting close to the neighborhood.

It was now noon newstime...I tuned in Channel 13 for the Blue Canyon Live Remotes and the forecast...about 15 minutes in I heard the plow lumbering up the street. I was already in long pants with shoes and socks on. I wanted to wait until KCRA3's 12:40 weather report before I suited up and hit the driveway/berm project. At 12:30 the plow made it's downhill pass, I watched it go by while warming up my coffee. I felt a pang of guilt when I sat back down and waited for the KCRA3 weathercast.

While watching the radar images the plow ran up the hill again...that's a lot of snow! Pulling on my slicker and putting in my ear plugs, I heard the plow make it's second downhill pass...that's gonna be some berm, I thought...

The front stairs were almost scoured of snow as the wind was blowing a steady 15-20. The drifts between the cars in the driveway were two feet at the garage door giving way to 18" or so out at the berm. This was the highly prized Champagne Powder...Utah's Finest, so to speak...

I blew my way out of the garage and through the berm...not much resistance...perfect timing! I blew the berm in front of my car first...It's the downhill direction...The wind wasn't making this easy...Five passes, and I turned around and began blowing the berm across the street.

The wind was definitely on my team now...I blew the berm past Mrs Landlord's Subaru and Mr Landlord's Pickup. The deep snow and the stately speed of the plow made the berm very manageable. I left a solid pass in front of our cars to help catch the next berm.

Sometime around 6PM I went down for a "nap"...I awoke at 8:30...I may have missed the plows, but hey...It'll wait till morning! This snow is so dry, even if the berm has 12 hours of set-up time it'll be a piece of cake to blow!

Well, the 3:09 AM AFD says there's more snow on the way, and that the big winds will blow again between 5AM and 10AM Winter Storm Warnings are up...looks like the wind will be on my team again when I blow the driveway berm!

Good night, thanks for reading!

Skiing in July

Today Boreal turned their Castle Peak Quad chair Saturday, ferrying skiers and snowboarders to the top of a ribbon of bulldozed snow that snaked down the hill from top to bottom. Boreal ran the lift from 10AM 'till 2PM for the first day of their weekend Shred Fest.

I saw the story tweeted by Watts Up With That linking a Sacramento Bee story published Friday. From the photo evidence, it looks like three or four passes wide max, with some terrain features down on the flats. I missed the story on KCRA3's 6PM News, but I think they said Boreal sold 250 tickets at $20 per.

The remote data reveals 72F at 10AM rising to 75F by 2PM...what wax would you use? What SPF for your sunscreen? A/C on full blast? Ouch!

Boreal flexed their marketing muscles, TV caught some interesting video, and the patrons got a random fun fact for their personal histories.

It was hot in France Saturday too. The Tour entered the Alps in humid, hot conditions that surely taxed the riders who were trying to stay out of trouble while hoping to conserve their energy for Sunday's Stage 8, the first serious Alpine Stage. Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel recaptured the lead after three flat tires on the pavé of Stage 3 caused him to lose the leader's Yellow Jersey. There could be some fireworks Sunday on the big passes, though analysts say the real drama will be Tuesday after the first Rest Day.

Tuesday's Stage 9 will be a grinder with two 1st Category Climbs and an Hors Categorie (Above Category, or in American English, Off the Charts!) These are the Legendary Alpine Passes... the Col de la Columbiere and Col des Saises come early in the stage, with the giant HC Col de la Madeleine only 30Km from the finish. The last climb doesn't suit Contador's explosive climbing style, so his weapons may be somewhat dulled...perhaps benefiting his rivals. All will be tested.

We'll know Tuesday who the real contenders for the overall win are...there's nowhere to hide on the Col de la Madeleine!

In Great Britain, Formula One Qualifying for Sunday's British Grand Prix was hot, hot, hot! Silverstone is a very fast, flowing track that suits the Red Bull Racing stable. RBR didn't disappoint, grabbing pole and 2nd place to lock out the front row again. Ferrari may have been sandbagging Friday, as 2-Time World Champion Fernando Alonso starts 3rd in the Ferrari, alongside British fave, Lewis Hamilton in the first McClaren. The fabled track hosted 80 thousand fans for Qualifying Saturday, and expects Sunday's Race Day crowd to reach 160 thousand! That's one hot ticket!

Last hot news...I promise. The San Francisco Giants' bats have turned hot on their current Road Trip...today they came from behind 5-4 in the 6th Inning, to win 10-5 on the strength of three Giants' homers.

It's gonna be hot in the Inland Valley Sunday...I'll be coolin' my heels in front of the TV watching Le Tour, the British GP, and my Giants...good times...play ball!

Grooming 101.6

Still Working With Gravity
Yesterday's lesson on Gravity and Berm Control didn't have anything to say about controlling Berms when the snow starts getting seriously deep. What happens when the snow is soft, dry, and deeper than the Snowcat's tracks?

Berms happen, that's what! When there's more snow than Tillers can chew, Modern Grooming Equipment can't do the job in a single pass. Today's Grooming Machines do much better than their fore-bearers, but even the most skilled groomer in the latest machine can't break the laws of physics. Mother nature bats last, and sometimes she goes on a hitting streak that would make Joltin' Joe DiMaggio envious.

When the snow gets to the topside of the machine's tracks, there's no alternative to Double Passing, to get the desired surface. Production goes out the window, Back up Plans take effect and the hunkering down begins. Old Hands know that there's a long hard slog ahead, and take steps to endure.

There's much satisfaction to be extracted from Big Storm Periods, provided you mete out your energy over the duration of the storm. It's not just up on the Mountain where deep snow means harder work...and more of it! Getting back and forth to work gets more difficult, vehicles need shoveled off, digging out and de-icing. All these extra chores eat the minutes until they become hours, and everything becomes slower as the snow deepens.

Coping Skills
Enduring the increased workload means adjusting your output of energy, and eliminating wasteful action in favor of tried and true methods to soldier through.

Step One: Stop hurrying! There's an old saying about the "hurrier I go, the behinder I get" or some such, just set a steady, sustainable pace, and grind it out.

I've learned to manage my excitement over my years on the Mountain, because hard won experience has taught me that more than likely, I'll be in my cat come 2PM, rather than hitting the sack back at the DaveCave. So, you keep a lid on your emotions, try and help everyone you work with to cope nicely so they too can stay in the game over the long haul.

Yes, the best laid plans of mice and men...when the snow gets deep, why do so many otherwise sane, intelligent people start to lose IQ Points by the bushel? Unfortunately, in all my years up in the High Sierra, I've never been able to put my finger on this weird behavior quirk.

You learn to tune out the frenzy, but stay vigilant, because you don't want to let anyone around you get stupid enough to hurt themselves or others. It's always during these extended siege periods that, people find ways to injure themselves or others. The Fire Departments and all our Emergency Responders already have their hands full, so we don't want to get on their waiting list! Sadly, if a wide-eyed Flatlander is going to tangle with a Road Grader on the Highway, or a Snowblower in a driveway, it'll be during a busy Storm Siege.

Mountain Sanctuary
Step Two: When you get away from the Base Areas and the IQ Altered, there is peace up on the Hill. Double Passing takes more than twice as long as grooming less snow in a single pass, but it is no less satisfying...especially if you've just escaped the circus below! Again, you tune up your Balancing Act.

When it's this deep, there are a couple of ways to proceed, depending on weather you're working solo, or working in a Pack. When I'm working by myself, I'll make as big a first pass as I dare, and groom my trail as wide as time allows, then go back to the beginning, and re-groom the whole shebang. A little "set-up time" helps things turn out better when you go back an "chase" those big berms.

If I'm leading a pack, we'll make fat passes going downhill, and gently chase the berms on our way back uphill. If the trail doesn't set up enough to do that, I move the pack to the next trail for it's first passes, and then return to chase the berms on the first trail...repeat as necessary, your acreage may vary...

When the guests hit the slopes, my crew leave the mountain to them. Most of the crew calls it a day, the Old Hands take a break, regroup and refuel, and head out for more Storm Fighting.

We stay off the Mountain during the day, but there are tons of places around the mountain where Groomers can help lighten the load of the snow that's piling ever deeper. Lots of plowing and pushing eat up the hours...this is where a good stereo and mp3 players come in handy. These gadgets help the time pass while keeping boredom at bay. Before you know it, it's afternoon and the body starts making it's needs known. Bedtime beckons, and you can veto the drive to rest for a few days, but as with all things worth doing, eventually you must succumb to nature and call it a shift.

The sleep you get after this kind of shift is deep, but the alarm clock goes off as soon as your head hits the pillow. Time to get up and do it all over again. We do this for days on end when the storm door is wide open…believe me, all the Old Hands live for this stuff!

Hard Work…Good Times.

Grooming 101.5

Making Heroes
OK, just how do heroes get it done? Is it just the Hero Snow that makes even dilettantes look good? If only it was so easy!

No, heroes must earn their status on the mountain. Anyone who can walk a straight line can learn to make a nice pass in a modern groomer, but a Groomer must have skills beyond walking and chewing gum at the same time! Multi-tasking was the "Word of the Year", what? More than a Decade ago? At least...

Like anything worth doing, Grooming a Ski Hill is a balancing act. Good operators learn which Rules can be bent, and when. They also know which Rules must be obeyed Always.

There's two sets of Groomer's Rules. On set for grooming uphill, and the other set for making corduroy going downslope. Gravity is a big player on Ski Hills. Skiing and Snowboarding aren't known as Gravity Sports for nothing!

Gravity supplies the horsepower that Sliders enjoy on any Ski Hill. Groomers, equipped with plenty of horsepower, use Gravity to help make the most Corduroy, with the least muss and fuss.

The most desirable Skiruns are paved with perfect corduroy from wall to wall, without any pesky berms to degrade the dance-floor-flat surface.

What are berms? Berms are spills, plain and simple. Snow spilled out of the reach of the Tiller's combs. The combs make the corduroy from the fresh packed and tilled snow. It's really easy to make berms, even with a "State of the Art" modern Groomer...go a little too fast downhill in soft snow, and lots of fresh-tilled snow will fall from the Tiller's Box, and spill beyond the reach of the combs.

The deeper the freshly fallen snow, the more likely it is berms will form. Here's the balancing act in all it's little glory. Going uphill, the tiller's box catches almost everything in it's way. Tilling it and feeding it under the weighted combs, leaving the dance floor corduroy. Crafty operators make the absolutely widest pass possible going uphill, without spilling a berm. At the top of the run, the operators adjust everything from the width of their new downhill pass, the depth of cut of the tiller, their speed over the snow, to the amount of Up-Pressure on their Tiller, and even adjust the speed of the tiller's Cutter Bar. All in order to keep from spilling any berm. To attain maximum productivity, every parameter of the cat's implements, need adjustment every pass, every time.

So, when the snow is soft or deep, the size of the pass depends on careful monitoring of, and reacting to ever changing conditions. The steeper the trail, the more gravity works against the Groomer, and the smaller each downhill pass becomes. Conversely, steepness helps widen the uphill pass...up to a point.

Blade basics
What about that big blade on the front of the cat? It's part of the Groomer's Toolbox, and in soft or deep conditions the blade helps the operator get another 10-20% out of each pass! Swinging the blade so the snow will flow across the face of the blade, away from the finished pass, and skimming just the right amount of snow off the pass he's working, allows the groomer to increase his speed, while controlling any potential berm production.

On hard packed nights, the blade is always in the snow, scraping the top few inches of the flatter surfaces, and keeping a "roll" of snow in the blade which supplies plenty of fresh, soft material for the tiller to chew and lay out for maximum corduroy production. Here again, the skilled operator takes all he can get from the snowpack, balancing depth of the blade's cut with the fullness of the pile rolling in (but not spilling from) his blade...all while keeping an eagle eye on his mirrors to monitor the spill from the tiller. Tailoring his speed to balance production vs quality is part of the game always, too.

On paper, it seems like a very busy, scattered endeavor, but in practice it can become a dance almost. When you're hittin' it right, it becomes a swirling ballet of sense and reaction, parry and thrust, risk and reward. It's pretty hard to keep the grin off your face when it's going like that. The acres and hours fly by, and barring breakdowns, extra runs can be groomed...above and beyond the Work Orders.

What about using that blade to mow down moguls, or to repair Race Ruts, you ask?

That’s a whole different ball game, and it deserves it’s own section. When the snow gets deeper, and skiers carve it into bumps, then I’ll do a seminar on Bump Cutting. There’s still lots to learn about soft, deep fresh snow! Stay tuned.