That was one great night...
Friday morning the numbers hit me as I was filing my After Action Report. My work was everywhere. Swing Shift had done all the Special Projects and all the digging, so I groomed more acres and trails than on any other night so far this season!
I did do one plow project that's been escaping our attention during this Winter's onslaught...I've been meaning to plow away a big wind drift at the top terminal of our most popular Intermediate Chairlift. So far this season, the snowfall we've been getting has stacked up quickly, usually accompanied with lots of wind, resulting in February-like conditions. We needed to "make it downhill" in all directions from the top ramp.
I pushed for an hour or so, and ran the corduroy. It isn't downhill yet, but it isn't uphill any more. All in all, I cut four feet off a good half an acre, maybe three quarters of an acre. I steepened the top ramp so our guests won't have to skate when they get off the chair and go West.
The fleet ran great all night, and we wrapped it up early under a stunning blue sky. While fueling up, the most beautiful herringbone cloud scudded overhead...there were ice crystals floating in the air, enhancing my peak moment.
In the Groomers' Ready Room the mood was good...who could complain on such a glorious morning? I marveled: "Out before 10AM!" as I punched out...
As I walked down the Shop Road to my pickup, I surveyed my mountain...so much majesty for my eyes to feast on. A huge crowd was streaming into our parking lots...crowds have been good all week. As I walked up to my truck, I heard someone say: "TruckeeDave!" I looked and didn't recognize him. "Who are you?" I asked. I'm Landcruser Scott, he replied. "Jesus, you look like a married man" I quipped. Scott laughed and introduced me to his wife.
I started my pickup, grabbed my ice scraper and Scott and I caught up. Scott had worked at my mountain for several seasons in the Mid-90's. He helped me build a house for another friend in '96, and we'd had many adventures in SnowCats over those seasons. It's been a few years since the last time we ran into each other at the Post Office.
I told him what he was missing now that we were an all BR350 fleet. Scott liked the sound of: "Another 75 HP, all of it to the cutter bar if you need it" I was probably a little too enthusiastic...I was gushing really...we said our goodbyes, and I gave him my card.
I enjoyed my sunny ride down the hill...I decided to shop...surely everyone in town had stocked up by now...boy, was I ever wrong.
I was home at the DaveCave by 11:30...T-Bone Steak and Eggs with Grapefruit Juice.
When I awoke, I checked my Twitter Feed...San Francisco will host the 34th America's Cup.
Dreams do come true!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Friday, December 31, 2010
Plugged
Truckee is overrun with Holiday Revelers this week. The people couldn't resist the perfect recipe:
Great Christmas Season
Record Snowfall in November
Bountiful December Snowfall
add
No Income Tax Increase
Unemployment Insurance Extensions
Serve and Enjoy
Serves thousands
Nutritional values may vary
They're everywhere...I'd forgotten how exciting merely driving past the gas station at the bottom of my hill could be!
Going to the grocery store takes real commitment time-wise. You know you're in for it when you can't even find a place to park!
Whenever the crowds plug Truckee and turn the little chores into Epic Trials, I have to thank BajaBabe who impressed on me the need to maintain a decent Pantry! Thanks BajaBabe!
Thursday morning was a Bluebird Morning...first one this week (I can't be 100% sure, the days are all running together as they do every Christmas Holiday Period) It wasn't just the Locals who spent the past few days hunkered down...without that Pantry...
I checked the Reno AFD to see if there's any more snow on tap before the end of the weekend. It seems their models aren't in agreement past a couple of hours. We could get a few inches of snow, or the snow could go South of us.
I've considered an after work Reno Run to re-provision. Reno News Radio reports Reno's plugged too...New Years Eve is an outsized event in the Biggest Little City...I'm hoping another Bluebird Morning will clear a path to my local Safeway...if I pick up a couple of things and I can re-hunker...
Great Christmas Season
Record Snowfall in November
Bountiful December Snowfall
add
No Income Tax Increase
Unemployment Insurance Extensions
Serve and Enjoy
Serves thousands
Nutritional values may vary
They're everywhere...I'd forgotten how exciting merely driving past the gas station at the bottom of my hill could be!
Going to the grocery store takes real commitment time-wise. You know you're in for it when you can't even find a place to park!
Whenever the crowds plug Truckee and turn the little chores into Epic Trials, I have to thank BajaBabe who impressed on me the need to maintain a decent Pantry! Thanks BajaBabe!
Thursday morning was a Bluebird Morning...first one this week (I can't be 100% sure, the days are all running together as they do every Christmas Holiday Period) It wasn't just the Locals who spent the past few days hunkered down...without that Pantry...
I checked the Reno AFD to see if there's any more snow on tap before the end of the weekend. It seems their models aren't in agreement past a couple of hours. We could get a few inches of snow, or the snow could go South of us.
I've considered an after work Reno Run to re-provision. Reno News Radio reports Reno's plugged too...New Years Eve is an outsized event in the Biggest Little City...I'm hoping another Bluebird Morning will clear a path to my local Safeway...if I pick up a couple of things and I can re-hunker...
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Outta Breath
OK, my butt is officially kicked.
Tuesday's tally: 24 inches in 24 hours...that's a lot of snow...
My Tuesday began badly...the power flickering of and on wakes me before the alarm clock...I lay in bed for two more hours trying to harvest a little more sleep...no luck...the power goes off, and stays off...no shower...no shave...no sauteed chicken breasts for lunch sandwich...lastly...this hurts...no coffee.
I thought about bringing my beans and grinder to work, but thought better of it...I settled for Folgers
My 20 minute drive to work took an hour...good thing I left early...nothin' to do in the dark
My night went this way all night
When I arrived back at the DaveCave it was half past noon...the power was restored...it was the Christmas I missed last weekend!
Do you want whine with that?
Perhaps I'm a little on edge...reports this week from San Francisco touted doubts for the 34th America's Cup Host City Sweepstakes...Newport, Rhode Island is suddenly in the running? Rumor Control wasn't helping...we're getting down to Crunch Time. The Host City will be announced Friday 12/31/2010.
Hopeful news here
Tuesday's tally: 24 inches in 24 hours...that's a lot of snow...
My Tuesday began badly...the power flickering of and on wakes me before the alarm clock...I lay in bed for two more hours trying to harvest a little more sleep...no luck...the power goes off, and stays off...no shower...no shave...no sauteed chicken breasts for lunch sandwich...lastly...this hurts...no coffee.
I thought about bringing my beans and grinder to work, but thought better of it...I settled for Folgers
My 20 minute drive to work took an hour...good thing I left early...nothin' to do in the dark
My night went this way all night
When I arrived back at the DaveCave it was half past noon...the power was restored...it was the Christmas I missed last weekend!
Do you want whine with that?
Perhaps I'm a little on edge...reports this week from San Francisco touted doubts for the 34th America's Cup Host City Sweepstakes...Newport, Rhode Island is suddenly in the running? Rumor Control wasn't helping...we're getting down to Crunch Time. The Host City will be announced Friday 12/31/2010.
Hopeful news here
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Diggin Out
the DaveCave that is!
I have a full-blown two day weekend this week. All chores Monday...still have some tech stuff to complete before bedtime.
In the calm between the storms, I finally got my front porch thawed enough to chip away the last couple of storms-worth of pack ice...I kept expecting a polar bear to stake it's territory on the darn thing. Chipping away with the heavy Mutt felt good...as did the sun on my face...a welcomed warm sunny afternoon!
Tuesday morning, I watched the unfolding story of the chairlift derailment at Sugarloaf in Maine on FoxNews...as is typical of the 24/7 cable news of today, the "reporting" was long on hype and short on details. Would it hurt to name the manufacturer of the chairlift?
FoxNews did report that it's the oldest chair on the mountain...and when they finally got a live link to a hospital spokesperson, said spokesperson gave no specifics, failed to play along with the anchor's speculative questions, and was generally useless as a source! During the over four hours of the story, no Sugarloaf spokesman was aired.
The best I could glean was 6-7 injuries after five chairs fell about 30-35 ft after a gust of wind hit just as the chair was restarted.
FoxNews cited a Maine newspaper in saying Sugarloaf wanted to replace the stricken chair with a "heavier chair that would withstand wind better" in a story from earlier this year.
None of the injuries were labeled life-threatening.
Finally I found a Sugarloaf Press Release that answered most of my questions.
I have a full-blown two day weekend this week. All chores Monday...still have some tech stuff to complete before bedtime.
In the calm between the storms, I finally got my front porch thawed enough to chip away the last couple of storms-worth of pack ice...I kept expecting a polar bear to stake it's territory on the darn thing. Chipping away with the heavy Mutt felt good...as did the sun on my face...a welcomed warm sunny afternoon!
Tuesday morning, I watched the unfolding story of the chairlift derailment at Sugarloaf in Maine on FoxNews...as is typical of the 24/7 cable news of today, the "reporting" was long on hype and short on details. Would it hurt to name the manufacturer of the chairlift?
The best I could glean was 6-7 injuries after five chairs fell about 30-35 ft after a gust of wind hit just as the chair was restarted.
FoxNews cited a Maine newspaper in saying Sugarloaf wanted to replace the stricken chair with a "heavier chair that would withstand wind better" in a story from earlier this year.
None of the injuries were labeled life-threatening.
Finally I found a Sugarloaf Press Release that answered most of my questions.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Merry Christmas!
Santa's bringing new snow for Christmas Night.
Chain controls are up as the storm inches Eastward.
Time for my evening nap...gonna be fun tonight
Chain controls are up as the storm inches Eastward.
Time for my evening nap...gonna be fun tonight
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Stuck In Time
Getting a snowcat stuck is such a rare occurrence that getting stuck this week turned on my Way Back Machine.
In three decades of grooming on My Mountain I've got stuck three times.
Technically the second time, in the late 90's I could have driven out (save for all the trees below me)...I had to get pulled back up on the cat road that I fell off of (or more precisely, the cat road that fell away under me)
The memorable stuck was during my rookie season. Back then the fleet was all Tucker SnoCats and one Thiokol 3700. The Tuckers didn't have a blade out front. Groomers towed various implements for different conditions...rollers, mogul cutters, powdermakers, even huge drag chains.
The morning in question, I was pulling a 30ft roller.
The trail I was grooming was a steep intermediate run that we usually got a little toboggan action from at the breakover a third of the way down.
Working left to right, I crept down towards the breakover...sure enough, once the Tucker's pontoons were past the breakover, she slid. I punched the throttle and away we went...this time was different than the times I done this trail before...this time the whole run crowned...wall to wall...a 3ft slab avalanche that roared down the 50 yards or so to the compression at the bottom of the steep.
My Tucker went into the compression like a lawn dart into soft turf, and the avalanche debris piled up around me. It was up to the top of the hood, and up to the windows in the doors...I couldn't even get out to shovel myself free. My only tool available was the Motorola 2-Way Radio.
I called the boss who was digging out the top of the mountain. He advised that I'd better start shoveling...I explained that I couldn't get out of my cab to shovel...he replied: "I've gotta see this!"
The boss in his 3700 roared up about 20 minutes later...clearly amused at my predicament. He made quick work of removing the snow around my cab and that 30ft roller. As he roared off to return to his digging he keyed the mic: "Now you can shovel your way out!"
Maybe twenty minutes with my shovel, and I was free.
That was the only time I slid a whole run at once. Back then I didn't know what I didn't know. I chalked up the thrill as just another bit of Groomer Esprit de Corps. Today I'd be scared shitless if I crowned a whole run!
Thirty years ago we had lots of thrills on the hill, but today we could never leave the ski surface the way we did back then. For the most part, we've evolved the adrenaline out of the job. That trail is only groomed by winch cats today...I can count on one hand the number of times we've groomed that run with a free cat since the turn of the century.
Having been in the trade all the way through this evolutionary epoch, I've evolved to enjoy the cerebral thrills in lieu of the raw adrenaline rush. Do I miss it? Sure...fun is fun...but the satisfaction I feel knowing how perfectly we groom the slopes in the modern era is deeper than I'd ever imagined back in those "Wild West" days.
Merry Christmas!
In three decades of grooming on My Mountain I've got stuck three times.
Technically the second time, in the late 90's I could have driven out (save for all the trees below me)...I had to get pulled back up on the cat road that I fell off of (or more precisely, the cat road that fell away under me)
The memorable stuck was during my rookie season. Back then the fleet was all Tucker SnoCats and one Thiokol 3700. The Tuckers didn't have a blade out front. Groomers towed various implements for different conditions...rollers, mogul cutters, powdermakers, even huge drag chains.
The morning in question, I was pulling a 30ft roller.
The trail I was grooming was a steep intermediate run that we usually got a little toboggan action from at the breakover a third of the way down.
Working left to right, I crept down towards the breakover...sure enough, once the Tucker's pontoons were past the breakover, she slid. I punched the throttle and away we went...this time was different than the times I done this trail before...this time the whole run crowned...wall to wall...a 3ft slab avalanche that roared down the 50 yards or so to the compression at the bottom of the steep.
My Tucker went into the compression like a lawn dart into soft turf, and the avalanche debris piled up around me. It was up to the top of the hood, and up to the windows in the doors...I couldn't even get out to shovel myself free. My only tool available was the Motorola 2-Way Radio.
I called the boss who was digging out the top of the mountain. He advised that I'd better start shoveling...I explained that I couldn't get out of my cab to shovel...he replied: "I've gotta see this!"
The boss in his 3700 roared up about 20 minutes later...clearly amused at my predicament. He made quick work of removing the snow around my cab and that 30ft roller. As he roared off to return to his digging he keyed the mic: "Now you can shovel your way out!"
Maybe twenty minutes with my shovel, and I was free.
That was the only time I slid a whole run at once. Back then I didn't know what I didn't know. I chalked up the thrill as just another bit of Groomer Esprit de Corps. Today I'd be scared shitless if I crowned a whole run!
Thirty years ago we had lots of thrills on the hill, but today we could never leave the ski surface the way we did back then. For the most part, we've evolved the adrenaline out of the job. That trail is only groomed by winch cats today...I can count on one hand the number of times we've groomed that run with a free cat since the turn of the century.
Having been in the trade all the way through this evolutionary epoch, I've evolved to enjoy the cerebral thrills in lieu of the raw adrenaline rush. Do I miss it? Sure...fun is fun...but the satisfaction I feel knowing how perfectly we groom the slopes in the modern era is deeper than I'd ever imagined back in those "Wild West" days.
Merry Christmas!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Whale Watching
Until this morning, I thought there was only one kind of whale found on ski hills.
In snowmaking-speak, a whale is the huge pile of man-made snow where the gun or fan is pointed when temps are favorable and the groomers are too busy to spread the man-made around before a long, huge pile the size of a whale piles up.
This morning I heard myself say over the 2-way radio that I'm working on "My White Whale"...d'oh!
First, a little backstory...you'll remember that I've been trying to build bridges for better than a week now. Almost a week of rain filled the creeks and streams after all my bridges were in, reopening the watercourses, and turning my building material (fresh snow) from bridge building snow to dam building snow.
Let me be clear, the ski hill is in fine shape, all this hydrology trouble is on our cross country trails, a new wrinkle in my morning to-do list.
All the bridges were in place before snow levels rose to rainmaking levels, and I've been trying to rebridge every non-raining morning since...I found myself getting a little frustrated, as each time I built a new bridge, Mother Nature would open it up by morning again.
This week, I endured a one-day weekend and returned Monday to four new feet of dry snow that fell on my night off. Without any machine issues, my crew made short work of the Work Orders and we even threw in a couple of extras. I made exactly five passes of corduroy for the shift, spending my time digging out instead. Off the hill plenty early, I roared off to finish the final hold-out bridge project.
Here's where I got myself in trouble...As I was delegating our workload via my 2-way, I said in passing that "I wasn't gonna let that last bridge get the best of me"...I'm sure there's a parable that fits my crime, but I'm not conversant with all the parables and their names and numbers...
Back on the trail, I worked my way a kilometer at at time towards the last big crossing project...I smoothed out and widened the first two creek crossings, and dealt with a fallen treetop that blocked the trail. (Huge winds tore up the Sierra Crest Sunday night, Alpine Meadows recorded one gust at 155mph!)
As I approached my troubled bridge, I rolled up a huge bladefull of semi-heavy snow...there was no open water at the bridge site proper...I could see the creek downstream of my crossing...I plowed ahead...I sank a little as I expected (the bridge is at the bottom of a small compression in the trail) I feathered the snow out of my blade to fill the compression a little, just As I bogged down trying to climb out of the dip. Backing out of the sticks to give max torque to my tracks, I didn't make it across, I lifted the tiller and backed out of there quick! One track was on the snow, the other was in the mud...on the bottom of what was now a small shallow lake where the creek had overflowed it's banks.
Awful muddy water with weeds was pumping over the muddy track as I spun away from the tall bank. That bladefull of snow was now working against me...I wasn't totally high-centered, but enough to lighten the track that wasn't in the mud...the muddy track continued to pump mud, water and weeds over itself and a tree in my way necessitated a three point turn...which is where it all went for naught...I was stuck...in my trusty old BR350...oh the humanity...
A fine kettle of fish...I keyed the mic and called my boss..."I'm stuck and could you fire up a winchcat, please? It'll be a straight pull, should be no problem"...I asked him to "bring two winch straps"...he asked: "should I bring my waders?"...I said: "it wouldn't hurt, but we can probably keep our feet dry"...
So the cat was out of the bag...TruckeeDave stuck...on the air for all that care...the rest of the saga would play out on the airwaves as well...for all to hear...sigh...
On the bright side, I needed my sunglasses for the first time in a week...small compensation for my embarrassment, though...
It took us an hour or so to extricate me...the boss widened the road down to the compression area where my cat was now a dam...the unseen lake had risen through the pristine snow at least five inches in 30 minutes...
We hooked up for the pull...the boss dialed his pressure up to 400Bar...I didn't even feel a tug...I was in deep...I keyed the mic: "Boss, I think we need to go blade to blade, you can push me back three feet or so, and backblade some of this snow from in front of my tracks, it'll give me some momentum coming out of my hole" Talk about good radio...
It worked! I popped out of the lake/hole like gangbusters! I left a trail 75 yards long of muddy, weedy snow...my adrenaline was still off the charts...I was under an eight of a tank of fuel...please God, I prayed...don't let me run out of fuel today! I made it back to the fuel dock and put in 55.42 Gals...whew that was a close one! No damage to either cat...bullets dodged!
OK, that brings me back to this morning...and my radio call about the White Whale...discretion being the better part of valor, I went the other way around...I stripped 200 yards of trail of enough snow to bridge the creek/lake/hole complex.
A little clean snow to cover Tuesday's muddy tracks, and one final lap around the whole trail and I called it in: Cross country trails OPEN!
Once again I needed the Ray-Bans...and I was out of there early!
Tonight, No Drama...I promise
In snowmaking-speak, a whale is the huge pile of man-made snow where the gun or fan is pointed when temps are favorable and the groomers are too busy to spread the man-made around before a long, huge pile the size of a whale piles up.
This morning I heard myself say over the 2-way radio that I'm working on "My White Whale"...d'oh!
First, a little backstory...you'll remember that I've been trying to build bridges for better than a week now. Almost a week of rain filled the creeks and streams after all my bridges were in, reopening the watercourses, and turning my building material (fresh snow) from bridge building snow to dam building snow.
Let me be clear, the ski hill is in fine shape, all this hydrology trouble is on our cross country trails, a new wrinkle in my morning to-do list.
All the bridges were in place before snow levels rose to rainmaking levels, and I've been trying to rebridge every non-raining morning since...I found myself getting a little frustrated, as each time I built a new bridge, Mother Nature would open it up by morning again.
This week, I endured a one-day weekend and returned Monday to four new feet of dry snow that fell on my night off. Without any machine issues, my crew made short work of the Work Orders and we even threw in a couple of extras. I made exactly five passes of corduroy for the shift, spending my time digging out instead. Off the hill plenty early, I roared off to finish the final hold-out bridge project.
Here's where I got myself in trouble...As I was delegating our workload via my 2-way, I said in passing that "I wasn't gonna let that last bridge get the best of me"...I'm sure there's a parable that fits my crime, but I'm not conversant with all the parables and their names and numbers...
Back on the trail, I worked my way a kilometer at at time towards the last big crossing project...I smoothed out and widened the first two creek crossings, and dealt with a fallen treetop that blocked the trail. (Huge winds tore up the Sierra Crest Sunday night, Alpine Meadows recorded one gust at 155mph!)
As I approached my troubled bridge, I rolled up a huge bladefull of semi-heavy snow...there was no open water at the bridge site proper...I could see the creek downstream of my crossing...I plowed ahead...I sank a little as I expected (the bridge is at the bottom of a small compression in the trail) I feathered the snow out of my blade to fill the compression a little, just As I bogged down trying to climb out of the dip. Backing out of the sticks to give max torque to my tracks, I didn't make it across, I lifted the tiller and backed out of there quick! One track was on the snow, the other was in the mud...on the bottom of what was now a small shallow lake where the creek had overflowed it's banks.
Awful muddy water with weeds was pumping over the muddy track as I spun away from the tall bank. That bladefull of snow was now working against me...I wasn't totally high-centered, but enough to lighten the track that wasn't in the mud...the muddy track continued to pump mud, water and weeds over itself and a tree in my way necessitated a three point turn...which is where it all went for naught...I was stuck...in my trusty old BR350...oh the humanity...
A fine kettle of fish...I keyed the mic and called my boss..."I'm stuck and could you fire up a winchcat, please? It'll be a straight pull, should be no problem"...I asked him to "bring two winch straps"...he asked: "should I bring my waders?"...I said: "it wouldn't hurt, but we can probably keep our feet dry"...
So the cat was out of the bag...TruckeeDave stuck...on the air for all that care...the rest of the saga would play out on the airwaves as well...for all to hear...sigh...
On the bright side, I needed my sunglasses for the first time in a week...small compensation for my embarrassment, though...
It took us an hour or so to extricate me...the boss widened the road down to the compression area where my cat was now a dam...the unseen lake had risen through the pristine snow at least five inches in 30 minutes...
We hooked up for the pull...the boss dialed his pressure up to 400Bar...I didn't even feel a tug...I was in deep...I keyed the mic: "Boss, I think we need to go blade to blade, you can push me back three feet or so, and backblade some of this snow from in front of my tracks, it'll give me some momentum coming out of my hole" Talk about good radio...
It worked! I popped out of the lake/hole like gangbusters! I left a trail 75 yards long of muddy, weedy snow...my adrenaline was still off the charts...I was under an eight of a tank of fuel...please God, I prayed...don't let me run out of fuel today! I made it back to the fuel dock and put in 55.42 Gals...whew that was a close one! No damage to either cat...bullets dodged!
OK, that brings me back to this morning...and my radio call about the White Whale...discretion being the better part of valor, I went the other way around...I stripped 200 yards of trail of enough snow to bridge the creek/lake/hole complex.
A little clean snow to cover Tuesday's muddy tracks, and one final lap around the whole trail and I called it in: Cross country trails OPEN!
Once again I needed the Ray-Bans...and I was out of there early!
Tonight, No Drama...I promise
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