The "Pool Skim" Event

         Today was an exciting end to the skiing season at Stevens Pass. The resort held an event many people hadn't seen before - the "Pool Skim". There was an 18' long x 7' wide x 3' deep pool of cold water from melted snow, and people raced down a large hill and tried to skim across the pool. Many people wore strange costumes or outfits. Many people failed, though, and got soaked.
         My favorite participant(s) were the two Ski Patrol people with the toboggan that had a person in it. They soared down the hill and right over the water. The Ski Patrol in the back came forward, and then splashed the other Patrol person with water from his skis right at the end of the pool. It was amazing - the first and only group of people larger than one - that participated, and yet they still succeeded!
         Another interesting participant was a kid who dressed up as Batman. He turned slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly down the hill, and when he neared the pool, he bit his lip and shook his head. He had some speed, though. He made it right to the middle of the pool, where he promptly sunk into the cold water. The lifeguard helped him out, and put a towel on him. I enjoyed watching it, because it was funny, but I think maybe I shouldn't laugh at others' misfortunes.
         In conclusion, I think the "Pool Skim" is very interesting, and I'm considering doing it next year.

The Cool Wind

Today I went skiing again. One thing I enjoyed was the wind.

Once, when I was about to start skiing at the top of Hagen Hill, the wind started getting stronger. It started to blow me towards the slope. I didn't move at all, but the wind just blew me onto the slope and I started to ski! It all felt very interesting, with the wind blowing me around.

The next time I went to Hogsback, I started straight for Hagen Hill, and there it was again! The wind was blowing at me again! I flew back onto the slopes, and went all the way down to the chair. I wanted to catch the wind again!

I rode up, and found that the wind was not so strong anymore. I still wanted to try, so I skied off the chair and onto the wind’s path. I didn't feel anything. I was disappointed. I had tried pretty hard to get up fast enough, yet I still didn't catch the wind!

In the afternoon, I tried again. Sure enough, the wind was right there. I raced onto the path and was blown right down the hill. I liked it very much, and tried again a few times, but failed.

Even though I couldn't go on all the places I wanted to go, today was a pretty good day for skiing!

Foggy Day

Today was a really foggy day at Stevens Pass. In the morning, the fog froze on my goggles and was really hard to get off. This happened around every 5 minutes, making my vision very disoriented. Dad had to keep brushing the ice off with a tissue. I did not like it at all. The afternoon was worse. The fog was so thick that all of Stevens Pass was very blurry. Even though we were on the bottom floor of the Granite Peaks Lodge, we couldn’t see the Hogsback chair. Everybody knew that the fog would just make the ice form on our goggles faster, and make everything colder, so we left. To sum up, I sure hope next week’s weather isn’t as bad as this week!

Strange Signs

Two days ago, we had a ski trip involving the whole family. On the way to Stevens Pass, I saw many strange signs. One billboard, advertising Ruth Realty, read: “Ruth Realty: 127 pretty homes and 6 ugly ones”. I think this was not to the company’s advantage, because everybody would think “Did I buy an ugly house?” when they buy one of the houses. Nobody would want an ugly house, and so nobody would buy a house from the company. Another sign read: “Darci’s Dinky Donuts”. I didn’t even know “dinky” was a word before then. Apparently it means “overly or unattractively small”. I think “delicious” would work better. “Dinky” also sounds weird, and makes my little brother laugh all the time. To sum up, there are a few very funny and strange signs on the way to Stevens Pass!

Miles's Fall and Birthday Party

2/11/13
Two days ago, I celebrated my birthday at Sky High Sports. I invited many of my classmates and friends, and everybody had a good time bouncing around. I was hit in the stomach by a ball in dodgeball, and my stomach hurt for a while. I enjoyed the Foam Pit the most. Lane 4, the lane with a side trampoline, was the best because I could rebound really far. I got really hungry, and the food tasted delicious (the cake, too).

Yesterday I went skiing at Stevens Pass again. During class, Miles fell really badly on Double Diamond. The run had a warning sign saying: “Warning: Falls may result in uncontrollable slides or death.” Miles fell, and started tumbling head over feet. He lost his skis and poles. His goggles and gloves were covered and filled with snow, loosely hanging about. A tree actually saved him by stopping his fall (he crashed into it). Otherwise, the consequences would be much worse.

Skiing 2/3/13 Super Bowl Finals

Today I went skiing at Stevens Pass again. I left early to watch the Super Bowl. In class, though, we had a lot of fun. Today was the competition for the most runs in a day.

We skied 15 runs in the morning 2 hours, averaging 8 minutes a run (including the chairs). We skied Skid Road a lot of times, and then skied Big Chief a lot. In the afternoon, we skied 12 runs, a few on Skid Road but mostly on Big Chief. We averaged 10 minutes a run. In total, we averaged 8.89 seconds a run.

The Super Bowl was amazing. We saw quarterbacks mowing through the lines and breaking a world record – 109 yards in one play, from one end to the other. That touchdown was amazing.

All in all, today was a very fast-paced day – from the skiing competition to the Super Bowl.

Skiing - Corona Bowl and I-5

Today I enjoyed another energetic day of skiing at Stevens Pass. I had to leave right after class for a piano recital, so I didn’t get many runs in.

The favorite run that I did was Corona Bowl. I like this run because in the middle, the snow is great. The run starts out a bit icy, though. Corona Bowl is a double black-diamond. I ripped down the run, zoomed off a jump, and sprayed the class with a huge blast of snow.

Another run I liked was I-5. As always, the snow was really good. But today, the snow was exceptional. On the sides, there was a lot of powder that was untouched, with lots of moguls to jump off. It was about 2 inches thick, so you can go without slowing you down too much.

Skiing - 1/20/13 and 1/21/13

Today I came back from a 2-day skiing trip. I had skied on Sunday, stayed in Leavenworth, skied on Monday, and came back to my house.

On Sunday, I wrote:

‘Today I skied the half-pipe at Stevens Pass. A half-pipe is a large pile of snow that was cut by a groomer with a U-shaped attachment.

I jumped off the side of the ridge, and skied the pipe, like the rest of my class. I almost touched the top, but didn’t. The snow was OK, and some parts were icy. I-5’s snow was better at the bottom half, though. The second time I came, I was alone. I couldn’t see that much, it was blurry. I could see a nasty brown patch, though. I couldn’t avoid it, so I skied over it. It wasn’t rock, but I don’t know what it was. They pile up snow for the half-pipe, so I don’t know what it was.’ I figured out that it was a rock on my first time today (Monday). I got a close look. I don’t know how that got in there, but I managed to avoid it and the ice around it.

Today, Monday, I was busy trying to set speed records for myself and cover the whole front mountain. I did not cover the whole front mountain. I did Promenade, the two Parachutes, Rock ‘N Blue, Hoot ‘N Holler, Hagen Hill, Slow Poke, Skyline, Headwall, Barrier Ridge, Panorama, Easy Street, 76 Road, Showcase, I-5, Marmot Meadows, Skid Road, and lastly, Crest Trail. I missed 10 runs out of around 37. I ate lunch at the Granite Peaks Lodge. I had a resolution to not eat the bacon cheeseburger with fries, and I forgot about it yesterday (lunch and dinner!), so I ate a great prime rib sandwich with cheese, soup, and fries. As for setting speed records, I did pretty well. I covered Showcase on Big Chief, with a vertical rise of 824 feet, in half a minute. I also covered Barrier Ridge and Skyline on Skyline, with a vertical rise of 1,212 feet, in 96 seconds. I think I could probably improve on the Skyline record, because I stopped for a while to do the half-pipe. Successful or not, I had a lot of fun today!

Here’s the URL of the map of the front mountain:

http://www.stevenspass.com/Stevens/SiteAssets/files/main/Stevens-Mountain-Map-2012-2013front.pdf

Terrain Park on Promenade

            Today I enjoyed the Terrain Park on Promenade. The terrain park is relatively small, but the jumps are wild and who’s complaining? There are two trails – the right and the left. The first jump on the left is okay, because there isn’t much speed to go flying. You ski down the hill, either skating or pushing with your poles, and jump off. Then the second jump appears. The second jump in the path is approaching, and you ski up the jump. At the top, you give a small hop to enhance the flying experience. The third jump is excessively steep. This jump is the best of the three. Perfectly wild, and you land with a lot of speed, which gets you past the long climb. The trail on the right includes other stunt materials – metal pipes, boxes, grinds, and one jump at the end. That path is okay, but the left path is definitely a lot better. To sum up, my first time in a terrain park went pretty well!

Here’s a map:

http://www.stevenspass.com/Stevens/SiteAssets/files/main/Stevens-Mountain-Map-2012-2013front.pdf