DRAG MODE AT ALTURAS SKI AREA

DRAG MODE AT ALTURAS SKI AREA

On Tuesday, Timinius groomed Wapiti, Sheep Thrills and the Connector at the Alturas Lake ski area before leaving the state for a week to water his moss gardens in the deep dark woods of Oregon. His replacement, Davinius, accepted the challenge to carry on in his absence, grooming the super fast frozen sun glazed ski trails at Alturas, and he decided to go into drag mode, not to be confused with Stanley Winter Fest drag mode, where this weekend, local cabin fever crazed cowboys dress up like Dale Evans and push outhouses down Ace of Diamond street in a bizarre alcohol fueled ritual. No, Davinius took out his new compaction drag from Yellowstone Track Systems, purchased with the help of a grant from the Sawtooth Society to rough up the shiny slick trails. On Thursday he hit the Trail to the Lake, Over the Hill and South Loop with impressive results. With additional dragging before the weekend influx of dirt farmers from the snow barren Wood River Valley, Davinius expects the trails to be in excellent shape. To paraphrase Ray Davies, “Girls will be boys and boys will be girls, It’s a mixed up muddled up shook up world except for Davinius, Da-da-da-da Davinius, La-la-la-la-la-la”

SKIER IRRUPTION AT ALTURAS

SKIER IRRUPTION AT ALTURAS

The word “irruption” from the Latin “irrumpere” means to break in or enter forcibly or suddenly. For example, one might say that absurdities continually irrupt into the Alturas Lake ski report. It can also refer to the migration into an area by birds or animals in unusually large numbers. For example, on occasion, there may be an irruption of  Hawk Owls from the realm of the Northern Lights into the mountains of central Idaho or on presidents’ day weekend we sometimes see an almost Malthusian irruption of human skiers and general partygoers into the Sawtooth Valley . Don’t miss out on the fun under the sun at the Alturas Lake ski area where, on Saturday, the Trail to Lake, Over the Hill, Sheep Thrills and South Loop were groomed  for skate and classic skiers.

VALENTINE SKIING LOVELY

VALENTINE SKIING LOVELY

On Saturday, the feast day of St. Valentine, patron saint of love, skiing should be pretty good at the Alturas Lake ski trails. On Thursday, Timinius, also known as the corduroy cowboy, groomed North Cabin and Sheep Thrills trails, having groomed everything else the day before. On Friday, Divinius and the pretty girl from the village repaired sun damage to the melting snowpack on the bridge crossing Alturas Lake Creek, hauling and packing 40 toboggan loads of snow to fill in the bare sun baked south side. It was a task celebrating not only their dedication to the ski trails, but also their love for one another. Divinius remembered the words of Victor Hugo from Les Miserables… “How did it happen that their lips came together?  How does it happen that birds sing, that snow melts, that the rose unfolds, that the dawn whitens behind the stark shapes of trees on the quivering summit of the hill? A kiss, and all was said.”  

 

E-MAILS FROM THE SKI TRAILS

E-MAILS FROM THE SKI TRAILS

Attachment: An Internal memo, way beyond compare

Subject: I SAW her standing there…

Howdy Davinius,
I am not sure if that is my favorite Beatle tune or not, but it was the theme of the day on the trails of the Sawtooth Alturas zone.  Lovely day if you don’t mind sawin’. Four trees down.  I laid it down nice on the trail to the lake, OTH, S looper, and Doo- Wapati.  Classic on all but Wap.  No sign of the Blackbirds  (Now there’s a great Beatle tune.)  Going out tomorrow for the Sheep and N Cab.  Nice conditions for skiing.  Hopefully, it stays cold.
Talk soon,
Timinius.

Waiting for some cold

Waiting for some cold

On Sunday morning, the rain soaked snow pack at the Alturas Lake ski area had a chance to freeze and set up a bit. However it was not frozen enough to support the snowmobile and ginzu groomer, with the snowmobile repeatedly punching through the fragile crust. After a try at grooming the Trail to the Lake as far as the bridge junction, Over the Hill and some of South Loop, all efforts were called off, since doing anything to the trails seemed to end up worse than doing nothing at all. His work all for naught and his pride defeated, our broken groomer Davinius who had thought himself smart enough to outwit the melting snow, returned to his dripping ice cave to meditate on the virtue of humility and the words of his hero Galileo who had died on this very date in 1642. Could it really be true that Galileo had “never met a man so ignorant that he couldn’t learn something from him”? Divinius decided he should keep that in mind. And as for that sun melting the snowpack, Galileo had summed it up well when he said that “The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.” Hmmmmm….