by DK | Feb 23, 2015 | .
On Sunday, February 22nd, all of the skate lanes at the Alturas Lake Ski area were groomed except for on North Cabin which was hit on Friday. With an intense drag and ginzu treatment, the old snow on the hard trails was softened enough to please even the most finicky nordic enthusiast. Although cold, the sun was shining with all its might and skiers reported having an excellent time. The aging classic tracks haven’t had an upgrade in a week but were still holding up and providing good and fast double groove transport. The lake reacted to the beaming sun and generally good vibes and was booming with low frequency bass notes to the delight of all. With only 13 days left until the start of the 13th annual Sawtooth Ski Festival, anticipation and excitement is snowballing in the local skiing community. Along with the shriek of the osprey and the chatter of squirrels, the mantra “lucky thirteen, lucky thirteen, lucky thirteen” can already be heard echoing through the sylvan hills.
by DK | Feb 21, 2015 | .
On Friday, the 20th of February, Davinius “drug the drag” at the Alturas Lake ski trails, flattening and fluffing up North Cabin, Sheep Thrills, and parts of the Trail to the Lake and South Loop. He did not touch the existing classic tracks since they were firmly embedded in the crystaline snowpack and would not yield to his plowing. Skiing conditions were judged to be quite good. He then retreated to his warm but melting snow cave to contemplate the eremitic life, the 20th of February being the feast day of the famous English hermit Wulfric. Looking about his humble abode, he remembered the poem of Thomas Parnell from 1714…
Far in a Wild, unknown to publick View,
From Youth to Age a rev’rend Hermit grew;
The Moss his Bed, the Cave his humble Cell,
His Food the Fruits, his Drink the chrystal Well
As a drop of ice water hit his balding head, Davinius decided that Matthew was right when he said that, “the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” With that, he returned to what he considered his real work, that of realizing the supremacy of the heart in the human being, the work of restoring the reign of the heart, the hermit’s salvation. He smiled as another drop of water ran down his furrowed brow.
by DK | Feb 19, 2015 | .
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”
by DK | Feb 15, 2015 | .
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.
by DK | Feb 14, 2015 | .
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.”
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