eugene@ames.UUCP (Eugene Miya) (12/24/84)
12/22: Mammoth Mtn., CA
Temps: Low 6 deg. F, Highs in upper 30s. Clear and sunny.
3-4 foot base on packed runs, much less in trees [wrecked my skis for good].
Surprisingly, no major crowds. It was possible to ski lifts [22, 9, others]
without lines. X-C wax was probably hard blue with a tiny bit of green
on gliding surfaces. Snow was surpisingly dry atfer two days of sun.
There was a minimal wind crust on ridges.
12/23: Heavenly Valley, Nevada side
Temps: Low 7 deg. F, Highs in upper 30s. Clear and sunny.
3 foot base, some exposed rocks on lower runs.
Worse waits: 5 minutes, again, some lifts had no lines, and surpisingly
short lines on other lifts. Snow was dry and relatively light. A local
reported waist deep powder on the preceding Monday. If you were X-C, it
would have been a blue stick day. Termperatures and pressures were rising
as we were leaving, hope it doesn't cause too much melt.
Driving: severe fog conditions in the areas around Mono and Topaz Lakes.
The fogs are causing icing on the roads in addition to obsurcing visibility.
Some major (but driveable) fog conditions in the Central Valley [worse
at the 1K-2K foot levels in some cases].
Is there anybody in Europe who can report conditions in the Alps?
Does anybody know of any firm who makes custom downhill ski boots? My
calves have problems with commerically produced ski boots.
To the person in the South who felt strongly about our postings: it is
possible to get jobs in the West to get paid to ski (a means of transport).
Some people are glaciologists, others are hydrologists [the snow pack holds
more water than any man-maded dam could possibility hold], not to forget
all those resort jobs [can you imagine being a programmer in Yosemite
Valley? must know IBMs and COBOL]. It's not hard. Just contact places like
the USGS, USFS, Pacific Gas and Electric, the LA Dept. of Water and Power,
and so on. There is nothing like carrying electronic gear on your back
[don't fall] while skiing or shooting laser beams [for ranging] on the
side of Mt. St. Helens [I won't ever forget carrying some dense 15 lb.
dead batteries down the talus]. It is fun while being useful at the same
time. I don't do this as much these days, but my old friends occasionally
ask me to "hump" loads in Alaska, Greenland, and China [during my vacations].
Anybody for some skiing before, during, and after Usenix in Portland on
Mt. Hood?
--eugene miya
NASA Ames Research Center
{hplabs,ihnp4,dual,hao,vortex}!ames!aurora!eugene
emiya@ames-vmsb.ARPA