On 2004-02-12, bdubya penned:

Sorry bout the double-post...I'll atone by explaining that the Whippet
being referred to here is a handgrip for backcountry ski poles, that
has a "self arrest" thang on it, sort of like an ice axe, that can be
used to stop oneself from sliding down an icy face to certain injury
or worse.

Ah!

That sounds kinda useful, even in non-back country situations. I
remember this black groomer at Solitude where I fell ... and kept
falling ... and tried to dig in with my pole ... and kept falling ...
and lost my poles ...

Ah, glorious yardsale!

And congrats on main street - that's an honest double black that I
found rather humbling, personally.

Well, we purposely chose a (rare) sunny day, so the snow was fairly nice
and the visibility was great. I'm sure it would have been a lot scarier
in icy or (more common) shady conditions.

--
monique