June Mt. Report

The weather broke last night so I was able to get over Deadman Summit
(unfortunate name for winter travelers) on 395 to June. The streets
in Mammoth Lakes were hard-packed ice, but the only trouble I had was
at the downhill stop sign where I lost steerage for a second. The
blacktop was clear by the time I got to 395, and there was only spotty
ice on the road from there. The main drag of June Lake was bare as
well - just a little ice in the June Mt. parking lot that mostly
disappeared by late afternoon.

The weather was pure bluebird - no clouds, no wind. Unfortunately, it
appears that June only got a dusting of what hit Mammoth (I heard the
avalanche charges going off while I was loading the truck this
morning). Most of the runs were groomed to perfection, so I practiced
a few Ishie turns, holding my poles in the middle and waving my arms.
It didn't seem like anybody got the joke.

The areas left ungroomed were crap - frozen bumps with windslab in the
bottoms and some loose powder of unpredictable depth blown around last
night. This is the kind of condition that I think gets better as
skiers chop it up into a consistent surface, but I seemed to be the
only person using one of those trails. As it turned out, I skied most
of the mountain, and worked myself into today's affliction - shin
blisters - since most of the runs were undelayed by lift lines except
for one instance where four boarders were standing in the lift
entrance debating whether they should smoke a joint or go to the top
and smoke a joint.

June is celebrating its 50th anniversay this year, and they have a
nice little brochure listing the various highlights. There is nothing
in there, however, about the Yan glass box failure. They have taken
out all the towers, but the loading platforms still exist top and
bottom like some sort of high-tech cargo cult airport.

Minor stress this morning - Mammoth and June don't take Discover, my
Visa is at its limit from Christmas and ski trips, and June's register
wouldn't recognize my ATM card, so they just about sucked my money
roll dry. Later I found relatively cheap gas and and a friendly ATM
in Bishop, so now everything is happy happy smile smile.

I am doing something smart I have never done before - spending a night
in Biship before heading home tomorrow. That meant I could ski right
up until the cold shadows set in this afternoon without worrying about
getting fatigued driving home all night. My motel is next door to a
sushi restaurant and diagonally across the street from a KFC, so I am
happily fed and heading now to bed.

On Jan 12, 10:53*pm, Richard Henry wrote:
The weather broke last night so I was able to get over Deadman Summit
(unfortunate name for winter travelers) on 395 to June. *The streets
in Mammoth Lakes were hard-packed ice, but the only trouble I had was
at the downhill stop sign where I lost steerage for a second. *The
blacktop was clear by the time I got to 395, and there was only spotty
ice on the road from there. *The main drag of June Lake was bare as
well - just a little ice in the June Mt. parking lot that mostly
disappeared by late afternoon.

The weather was pure bluebird - no clouds, no wind. *Unfortunately, it
appears that June only got a dusting of what hit Mammoth (I heard the
avalanche charges going off while I was loading the truck this
morning). *Most of the runs were groomed to perfection, so I practiced
a few Ishie turns, holding my poles in the middle and waving my arms.
It didn't seem like anybody got the joke.

The areas left ungroomed were crap - frozen bumps with windslab in the
bottoms and some loose powder of unpredictable depth blown around last
night. *This is the kind of condition that I think gets better as
skiers chop it up into a consistent surface, but I seemed to be the
only person using one of those trails. *As it turned out, I skied most
of the mountain, and worked myself into today's affliction - shin
blisters - since most of the runs were undelayed by lift lines except
for one instance where four boarders were standing in the lift
entrance debating whether they should smoke a joint or go to the top
and smoke a joint.

June is celebrating its 50th anniversay this year, and they have a
nice little brochure listing the various highlights. *There is nothing
in there, however, about the Yan glass box failure. *They have taken
out all the towers, but the loading platforms still exist top and
bottom like some sort of high-tech cargo cult airport.

Minor stress this morning - Mammoth and June don't take Discover, my
Visa is at its limit from Christmas and ski trips, and June's register
wouldn't recognize my ATM card, so they just about sucked my money
roll dry. * Later I found relatively cheap gas and and a friendly ATM
in Bishop, so now everything is happy happy smile smile.

I am doing something smart I have never done before - spending a night
in Biship before heading home tomorrow. *That meant I could ski right
up until the cold shadows set in this afternoon without worrying about
getting fatigued driving home all night. *My motel is next door to a
sushi restaurant and diagonally across the street from a KFC, so I am
happily fed and heading now to bed.

How about coming to Utah, ppppppuuuuussssssyyyyy? Oh, yeah, you're on
an EMERGENCY SKI TRIP to go with your buddy Diaper Bob's EMERGENCY
GOLF TRIP.
Amazing how you freaks disappear at the mere thought of meeting me in
person, ain't it? How embarassing it is to be you.