Late bloomers, undergarments and free lift tickets

How's that for a headline? :D

I never skied as a child. I hated the winter. Considering I grew up and went to college right in the snow belt of upstate New York, that’s surprising to many.

After college I moved to Vermont. Go figure. Another cold climate. Anyway, about 5+ years ago I applied for a job at a ski resort. I almost didn’t get the job, not because I wasn’t qualified, but because I wasn’t an “intermediate” skier. Psh. Give me a pair of skis, I WILL learn to ski. Translation: are you challenging me?


I remember my first group lesson, which must have been in the early winter of 04’ – renting skis, buying snowpants for the first time in 15+ years. I think back to that day and remember how intimidated I was. Learning to ski in my 30’s. Was I crazy?

Fast forward 5 seasons, three Women’s Alpine Adventure programs, and about 40-50 days on snow each winter and I am a newfound snow sports enthusiast. I find myself wishing for snow in July#$#?!. How is that for crazy?



Don’t get me wrong, I’m still by no means an expert skier. I just love to ski! There is something about the cold crisp air, the inspiring mountain scenery, and good times with friends and family that can wipe the stress away in one short run. And fitness? Man, skiing keeps your legs in some pretty fantastic shape!

I’ll never forget the last day of the 08/09 season. It was a Sunday – I was here chaperoning a school trip with my son and his friends. A group of 9 & 10 year olds are tough to keep up with – especially by this point in the season when they are feeling pretty darn confident in themselves. Anyway, during that last week a tree had managed to accumulate some undergarments down near the base off the mountain. Well, you can imagine those made quite an impression on these young boys. Underwear? Nothing funnier.

The last few rides past that tree found ski poles “fishing” for a catch. We must have made three laps hoping something would bite. Well, they finally managed to jar one of the garments loose, falling to the ground right on the trail below. You can imagine how fast we skied down to see if it was still there.

One of the boys skied to the side of the trail, immediately clicked out of his skis and attempted to climb up the short lip of snow to retrieve the lost garment. As this was happening, people on the chair above us saw what was happening and began hootin’ and hollerin’ for him, urging him onto his goal. It became quite a show as he scooped it up, attached it to the back of his helmet in the google snap, and skied down the rest of the mountain pumping his arms as if he’d won the lottery.

We laughed for the next hour. It made for quite a good story to tell the girls on the bus ride home.

Do you have a favorite story from last season? Share your story by commenting below. If we get 40 comments with stories by Sept 1 I’ll pick two lucky winners for some free lift tickets.

Okemo Mountain Resort opens new 9-hole course

On July 27th, 2009 Okemo Mountain Resort added 9-holes of championship golf to the activities at Jackson Gore. With the completion of this new course Okemo now boasts 45 holes of golf at 3 separate courses. Yes, Tater Hill offers 18 holes of Vermont beauty, including the challenging 15th dog-leg hole (I say go for it every time, the 15th is no place to play it safe). Yes, Okemo Valley Golf Club offers a Heathland-style course unlike any other resort course in New England. However, I'm writing today to talk about Okemo's newest addition The Maples. Designed by resident expert Adam Ford and Spring House Mogul K.C. Gandee, with help from Okemo's own mountain operations crew, The Maples offers an educational twist at every tee box. As you work your way around this par-3 course you'll learn about the maple sugaring process that has put Vermont on the map for years.

Here's the catch. Leave your clubs at home, put on your Birkenstock footwear, grow your hair out a little bit, splash some patchouli on, enjoy a Bob Marley tune on your way to the course, and reminisce about the best Phish show you ever saw as you work your way to the start of your DISC GOLF EXPERIENCE.

Your golf game starts at The Spring House where you can pick up a score sheet, greens fees, and rentals for a recession-friendly price of only $5. If you brought your own the price is only $2 for the greens fee! Head out through the courtyard at Jackson Gore to the first tee, located just off the Coleman Brook Express lift. The course will take you up the hill, across the field that is "Inn Bound" in the winter time, and across Coleman Brook on the 8th before ending up by the Snow Stars learning area for the 9th 'hole'.

A few words of wisdom from someone who has had the opportunity to play:
Shorts - good
Shoes - necessary (okay, you can still wear sandals or flip flops, but you might end up in the brush looking for your disc)
Tie-dye shirts - not necessary, but really adds to the experience
Discs - rentals include "The Panther" a long range driver, "The Shark" a mid range disc, and "The Aviar" for your putting and approach shots.

Holes 1 & 2 - do yourself a favor and play to the far right. This will keep you out of the brush (maybe)

Hole 8 - This is where I laid up and played across the bridge instead of through the trees and over the river (sounds like the way to grandma's house). I would suggest this technique for you and your golf buddies. If your buddy (K.C. Gandee) decides to play over the river, make him look for his own disc. Don't help. You're playing against Par, but you're also playing against your teammate.

One more thing. When course designer K.C. Gandee teed off on hole one he looked like this:









But by the time he got through the 8th hole he more closely resembled this:















Disc Golf will change you!

All joking aside, Disc Golf is fun for the whole family. It took us just under an hour to clear 9 holes, and that included a little search and rescue for some 'misplaced' discs (see the note above about holes 1 and 2). We had a great time testing the course and I'm sure I'll be out trying to improve my score sometime next week!

News from The Hill

Last Monday, Garry Vansiclen, Tony Schwartz, Dave Surette and I attended the Pro-Senior Championship at Basin Harbour. As with most Pro-Am’s that we play in, I always think about the great chances we have on winning! This time is no different. With Garry and Tony “trending” to a low handicap and Surette (well with Dave being the SUPER STAR that he is!) this was our big chance.
As we started our long journey, it was ugly!!! Scrambling to make pars, bogying holes… Nothing was happening! After nine holes, Dave comes up with this grand idea to play for a beer. We begin our, now relaxed journey, with Garry and Dave paring with strokes, I birdie the next hole with Dave paring for a net birdie. The next hole we have pars from Tony and Dave that give us 2 net birdies. After two (basic par holes, ho hum!) Tony throws in a snake birdie for a Net 1! Garry proceeds to birdie a par 5 for a net eagle. The next hole is much the same with Tony and Dave making pars for net birdies. On our last hole,(and at this time, Tony and I are up 1 on the beer bet) dave pelts a 7 iron from 150 yards out to about 2 feet for a birdie / net eagle. So overall, we tie for the beer bet and shake hands and head into the club house. As we go into the clubhouse to pass in our card, I see that our score seems to be 3 shots ahead of the nearest competitive team?
As the BBQ was served, and all the cards were signed and passed in, TATER HILL was announced Pro – Sr Net Champions for 2009. Dave had 2 skins that totaled $110.00. Garry’s Eagle held up for a skin that gave him $45.00 and Tony’s Eagle “1” gave him $45.00. The Team Prize gave us all $118.00 each.
After it was said and done, we shot a 2 ball best ball 70 on our first nine and and 58 on the 2nd. It is fun to play with all cylinders firing. And more enjoyable to see 4 men playing a game and making a bad situation GREAT! PRO-SR STATE CHAMPIONS…… That has a great ring to it! And best of all was the beer toast at the end of the day that we all paid for individuallyJ

Jp

Paradise Found!

By a mere chance of fate I found myself at the Comcast Center in Mansfield, Ma on Saturday evening at 7:05 pm. I could not have imagined being in the presence of such greatness even 24 hours before. Yes, I am speaking of the inspiration for Okemo's own Parrothead Party (Oct. 10), Mr. Jimmy Buffet.

A close friend found me after the Friday night VSO performance and told that he had just been given four tickets to see Buffet - and did I know of anyone who might be interested in going at such short notice. So, being the good friend that I am, I offered to make the drive with him to Greatwoods and experience Jimmy live.

As much as I love winter, Jimmy Buffet reminds us that summer is a state of mind. We tailgated, caught up with old friends and made new friends. And I'll admit, I tried Land Shark Lager and enjoyed it. I've also learned that we have it on tap at the Friday night concerts at Okemo. (yeah, yeah, shameless plug - I know.)

And I learned something on Saturday, young Jimmy Buffet fans (as in little kids) or children of Parrotheads are know as Parakeets. Too cute. See you in Vermont's Paradise on October 10th. Bring your fin!

I'll be livin' on pastries, lobsters and love all summer long.

..or perhaps a cheeseburger and a cold draft beer.

Parrothead Paradise

On my drive to work today I was glad to see this ever changing sign now reading "Parrothead Paradise". It prompted me to think about all the great activities going on at Okemo this year including the 3rd annual Parrothead Party on October 10th. We welcome back Changes in Latitudes to put you in a beach mood one last time before winter, and this year to get the party started we'll have the high energy reggae funk band Spiritual Rez opening for CIL.

You don't have to wait for October to enjoy summer and great music though. The Jackson Gore Music Series is in full swing. Tomorrow (June 26th) we host The Vermont Symphony Orchestra in their annual summer tour. Tickets are on sale at Coleman Brook Tavern, online at okemo.com, or at the gate. It's sure to be a great evening ending with a fantastic fireworks display!

July 3rd we welcome back local band Twiddle as the free Friday night series continues. Each Friday the Coleman Brook Tavern BBQ is cooking up the best ribs, chicken, and burgers around, and we have cold beer on tap from Bud Light as well as local favorites in bottles.

Speaking of the best brews, on August 8th Okemo will hold the first annual Hops in the Hills beer festival. We'll welcome local and regional brews by Harpoon, Long Trail, Magic Hat, Otter Creek, Sam Adams, and many others. The afternoon kicks off at 1pm, just about the time you'll be getting back from the Heart of the Valley bike ride, with a BBQ and great blues music from The Chris Kleeman Band and Nobby Reed.

That's the 411 from the events department. Summer is here (temps in the 80's today!) and we're ready to have some fun.

Only in Vermont

For those of you who picture Vermont as the quintessential place to be, to get away from the daily rat race of life, then this is for you. As I drove to the mountain this morning, and turned up the Mountain Road toward the clock tower base area, I drove past a maple syrup sap bucket top. Yup, the top of one of those buckets you see stuck to the side of a Maple tree in early Spring. It's that piece that looks like a little a-frame house perched on top of the bucket.

In other places I've lived, I would likely drive by the mysterious "single sneaker", or other unique things like muffler parts, road kill, etc. Only in Vermont can you drive by sap bucket parts on the side of the road. And the odd thing is.....it's almost July. We don't tap trees this late in the year.

It just reminds me of what a wonderful place Vermont is. (yeah, I know...I left it dangling). The range of tradition and technology in this state is pretty dramatic. I'm writing this down in a blog, which sends out across the Internet and I just passed by a symbol of tradition which is hundreds of years old. That's pretty cool.

Today's Suggestion: Remember to look around you even on your way to work

Have a good day!

Hey kids, how about some golf?

My dad was an avid golfer and my mom referred to herself as a golf widow. The shelves of our den were lined with Dad's trophies and tournament loving cups. Mom especially liked it when Dad brought home a new electric percolator or frying pan - what can I say? It was the '60s.

Dad turned our suburban backyard into a pitch-and-putt course for a few years. He planted some tin cans and even crafted pins. With such a passion for the sport, it was surprising to see his reaction when one of his golf buddies gave me a set of clubs for my eighth birthday. They were miniature clubs in a pint-sized bag that his daughter had long outgrown. My dad wasn't particularly thrilled by this kind gesture. He showed me how to hold the clubs and sent me off into the backyard to whack some colorful plastic balls around. I imagine he felt that I was dangerously close to infringing on the one thing where he found escape from his Leave-it-to-Beaver homelife. And I was somehow cognicent of that - even then.

Ironically, it wasn't until after my dad passed away and I claimed his clubs, that I took up the game of golf. I've been at it for a few years now and I can't help wonder how different things would be if I had showed a real interest back then. Here's a little encouragement to all you youngsters out there ...

Okemo Valley Golf Club is an ideal facility for introducing youngsters to the game of golf. Starting June 27, OVGC will host a series of junior clinics, from 2:30 to 4 p.m., every Saturday afternoon through August 1. The fee is $20 per clinic or $100 for all six. For more advanced young golfers, OVGC offers a Junior Golf Camp July 7-10. Instruction will run from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. each day. The fee is $350.

To reserve a spot in the camp or in one of the clinics, call (802) 228-1396. Cheers!