Skiing (Mis)adventure

Mary and I agreed to meet up for a ski at Jackson today. I was surprised to find it was snowing steadily for my entire drive over to North Conway, bad driving but great skiing conditions! When we arrived at the ski touring center, I went in to renew my annual membership. This took a very long time because there were people ahead of me who wanted a blow by blow description of each and every kilometer of skiing.



Eventually I had my pass and ran back out expecting to find Mary itching to get out on the trail. But instead she was headed in, she had left her ski poles in the lodge last time she skied and they supposedly had them down in the rental center. She went down and told the guy that he had her poles. He pointed to a stack of about 100 odds and ends ski poles and said they were in that pile. Mary sifted through for quite a while and eventually found a matching pair, but they weren't hers. Finally she gave up and said, "I've got extras in the car." We went back out and she dug out her extras. They barely came up to her waste, they had no straps, and the baskets were broken. There was a spiderman sticker on one of them. "These might belong to one of my kids, " she admitted after looking them over, "but they'll work."

Next she asked to borrow my glide wax. The sponge that dispenses the wax was frozen to the cover and it took quite a while of under the arm time for it to thaw enough to use. At last we were all geared up and ready to go! Then I looked down and realized I still had my daughters fuzzy warm knee high boots on. After searching through Mary's car, I had to admit that I had forgotten my ski boots. We tromped back into the lodge and downstairs to the rental desk. The guy just looked at us, he was still skeptical about our sanity from Mary's ski pole shenanigans. "I forgot my boots, can I rent some?" I asked. He just shook his head and said in a monotone, "forgot your boots." Well, after forfeiting nine dollars and my daughter's boots (for collateral) we were off!



We skied 20 kilometers over some of the best conditions I have seen in a long time. The base is awesome and the new snow from yesterday and today was groomed beautifully. The trail and the river were breathtaking with the fresh snow. We chatted away, but worked hard. We ski classical, but I tried a few kilometers of skate skiing (on my classical skis) just to make sure I remembered how.

After a wonderful time out in the woods, we returned to the parking lot, only to discover that Mary's car battery was dead. I went into the lodge to return the rented boots and to ask for a boost. I found no takers on the boost. The rental guy and the lady at the ticket desk both claimed they couldn't leave the lodge. Outside I chased down three skiers who were just getting into their car to head home. They were probably about 60ish and I could tell by the way that they were walking on the snowy asphalt and the way they were fussing to each other to be careful, that they were the "cautious type" of people that drive me nuts. The owner of the car informed me that giving another car a jump from his battery is a sure way for him to blow his car up. If he was lucky enough not to blow the thing up, it would definitely fry his entire electric circuitry. "So no, little lady, I most certainly will not be giving you and your friend a jump from my battery." They all scurried into the car, slammed the doors, and drove away as quick as they could.

Not to worry, Mary was on the phone with her ex-husband. At first he said no, he wouldn't help (there is a reason he is an EX husband) but then Mary told him I was there with her. He has been shamelessly flirting with me for the past 20 years or so. He agreed to come and was there in a few minutes. The tension between Mary and the ex was so thick, I wouldn't have been surprised if his car blew up or his electric circuitry got fried just from the bad vibes in the air. Anyway, we got Mary's car started and hopped in. But before I could close my door the ex asked me, "when's dinner?" Mary muttered to me "oh yeah, I promised him you'd take him to dinner if he came to help." and then said out loud to him, "I meant me AND Laurel were going to take you to dinner." To which he replied, "never mind then." So we headed home. All in all, another great misadventure with my friend Mary.