Tales from the Hinterland - winter of 2011/2012 edition

Sick Bird Rider wrote

Telemark Dave wrote

....or is that a retorical statement. (please use retorical font in the future please.)

T.D.

Actually, it was a rhetorical statement...

I imagine the rhetorical font to be Olde English or something.

<
You beat me too it, doh!
Sorry, my brain is obviously frozen from excess pow...

TD

The Hinterlandian snow-depth-o-meter may have reached its zenith for this season. Gully-washer in the forecast for tonight, followed by a freeze, then a low-grade blowtorch next week. My maple syrup making buddies are stoked, me not so much.

A record for posterity, taken this morning at SBRHQ:

Yup.

Soon all the snow will turn to this. Real soon, given the forecast...


Warming trend brought to you by all the buffalo methane...
...ouch!

^^ That's the Hog's Trough on the mighty Ox-ton-goo River, deep in the heart of the Hinterlandian jungle. Good chance the paddlers are from Rochester or Buffalo, since it is a Camp Pathfinder film.

Yes, yes, spring conditions around the corner. Let's keep our fingers crossed for a late March snowstorm like the one in 2008.

Pipeline, Hinterland, March 25, 2008

I bet we'll get one more late season snow storm.

Then again, I am kinda looking forward to paddling season. Tax return money should be going to a new boat. Or my gas tank....

MASSIVE GULLYWASHER LEAVES HINTERLANDIAN SKIERS HOPELESS AND DEJECTED!

Hinterland News Agency: Torrential rains overnight have transformed the snowy forests of Upper Hinterlandia into a dreary, soggy, icy wasteland. Intrepid blogger and snow observer, Sick Bird Rider, was reached this morning at his isolated outpost: "This is incredible. Old Man Winter has not only left the building, he has committed Hari-Kari!"

Many Hinterlanders were anticipating the upcoming school break eagerly, knowing that the massive snow pack would yield excellent snow-sliding potential. Not anymore. The best they can hope for is quick freeze-up, which will at least make hiking on the frozen crust a possibility and hopefully provide a firm base for spring skiing.

Well known member of the Jonny Jay Ski Club, Pudd, gave this comment on the snow-less winter in the southern Hinterlands: "Skiing aside, I have not been snowshoeing, I used my snowblower twice and I have not had the 10pm scotch walk in a blizzard with the pooch. I am not happy."

Telemark Dave could not be reached for comment. He was last seen strapping down a paddleboard to the roof of his car, muttering to himself, "I am SUPah Dave, SUPah Dave, yes, yes..."

What a difference a day makes! The Snow-depth-o-meter has bottomed out.


A Class 3 roofalanche landed out on the glacier, err, I mean driveway.


This roof is ready to slide anytime. Look out below!


Many Hinterlandians were forced to leave their winter homes and move to higher ground:

ARRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHH....

This is the landing going downstairs to my basement....a very typical winter scenario in my house...everyone skis, and the landing is the depository of gear going in and out of the house on a daily basis.



SBR's little tongue in cheek comment about me loading my SUP boards onto my car got me thinking.....

There.  Fixed it.



BTW, That's a Zaveral paddle from Mt Upton, N.Y. (This is a New York forum, yes?)

T.D. considering re-registering my forum name to SUPahD.

Sick Bird Rider wrote

FWIW, if you see this on Friday, Feb 24, during the day, check out the live feed of high school students skate skiing through the streets of Huntsville, Hinterlandia:
http://tldsb.ca/staff/tldsb-tv/?layout=item

Ok, a little late, but being somewhat psychic, and knowing we were going to lose most of our snow, I had to ski while I could. Now is an excellent time to post a late report on the above extremely cool event. The 2012 Ontario Federation of Schools Athletic Association Nordic Championships (OFSAA) that was held a week ago here in Huntsville. The Distance races (all High School nordic racing is skate technique) were held just outside of town at Arrowhead Provincial Park.  The following day were the team relay sprints.....in downtown Huntsville!

The preparation started the previous afternoon.


Throughout the evening, hundreds of dumptruck loads of stockpiled snow was transferred on to
the streets and groomed into a ski race track.


The next day the races began in the park just behind Main Street..


The racers turn the first corner.


They skied up the Main Street to a hairpin turnaround and back down.
My younger son is hanging on to 6th place in the Jr Boys final.


My older son, pushing hard in the Sr Boys final  to a third place team finish.


A happy team pic. Our town's High School team won 5 out of 8 banners this year.


The awards ceremony was on the Town Hall steps...it was really dumping by this point..


After the awards, the groomers went back at it, preparing the streets/ski trails for an evening
of public skiing!  That night, the whole process was reversed, and all the snow removed.
The mayor commented that one of his election promises had been better snow removal, and here
he was committing town equipment to putting snow back onto the streets...!


Hope you enjoyed the race.

T.D.

Excellent reportage TD, and a nice antidote to my anti-stoke!

I must admit that I was one of the skeptics when it was first announced that the streets would be paved with snow for the ski race. In the end, the was a fantastic event and a great model for any small town to generate some winter excitement.

While the dog seemed content with cleansing himself, in that way that dogs do, I took the time to write a TR on yesterday morning's escapade.



http://forum.nyskiblog.com/TR-Hinterlandian-BC-3-10-12-A-short-tour-yields-an-epiphany-tp3816170p3816170.html

Golf season? Are you kidding? We went skiing. Check out the full report here.