A few hours at the corduroy mill...

Tonight was my first time inside a ski groomer and for several hours we prepared and pampered Nabob, one of Deer Valley's most popular ski run. Unlike most other trails around Bald Mountain, Nabob offer a varied, rolling terrain and allows for pretty high speed when it's clear of people.

For me it was a chance to chat at length (two and a half hour non-stop), shoot a video and learn about the art of making corduroy and giving average skiers the illusion that they literally are on top of the world and are skiing like snow-gods.

This said, accomplishing the craft these guys and girls are capable of isn't for sissies; first you must work at night, both swing and graveyard shift and like anything else, expertise come from practice except that there are only 22 weeks in a year to accumulate the required experience.

So, instead of just three or four years, it's more like ten year that are required for one to becomes really good at driving these $250,000 a piece vehicles and leaving behind that seamless ribbon of white corduroy!