The best year of my life

As the year comes to an end, it makes some sense to go back into our memories and attempt to select the year that seemed to be the very best in our entire existence. The exercise is worth the effort and like any matter of choice, is never quite easy.

Lives are all different and depending on the intensity of some events (or lack thereof) and the amplitude of ups-and-downs between years, the final selection can be daunting and may leave us totally puzzled and unable of choosing one year over so many.

For me, and without getting into excessive “soul-searching,” the year that ends today - that's right, 2012 - seems to stand right at the top of the heap and I feel good, grateful and happy about it.

Happy New Year to all!

Holiday Family Traditions

As we're originally from France, our Family Holiday Celebrations differ in some subtle ways with mainstream American traditions. Yet over the years, we have weaved them into the local practice and today we have something quite unique, very healthy and fun at the same time.

Typically, French folks are more New-Year-centric than Christmas-oriented and New-Year celebrations are a much bigger deal; as an example Happy New Year Wishes can last the whole month of January. With these observations in mind, I will attempt to explain how the Holiday Season typically unfold for us. Because of my upbringing, my entire career and my playful retirement years, skiing occupies the centerpiece of our Holiday Season.

Even though we can ski all winter long, we make sure to come out and mark this celebratory period by leaving our own ski imprints on the local slopes; some might call them “garlands” but they are tracks nonetheless! Until this year, our daughter Charlotte who lived in California for many years and a ninety minute flight away, was in the midst of this joyful period; this year however, after accepting a new position in our Nation's Capital only a few weeks ago, she had not accrued enough vacation time to make a visit all the way to Utah worth her while. This will have to wait until next year.

Our son Thomas, his wife Juliette and our grandson Finn were present the Sunday before Christmas to mark their returns on the skis and to the slopes. The day, as it often does, was marked by a wonderful Raclette meal. We do Raclette, because it is an hearty meal that is perfect in winter and our son as well as his wife are vegetarians. There, I will have to digress, however and explain once and for all what that delicious food is all about...

In fact, that alpine dish was already mentioned in some medieval writings as a particularly nutritious food consumed by peasants in the mountains of the French-speaking area of Switzerland's Valais canton and of on the other side of the Alpine divide, the Savoy region where I hail from. The name itself comes from the French verb “racler” which mean “to scrape.” In that case, it is cheese that is been scraped from the open surface of an eighteen-inch half-wheel of Raclette cheese, which open surface is heated until it melts into some divine taste.

You can now understand why most of our family entertainment revolves around a wheel of Raclette cheese. This of course leads us to Christmas Eve, that takes us to the Salt Lake Valley were a wonderful dinner and present unwrapping takes place and all the event revolves around our four-year old grandson Finn. The excitement is palpable and the spurs of joy endless as the many presents get unwrapped... This year, a perfectly timed snow storm made for driving down to the Valley a bit more interesting and kept me well-focused on the road.

I must confess that my wife and I didn't have the fortitude to wait until Christmas Eve for opening our own presents. We were a bit concerned about the upcoming roll over of the ancient Maya calendar on December 21 and didn't want to take any chance, so our own presents have been put to good use since the beginning of that month.

This said, I received a special present from my son that has to do with DNA and will finally tell me where I come from After December 25th, we get a short reprieve during which there is always more skiing, additional great snow (another Deer Valley Holiday tradition) and there is barely any room for celebrating my birthday sandwiched somewhere between Christmas and New Year, just before we tip into a brand new year.

By the time 2013 rolls over, we have long been “Party Exhausted” and don't have much energy left for celebrating and going all-out. Granted, there's always room for a fine meal, for a delightful sip of Champagne and then it's time for some serious work; our winter ski season finally begins in earnest!

When new projects give wings

We should always stage some new project along the way, whether we are very young or even getting quite old. At any time in our existence, there's always a project that is adapted to our appetite. It may not look like much, but it's there and its sparks keep us interesting, going and growing.

I am so grateful, that all my life long, there have been projects that have showed up just in the nick of time to force me to stretch a little bit farther, provide with new experiences and keep me growing. I hope new adventures never cease to show up into my life!

Is computer design simpler?

Most of the day, I've been trying to work with an Autodesk, design program and I have learned that it takes patience, repetition, trial and error, plus willingness to start from scratch over and over, as I begin to grasp the fundamental of that particular technique.

Have I felt like I was no good and that I was treading water? You bet! Have I wasted my time? Not at all! This is what learning is all about and with the joys it procures, there's always a little bit of pain inside the experience...

Why has Utah the greatest snow on earth ?

Well, it's more than a commercial slogan, it's a cold, white, technical fact. Utah has the best snow on earth, and any of you over this great nation and that wonderful planet, who still doubt it, please listen up !

Most winters, Utah averages 250 days of winter, 40 snowfalls, and 18 monster “dumps” that give us that magic, fluffy snow, but most importantly this how how this stuff of legend gets created. Storms develop over the Pacific Ocean and hit the Sierra and Cascade Mountains. When the storm hits these coastal mountain ranges, moisture density is generally quite high and and the snow is dubbed “Sierra Cement.”

Then, as they cross the huge Nevada desert, clouds dry out and continue their voyage towards Utah where the average snow density is just 8.5 percent. As it crosses the Great Salt Lake, the clouds get colder and dryer as they're ready to hit the mountains. This causes the snowfall to be fluffier, light and magical.

Overall, our snow water content always stands between 4 and 14 percent, eliminating all icy formation and making it, you now know it, “the Greatest Snow on Earth!”

How far is skiing?

I'm not joking, the distance between where one lives and a ski resort parking lot, plays a key role in how often folks go skiing and how late in life they'll stick to the sport. For instance, here in Park City, I am no more than 7 minute drive from two of our three resorts. Deer Valley is a tiny bit further, but only 12 minute total.

Where I used to live in France, skiing was no closer than 10 minute and in those days with very light traffic, it would take me at least one quarter of an hour to get to the Avoriaz lower-tram station parking lot, and only when the roads were dry. I am saying this, because the longer the distance between home and the slopes, the less likely and less frequent skiing is going to be.

My brother in law lives one hour away from Avoriaz base station and while he still occasionally teaches skiing, he must find the drive a bear. Same thing for me when I want to ski Snowbird or Alta; both are about one hour drive, provided the roads are excellent. The morale of that story, is that the key to a long and frequent skiing life can be found not farther than how close the ski-lifts are from your own home...

My view on immigration...

For years, we've heard politicians talking about immigration reform and nothing has happened except for some extreme and ineffective legislation in certain states like Arizona or Alabama.

If I were asked what I think about the whole issue, I would fist say that we should encourage immigration of people who offer skills the United States need. Whether they are engineers, artists, health professionals, researchers or... job creators! These folks should be fast-tracked into getting permanent residence.

Next, we should offer permanent residency (read “green cards”) for the 11 or more million illegal, but at a cost. These people would have to pay, say $10,000 per person. Illegals might have to take loans, work extra, but they would have to “earn their way” into legal status. This would apply to family members too that wish to rejoin them in America.

Finally, illegals who get caught once the new law is enacted would be kicked out. They would be also be fined and their home country would have to pay it to the US, and then, might collect it back from the perpetrators, plus fine and interest. Of course if they ever attempt to get back into the country again, the fine would become enormous.

That's it: Simple, revenue-oriented and effective.

A special present...

For Christmas, I received a very special present that intrigues me a whole lot. It consist of a DNA analysis service subscription, called “23andMe”, a personal genomics and biotechnology company based in Mountain View, California that provides rapid genetic testing.

The company is named for the 23 pairs of chromosomes in a normal human cell. Their personal genome test kit was named "Invention of the Year" by Time magazine in 2008 . This morning, I spat provide a 2.5 milliliter sample that will be mailed on Wednesday for analysis by the Silicon Valley lab.

The offshoot of this experiment should should provide me with an assessment of my inherited traits (I hope they'll determine that I'm a great guy), my genealogy (that I originate from some distant ape) and possibly tell me what my congenital risk factors might be (such as mortality, for example).

I can't wait to know all this and I'm really grateful for that original Christmas present!

Lucky break!

Those who have taken their 4 year-old skiing know the logistical undertaking this represent; between taking care of yourself, your gear and a little person equipment and whereabouts, there isn't one spare moment! Yesterday afternoon, I was with my son and grandson at the Park City Mountain Resort.

We skied for a good hour and, passed that time, Finn has had his fun on the snow and wanted to go home. We called the ladies of the house and they immediately came to pick up their little skier while the two older guys kept on skiing until closing time.

After a few good runs, we too drove home, had a wonderful meal together, a good conversation and as the weather was turning to snow, it was time for the younger members of the party to head down towards the valley. Forty-five minute later and well into the evening, our son called asking where Finn's skis were; he assumed they had been left in our car as he couldn't find them in his.

We went to the garage, looked but found nothing. We then assumed that we had left them behind, at the ski area. We immediately drove there, and lo and behold we saw them, sitting in the snow, untouched, on the edge of the run along with Finn's ski harness and leash. We were so fortunate that they were still there that it became our little Christmas Miracle for the day!

Looking into my Ski Crystal Ball

When I contemplate this brand new ski season, I often have a hard time seeing clearly into my "Ski Crystal Ball." Skiing is for me something that happens, not an event or a succession of situations that can be planned, guessed or predicted like you would plan an outing, a family celebration or of course, a career. I guess there's not much planning that goes into my skiing. That's right, I've never looked at one single season thinking that I will be accomplishing this, that or achieve some other things.

Even though I'm extremely goal-oriented for all the other areas of my life, this approach has never permeated into my skiing outlook. I probably am a fatalistic skier who wait for the snow crystals to randomly and gracefully align themselves and provide me with some heavenly snow experiences. It is true though that when I'm skiing, my competitive spirit – not my planning mind - eventually comes alive and takes hold of me.

For example if its already 2 pm and I am enjoying the runs that crisscross the Lady Morgan Chairlift in Deer Valley, I will think, "...let's do six more of them!" This mere thought pushes me and I end up having ridden Lady Morgan seven more times in that sixty minute time span! The performance wasn't planned, it simply happened... I have never promised myself to ski 100 days per season, but I generally end up close to that round number, so while it's hard to say that I'm not planning these kinds of minute details, they just seem to happen...

As a perennial late-bloomer, I must have reached my peak performance on skis in my early sixties (yes, dear reader, there is plenty of hope!) and one day, as I happened to boast a bit too much about some of my ski exploits, a slightly older and wiser friend of mine told me in no uncertain terms: “Silly you, at your age, what do you have to prove?” These words of wisdom were not lost on me, the skier, that always looked at performing better and faster, whenever possible.

This competitive approach of mine was colliding with certain issues that develop as one gets further into the years and as physical strength begins plateauing, if not declining, but is certainly no longer improving. Over the past couple of seasons, I have found that I was getting a bit less nimble, less powerful and considerably slower. You might say that I was finally growing up as I had implicitly understood that speeding and risk-taking might finally prove to be harmful to me.

This, in part, is the reason why, from that point forward, my goals on skis won't be measured so much in speed, quickness or slaloming through a tight grove of aspen trees. Instead, they will be qualitative in nature and are likely to consist of skiing much more often, but when I will do it, I will also concentrate on being that much smoother and my focus will be on saving all of my resources to enjoy a longer, fun-filled day on the slopes.

Another new measuring stick for me would be the amount of time there's a grin on my face and this should at least be in the 90% range, to make each day of winter another great moment on skis. Sure, I'll still go fast when I can and when it can make me more efficient, but never again at the expense of my own safety. I'll think more about being lighter on my skis, on better using the terrain to check my speed and to my mechanical advantage, to make my turns effortlessly and remain "one" with the terrain.

That's about right, less brute force and more “caresses” on the snow, this is how my skiing will be looking like, this season and beyond! With this in mind, when I review what's inside my Snow Crystal Bowl, I seen more slow fun, more perfect turns, more time to enjoy the whole experience, more seizing of the moment and with all that, always the surprise that comes with the never-ending adventure that skiing really is!

Quantity vs. Frequency

If you are an expert skier, would you rather get 3 feet of snow every three week or 1 foot of snow every week? You'd probably think for a few second and I bet that you'd chose the latter.

That's right, when it comes to fun ski conditions, frequency of snow fall always trump quantity. Even 8 inches of new snow can make a world of difference, refresh the old layer and make powder skiing possible.

From a practical point of view and with today's wide skis, you won't sink much deeper into four feet of snow than you would in 10 inches! So if you are a ski connoisseur, always look for repeated “refills” and forgo that rare snow “dump”!

Another false alert!

Finally, the end of the world didn't happen; at least for the moment. I had prepared for it and was understandably a bit disappointed, but in turn, I was also able to spend a wonderful morning today, skiing deep powder snow at the Deer Valley Resort, so that wasn't so bad...

I don't think most people are like me and are paying much attention to these predictions; they'd rather spend their time on Facebook, Twitter or hoping to get some big lottery grand prize.

 These beliefs about Armageddon seem clearly out of fashion, but if you're still interested in the second coming of Christ, it's been re-scheduled for less than five month from now. Remember Ronald Weinland the head of the The Church of God, Preparing for the Kingdom of God (COG-PKG), this small American splinter sect of the Worldwide Church of God?

Well, his 2011 and 2012 predictions encountered some snags, but today, he is assuring us that the big event will now take place on May 19, 2013. Mark your calendars!

The curse of consumer products

As I was ready to shoot a ski video on a freezing early morning in Deer Valley this past Wednesday, the tiny button that I use to start or stop recording was no longer on my camcorder. Right, an itsy-bitsy button was rendering my camera totally inoperable!

By chance a little voice in the back of my head told me to go the lodge and get a toothpick to make it work and it did, but how impractical this was! Back home, I got on the phone with Sony. I explained the situation. They told me the product has just passed its one-year warranty and is no longer covered. I will have to fork out $192 to get it fixed!

To put things into perspective, I only paid $450 for the camcorder, so the Handycam maker is asking for almost half of the cost of the entire product to replace a basic and minuscule part that came off because it probably was poorly designed and assembled in the first place.

All this to say, that at this point, we can't justify paying the hefty penalty for making a minute repair on a product. We through away the one that's technically still perfectly functional and purchase a new one!

Ready for the end of the world?

Since we're all supposed to vanish tomorrow, I'm going to clean up my desk, pay a few bills and back-up my computer during the few hours that we have left. This way I won't die feeling guilty.

I feel pretty good with the few things I accomplished during my short presence on this planet. I have one brand new pair of skis and boots (my Christmas present) that I won't be able to enjoy, but like the French say: “C'est la vie!”

I also plan to have a beer at 5 pm and watch the local television news for the last time. I hope you enjoyed my ultimate blog and, in parting, let me wish you a pleasant apocalypse!

May I invite myself?

It begins like this: You get a phone call from a person you barely know, who says: “I'm stopping by Park City and would like to ski with you.” You move a few things around to block the day and you answer “why not?”

Then the fellow asks, “any good hotel around?” which translates into “can I sleep in your home?” Over the years and many mistakes later, we have become much smarter and respond “try the Peaks Hotel, next door.”

Relentlessly comes the next question from that semi-stranger: “What about dinner together?” which means “can I have dinner with you?” Once more, I respond perfectly: “impossible on that night, we have other engagements!”

The day arrives, I pick up the impromptu guest at his hotel, drive him to the resort, watch him get shell-shocked when he has to lay down $102 for a one-day lift-ticket. From that point on and until the lift closes at 4:15pm, it's skiing, skiing non-stop; the man wants to get his money worth!

Out, the conditions are great but the weather is cold, I ask: “Do we break for lunch?” My guest responds “No, I have prepared a sandwich, and I always eat on the chairlift!” I oblige, and feel very fortunate that my companion shares his cold sandwich with me. I certainly can appreciate the fact that he didn't want to put himself in a situation in which he would have felt obligated to buy me lunch!

He's a very good skier and I show him the best spots on the mountain, plus even shoot him skiing powder on my GoPro helmet-cam. At the end of day, I take pity on him (huge mistake!) and as my wife had previously suggested, invite the free-loader to dinner at home.

Of course, he shows up empty-handed, talks a lot about himself, drop lots of names, mentions his trips to Europe and St. Moritz, his impressive education, his kids, but shows little, if any interest for us. At 9 pm when we wish he would go, the man pulls up his laptop to bore us with pictures of him with some irrelevant folks. We signify to him that it's late and when he finally leaves us, he forgets to say thanks for the day and the delicious meal he just devoured...

Guess what, we've learned another invaluable lesson: The human specie never ceases to amaze us, we learn something new everyday and in the process are becoming much smarter. These enhanced social skills can always come in handy!

Deer Valley, Canyons, 50% more skiing...

Yesterday, I did a pilgrimage of sort by skiing Park City Mountain Resort. If you know me or read my blog, my two favorite lifts on that mountain are Jupiter and Thaynes. Ask any good skier and their response is likely to be the same.

Yet, this two lifts are from the early 70s. They are desperately slow and by the end of a day, you don't get much ski done. I took the time to measure it and my conclusions are pretty staggering. If you are an extremely good skier and spend your time at Canyons or Deer Valley you'll get an extra 50% more skiing than you would at Park City Mountain Resort.

Or, if you did it in the reverse, that is, if you skied Canyons or Deer Valley and decided to switch to Park City, you'd lose 33% of your total skiing (that's how percentages work...) With this in mind, there is no contest; until Park City speeds up its two best lifts, they won't see much of me on the mountain; my time as a skier is counted and therefore very, very precious!

France, Taxes and Gérard Depardieu...

Okay, I'll make that story short. The famous French movie actor who urinate in commercial airplane main cabin, doesn't want to pay the astronomic tax rate (75%) President Hollande want to extract from his super-rich constituents, so he says that he'll move to Belgium to avoid being fleeced by his country of origin.

Enters Jean-Marc Ayrault, the socialist prime minister into the debate, who qualifies Depardieu's flight for tax shelter as being “pathetic,” and we have a French revolution.

Here's my take on this:

First Hollande and his government are a bunch of idiots; you don't scare off people who have money and can create wealth; you just tax them fairly, not at the senseless rate they're brandishing. Then, Ayrault, could have – perhaps – avoided name-calling, even though “pathetic” would, in many instances, fit Depardieu.

Finally, Depardieu who, like other artist-expatriate, such as Charles Aznavour, Yannick Noah, Johnny Hallyday, to name just a few are... “pathetic” too, because they make their living from the French public and should be boycotted by their audience if it were a tiny bit more thoughtful...

The true sources of evil...

I've remained silent long enough about the school shooting tragedy in Connecticut. What I simply would like to say though, is that the National Rifle Association, its entire membership, a few radical talk-show hosts and our dear member of Congress are collectively responsible for that massacre.

To top it all, I bet you that most of these retrograde folks are at the same time in favor of the death penalty, anti-abortion and anti gay!

Sad update...

On Wednesday, I heard that Dick Needham, who was America's Ski magazine editor for many, many years, died at 73 in Sarasota, Florida. Dick was a wonderful person and I only have very positive memories of him.

He was on my address book and was also my Facebook friend. His Facebook page is still on and only God knows for how long... He is my second Facebook buddy to go, following my countryman Denys Liboz who left us on April 2011.

I just deleted Dick Needham's record from my Gmail address book and I will no longer send him any emails. Just pressing the delete button is, in a way, my manner of mourning him in this digital age. That doesn't feel good and it probably is not, but I guess we better get used to that new way of moving on. RIP, Dick.

Weather worries...

All my life, I have behaved like a farmer, that is, looking over my head and wondering what the weather would be. I was, and still am, a “weather worrier.” The ailment is perfectly justifiable; my economic life has always hinged upon having enough snow to ski on, and even today, it continues to be the case with no end in sight.

Like a special breed of people, I generally never worry about elements that I control, but always tend to get down in the dumps for issues that are totally out of my control. This, of course, makes absolutely no sense and has to stop. As a matter of fact, I will quit worrying for the weather starting tonight because it has just begun to snow. Just mark my words!

Tips for staying warm while skiing

Every season is the same. I think I have all my gear ready when I go skiing, and then I discover omething's missing! Even though I've skied six times this season, the fourth day I hit the slopes was bitterly cold. I wasn't warm at all.

Then, I stopped to check my helmet and discovered the vents were wide-open. One hour later I was freezing round my torso; while I was riding the chairlift, I lifted the arms and found out that both opening were unzipped since the last time I skied with that jacket back in April! Will I ever learn?

France or America?

After living more than 35 years in America, I've had my shares of doubts and ups and downs related to the wisdom of having moved from my beloved French Alps. This happened mostly during the early years, when we still lived in New York and when I was missing mountain living so much.

Even though I did a lot of shuttling back and forth over the Atlantic during those years, my heart was always torn apart when I wondered where it truly belonged. As both our children were born and grew-up in North America, they would become the catalyst that forced us to decide in favor of one place over the other.

We moved to Park City, and in so doing, made a commitment for the new world. Almost thirty years later we are so glad we did! The mountains, although not as spectacular as the Alps, are great for skiing, hiking and mountain biking, the climate is phenomenal and the place remains uncrowded, yet it offers the perfect blend of metro-sophistication and rural quaintness.

Not something found in my native valley where most people are still living in the past and consider their present “bubble” quite “normal” without knowing any better. People who've moved around can't just live in these French ski towns alone; they need a “pied-à-terre” in Paris or Lyon to make their existence more bearable and a bit more “civilized...”

Would I enjoy moving back there full time? I don't think so; I'd probably go crazy after two weeks. I would miss the Rockies and America so much that I couldn't stand it. Like a shell is to a tortoise, my French culture is attached to me so no matter where I go, it follows me.

The American culture is not as deeply rooted though, and I would miss it terribly if I had to live out of the United States. So that's about it; I cherish my alpine memories in the rear-view mirror of my life, but go full-steam ahead into the future of America, my new home!

Ski Goals 2013

I've never looked at one single season thinking that I will be doing this, that and another thing. I'm very much goal-oriented for all the other areas of my life, but this approach has never permeated into my skiing outlook. So, the other day, when I was asked “what are you goals for this ski season” I had to think very, very hard!

I first remembered some wise words from Gérard Bouvier, a good friend of mine, who told me just a couple of years ago: “At your age, what do you have to prove?”. You see, I'm very competitive and have always looked at performing better and faster whenever possible. This approach of course has its own limitations as we age and our strength begins to decline.

At that point, we get less nimble and considerably slower. I am not going to argue with my friend and instead, will heed his wise recommendation! So, from that point forward, my goals on skis won't be measured in speed, quickness or slaloming through a tight grove of aspen trees.

Instead, they will be qualitative in nature and will consist of skiing much more often, but when I do it, it will also be much more smoothly and I will focus on saving all of my resources to enjoy a longer, fun-filled day on the slopes.

Sure, I'll go fast when I can and when it makes me more efficient, but never again at the expense of my own safety. I'll think more about being lighter on my skis, on better using the terrain to check my speed, make my turns and be one with the terrain. That's about right, less brute force and more “caresses” on the snow, this is how my skiing will be looking like this season and beyond!

World Cup's Swiss Army Knife?

To make things easier to organize and manage, Ski World Cup organizer love to hold as many events as possible on one single hill. To a degree, this may work for some venues like the Birds of Prey in Beaver Creek, but it's not always so great elsewhere.

Take Val D'Isère and Bellevarde as an example. The multiple use works to some degree for the downhill, that is nonetheless very much "man-made" in its overall topography. It's also okay as a slalom hill, but doesn't seem to function well when used for Super G or GS.

Yesterday, Ted Ligety got quite vocal about it and posted his dismay on Facebook. He said he had a love-hate relationship with Val D'Isère “An awesome place to ski but an awful race hill” he said. He went on about the steep and short race hill, “they have to set the course very tight, average of 21-22 m from gate to gate, with several under 17 m, at nearly a slalom distance, where all other hills have a 25-32 m distance gate to gate. A few meters makes a huge difference in skiability, especially with the new skis...”

According to Ted that sentiment was echoed by 98% of the racers (Hirscher and Luitz probably begged to differ), so go figure, but Ligety probably has another solid point and his ranting may validate the saying: “Jack of all trades and master of none” when applied to Bellevarde.

Incompetence galore...

Why are big, well established companies doomed? Because they're stuck in their way and they put up with mediocre CEO, managers and employees. Too many rules and an overwhelming fear of loss have dried up any creative juice and fueled mediocrity, whether it's under the form of people or idea.

It feels so much safer to nurture the status-quo than taking any chance. It's not the first time it happens however. Before Microsoft and some other big brands that I won't name here, there were the Roman and the Greek empires...

Cliffs of all kinds...

This month, we are already sick of hearing about the U.S. “Fiscal Cliff.” That cliff, while grossly exaggerated in its real probability and danger is something someone controls and can prevent. The “someone” are our most stupid members of congress that are united under the Republican Party.

Then, there's the “Snow-less Cliff” in Park City, where as the season advances and snow is not showing up, we wonder which economic impact this might have on our small economy.

That later cliff is totally out of our control, and praying or dancing won't make snow start falling. Washing one's car might be the only effective solution!

Puzzled by the new skis?

As a skier who would like to think he's still relevant, I need to understand the ins and outs of the new equipment that each year hits the market. I used to be “front and center” in that crazy business when I was active into it, but not anymore.

I'm now relegated to the role of a very ordinary user and it's paramount for me to understand what kind of skis I need to cruise without having to expand too much energy and be able, with one single pair, to move from “groomers” to deep, fluffy snow, and still look reasonably balanced, dignified on my boards and won't exhaust myself within a couple of hours.

Since I shoot videos for Deer Valley Resort, I have decided to launch some investigative reporting that may shed some light as to what the ideal board is for me. Rossignol will be providing the advice and I'll produce the video, so please, stay tuned for the results!

When I was “demoing...”

Exactly forty yars ago today, I made the trip from my home town in the Alps to Storlien, a small ski resort tucked somewhere in the northern parts of Sweden.

I was part of the French ski instructor demo-team in these days and we were supposed to show the Swede how to tackle turns the Gallic way while Ingemar Stenmark was getting ready to dominate the world of skiing.

Were our hosts impressed? I can't quite remember. Was the skiing good? Not really as good as Chamonix! What about the food and the drinks? Not great, but okay; I was much younger then and not as picky as I am today...

Now, tell me, the girls? They were so smart, they had remained in Ibiza, Spain to work on their tan.  The entire experience must have been a bright spot in your career?  No, because it was so dark in that early winter season, with the sun coming at 9:30 am and leaving before 3 pm; this was far too somber for me!

Fact-checking

Recently, I have been using the internet for fact checking and find it incredibly worth my time. There is hardly a day that goes by without hearing rumors, outlandish claims or simply false statements.

Generally a few keystrokes, a critical mind and a good search technique can shed light on questions that we have and remove falsehood from what could be taken as bona fide information.

Always worth my time, and as too many people forget or simply ignore, thanks to the US government for building that incredible resource back in the late 1960s!

Third time's the charm?

For the third time this season, Park City has received a new coat of white snow. It looks wonderful and fits her so well.

I hope Park City likes it and that she keeps it on through next spring. The two first snowfalls were in fact for almost nothing as everything ended up melting away. With more snow in the forecast this week, I am a bit more optimistic.

Perhaps this is just wishful thinking as I truly fear that this business of global warming is much more serious than the American business community seems to believe, and having enough snow every winter is beginning to really concern me.

For the moment, though, let's embrace the popular superstition that claims that following two failures, a third attempt is more likely to succeed. That's right, "Third time's the charm!"

Margin of superiority

When Park City's Ted Ligety won another GS yesterday in Beaver Creek, he illustrated the importance of maintaining a huge “reserve” of strength until the finish line and, as a result, being capable of dominating a contest, not just by sheer luck, good fortune or other set of circumstances, but by overwhelming the field of competitors.

For those who know the lay of the land, the lower section of Birds of Prey is steep and unrelenting. It sucks energy and if you've watched the race, it was clear that by the end of the run, the vast majority of racers had nothing left in them to complete the race, hence the dramatic drop in the difference of timing, between Ligety – the benchmark – and them.

This illustrates that in order to win, whether it be in sports, business, or any other endeavor, power capacity and good storage are paramount. If you don't have enough “reserve” from the get go, winning is dicey and mostly in the hands of “Lady Luck.” Before anything, the assurance of winning can be found through some margin of superiority and this measure remains the best bet for making it to the tallest step of the podium.

Being just “close” or almost there, is clearly never enough, and for those of us who have tried it too many times, it almost inevitably ends in a lesson in humility. No matter what you do and what your stage in life is, always think about building that “extra margin...”

Grover Norquist's Fiscal Cliff

The Republican Party has created the concept of “Fiscal Cliff” because they can't cut tax rates. And I can understand their concern; 95% of them have signed Grover Norquist's "Taxpayer Protection Pledge", that opposes increases in marginal income tax rates for individuals and businesses, as well as net reductions or eliminations of deductions and credits without a matching reduced tax rate.

They're stuck by that pledge. Obama knows that and nothing much is likely to happen. As Michael Moore proposes, we might be better off letting all of the Bush tax cuts expire on December 31, and then, on January 1, Obama could push a bill that would restore these same tax cuts for 98 percent of the public.

Would that be a face-saving strategy for the Republicans? Perhaps; at least, they could claim that they didn't violate their pledge but that it was forced upon them. In less than a month we'll see...

Raymond, the soda man...

Soda and bier wholesaler, you name it, Raymond Marullaz and his brother were lemonade-makers, soft-drink and beer merchants in my home valley of Morzine, France. Raymond was essentially the salesman, the front-of-the-house guy and as someone who could turn lemons into lemonade, he was a very likeable individual.

My family had a small mountain restaurant and was of course was buying almost all of its beverages, except wine and spirits, from the Marullaz brothers, so every so often, Raymond would come by with his little notebook and would ask how many bottle of bier, coca-cola and orangina were needed for the upcoming delivery.

I only bring that story up because in latter years, something like 1966, our soda man was driving the sport car of my dream; not a Triumph or a Ferrari, but a sleek-looking Panhard 24CT. Even though its tiny 848 cc, 50 hp engine was anemic, it had unlimited power to make me dream very, very big...

Can we all get along?

Our American politicians set the worst example for not getting along and their inability work together as never been so bad. Like millions of people I wish this would change and just a few nights ago, we saw “Animal Odd Couples,” a TV documentary, on “Nature.”

This great PBS show, was featuring a whole menagerie of animals that would normally never get along but were becoming best friends and caring buddies for one another. Their behavior wasn't just based on motherly or fraternal instincts but most importantly, on great old compassion!

Among other unlikely pairings, the show successively featured an cheetah with a Labrador retriever as well as a lion with a coyote, that had all grown up together from the time they were babies, then the most touching one, I felt, an old, blind horse and a goat that took up the role of being his everyday guide and protector.

What a great lesson for us humans that can't stand each other, let alone tolerate anything or feel compassionate towards other folks. That's right, enough to put all of our politicians to shame!

Gini coefficient?

I was introduced to the Gini coefficient by a friend of mine and more recently, as we were discussing the social state of the United States of America, Gini came back into the debate as a way to illustrate some of our points.

For those who are unfamiliar with the index, it was developed a century ago by the Italian Corrado Gini to measures income distribution around the world. Today, this benchmark is commonly used to express the inequalities of income or wealth between countries.

For instance, a Gini coefficient of zero expresses perfect equality of income, while a coefficient of one (100%) expresses total inequality, a situation in which one single individual gets all the income. The measure is far from perfect as the results mixes pre-tax and after-tax income levels.

Demographics also play a significant role; for instance, countries with an aging population, or conversely with a baby boom, may show higher Gini rates, even if their real income distribution between working populations remains constant.

So how are we doing? Well, Western Europe, Canada and Australia, among others, are showing the greatest equality of revenue while places like South Africa, Latin America and Russia are going the opposite way. In recent years, the USA has been drifting towards these delinquents countries, but hopefully, our current fiscal belt-tightening efforts might slow that trend for the better!

How we stay in shape for skiing...

Since skiing is so central to my life, the last thing I need is be out of shape when the ski season arrives. . For a while and very early on, I was a ski instructor and this wonderful sport was everything for me, so I guess that because of my occupation and my youth, I didn't need to worry about staying in shape.

Then, I joined the corporate world and between long office hours and endless travel all around the world, I quickly began to feel out of shape, not just when I got a chance to ski, but most of the rest of the time. This is how, more than 35 years ago, I decided to take on running and I've been doing it ever since. At least 5 days a week, all year long, rain, snow or shine!

As of today, I've almost ran 30,000 miles and continue to be an avid runner; in fact, I must confess that now, road-running has grown to becoming my number-one sport because it is the pillar of my year-long, daily routine. Beside running and when there's no skiing, I also have taken mountain biking which has become my other major summer and fall activity.

 I seriously began riding 8 years ago and this past season, I logged almost 70 days on the Park City trails! I love this sport too, and because it has so much in common with skiing, it has become my favorite counter-seasonal activity!

We used to hike more into the mountains before our mountain bikes came on the scene, but now, this other outdoor activity has taken a back-seat to bike riding. That remains true today, but we may return to doing more hiking when mountain biking becomes less friendly to our aging bodies, so things may evolve in that field and pretty soon, we may return to hiking...

Then there's just plain walking; that's right, walking around the block in our Park Meadows neighborhood. Sometimes, we even walk to Old Town Park City and depending on our mood walk the whole round-trip back home or return with the bus. My wife and I love it too and in a year, we walk about half the distance we cover running.

Should I mention that when possible, we always avoid elevators and chose the stairs instead, and we are still performing all of our household chores ourselves including cleaning around the house, clearing the snow and tending our grounds. Finally, we eat good and healthy foods, drink with moderation, don't smoke and get a full-night sleep.

So, all in all, there is never a dull moment in our active life and this harmoniously balanced lifestyle is probably what keeps us in to shape when the new ski season begins!

Early ski season routine...

For every skier, each new ski season feels like a new beginning, filled with great anticipation, wonderful expectations, and in many ways, it seems like a “re-birth” of sorts, as it brings us back to our favorite playground. To make that experience even better, I have tried to compile a few tips that we all can use and that will make our return to the slopes that much more pleasant.

I would start with getting our gear ready, beginning with the right ski pass (not the one from last year, please!) the gloves, the balaclava, the helmet and the goggles. Please, don't just attempt to gather that equipment minutes before hitting the slopes; do it at least the day before and by all means, do take all your time to do it right! Can we find all of our gear? Aren't these gloves looking a bit frayed right by the thumb? Why are these goggles all scratched-up? I'd continue with the ski boots and check that nothing inappropriate fell inside them, that there's nothing in the liner that feels crumpled and that the rubber heel isn't so worn out that we won't get into the bindings. Oh sure, I'll get these boots out of the freezing garage now and put them inside the house!

Then there are the skis. Are these the brand-new ones? Are we sure we want to take them that early? If we take the ones we used in April, how do they look? I mean, not the dust on them, but are the edges okay, the bases clean and waxed? Are we sure the poles are matched-up or do we have a 44 inch long paired with a 46 inch? Now, how are we going to dress? In doubt, always layer-up more warmly than not, don't forget that most of today's ski clothes have plenty of zippable air-vents if overheating were to be a problem! Is the roof-rack or the ski-box back on top of the car yet, or are we going to fold part of the rear seat and slide all the equipment in? I'm looking forward to test-driving these new snow tires we just mounted last week...

Before we start the engine, mentally run the check-list: Ski pass or coupons, boots, helmet-glove-goggles, poles, skis, sunscreen, cell-phone and wallet. No, we won't take the GoPro cam this time... We finally get to the resort parking lot. Found a great spot! Get everything out, walk to the lift. One more time: Is there anything we need that we could have left in the car? We first click into our bindings and get ready to ride the chairlift, look around, feel the excitement building, no worries, we'll start slow!

We'll try to register the sensations inside our feet and legs as we slide down the ramp, make a first left turn... That wasn't bad was it? Everything still works! Then we take it easy, we begin slow and try to just concentrate on the sensations, we'll get reacquainted with a little bit of speed, appreciate the crispy sound our skis make on this season's snow... Now a right turn followed by another to the left; we're skiing! Little by little our confidence grows, our speed increases, we absorb the little bumps as if we had never quit doing it and the tentative smiles we had earlier on becomes a permanent grin!

We forgot nothing, it's all coming back now, we let those skis carve for us, it feels even better than it did last March! Naturally, we're careful, we use the terrain astutely, we follow the flow and the groups of skiers that evolve at a similar rate of speed. Sometimes we stay in the middle of the run and move with the everybody, at other times we stick to the sides that often allow for a different rate of speed, but all along, we constantly watch what's going on in front, around and behind us. We know that the rest of the skiers are still tentative and searching for their true selves early this season and we take it easy. 

Of course, lunch time is not just a simple break today, it's a genuine restoration. We take a bit longer, we use our time to savor the food and enjoy the warmth inside the lodge, and when it's time to go out again, we carefully re-adjust all the buckles on each boot, we take the time to clean the goggle lens twice instead of just once, and when everything appears to be ready and that we feel in control, skiing resumes. No, we won't do this extra run that we would normally never miss. We're just careful, we're totally willing to leave some great turns “on the table” today and end our skiing a tad earlier. No problem; we've got the entire ski season!

Groomed and off-piste

Yesterday was another day on snow. First day for my wife, second for me. The conditions were minimal but it got us out in the open air, so if we weren't elated, we had at least no regrets. We skied on the only two groomed runs that were available at Canyons.

On the way back home, my spouse who now loves to ski off-piste said to me: “Skiing is like biking; there are the groomed runs and road-biking and then there is off-piste and mountain biking; I like the later much better!”

This may offend a lot of my road-biking friends, but I find the comparison so true and so much on target that it may become part of the way I differentiate between these two forms of cycling. Of course, any comment on the topic is more than welcome!

Email deluge

Months before the November elections, my email in-box was already overflowing with political messages of all stripes and everyday, I would find a stream of request for monetary and in-person contributions. I'm not even mentioning the incessant phone calls that I wouldn't pick up if I couldn't tell who was calling...

I was looking forward to some respite once the election would be over, but boy, was I wrong! I had just forgotten that America's true religion is consumption and once Obama was re-elected, the floodgates of electronic mail re-opened with a vengeance, from merchants this time, touting Thanksgiving evening sales, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday.

There also must be a “I'm broke Tuesday” but I haven't received emails yet about it. Please, I need a break, give me the rest of the week off!

Brief summary of a long journey...

When our daughter landed a new job in Washington, DC, I foolishly offered to drive her car from Park City to our Nation's Capital! Early November, my spouse and I covered some 2,750 miles in 7 days.

That's about 50 hour drive through Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee and finally Virginia. The trip hardest part was the five-hour flight between Washington and Salt Lake, but what a memorable experience and a wonderful adventure...

First day of the ski season...

It's always a mixture of apprehension, uncertainty and excitement that marks my first day of the ski season. As I have written before, I'm never impatient to go skiing and would rather begin late when snow is at its best and end late into spring or even summer.

Then there's also the passing of time that tends to dull the early season's enthusiasm and on top of that, our snow conditions aren't exactly terrific at the moment. So, at first, I wasn't that motivated to dress up, get my gear ready and drive to the ski resort parking lot. I thought I'd do it later in the week. Then after writing the blog about the amazing Keizo Miura, I could no longer stay home if I were to be true to my word.

Now, I had no choice but go skiing! So, once again, I changed course, grabbed my ski pass, got dressed, made sure I wasn't forgetting anything, just like last year, I grabbed a pair of frigid ski boots that were still inside our cold mud room and drove to Canyons for their opening day. Skiing was very limited, crowds were okay, but I only took four runs, just enough to recapture my skiing spirit and somehow re-ignite my technique for another ski season.

True, if I truly want to follow into Mr. Miura's footsteps, I will have to repeat that late morning procedure at least 36 times. Wow! Doesn't look like the fun is going to be over any time soon!

Never too old...

Since in spite of my very best efforts, I keep on getting old, there's nothing more justifiable than wanting to learn more about what to expect down the ski run, and how far I can possibly go on my skis. Up until recently, my hero in that category was also my countryman, Émile Allais who skied until he was about 98, and recently passed away, ten month after celebrating his 100th birthday.

One thing Émile wanted, but never could achieve, was to break a record held by another senior skier, a Japanese ski legend in his own right, Keizo Miura, who at age 99 skied down “La Vallée Blanche,” the famous, 12 mile glacier run, in Chamonix.

Mr. Miura also celebrated his 100th birthday closer to my home on February 2004, when he skied in Snowbird with more than 170 friends and four generations of his own family. He would pass away two years later, 6 week short of his 102nd birthday. Keizo Miura was also the father of Yuichiro Miura who skied down Mount Everest on May 6, 1970 and still climbed that same mountain when he was 70 and then 75.

After Stein Eriksen, Jean-Claude Killy and Ted Ligety, this extraordinary skier is today my new hero, he has also become my new benchmark and the main reason why I can't wait to get back on my skis this season!

Reading and outdoor activities...

A few days ago, I reluctantly put away our two mountain bikes inside the garden shed for many months of rest. I keep close track of our riding and I'm quite proud that I went out 69 times and covered 668 miles this past season; a clear record in our eighth year of serious riding!

The same day, I finished a great book, “Plutocrats” by Chrystia Freeland and when I put it down I realized that it was the first and only book I had read from cover to cover, in 2012! In previous years I would normally go through 10 to 15 volumes, and I'm afraid that this year, my total reading will be very dismal indeed.

At this point, I can only come to the sad conclusion – as I had suspected all along - that my busy outdoor activities are seriously encroaching into my intellectual fitness!

Death of a salesman?

Are salesmen really needed anymore? It depends for what, I guess. When there is a new sale to be made, a good salesperson can tip the scale and drastically change the outcome by influencing the buyer, so I would say that in this case, the presence of a salesperson makes a significant difference.

True, it can either help or hinder the outcome depending where that middle-person stands in the way of the buyer's self-interest. So it can be good or bad and, in most cases, the outcome depends a lot on that salesperson's integrity and competency.

This said, here are two practical examples that I'll share with you. One of these cases has to do with our private health insurance; we got that coverage five years ago, after I did some research on my own and zeroed-in on a carrier that we thought was the best for what we needed. We signed up on our own, on-line, without anyone's help.

Then a few months later, I learned that we had been “assigned” a sales representative that we never met, let alone select. For all these years, this person has been collecting commissions off our monthly premiums while also proving to be totally useless.

Recently, as I wanted to put that saleslady to contribution, I asked her some information, then as she never got back to me within a reasonable time, I went out on my own and got that information on-line, directly from the insurer. The lady called me a few days latter and brought me some information that wasn't even correct!

Along the sames lines, I'm now eligible for Medicare and, here again, there seem to be the need for some “sales rep.” This time I sort of chose the individual, but when I asked her to check something for me, it took her forever to respond, and once more, I couldn't wait and had to find out on my own by calling the new carrier. Again, that lady called me later with some fragmented and inaccurate answers to my questions.

For one thing, these two example show that there's room to cut health care cost by getting rid of such, useless intermediaries that are burdening the insurance carriers, and it also illustrates the absurdity of residual or recurring commissions that bear no relation with the actual service rendered.

In this days of computers and on-line transactions, it would seem obvious that anyone who is not providing a necessary and lasting service in a transaction shouldn't be able to collect money off of it anymore. Hence my prophecy that the “death of the carpetbagger” is close, but I might be getting ahead of myself!

Rules for retirement

Retirement should usher a new chapter into someone's life and in particular, at one time that - if at all possible - should be free of undue pressures and stress. It never has been as clear to me that rule number-one should be to do “as you please.”

Many of us, who are now “retired” have generally put up with a lifetime of following orders, compromising, and acquiescing. In more ways than one, pleasing others, in order to stay relevant, satisfy others or just stay employed.

Now that these pressure points are gone, why not break free of all them? That's right, being retired is just the right time for flying solo and finally be our own man or woman. It's never too late to turn on the switch, and we always need to remind ourselves that it's our perfect right to be or become the individual we've always dreamed of!

Noticed the "creative" writing?

Yesterday, as I was sorting out our Park City to Washington road trip photos and videos, I fell on that one of a Southwestern Motor Transport Line semi truck taken between Little Rock and Memphis. Proudly displayed behind and on the sides of the trailer and truck was that motto: “Service Unexcelled”.

When I first noticed it, as we were driving just behind the trailer, I told my spouse: “Something's weird with that word,” before beginning to even question its legitimacy within the context of the English language. My doubt prompted me to take the photograph. If you take a few seconds to reflect upon the word “unexcelled”, you'll come to the inevitable conclusion that this company DOES NOT excel at providing a good service.

In other words, and according to its slogan, Southwestern Motor Transport Line is a lousy proposition, something mediocre or worse. You might object that the owners are trying in fact to be honest in stating loud and clear that they really have some serious limitations in terms of quality, but again, we are so programmed to see advertising that boasts, that it would be hard to believe, which would defeat the purpose of advertising their mediocrity.

Interestingly enough, I'm not the only blogger to have written about that trucking company motto and one has even discovered that the creative slogan was also used by the Unemployment Compensation Cost Control website, another fine organization claiming that its service is also “unexcelled in the nation.” It must be true that misery loves company! 

Morning or night person?

I don't know how you are, but I definitely fall in the first category; yes, I'm a morning person and this is the time of the day when I can best travel, think, undertake projects and be myself at a one-hundred-percent level.

What's the meaning of that? Pretty simple; at my age (well into my sixties,) there's never quite enough remaining energy available for what used to be a full-day of activity, so it's always in the early two-third of my waking time that I can get important stuff done, under optimum conditions.

Whenever possible, I should avoid late evening meetings, end of day decisions, hard labor or extreme mental concentration after 4 pm, late night dinners and evening travel, among other things... One vital reality to always keep in mind!

Aah... Technology!

When I got my new mobile phone a month or so ago, I got instantly crazy and overloaded it with all kinds of Apps and so many of them, that it almost lost its mind. At least, this is what it seemed to do today when it quit performing according to plan. The result was several hours trying to fix what I could have easily avoided in the first place, had I be more patient and more reasonable.

That's quite true; sometime, I tend to get greedy and overdo certain tasks that should come progressively and quite organically. I need to refrain myself from doing too much when it comes to technology, but this is an area where I think I'll never learn how to really pace myself!

Catching up is hard to do...

After leaving home for ten days, upon return, it's time to catch up in a really big way! Mail, paperwork, unforeseen events and a host of other assignments that were pushed just to the return date. It not just take some modicum of method and order, but also a good amount of patience. We'll get through it, but that's never a pleasant situation!

Can we avoid the Fiscal Cliff?

Instinctively, my answer is yes, but I've been wrong before! At present, the defeated Republicans are posturing, but I don't really think that Americans of any stripes still have much appetite left for this kind of unproductive behavior.

Yesterday, after reading some of the news, I sent that message to my two Senators and my Congressman:

“As my representatives, I'm asking you to WORK with the other side of the Aisle. From what I'm seeing and hearing at the moment, I don't believe you really do and this makes me really mad. Your lack of cooperation and continued obstructionism embodies what has become the 'Do-Nothing-Congress.' Your unwillingness to cooperate is disgusting. Get to work, my tax-dollars are paying you for that!” 

I should add that Utah is the reddest of all states and that my voice isn't heard, nor cared about. So much for representative democracy!

Good to be back home again

Our Eastern trip came full circle when we landed late last night in Salt Lake City. Our first task was to clear all the snow off the car before we drove up to Park City and our last one was to plow through the snow bank blocking our driveway!

Wonderful trip overall, but the best part was the driving, not the flying, which as always was crowed, late and incredibly uncomfortable. As the week ends, the story of that great road trip will be posted on the blog. Thanks for checking us out!

Appreciating the Nation's Capital

The last time we spent any time in Washington, DC, was when we traveled there as we were shopping for colleges for our daughter and stopped at Georgetown University. This was back in 1999! Not much seems to have change except, it appears, for even much more hustle.

Today, we had the privilege and a great time taking our daughter to work (yes, we did!), marvel at the monuments, and took half a day to stroll the first and third floors of the National Museum of American History. We then made a quick visit National Museum of Natural History and grabbed lunch in the close company some some impressive dinosaur reproductions!

Our Nation's capital is a wonderful sight, not just because it was laid out and designed by Pierre Charles L'Enfant, a French-born American architect and civil engineer, but because it feels spacious, clear and it breathes with lots of space. In addition, their subway system is certainly the best in the country and of the finest in the world!