Do you dig this Subaru?

Yesterday, I was done skiing and ready to head back home, when my glance was caught by that old Subaru Loyale with Colorado license plates, but much more importantly, sporting the complete and unblemished old “US Ski Team” official vehicle paint job, harking back to 1985.

Further, the little station wagon appeared to kept be in ultra-mint condition and seeing it was like being transported 33 years into my skiing past!

To the left of that antique Subie was a new one, and as I was about to leave the parking lot, its owner returned to his Outback, so I slowed down, rolled down my passenger window and shared my appreciation for the beautiful old car, plastered with ski memorabilia.

I said: “Great car, next to you, don't you agree!” He answered: “What's that?” (the man, about my age, seemed to be hard of hearing). I repeated my remark. The man heard it and grumbled: “I could care less about that car...”

Another unhappy man cruising the remainder of his life with an attitude!

Is a Facebook replacement in the cards?

With its lack of transparency and reluctance to face up the music, Facebook is opening the door to an alternative for a social media platform people could trust.

To succeed, this replacement would require some solid funding and credible self-rules required to give it credibility, protect its integrity and the security of its members.

Could Google or some wannabe like like Vero come up with a good replacement? Time will tell, but we should be ready to be surprised!

The 2018-19 Pass Quandary

For an Epic ski pass-holder like me, the next logical question for 2018-2019 would be: Which additional pass would make sense for me next winter season, to complement my Epic pass?

Well, two options are at my disposal in the newly minted Ikon Pass and the existing Mountain Collective Pass.

In comparing both, it would seem that, at least to try the concept of a second pass, the Mountain Collective is a better deal as it only costs $58.43 per day and adding a kid under 12 to it would only cost me $1.

In addition, there's no black-out day on that pass and there are plenty of days for me to do a “sampling” of other resorts combined to the plethora of destination available with the Epic pass...

When Facebook looses “face”

Mike Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg have names that rhyme, lie equally poorly and both are lackluster salesperson. In one word, both sound, look and smell like corrupted people.

More than 130 years ago, Lord Acton is said to have originated the quote "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."

For the benefit of the Zuckerber-Sandberg team, I'd say “Money corrupt and too much of it corrupts absolutely.”

Anyone short-selling Facebook stock?

Are you happy where you are?

The 2018 World Happiness Report is out!

If you aren't too sure where you ought to be, or where your own state of happiness stacks again your country of residence's ranking, you can check among 156 different countries that have been ranked by the level of happiness they provide their residents.

This ranking is based on pooled results from Gallup World Poll surveys from 2015 to 2017. While Finland is the new leader, the countries in the top-ten remain pretty much the same.

Would I have the audacity, at my age, to move to Finland or another Scandinavian country? Probably not, but I might be open to moving somewhere north to British Columbia, Canada.

What about you; where would you move to?

Where does religious faith come from?

I have been wrestling with that subject for quite some time, since that feeling never came naturally to me and failed to stay in me. It was imposed on me as it happens to be forced on to the kids the world over, but faith never took roots within me.

Perhaps was I too much of a rebel or I had already discovered that the hidden power of a fertile imagination could invent almost anything that I needed to cope.

So my conclusion has been that faith is just a seed, invented by some creative and charismatic prophet and produced to be planted – in the hope that it could germinate – into the mind of an insecure, frightened person, that is woefully unable accept the grim reality of existence.

To increase its chances of success, it must be planted in young subjects and be kept jealously away from the light of reason, science and truth; in other words, any form of rational education.

The real cost of wider skis

In recent years, alpine skis have put on a lot of weight, and just like for humans, their “fat” is most obvious at their waist or under the foot to be more specific.

The original idea was to attain maximum “flotation” in powder, irregular, or challenging snows, but these situations are encountered by most skiers by less than 5 percent of the time. Yet, the concept “sells” very well to the masses that don't know any better or believe what the salesperson or the instructor tells them.

The problems with wide skis are quite simple and twofold. First they make the ski less quick and delay their response when frequent turns are needed, and they also add significant weight to the ski, increasing its moment of inertia and making it less maneuverable and less nimble. More material automatically also means that the ski will be more expensive to produce and to purchase.

So where's the sweet-spot when it comes to side-cut? Probably something in the order comprised between 80 and 85 mm under-foot.

The courage to face bad news

Those of us that have had experience with adversity are generally endowed with more grit and more resilience as they've been forced with experiencing more than their share of bad news.

As a result, facing bad news is less of a problem for us, to the extent that we've learned that there's little we can do about them, but confront them, “suck-up” their bad taste down to their marrow, go down the bottom of the trough and survive it.

While this is patently unpleasant, it delivers some wonderful attributes, as it makes us stronger, bolder and, in most cases, ready to pounce and much more proactive.

Sure, it's never easy to make this kind of attitude second-nature, but by being used to confronting it and remembering to walk that painful talk, it provides the user with a superb advantage that leads to much greater resilience and a general higher rate of success.

Don't stop!

My biggest secret to good and continued fun skiing resides in the fact that, when I ski alone, I always endeavor to ski every single run non-stop, no matter how long or what obstacles come in my way.

This approach forces me to focus more and to treat every downhill as if it were, say a competition, like a slalom. This also forces me to improvise, to dodge unforeseen obstacles and in one word that my sound like a pun, “stay on my feet” at all times.

Try it and you'll soon start earning huge dividends!

Living without Facebook

Like 2 billion folks, I have been hooked long-term on Facebook and today, I decided to do something about it.

For too long, and like the rest of my Facebook friends, I was “the product” that made Mark Zuckerberg a billionaire by enabling him to sell advertising and help Trump become president.

What tipped the scale was learning about Cambridge Analytica and its ill-gotten Facebook data from 50 million Facebook followers that had no idea what was going on.

As a result, I've decided to deactivate my account. This is one good step to curing my addiction to that social platform. This essentially puts my account on hold, so I can restore it to the same state if I ever changed my mind.

One exception though: I'll continue using Facebook Messenger for the moment, a feature I find quite convenient.

My buddy the coyote

Two days ago, during our morning stroll, we came across a coyote, crossing the road a few hundred yards away from us. The first time I had seen one within Park City.

In many ways this animal resembles a wolf, except that it exists in just one single species (Canis latrans) whereas the wolves come in two “flavors”; the gray wolf (Canis lupus) and the red one (Canis rufus), a critically endangered species.

Other than that, the coyote is much smaller that the gray wolf (15 to 50 lbs vs. 70 to 150 lbs), not as tall (21 to 24 inches vs. 26 to 32 inches) and its face is narrow and pointed vs. broad and blocky. Its ears are also tall and pointed vs. short and rounded.

Finally coyote are solitary while wolves are more commonly seen in back. Now you know everything about my stealth buddy!

Want to really make America great again ?

Not so long ago, the United States used to be the world's leader in about everything, but in recent years, its has been overtaken by the rest of the developed world. Even developing nations have been catching-up fast with America and are now ahead of us in several areas like infrastructure, for instance.

As a nation, we must keep on evolving if we don't want to be left behind and it should be done vastly differently than the way Trump would like it. First, our nation's constitution should evolve with a changing society and culture.

Too often, it has stood in the way of progress because we don't want to amend it intelligently. Instead, we are blinding ourselves with that false-belief of “American Exceptionalism”. With a little more realism, common-sense and humility, we could change all of that and adopt best practices as I was suggesting not so long ago.

We could also work on freedom from religion, not just “of” religion, and we might end up with a more enlightened society. Finally, instead of building a wall south of the border, let's make sure simple pedestrian bridges we build, don't collapse and kill Americans on the day they're installed!

My hitchhiking career

As I'm currently reading a book written by a buddy of mine, relating our common boarding school life, I was suddenly reminded of all the hitchhiking I accomplished during my tumultuous life.

That technical school was about 20 miles away from my home, and almost every weekend, I would hitchhike back home, rain, snow or shine, and get home within one hour or so. By any conservative account, I definitely logged some 2,500 miles that way.

Except for one spectacular “doughnut”inside of one the car that once picked me up, smack in the middle of a village, and a few scares now and again with fast drivers bent to impress me, all went well. By any conservative account, I definitely logged some 2,500 miles that way. I'd return to my studies every Monday morning in the safety of a scheduled passenger bus.

Then came the military. Again, hitchhiking was a real time-saver for me over catching a train, considering that the route was extremely chopped-off and complicated, as 10 different rides weren't uncommon on such a long itinerary.

That time, I must have covered more than 6,000 miles, transported by the generosity of random motorists. In spite of that huge mileage, I only suffered one roll-over accident, escaped sexual predators, got lucky with drunk, bizarre, insane and reckless drivers, and always made it home safely. Like in school, the return to the air-base has to be a reliable, overnight train ride.

In both situation, the clincher, so to speak, was the uniform I had to wear; this elicited compassion and tremendously increased my chances for a fast pickup.

After I got my own car, I quit hitchhiking for a while but relapsed in July 1971, when after an endless voyage on an Italian ocean liner, along with a colleague, we decided to hitch the 1,690 mile ride from Perth to Adelaide hoping to rejoin the ship after land-crossing the Nullarbor plain (Route 94 was then a dirt road). I got luckier than my buddy and made it to destination in a couple of rides and just in time to jump back on the liner. 

That must have been the apex of my career as a professional hitchhiker, minus two extra incidents that happened to me later on, one in Vermont in 1982, when my VW Passat ran out of diesel and I had to find a way to get some and similarly on the Italian “autostrada” south of Trento, in 1985, when I had to twice cross the busy highway at night, a gas can in hand.

Today, more than 10,000 miles later, I haven't decided yet if and when I will resume this exhilarating activity.

My first winter in the air force

Just fifty years ago, the winter of 1968 was probably the worst time in my whole life. I was working on an air force runway, near Marseille, in the cold, battered by the terribly damp Mistral wind and thinking of skiing in my faraway valley, in the Alps, 285 miles north of that forsaken air base.

To kill time, I was learning English with the French method Assimil. I had only watched the 1968 Olympic slalom that Saturday, February 17, and anxiously followed Killy winning his highly controverted 3rd gold medal.

As much as possible, I would go back home on weekends to train for slalom at the base of the Pleney hill, in the hope of finally getting a coveted “Chamois d'Argent”, a ski school, Nastar-like test, that once obtained, would finally open the door to the first exam in the French ski instructor certification process.

That wasn't to happen until February of the following winter...

Back to the future?

Last summer a school mate from long ago sent me an old class picture from 9th grade, and after spending weeks in trying to find out who was who on the old photograph, I had made the comment that “it would be interesting for each one of us to go back in time, and lecture these young kids about what we've learned from life and what they ought to look for and do, to shape up their future...”

I had totally forgotten about it until I was reminded by that friend two days or so ago. I liked the idea, and today, my plan is to act upon it.

I will contact all the stakeholders I know, and ask them to compose their recommendations to these kids by solely using true and proven experiences that have made them who they are today – not conventional wisdom, citations, maxims or generalities that haven't helped them in any particular way.

That statement should be somewhere between 350 to 1,000 words, in French of course and we'll then try to all explore how these recommendations – had we got them early enough and applied them – might have transformed the courses of our lives. If the results are enticing, some of us might consider... reincarnation!

Ski-schools, instructors & $$$ (3)

The paradox between what ski-schools charge and what instructors get is simple. In America, ski resorts (read lift companies) own the ski school like most also own and control equipment rentals, restaurants and lodging.

Yet, ski instruction is a huge profit center. Their instructors are on salary, get a uniform and no one else is authorized to teach skiing on the mountain. The instructors' trade organization (PSIA) is merely around to design and run their members certification process.

This business model is guaranteed to last a very long time. Contrast this with the Alps where ski instructors are independent contractors that are tolerated on the mountain by the lift company. They co-exist with other non-affiliated and independent instructors.

The lift company let them have priority-access to their lift when they're with clients. Will that business model last forever? Probably not; one of these days, lift operators will suddenly get smart, see the dollar signs and realize the money they're leaving on the table.

This probability of future business “disruption” in Europe is probably less a question of “if”, than “when”.

Ski-schools, instructors & $$$ (2)

While we discovered yesterday how American ski resorts beat their European counterparts in the price of a full-day ski lesson, we're comparing today what ski instructors from the two continents end up benefiting from what clients pay for their instruction time.

Let's just compare a French ski instructor doing a decent season in a top resort like Avoriaz, with one working in my neighborhood, let's say Deer Valley. Let's further assume that they each teach 700 hours in the season.

Believe it or not, the fully-certified American ski instructor will end up earning almost half of what his French counterpart receives, even though the hourly rate paid by the client is less than half in France than in the USA.

The American instructor will get about $25 per hour and maybe $5,000 in tips over the course of the winter. Let's assume the tips will take care of the taxes due and that individual will end up with $17,500 net of taxes at the end of the winter.

The French instructor after taxes and contribution to the ski school that booked the lesson will earn about $35 to $40 per hour and while tips are few and far between in France, may take home around $33,000 at the end of his or her season.

Why? I'll try to explain tomorrow.

Ski-schools, instructors & $$$ (1)

Recently I looked at the cost of hiring a ski instructor for a day in my town of Park City (both Deer Valley and Park City Mountain) and went on to compare with other top North American and European ski resorts.

My take-away was that it costs more than twice as much to get one ski instructor for one full day in my town or in Vail Colorado, than if a client did it in Avoriaz (my former hometown, in France) or in St. Anton/Lech, Austria.

An interesting question would be to know if reducing the U.S. rate would yield more business for the ski resort and if the trends are up or down for that kind of transaction? I wonder if studies have been made in this area?

Is the “Magic” gone?

Since I moved to Park City in the mid-eighties, it was hard to miss a ski instructor that had fluorescent ribbons attached to the baskets of his ski poles, and that over the years, had built a solid following of clients, translating his first (Iranian) name Majid into “Magic”.

Hence was born Majid “Magic” Seghatoleslami. Magic arrived in Park City in 1980 and until last season was literally a fixture on our mountain.

During the 2002 Olympics, he even acted as head-coach to the visiting Iranian skiers that took part into the Games. This year, unfortunately, Magic had disappeared from our local snow scene as a stroke grounded him after the last winter season.

His “magical” ski plan – as he advertised it – will be hard to replace as it encompassed, beside ski tuition, proper nutrition, physical conditioning, meditation, knowledge of equipment and mountain conditions... Skiers will miss your "magic", Majid!

Back into the woods

I love to ski in the woods and in the trees.

Probably because trees contain fiber and plenty of it is good for my diet, but mostly because it naturally motivates the laziest skier to make the indispensable turns, to duck under half-fallen trees and stay on the look out for stumps, branches, dead snowboarders and wild animals.

I shot that clip on Saturday. A complete video of the entire run will be published soon, unless I can film it again after a new snowfall before the season is over.

Who should run for political office?

Last Friday evening, we attended a political rally in which we were to meet all candidates of the party sponsoring the event.

After we met the rooster of individuals running for the upcoming November election, I started to think who were the ones that had the best quality for successfully waging and wining this fall's campaign.

That led me to think about the indispensable qualities such a candidate must bring to the table:
1. A blend of Confidence, Assertiveness and Charisma
2. A thorough understanding of the Goals and Message (the product)
3. An Optimistic and Positive outlook
4. A dedication to Persistence and Tenacity
5. A sharp sense of Focus and Single-mindedness
6. A real sense of Empathy and Listening abilities

These traits are general found in any great salesperson and it might be that politics is the ultimate sales arena with the inherent intangibility of the proposition that needs to be sold.

Short of possessing this qualities, I truly believe any candidate will have a hard time succeeding in any political endeavor.

What do you think?

My buddy, the writer

A few days ago, I received a brand new book, in French, titled “The Improbable Ulysse”, written by one of my countrymen who also happened to have been my buddy during high school in that French, highly regimented technical college that was supposed to turn us all into mechanical geeks.

I had read the manuscript several years ago, found the story excellent as well as very well written, and was amazed to finally see it turned into a real, fresh-from-the-press book.

I've threatened to write several books in the past and still have nothing to show for it. while my friends has put his own inspiration into a tangible volume that I plan to devour as soon as I'm done with the book I'm currently trying to read.

Kudos, Bill!

Grateful to be old alive and healthy!

As I wake up each morning, I've developed the habit of marveling at still being alive (quite a few folks my age die in their sleep and don't get the chance to see another day).

Then wonderment seizes me when get off my bed and realize that my body is still functioning – for the most part - and my legs are still able to transport me to the kitchen where it's time for me to get our daily coffee started.

I check the outside temperature, lift a few shades and after looking at the heavens, immediately decide that it's going to be another unique and unforgettable day that will go far too far fast and won't let me do all the things I'd like to tackle.

It sure isn't perfect, but I won't even contemplate any other alternative!

How today's passes may change the way we ski?

Following the joint launches yesterday of the Ikon and Epic passes for the 2018-2019 season and their respective long list of owned, or associated ski resorts, future purchasers of both passes will begin having a totally different approach regarding the way they consume skiing and what their whereabouts might take them next season.

Increasingly, the breadth and attributes of the collection of resorts offered will take precedence over a single or preferred ski destination.

Instead skiers will begin composing itineraries meandering over a collection of ski hot-spots, or plan a larger number of ski trips centered on two or three possible destinations at a time, as long as they're somehow clustered and allow for a varied long-weekend or short mountain vacation.

Locals too will be tempted to take that extra ski outing outside of their normal comfort zone and while it will cost individual skiers more in terms of traveling, lodging and food, it may very well grow a business that has been historically stagnant and very hard to stimulate.

Finally, how will Park City benefit from that multi-resort exposure? Probably quite well as it's ease of access will shine even more when compared to all other destinations and make it the perfect choice for the short ski-jaunts that clearly are the shape of America ski industry's future!

Water treatment or a fishing pond?

When you ski Canyons and ride the “Orange” lift, you need to cross over a mountain lake.

A few days ago, I was riding with these two older men and while none of us knew each other, one said: “I don't know why they put a water treatment facility just in that spot?”

The other one went: “I heard by someone who seemed to know what he was talking about that they catch huge fish in that pond, in the summer.”

I finally came to their rescue by simply saying: “No, it's just a pond used for snow-making...”

Parking lot encounter

As we were returning from skiing yesterday afternoon, there was that guy, parked next to us, sitting on the sill of his hatchback and talking loudly on his phone. His pair of skis and boots were just laying, on the pavement, just in the way of our car.

We took our ski boots and helmets off, and when we were ready to leave, I said in a tongue-and-cheek manner: “Better get this equipment out of my way if you want to ski tomorrow!”

To my surprise, the guy didn't take my admonishment this well, and as he picked up on my French accent, he blurted in an unfriendly tone: “Talk to me like that and I'll get you deported!” To which my wife responded “Deport yourself!”.

We speedily backed up and got away from that madman who must also have been a Trump voter...

“Pelvic-thrust” ski turns?

Initiating turns in difficult terrain is always a challenge, even so subtle, for the very best skiers. We're all in search of the perfect spot to turn, especially when we're just a tiny bit out of timing in the search of the best spot for turning.

The end result is that we keep on going, turn farther away than we would have liked to, or scramble to make the skis turn when we run out of options and are unprepared to launch the turn as efficiently as we should.

To counter that, I have always favored the so-called “anticipation” advocated by Georges Joubert, in which the torso separated itself in advance from the legs and feet in the direction of the next turn. While not intuitive, this works quite well when a skier thinks about it.

In more recent years, with the advent of the Ted Ligety's GS turns, the focus shifted down onto the hips alone, and as took the time to look into that, I discovered that the real “motor” was found in a slightly upward pelvic thrust that combined all the virtues of anticipation, added a bit of unweighting that always comes in handy in difficult terrain and conditions.

If I've made myself clear enough, just try it for yourself and you'll discover the difference it makes!

The (real) reason why people have pets?

To me, pets seem to be slowly becoming more important and more gratifying than other human and if I go beyond the explanations of companionship and satisfied mutual needs, I tend to think that many people have pets because they're submissive, non judgmental and pose no risk of conflict, in comparison with human beings that are all the opposite.

Pets seem to be a much safer bet than anyone of us!

More years, less regrets

As time goes by, it seems to me that I have less and less regrets and that my life-script makes more and more sense as I move along, and seem to now justify the roads I chose and what often was some very questionable choices.

That's right; every piece falls into place. The farther I go into my life, the more I believe in fate and destiny, without much proof and rationale explanation, though.

The North American ski pass revolution

Vail's Epic Pass is changing the way people ski in North America. A few days ago, I was riding the chairlift in the company of visitors from Arizona.

They told me that they had traveled for a three-day weekend to ski Summit County, Colorado (A-Basin, Breckenridge and Keystone), were now experiencing a similar long weekend to Park City.

In addition, they were planning two extra outings; one to Lake Tahoe in California, and a last one to Whistler, in Canada on their same “Epic” pass. I'm not mentioning the countless Aussies that have an Epic Pass from Perisher Valley, or the Californians making a hop into Utah to augment their skiing experience.

All that significant multi-state and international traveling courtesy of their “Epic Pass”. Now that a competitive product (the Ikon Pass) will be launched shortly, expect to see more of these nomadic, resorts-hoping skiers and snowboarders in the coming years!

The challenge of trying to ski one's age

A few days ago, I had just skied as many times as I'm old. That's exactly right, I passed the “70” mark in the number of times out on the snow during this winter season.

I've been paying attention to this for quite a few years now, and while it was easy to reach these benchmarks when I was much younger, I now realize that it will be much tougher to reach the century mark when I'm... hundred years of age!

In fact, it's only after I retired from a daily job that I was able to consistently “ski my age”... Well, we'll have time to watch how I can keep up with meeting that fleeting challenge...