What’s in name ?

Ski runs are named after a variety of things, events, animals or people. Most of the Park City ski trails are named after mine claims since many of our runs are on, or near, old silver mines. 

There are however exceptions to that, like Stein Way at Deer Valley, named after Stein Eriksen or Ligety Split, after our very own Ted Ligety and many runs at Canyon named after animals.

There are some names though, that remain hard to relate to, like on the Canyons side of Park City a run named “STH” next to “Spider Monkey”. It’s not actually a run, it’s more of a crazy steep spot that’s very hard to ski when snow is thin, but that’s quite fun this season as long as you don’t make a mistake and fall. 

So, as I’ve skied that run a lot so far this season, I wondered what does that acronym STH stands for? I did some research and found that STH could be an accepted abbreviation for “something” or even “sthenic” which means having a high or excessive level of strength and energy. 

That could have made some sense, but I was still not satisfied, so one day as I was riding the chairlift, I asked a female ski patrol who had no clue whatsoever, but another passenger said: “It means ‘Steeper than hell’, and Snowbird has a run named just like that. 

I was relieved and satisfied as I had finally solved a bothersome mystery!

The Killy I used to like…

To prepare for the upcoming Alpine world ski championships in Courchevel-Meribel, the “Dauphiné Libéré”, my hometown daily newspaper, has been publishing a series of video interviews of former French world champions, and the last one I saw was Killy’s. 

I used to like Jean-Claude Killy until he fell under the nefarious spell of Vladimir Putin. He was a clear, no-nonsense individual that in fact I admired tremendously to that point that he became my lifetime hero until he fell for the Russian dictator. 

Some say that through his KGB indoctrination, Putin became gifted at playing people, finding their soft spots to lead them to his views and ideas. To me, Killy seemed to smart to fall into that trap, unless his interaction with Putin prior, and doing the Sochi Olympics, made him a much richer man. 

That no one will ever know, so for the time being enjoy watching that video that shows the side of Killy that I used to appreciate so much, that of course, if you understand French! 

FAQ about Putin’s nuclear threats…

During most interview or news shows about the Ukraine war, the constant question we hear is that one: “If Putin uses nuclear tactical, or even larger weapons out of desperation, what should the US response be?” 

No one seems able, imaginative or daring enough to voice a sound answer capable of addressing the danger packaged with a nuclear response or the absence of one as a tit for tat reaction. 

Without pretending to be a political expert, I think I know the best answer to Putin resorting to the use of any kind of nuclear warhead again Ukraine or its allies. The best would be to immediately “neutralize” Putin, Lavrov and Army General Gerasimov.

These three characters should be geo-localized in permanence to allow for such a swift, surgical and effective action. 

That’s right, the logical course of action would be to “neutralized” this troika for good and then, and immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine should precede any disarmament of Russia and repair or restitution for Ukraine. 

Absent that action from Russia, strike its strategic assets. This strategy would offer a swift and definite response to Putin’s demented plans. I hope Biden does just this when and if he must address this issue.

The Boeing 747 finally bows out

At the end of January, the last 747 rolled of the assembly line at Boeing Everett’s plant near Seattle after more than half a century since the original jumbo jet was introduced to the world, contributing in a great way to change the way we travel, not to mention the cost for doing so to passengers.

I remember flying for the first time inside that giant airplane between Montreal and Paris on a brand new Air France 747 in October of 1971. 

I have lost count on how many times I had a good night sleep, fully stretched out on the plane center row. Since that time, I must have flown hundreds of time in that remarkable aircraft. 

In total, Boeing has built 1547 model 747 and there are still more than 400 in service (mostly to carry air cargo like the very last delivered to Atlas Air) including 44 still transporting passengers. 

As always, when a page is being turned, it’s easy to feel a bit nostalgic. I won’t. This is just the march of progress and history in the making...

New ski runs just for me!

Because we got so much snow, we’ve been able to ski the southeast side of Super Condor at Canyons without touching a single rock or stump on many occasion, which in of itself is a very rare occurrence. 

In fact, recently, I have left my favorite, Ninety-nine 90 to spend more time skiing on both sides of that ridge. More exciting though, a few day ago, Ski Patrol opened passages A and B (see photo) that I’ve seen open before.

This was short live though as these two fine runs were closed again yesterday as temperatures were on the rise. I managed to ski A (the most interesting of the two) twice. 

It’s very steep and quite challenging, at least the sunny exposure and very few skier passages make it so. The first time I did it, one of my ski got stuck and I got ejected far below and had to climb back precariously and with much difficulties to get my board back. 

I also skied C, finally under good conditions, but I had done it a few time before with less than ideal coverage. Hopefully, A and B with re-open as we get more snow and I’ll have a chance to enjoy skiing them again. 

By the way, I’ll need to ask Ski Patrol for the name of A, B and C!

My shoulder, seven weeks later...

On December 15, I badly hurt my left shoulder following a hit and run ski accident in Park City. 

For reasons that are just tied to my stubborn and macho attitudes, I didn’t go to see a doctor, refused to ice the injured area, even took an extra run after the accident. 

That’s how I paid the price of not being able to put and take off my ski boots by myself at first, and suffered sort of a martyr in bed for at least five weeks. 

This is not the first time I act like this and I sincerely hope it will be the very last. By the way, I’m only starting to feel much better now, but still stand at 90% of full recovery…

A harsh winter doesn’t negate global warming!

Yesterday was a very cold morning at -11 degree Fahrenheit (-24 C). It was in fact our coldest morning in decades. Should I mention that we’ve got a record snow year too?

So, at a time when global warming is solidly settled into our common beliefs, it’s sometime hard for us not to get confused between weather and climate, or between one specific moment and the long term. 

This said, I do believe that the earth is heating up, its glaciers are melting and the snow line is climbing all over the world, but that obviously leaves room for exception that don’t even make a dent into long-term trends. We just need to be able to differentiate the daily conditions from the yearly statistics. 

We’ve been living in a long term drought in Utah, and meteorologists claim that it would take four of five seasons just like this one to turn the situation around and replenish our water reserves. 

I hope it happens, but doubt it seriously. All this to say that I will enjoy this season’s superb snow while I go skiing and abstain for hoping a repeat performance next winter!