Thursday, September 15, 2005

First Accumulation of Snow in Colorado!

The Associated Press is reporting that the first accumulation of snowfall has been dropped on Colorado. According to a report in the Wichita Eagle, "The group Colorado Ski Country USA said 13 Colorado resorts had reported at least a trace from late Tuesday to Wednesday afternoon."

Monarch, Arapahoe Basin and Silverton all have at least one on the ground.

It's not much, but it's a start.

Friday, September 02, 2005

Keeping it in Perspective

The other day I met the owner of November Boards, which sells a small number of hand-crafted snowboards each year. (Warning: the web site, which is being rebuilt for the new season, is sparse. It's also got tiny typeface, making it somewhat hard to read.)

November offers two boards. One is an all-mountain board that it calls Whistler. Another board, somewhat narrower and with greater flex, is a freestyle board suitable for the park and pipe. It's called the Lucky.

Why Lucky? The reason seems even more appropriate in light of the devastation in Louisiana and Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina:

If you are reading this, there is a good chance you are a person who has time in their day to contemplate a rail slide or plan a trip to the mountains. Here's the shocker: not everyone has this luxury. In fact, most people on this planet don't. Instead of worrying about the forward lean of their bindings, they are trying to fend off impending famine, avoid being imprisoned for their political beliefs, survive the elements, poverty or any number of challenges that face most people on earth on a daily basis. Sometimes its good to have a reminder of how lucky each of us is.

Elementary? Yes, this is something that Grays on Trays ought to know already, and I suspect they do. Still, there's nothing wrong with a good reminder now and then.