Sorry for the delay in the update, my fingies are finally recovering from the chilly-willy Cup Race event at Ski Denton. Was it cold in Scranton too? Not sure what happened back at Sno, but I do know that we are nearing the finish line for the 07-08 season in a hurry!
Ski Denton was neat. Imagine a small ski area, hard to get to, small parking lot for perhaps a hundred cars at best, and registration/race prep inside the maintenance building. Grass roots racing to the fullest. Thankfully Denton was a bit short on snow and was not able to use the huge start platform they built at the top of the race slope. You think Smoke is steep? HA! Denton’s start is notably steeper, if you can imagine. Anyway, another record was set this weekend, more on that in a bit.
Molly kicked off the event with a hearty 11th place first run but came on REAL strong in the second, slamming home a 4th place run to total out for an 8th place result overall. That’s huge! Smoke training pays off I see! Peter got off to a rough start, klunking over and hiking once or twice. He put a good second run together but his first run was what drug him down to a 63rd place. Dan Cohen, now-a-days a real dark horse, also had a few faults and landed in 55th, with Marky-D a few ticks faster in in 48th. Brian had a great run going, right around top 10, but couldn’t back it up in the second. Patrick ran a conservative 34th, and Willy finished an impressive 25th. Flyin’ Ryan, now better known to his TV fans as ‘Big Dawg’, had little trouble dispatching his competition and landed safely and smartly in first place, by almost a full second. Niiiiice!!
Saturday evening found us back at the hotel enjoying the company of other ski teams, the pool and a night out on the town. With word of a truly miserable day ahead, we packed it in early (most of us 
and prepared for Sunday.
The day started off nice enough, brisk with plenty of Sun. By the time the race was over at 2:15pm, it was in the mid teens and wind huffing like mad! Molly once again lead things off, but was a bit depressed at a mediocre run. Truth be told, I was a bit disappointed as well. She was somewhere around 12th or 13th place. A lame pep talk on my part seemed to not help one bit (sooo sorry Molly!!). So what’s a Molly to do? Nothing…. Other than go out and kick butt in a way that made everyone recheck their start sheets for a name. Molly won the second run!! YUPS! She put one together, evening out to a cool 5th overall. Yeah Molly!!
Peter, though skiing better, still had a bit of trouble mastering the silly-steeps but took a well deserved 47th. Mark found a nice 32nd to his liking and Pat upping a few from yesterday with a 30th. Dan the man had a top 10 start but did a looptie-loo near the bottom and was suspected of straddling a bamboo. He says not, but I thought I detected a warble in his voice afterwards, so who knows. Willy continued to impress his coaches as well as the 1-2 scene and did not disappoint with a 23rd overall. Brian D really turned on the smoke today and scored an impressive top 10 result. He’s now mingling with the fast boys and is looking to begin the climb to the podium. Of course, Ryan will have to give up his spot if that’s to happen. Ryan won Saturday’s event by a second. Today, he felt a better spanking was in order and he clobbered the crowd by winning by nearly 2 seconds. What’s next Ryan, jeeez!
So did you catch the record? No? Well, for the first time in Sno/Montage history, we had a girl and boy win a run on the same run. No doubt, Molly is in the hunt. Could we see a boy girl first place overall soon? No pressure Molly.
Out takes:
#1 Ryan and Mark, comedian Geno Curran and I went out to a fancy restaurant, following a large crowd from Elk. Since they didn’t think to include us in their reservations (it was supposedly arranged earlier in the evening), we were left high and dry. Mark spun a tale of sorrow and a table magically appeared. While we were well into our first beer and salad, Elk was still waiting for their table. The kind and thoughtful waitress gave us a blank check to fill out with allot of expensive food and beverage, plus a huge tip. She played along and gave the bogus bill to Elk while we ran past her/them and waved ‘BYE’! She faked a startled look and for a short time, had Elk very concerned that this was going to be an expensive night.
#2 Denton has two Poma lifts. Always great to see and use them! Old School! No good stories this time around, but here’s an excerpt from an update dated 11/26/2003, post Killington Team Trip…
***Nicolette Pocious VS. Mr. Poma. Nic was having one heck of a time riding the cranky old Killington Poma lift that was in place decades before she was even born. First trip up, Mr. Poma chucks her off quite smartly. Second trip up, Poma snags her pole away. Finally, Miss Pocius said enough is enough. On her last trip up, near the end of the ride, Mr Poma tries to toss her again. Instead she hangs on and fights back. Tired and decrepit, the Poma stick coils begin to unravel (literally) and at the top disengages from the clamp shooting the stick and plastic platter (as they call it) skyward as if an arrow shot from a bow. With that, the cable flings itself cleanly off the pulley leaving us all stranded mid-pull, and eventually shutting down the lift for the rest of the day. We all stepped a little more carefully around Nic for the rest of the weekend.
Ahhh yes, good old days!
Mongo congrats to J3 racers Tommy, Evan, Michael and Cassidy for making the cut for J3 State Championships in Seven Springs thing weekend! Way to go 3’s!!
Also congrats to Ryan, Brian and Molly for making post season events. Consult Mark for details!
Good luck to the 3’s, makes us proud!
Coach Rolf
Quote for the day: “One machine can do the work of 50 ordinary men, No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man”. Elbert Hubbard
