Marc Liebman

Personal Note: Sources Of Inspiration And Frustration

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A Military Epic Pass Discount Special Became A Big Motivator To Get Back In Shape.

Marc—The Inspired Biker—Liebman

Last winter and spring, like many others, I watched the ski season melt away. For those who went before the big shut down, good on you. For, me, the only hopes I had of skiing was in late April or May or June at Mammoth.  And, poof, that was gone.

Slowly, I had been building back the stamina I had from a persistent infection I was fighting since the previous summer, but at 74 and more than a half, what was gone was gone, never to return.

Yet, I had hope.

Hope came from several sources. One was that medically I knew I was beating the bug. Another was from the emails from ski areas saying they just received X inches of new snow. Snow wasn’t going away. That was comforting.

Another inspiration came from an odd source. One morning, my inbox has an email from the people who run Epic Pass offering a steep discount for an unlimited pass assuming I could prove that I was a member—active, reserve or retired—of the U.S. military. I read the fine print, called and then had a long online chat with the online person before I plunked down my credit card data for an Epic Pass that cost about what I would spend for two days of skiing! The purchase was a no brainer.

So, with that in hand, so to speak, I was even more inspired to regain as much as I could the way of fitness for the season to come. At the end of June, I was finally off the medications and cleared to start exercising more “vigorously” than walking.  Since Covid had shut down all gyms and even when they re-opened, they were considered high-risk for a septuagenarian.

What was left? Summer in North Texas was here, and I pulled my bike down from the rack. The tires were flat and when I tried to pump them up, I popped both tubes. Since it hadn’t been ridden in a year, I took it to a bike shop which recommended that I replace the brake pads, (cracked and split and soon wouldn’t work) and the chain which was showing some signs of wear.

How long to fix? Six weeks! Egads! Everyone was rehabbing their bikes, it seems. So it was back to walking.

But, beginning in August, I was on the bike four or five times a week. The goal, get back to 20 miles a ride. Now, before you are impressed, the elevation change of the route I take is a whopping 94 feet. I’m averaging about 10.6 miles per hour so I am not riding like a bat out of hell. Eleven miles takes roughly an hour.

The most important thing is that I am riding and am, as of this writing, doing about 12 miles a ride. Still working on getting to 20. Next challenge is figuring out how to get to the slopes to make use of my Epic Pass.

Now that’s an inspiration.

Hirsch Stube
Dave Chambers

Empty Pockets In Gressoney La Trinité, Aosta Valley

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A Simple Lunch Turns Into A Lasting Memory In A Small Italian Alps Town.

Hirsch Stube in the summer. Small, friendly, perfect for a day of rest from skiing.

When you are living out of a suitcase while traveling from one ski resort to another and have to transfer cash and cards from ski pants to jeans daily, inevitably, one day a mishap will occur.

I am in Gressoney La Trinité, the highest town in the Lys Valley which itself forms part of the even larger Valle d’Aosta in Northwest of the Italian Alps. It’s an ancient town as are all of the towns in this steep sided valley. This is skiing Mecca to those in the know. Down the road a piece is Chamonix very nearby is Mount Rosa,  the second highest mountain in Europe. I have earned my day off. Skiing for the week in powder and steep rocky pitches, I confirm with my buddy at breakfast, today I rest.

So rest day is my time to reset, wander, and ponder in the little village dominated by steep mountain sides soaring to over 14,000 feet and will include lunch nearby.

At Hirsch Stube Trattoria in Gressony La Trinité, I order a half-litre carafe of red wine, the house special, and very special it is too, musky with dark chocolate, beautiful drinking. In addition to the wine, I add a ravioli, sparkling water and mountain bread. Briskly the order is removed to the kitchen just an arms length from my table for one.

Suddenly clutching the empty pockets of my jeans I discover to my horror: No cash, no Euros and no credit cards. OMG! 

‘Scusi, I say, to Francesca, the delightful host, I have no money. I attempt to explain my embarrassment. She says, in perfect English, “No no, I trust you, we are open all day, just enjoy your meal and come back later”. I do. 

The trattoria is almost full. A child wanders in with a Labrador on a lead and joins her parents. This seems so normal here in this mountain village. Everyone greets the dog, rubbing its ears and whispering niceties to the animal. It sniffs the floor for crumbs and sits contentedly, quietly, at the owners feet.

Here’s the bar in the trattoria.

Timber panelling, local stone, blackboard menus and timber tables decorate the space. The place is tiny, seating no more than thirty persons. The owners Francesca and her husband have owned it for three years. Prior to this proudly exclaiming they had spent a year in Australia. Yes, she says, we visited the Great Ocean Road near Melbourne. And so we exchange mutual stories about travel and restaurants owned and experiences. I promise to come back some time. An exchange that isn’t the first this trip.

The wine, the ravioli sublime with wild mushrooms and mountain herbs are swept up from the plate, every last crumb. What a wonderful place here in the mountains of high Italy. Snow decorates the pine trees in this little village shoe horned in to this steep valley. The locals are aware of the the tasty fare at this ristorante. You should visit sometime. Me, I plan to return again soon.

What: Bar Trattoria Hirsch Stube

Where: Gressoney la Trinité, Aosta Valley, Italy

 

seniorsskiing

Early Turns At Wolf Creek

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A Report From The First North American Ski Area To Open.

Wolf Creek, CO, opening weekend end of October. “Fall conditions”. Credit: John Farley

After the big snowstorm that dropped two feet of snow at Wolf Creek from Sunday, October 25 through Tuesday morning, October 27, Colorado’s Wolf Creek became the first ski area in the United States to open on Wednesday, October 28. 

I skipped the first day to avoid the likely first-day crowd and to preserve social distancing, but did ski both Thursday and Friday. 

Because of COVID, during what they are calling the “pre-season,” it is really all about skiing and nothing else at Wolf Creek.  There is literally nothing open except the lifts, the ski runs, and the restrooms.  No lodge, ski rentals, lessons, food service, or ski shops.  Just skiing. 

Since I knew that on the first days I would be in shape for nothing like a full day of skiing, I decided both days to head up around mid-day in hopes of getting a close parking spot where some early bird left.  Since I would have to get into my boots at the car with no lodge open and then hike up to the lifts in my boots, it seemed to make sense to get as close a place as possible.  (Note – at Wolf Creek it is a bit of an uphill hike from the parking lots to the lifts, particularly since the lift with the lowest loading area is not running yet.)  My strategy worked out nicely as I got good close spots both days, though I was still huffing and puffing by the time I got up to the closest lift to the lots.  Of course, with Wolf Creek’s base elevation of around 10,300 feet above sea level, it is easy to huff and puff.

But once I got to the lifts, it was well worth it.  It was a beautiful day with good fall skiing conditions both days. (Note: fall skiing conditions are about the same as spring conditions, except that it is fall instead of spring.)  About 40 percent of the terrain was open, including two chairlifts serving a variety of top-to-bottom runs. 

On Thursday I had a chance meeting on the slopes with Girard, the new president of the Gray Wolf Ski Club, a 900-member club for over-50 skiers based in the areas around Wolf Creek.  I told him it was about the third time I had spoken to any fellow member of the club in person since the pandemic started.  Very strange times we live in. Girard and his wife Becky, who was elsewhere on the hill and I did not see, lived about 15 miles from us in southern Illinois, but we never met until we all retired to Pagosa Springs.  I always tell them that is their fault, because for some reason they never belonged to the St. Louis Ski Club, of which I was a member for 30-plus years and am a past president.

Regarding COVID-19 protocols, in addition to the aforementioned limitation in amenities, masks are required for everyone in the parking lots, the base area, and getting on and off the lifts.  However, it is OK to pull them down when actually skiing.  Wolf Creek does plan to open additional amenities such as rentals, lessons, food and beverage service, etc., but the date for this has not been determined.  However, the ski area itself is now open daily for the season.

You might wonder how far some people are willing to travel to ski the first and only ski area open in the United States.  Apparently pretty far.  On the two days I skied, I saw cars parked near mine from Tennessee, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Ohio.

Over last weekend, I had a Facebook messaging discussion with another Gray Wolf member who went up early Friday and encountered icy conditions as a result of the melt-freeze cycle and limited early season grooming.  That was when I realized my strategy of going up mid-day had another benefit. By the time I got there the sun had softened up the snow and the conditions were much better than earlier.  This was likely more true on Friday than on Thursday, due to the warm sunny weather that began Thursday and has continued since.  Although the conditions were very good by the time I got up there, it was evident that the snow will not hold up for too long unless we get another storm, as rocks and bare spots were starting to appear here and there and the afternoon temperatures were warm.  Fortunately, there appears to be another big storm coming this weekend, with the possibility of two to three feet of new snow in the San Juans.  And the trend to colder temperatures and the switchover from daylight to standard time should both help to reduce any further tendency for icy conditions in the morning when the ski area opens.

[Late-Breaking Update: As of end of November, Wolf Creek is now offering private (five people) ski and snowboard lessons, reservations required. Also, Wolf Creek has now received a cumulative total of 91 inches of snow and has 98 percent of the terrain open with all lifts operating.]