Wildcat Mountain, Pinkham Notch, NH – 3/9/08

We headed up NH 16 to North Conway on Sunday. Our plan was to stay in Conway and ski locally. Got to Wildcat about noon and headed up the mountain for some runs. Looking back, the drive up to the ski area should have been our first clue that this was not going to be a relaxing day of skiing with the kids. In town it was sunny and relatively warm with no wind. The drive fifteen miles up into the mountains became darker, windier and colder along the way. As we rode the chair to the green and blue runs, I noticed the snow flying and knew this snowboarder was going to be tested. I was not disappointed. The descent was filled with crud and I learned that, in this case at least, ‘frozen granular’ equates to ice sheets. I augured in a few times and after being spanked hard for a while, headed for the lodge.

After a Guinness (okay, two), Kirsten and the kids came blaring through the radio. Giving them my QTH (ham-speak for location), they arrived and was treated to their story. They had headed up to the summit but the cr*ppy conditions caused them to spend an hour getting down the hill starting from Upper Pole Cat. It was tough for the kids (hey, they are only 6 and 10) but they came through it fine and we continued on with our skiing and boarding the next day…