night skiing Thurs.?

[el-bagr]

Perhaps a bit of a geographic long shot, but is anyone up for night skiing at Shawnee Peak (http://www.shawneepeak.com/) in Bridgton, Maine (sort of SW-ish)?

Thursday night is going to be in the negative-double-digit temps, so come one, come all for some wicked good fun.

[Skilasnow]

geographic missed shot

[el-bagr]

I tell you folks, you're missing out... I headed out there last night and skied 6-9 under the lights...

OK, well, maybe conditions weren't that great. The base was largely hardpack and ice. I found a "powder patch" under a snowgun ahead, picked up speed for some good turns in the deep... and decelerated from 30-0 in about 2 feet as my skis froze instantly into the demon slush. I would have cartwheeled, but my head froze to the ground the second it hit. (Great way to stretch your back.)

After that, even the ice looked good.

Hey, it was still skiing!

So, who's up for tomorrow? Surely I'm not the only southern Mainer?

[elwood]

I'll go skiing tomorrow night if you want to come down to Bolton... Otherwise, don't think I can make it...

[kfarrar]

I'd definatley be in for some skiing but it looks like that won't happen until Monday. Still no binding to replace my currently broken one.

Shawnee's a great place for some night skiing. Have fun!

[el-bagr]

Shameless bump!

Though it sounds like I can lure none of you to frigid southern Maine -- despite promises of temps below -9 F -- I will be at Shawnee again tonight around 6. Maybe if I show enough enthusiasm, some day I'll meet some of you.

(Sorry, Elwood... I used to ski Bolton when I lived on the Connecticut River, but it's a bit of a hump these days.)

[el-bagr]

Shawnee express rides again tonight...

[el-bagr]

Pretty soon I'll stop advertising these trips, but once again, we'll be heading to Shawnee Peak from Portland tonight. Looks like Tues/Thurs is our regular cycle. A great place to sharpen your skills -- I'll be an honest-to-goodness telemarker one of these days.

[Skilasnow]

One of these days I am very likely ro surprise you, so don't stop posting your plans

[el-bagr]

As a surprise trip, it's Shawnee Peak again tonight. The wife has to work on the weekend, and she doesn't want to miss out on those turns.

[el-bagr]

You guys definitely missed out last night. The skiing was pretty good, and at about 8:30, we heard a garbled drunken-sounding announcement over the loudspeakers -- something like, "Hey, where is everybody? I'm Glen Plake, come drink with me."

When the lifts shut down half an hour later, after our last run we headed back toward the lodge, and saw that the parking space next to ours was occupied by a large RV with Glen Plake's picture on the back. Sure enough, there in the lodge was Mr. Plake, his long bleached hair hanging down under a purple beanie. He and his wife Kimberly were indeed drinking (apparently water for Glen; he's cleaned up his act) and signing posters.

Seems like he's following me -- I saw him at Sunday River last weekend. Still, what better ending to a great night of skiing than to hoist a few with a legend?

[2plankerider]

gotta love Plake...
while all the other rock star status skiiers are getting snorkel sucking freshies out west, here is plake night skiing at Shawnee Peak?
classic
(insert mowhawk graemlin here)

[el-bagr]

At one point Plake stood up, holding a black umbrella (closed) over his head, and yelled, "Who here attended an outdoor motorcross event in the last year?" As people yelled out various responses like, "I own a Kawasaki" and "I watched one on tv last month", Plake explained, "I can't bear to give away a golf umbrella if it's going to be used for the purposes of such an undignified sport as golf." When we left the bar, he still had the umbrella.

He was wearing a snazzy purple beanie with rhinestones on it, plus rainbow suspenders. He didn't think much of my beat-up leather tele boots though.

[el-bagr]

Shawnee Express rides tonight.

[el-bagr]

http://timefortuckerman.com/photopost/data/500/209PICT0003-med.JPG

Probably going to hit it up again tomorrow night (have binding repair work to do tonight)...

[Skilasnow]

but who's the hottie next to him? :D