I just got back from a week of skiing at Schweitzer, Idaho with the Clear Lake Area Ski Club. It was a great trip, although it ended on a downer for me.

We started out by flying to San Francisco on Sunday the 7th. The weather there was great but we decided to not risk taking a cab down to Fisherman's Wharf for lunch due to traffic concerns. We hung out at the airport for the three hour layover, sampling some of the local microbrews and seafood. Our bus ride from Spokane to Schweitzer (outside of Sandpoint) was uneventful, although we did get a nice tour of the local Safeway supermarkets while picking up a couple that had been visiting friends/relatives up there.

When we got to our condos, some people had trouble getting in because of the deep snow blocking the front doors. On Monday morning, we had to climb out the upstairs balcony to get to the ski run. At the end of the day, I kicked in some steps up the 12-15 foot high wall of snow so we could actually use our back door as a ski entrance/exit.

For most of the week, we pretty much had the mountain to ourselves. On Monday, it seemed like every third person I saw was from our club. Most of us wore our CLASC windsocks so we were easy to spot. I continually skied right onto the chair with no lift lines. Most runs were empty as well. The snow was in great shape, with no rocks showing. It was interesting skiing amongst all the "snow ghosts" (snow-covered trees). The cliff bands that are normally exposed were completely covered with snow. I had a blast skiing all the bowls, steeps, and tree runs, with the occasional high-speed cruiser thrown in. They don't get enough skier traffic to develop any serious mogul runs there but have tons of off-piste style skiing. Some of their lifts are awfully slow and will probably be replaced by the new owners.

We had several fun club events such as a pub crawl and dinners. On Thursday, most of us took a bus over to Silver Mountain for the day. I skied as much of the mountain as I could. It had some pretty steep runs, including a wonderful glade run that I couldn't talk any of our group into doing with me. Their loss as it had the best snow on the mountain. The snow conditions there were a little more variable than at Schweitzer, with some slick (almost icy) runs in addition to some crusted crud. It also had leftover powder in the trees and on certain out of the way runs. They also had one of the steepest groomed runs I've ever seen (possibly steeper than Bushwacker at Telluride). It made for a great warmup run first thing in the morning. :)

On Friday, most of us did some NASTAR racing. The course was pretty short and everybody did really well. I picked up a silver medal with a 26 handicap (my best yet). The mountain was a little more crowded then and Saturday. I actually had to wait a few seconds before getting on the lifts a few times.

On Saturday morning, we had some fresh snow to play in. I got in the lift line 20 minutes before it was scheduled to open but Rhoda the Lift Nazi wouldn't let us on until 9:04. They had a Boy Scout troop that was going on an overnight camping trip from the top of the mountain that they had to upload first. At least I was on the first public chair. I got first tracks on several runs that morning.

The snow on Saturday was really soft and forgiving, what some call "hero snow", where you feel you can get away with anything. The visibility that day was fairly poor, with clouds covering the top half of the mountain. It's a lot of fun dropping off a cornice when you can't see where you're going to land. At about 1:30, I was skiing with several members of the club on a great glade run called Kathy's Yard Sale. There were several jumps towards the end of the run. I gave my camera to Butch and told him to get a shot of me going off one of the bigger ones. It had a fairly flat landing area but I had successfully landed it twice before. In case you hadn't guessed by now, my third attempt was not a good one. I almost landed it but lost control and ended up falling backwards with my skis underneath me. My left knee popped during the process, although my skis never came off. When I tried to see if I could ski down to go home my knee buckled and collapsed whenever I put weight on it with it fully extended. I asked someone to go call the ski patrol and have them send a stretcher. I took the toboggan ride down the hill, then got a snowmobile ride back to the base. I iced it down for the next 18 hours. I haven't seen an orthopedist yet but I'll be extremely surprised if my anterior cruciate ligament is still intact. There hasn't been any real pain yet. That'll come after surgery, assuming I need it. This was my only real fall during the entire week. I had a couple of hip-check type "unplanned stops" but never released a ski all week. I was skiing really well Saturday and up until the second I blew out my knee I was having a blast.

The trip home lasted a little longer than scheduled, thanks to a weather-induced two hour delay. Getting on the bus at 2:30AM wasn't exactly a ton of fun but I wasn't sleeping too well at that point anyway.

If I do have the surgery, I should be able to get it rehabbed in time for a trip or two next season.

Think SNOW!!!