"P" is for Pico, Perfect Powder and Sushi

 
 
It's always awkward when you stand next to some goofball in a quiet bathroom of a shushi restaurant doing your business.
"Boy the the place is packed," I say staring at the wall last Saturday night.
I immediately open a floodgate - of enthusiastic banter that is.
... The food is great in this place, my new friend explains. We tried to make a reservation for the hibachi, but I couldn't get one. We came here anyway. We were here for dinner last night too! ...
He wasn't a goofball at all. He was a yahoo in his late-20s, most likely from out-of-state, up at Killington having the time of his life.
And he was right: if you find something special like Killington's Sushi Yoshi restaurant, you stick with it.
That's why I skied Pico with my friends Rich (above) and Rim (right) all day Saturday and went back AGAIN Sunday morning.
For me, the "P" in Pico was for "Perfect" this past weekend. Perfect powder and perfect pitch.
A constant weekend snow had sprinkled eight to ten inches of fluffy powder into the Pico woods.
Just enough snow to cruise through Pico's woods without any effort.
Actually I had the best 60 seconds of skiing of my life on Sunday.
I was jetting through a wooded area, snow was sprinkling through the air, the birches were covered with snow and were passing me like a blur.
The song on my IPod switched just in time from Greenday's version of Rainy Day Woman (which was perfect for Giant Killer) to Lucinda Williams' "Steal Your Love," a perfect song for a dreamy powder run.
 
I don't want your drugs and I don't want your money
I just wanna steal your love
I want you to squeeze me and call me honey
I just wanna steal your love

Again it takes the perfect pitch. Too steep and you are fighting the hill. Too slow and you don't go.
My friends will kill me, but the perfect pitches for powder seem to be to skiers' right of the Lower KA trail, below 49er.
Another is to skier's left of Giant Killer, above Fools Gold.
There are others. The new game at ski areas is to find the best sections of wooded areas to ski the Powder.
Thanks to shorter skis and snowboards, the woods are now more popular than ever.
However, remember to avoid the big trees, small branches and ravines.
Big trees equal big injuries, small branches equal sprained knees and ravines get you wet.

(CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE)

To Tune Or Not to Tune?

 
  Tuning skis by hand is about as much fun as battling a nine-year-old kid who is full of beans. At first it is fun, but after a while, it's a pain and can hurt .
Many skiers wonder if they should set up a place in their house to tune-up their skis.
My answer is: if you are a recreational skier with one or two pairs of skis, don't bother.
For as little as  $120 a year you can get a "seasonal" tune at a local ski shop and get the benefit of a machine sharpening, grind and wax. You get to bring in your skis in once a week and that's plenty. You don't want to wreck your skis by tuning them too many times. I got into tuning skis in my cellar because my kids raced for the Pico Ski Club and each had four or five sets of skis. (ouch) Racers and twin tips. So tuning them myself made sense. It takes about 45 minutes and a Long Trail per pair of skis. It also takes focus and some arm strength.
I only tune one pair of ski per family unit now, but I've kept the ski tuning set-up. (Laundry table, ski clamps, files, wax, Walgreen's iron).
If you tune yourself, you still should machine tune at a ski shop two or three times a year.
If you want to tune at home, Peak Performance on the Killington Road has the experts who can set you up for about $250 and give you some tips.
The basic steps are to sharpen your edges with diamond-stone files.
Then drip hot wax with a iron onto the bottom of the skis.
And finally scrape and brush the wax.
Talk to the Peak experts and find a workshop (or go online) if you are interested in tuning, especially if you have racers. Otherwide take advantage of a local ski shop.
Again, the tune will depend on two things: the quality of the ski shop's tuning equipment and the talent and experience of the tuner.
If the ski tuner offers you shots of strange green liquid as you arrive at the shop, only trust this person with your rock skis. (CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE)