2005/02/19 Kirkwood: 2 days, 2 to go | |
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2005-02-19 19:24
by Merlin
in Nsnow, Snow
This morning I already had to check out (fully booked for sat night), and I was somewhat worried the that maybe only gas station I could get to without pushing might run out of gas this 3 day weekend, so I drove out the nice covered parking lot and went to get a few gallons (it's the wrong octane rating, but my engine will auto-adapt down). The very short drive down there was interesting to say the least. I confirmed that my tires have close to 0 traction in the snow (and we're talking traces, maybe 5mm), but BMW's DSC (stability control) did a good job of it, I think it's hard to spin the car out if you drive slow. I'm just worried of what it would do downhill or uphill if the car weight exceeds the very little traction the tires offer (which is why I'm not really looking forward to driving over Carson Spur on them if there is any snow/ice)
I checked at the main lodge if a room had freed up for tonight, and they just got a studio for the bargain price of $350/night, swell. First, I thought that they were pushing, and then figured fuck it, I can afford it anyway. Unfortunately, in the 2mn that took, the room got booked. Oh well, I went to have Kirkwood's famous cheese and bacon croissant, started a little late (09:45), but since it hadn't really snowed, that was ok. The funny part is that I got to meet someone from mc during the day. When we Emailed this week, we realized were were both spending the weekend in kirkwood, so might as well meet there. That's unusual, but I found the idea amusing. She's a blue skier, so we had lunch and did a 3 runs together (solitude first, then I brought her to Corniche, which she had never done, and she survived the way down, although I had to catch her once when she missed a turn and was most likely going to slide down the hill for a long time (rode down in front of her, and stopped her, which was a bit brutal, I got hit in the face a bit, but whatever, I wear protection for a reason) After being booted off corniche the second time up because she has a beginner pass and wasn't allowed on the said lift, we did the reut, and then she bailed because she was getting tired, so I had enough time for another couple of walls in heavy snow and fairly bad visibility, and one last corniche to finish the day. I went to the main lobby again to beg for a room, but they only had one that just freed up and hadn't got cleaned ($350 too), and that was it (they later confirmed that they were not allowed to sell it to me unclean). So, I just went back to the meadows, and I'm going to sleep behind one of the sofas on the 2nd floor (luckily I brought a sleeping bag, and an air mattress, so with ear plugs on top, it should be ok as long as no staff finds me and tries to boot me out). It's still nice and warm, and they still have wireless :) Looking at snow conditions, I may actually stay all 4 days: tomorrow is going to get a fair amount of snow too, so I might as well stay until monday night. If the floor isn't too bad tonight, I'll probably do the same thing tomorrow night too. In the meantime, my car is safe illegally parked in a safe spot underground :) Mmmh, I also just received some not so good news, which I guess were good news too. It's good to at least know something. Thanks. |