Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 3:25 pm
The alarm clock sounded at 3am. I picked up the phone and dialed up SkiCop. He was on the road after working the night shift. I staggered to the shower all the while wishing that I could go back to sleep. 15 minutes later I woke k2josh and thegassman, who were crashed out in my living room. They had stayed up late dejected about the SEC championship game. Also, they had to pick up Bamapilot and take him home after the Powder Wagon blew a water pump. SkiCop and LollarAT showed up about 3:30am, and we were on the road by 3:45am. 5 hours and one pit stop later we arrived to find a spot reserved for us in Cat’s rockstar parking thanks to Teledave. SkiNC was well represented in the parking lot with Dave, Mr. Stinky, GreshamB, MBlacky, Mellow Yellow, WayneCash, drmnofpow and gf, Eastcoaster, Skimastercraft, DaddyGrace, Misstrial, and probably someone else that I am forgetting.
We were about an hour late past opening, and the line to donate and get tickets was easily 150’ long and about 5 people wide. I knew then that this day would be more about having a good time with friends rather than logging a ton of vertical. We stood out in the parking lot for about 45 minutes to let the line dissipate. Finally, we turned in our cans and picked up our tickets. I made my first run of the season with Eastcoaster and Mellow Yellow.
EC has some strange warm up rituals
And so does Mellow
k2josh wishes that he owned some Bro’s
Mellow likes to get low
Green Hornet sighting
And like KneeDeep, he seems to bias his turns
After making a couple runs we finally saw Gresham, Dave, Clemsonkerri, Ragu, Stealthboarder,….
G shows how to keep your knees together
Dave did make some good turns before he ate it…see the other thread for the crash gif
Ragu
Random telewha cker guy…anyone ID him?
It seemed like hours before I ever saw Cop or Josh.
I apologize for cutting off the feet here. I had switched to a 180mm prime lens, and I am still getting used to not having a zoom.
Josh and his pole steeze
The crowds on the snow were not too bad all day. Although, at times it was like running moving gates. The lift lines were long, but this day was really about the food and coat drive. So, a little inconvenience was worth it.
This little girl didn’t seem to mind the crowds either.
Most of the crew cut out early to hit Guyabitos, but having driven so far we decided to stay and make a few more runs. I think that we finished up about 4pm. I went into the lodge to say hi to Tammy Brown, but she was as busy as a bee...just like she had been all day. Everytime that I saw her she was walking fast and talking on the radio. I was able to sit down with Cat general manger Chris Bates, who had come in on his off day to help out.
Here is a short interview that I did with him.
BC: Today (Sunday) you hosted your annual Can U Ski Food and Coat drive program. How did that get started?
CB: Several years ago, we were trying to figure out something that we could do for the local charities and incorporate free skiing into it. What we came up with was that the fact that the county's less fortunate had a big need for canned food right before the holidays, and Haywood Christian Ministries seemed to have the largest need at that time.
BC: Obviously, it is a great deal for everyone involved. The skiers get a free day on the snow, Haywood Christian Ministries gets a substantial donation, and you guys get the satisfaction of doing something good for the local community.
CB: Yeah, it gives us the opportunity to give something back to the community. It also allows everyone in the community to give something back, and we have had our best turnout ever today.
BC: There are definitely a lot of people at Cataloochee today.
CB: Yeah, I figure we have about 20,000 cans of food right now and about 2,000 guests on the mountain for day skiing.
BC: On a slightly different note, what aree your thoughts on this great early season opening?
CB: It is always nice to start out strong. We have more terrain open now than ever before at this point in the season. It was nice to get going in October. That is something that we had wanted to do for a long time, and it all came together this year.
BC: How many times have you guys been open for skiing in October?
CB: We have never made snow in October before this year. Our earliest opening prior to this year was November 2nd and 3rd a few years ago. This has been a first for us, and I have never skied in October before.
BC: How aggressive are you guys going to be in opening up the new terrain that was never opened last season?
CB: We are going to try to make snow on in it at the first opportunity. Right now, our goal is to get 2 trails from the top of the mountain open with the new terrain coming last. It is still early in the year, and we are still trying to build some base on the lower part to make sure we have the best conditions for the Christmas holidays. Yesterday, we did start making snow on top of the mountain. That is our goal to get all of that open, and we are going to be as aggressive as we can be without taking a chance on losing some base elsewhere.
BC: It will be good to open the new terrain to give people several different options and spread people out on the mountain.
CB: Yeah, we want to be able to tie the mountain together and give people another way around. Once we get that open and see how it skis, our end goal in a couple of years is to put in a fourth lift to serve as mid mountain lift.
BC: Well, thanks for taking time out to talk today, and thanks for putting on such a great event. It was a great day on the mountain.
CB: Well, it is something that we enjoy, and it makes us feel good.
We were about an hour late past opening, and the line to donate and get tickets was easily 150’ long and about 5 people wide. I knew then that this day would be more about having a good time with friends rather than logging a ton of vertical. We stood out in the parking lot for about 45 minutes to let the line dissipate. Finally, we turned in our cans and picked up our tickets. I made my first run of the season with Eastcoaster and Mellow Yellow.
EC has some strange warm up rituals
And so does Mellow
k2josh wishes that he owned some Bro’s
Mellow likes to get low
Green Hornet sighting
And like KneeDeep, he seems to bias his turns
After making a couple runs we finally saw Gresham, Dave, Clemsonkerri, Ragu, Stealthboarder,….
G shows how to keep your knees together
Dave did make some good turns before he ate it…see the other thread for the crash gif
Ragu
Random telewha cker guy…anyone ID him?
It seemed like hours before I ever saw Cop or Josh.
I apologize for cutting off the feet here. I had switched to a 180mm prime lens, and I am still getting used to not having a zoom.
Josh and his pole steeze
The crowds on the snow were not too bad all day. Although, at times it was like running moving gates. The lift lines were long, but this day was really about the food and coat drive. So, a little inconvenience was worth it.
This little girl didn’t seem to mind the crowds either.
Most of the crew cut out early to hit Guyabitos, but having driven so far we decided to stay and make a few more runs. I think that we finished up about 4pm. I went into the lodge to say hi to Tammy Brown, but she was as busy as a bee...just like she had been all day. Everytime that I saw her she was walking fast and talking on the radio. I was able to sit down with Cat general manger Chris Bates, who had come in on his off day to help out.
Here is a short interview that I did with him.
BC: Today (Sunday) you hosted your annual Can U Ski Food and Coat drive program. How did that get started?
CB: Several years ago, we were trying to figure out something that we could do for the local charities and incorporate free skiing into it. What we came up with was that the fact that the county's less fortunate had a big need for canned food right before the holidays, and Haywood Christian Ministries seemed to have the largest need at that time.
BC: Obviously, it is a great deal for everyone involved. The skiers get a free day on the snow, Haywood Christian Ministries gets a substantial donation, and you guys get the satisfaction of doing something good for the local community.
CB: Yeah, it gives us the opportunity to give something back to the community. It also allows everyone in the community to give something back, and we have had our best turnout ever today.
BC: There are definitely a lot of people at Cataloochee today.
CB: Yeah, I figure we have about 20,000 cans of food right now and about 2,000 guests on the mountain for day skiing.
BC: On a slightly different note, what aree your thoughts on this great early season opening?
CB: It is always nice to start out strong. We have more terrain open now than ever before at this point in the season. It was nice to get going in October. That is something that we had wanted to do for a long time, and it all came together this year.
BC: How many times have you guys been open for skiing in October?
CB: We have never made snow in October before this year. Our earliest opening prior to this year was November 2nd and 3rd a few years ago. This has been a first for us, and I have never skied in October before.
BC: How aggressive are you guys going to be in opening up the new terrain that was never opened last season?
CB: We are going to try to make snow on in it at the first opportunity. Right now, our goal is to get 2 trails from the top of the mountain open with the new terrain coming last. It is still early in the year, and we are still trying to build some base on the lower part to make sure we have the best conditions for the Christmas holidays. Yesterday, we did start making snow on top of the mountain. That is our goal to get all of that open, and we are going to be as aggressive as we can be without taking a chance on losing some base elsewhere.
BC: It will be good to open the new terrain to give people several different options and spread people out on the mountain.
CB: Yeah, we want to be able to tie the mountain together and give people another way around. Once we get that open and see how it skis, our end goal in a couple of years is to put in a fourth lift to serve as mid mountain lift.
BC: Well, thanks for taking time out to talk today, and thanks for putting on such a great event. It was a great day on the mountain.
CB: Well, it is something that we enjoy, and it makes us feel good.
