SKI
PIX
Let’s
start with a couple of shots from Deer Valley, which is a classy resort. No
hotels there, only very tasteful homes and condos. The limo driver who took
Christa and me back to the Salt Lake City airport described them as “8-to-10”
homes: they all had 8,000 to 10,000 square feet, cost $8 to $10 million, and
were occupied 8 to 10 days a year.
Stein
Erickson – a Norwegian who won a couple of Olympic gold medals around 1950 – is
the flagship of Deer Valley. He has his own lodge and restaurant there, sited
at the top of the aptly named Viking lift. Among skiers, Stein is known for his
style: from his thick and wavy blond hair (probably gray by now) and his
flashing white teeth and deep tan, to his inimitably elegant skiing. To “ski
like Stein,” with your knees and ankles seemingly locked together, is every
skier’s secret dream.
“Stein’s
Way” is Deer Valley’s signature run. So, a group of us just had to do
this piste. It’s advertised as a black diamond run, but I suspect that’s just
to keep the hoi polloi away. Actually, only a portion is very steep, the
rest being only normally steep. On the day we were there, it was
beautifully groomed and gloriously free of other skiers. We took some pictures
as souvenirs.
Picture 23. Christa Klein, Lee Bell,
Paul Sper, John Guthrie, and Bob and Karen Croteau – hiding behind their
goggles. Note the panoramic background, the Jordanelle reservoir and the
mountains in the distance. Skiing at its best: good friends, steep slopes and
bright skies. Steve Klein snapped the shutter on this one.
Picture 24. Same crew, but this time
Karen Croteau took the picture and I’m the guy on the right.
Note the way we’re all standing. Nearly all of us
have our legs slightly apart, the better to keep our balance and not tumble
down the slope. Only Bob Croteau (now with his goggles up) has knees and ankles
firmly together. You should know that Bob not only stands like Stein, but that
he skis like Stein. Yes! Elegantly and effortlessly. As far as skiing
goes, Bob is the class of the Class. It was a real pleasure to follow him down
Stein’s Way. We all admired him. (And check that one-piece yellow ski suit.
Wow!)
Now we’re back on the Park City slopes, on a piste
named Parley’s Run. It was rather brisk that day. Gigi Goodpasture is wearing
something called a neck gaiter -- a muffler for skiers – to keep the
cold out.
Picture 25. Gigi Goodpasture, Howard
Stiles, Christa Klein, Eileen Stiles, Paul Sper and John McNerney.
Picture 26. Christa Klein and Doc Stiles,
trying to look happy in the cold. “C’mon girls, smile.” “We are
smiling.”
Picture 27. Paul Sper and Big John
McNerney, looking genuinely happy.
Now, for some a couple of big group pictures,
taken on the sunny Home Run slope at Park City.
Picture 28. Standing, from the left:
Byron Marsh, Gigi Goodpasture, John McNerney, John Moellering, Gary Beech,
Nadine Beech, Paul Sper, Bob Croteau (today wearing an elegant black
one-piecer), Karen Croteau, John Guthrie, Christa Klein and Eileen Stiles.
Kneeling in the front: Rush Yelverton (more about him
later) and the Ski Czar, Howard Stiles.
This following one was taken about 100 meters
further down the slope, after we caught up with the Bells.
Picture 29. Eileen Stiles, Gary Beech,
Nadine Beech (who won the coveted Most Improved Skier award), Howard Stiles,
Paul Sper, Byron Marsh, John Moellering, Steve Klein (the one without the
hair), John McNerney, John Guthrie (McNerney and Guthrie were Ranger buddies
and still stick together; as a matter of fact, Paul Sper and Steve Klein were
also Ranger buddies), Christa Klein, Lee Bell, Gigi Goodpasture, Flo Bell, Rush
Yelverton and Bob Croteau.
This was the biggest group we had skiing together –
16, all told. Such groups are difficult to hold together. As they say in
bicycle racing, the “peloton explodes.” That is to say, a group inevitably
fragments into smaller segments, each keeping to its own speed and skill level.
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