Thursday, December 31, 2009

Dress right to stay warm.

I hope everyone had a great Holiday and hopefully students are enjoying their much needed time off.  In the past week or so, we've had a snowstorm, a ton of rain, some days in the 50's, more rain, back down to below 20, and now a couple of inches of snow again.  Now that's N.E. weather!  The weather we really care about is at the mountain and while they didn't get much during that last snowstorm, it has stayed very cold throughout the last few weeks.  How about this for a number - they have already pumped out over 40 million gallons of water converted to snow!  They have almost three feet of snow at the base which is pretty good at this time of year.
Onto the good stuff, this posting is all about how to dress at the mountain.  For you seasoned skiers/boarders, this may serve as a checklist to get all of your gear out if you haven't already.  The last few days, we've had temps in the 20's.  That's pretty much what the base temps are at the mountain...all the time!  Remember, we're night skiing so the temps are a little lower than when the sun is out.  It's all about layers.  The more layers you have on, the warmer and dryer you'll be.  My advice: wear a good thin base layer that stays fairly tight to your skin (thermals, Under Armor, etc.).  Follow this up with another loose layer up top (long sleeve or short sleeve shirt will do).  Finish the upper torso with something thick and loose (sweater, turtleneck, sweatshirt) and top it off with a good jacket that will keep you warm and not soak up any water.  Down on the lower torso, the ideal situation would be to have snow pants.  They have a thick layer and repel water better than any other pants you can wear.  If you have snow pants, throw on whatever pants you wear to school - something comfortable; jeans are fine, sweatpants are fine, "swishies" are probably too thin.  You can throw your snow pants over everything as we head up to the mountain or just before you get onto the bus if you'd like (there are locked bathrooms in the studio).  Just remember, the faster we get on the bus, the better.  If you can slide into two pairs of socks, I would.  ***Whether you do that or not, I'd bring an extra pair of socks!***  It's great to change into a pair of dry socks when you get onto the bus for the ride home, believe me.  Wear an old pair of shoes/boots to the mountain.  You're not guaranteed to get a locker by any means and if you have to put your shoes under a table or on a shoe rack, you don't want to place your brand new Uggs in a place for all to see.  Finally, I'm sure I don't have to tell you all to wear gloves - not the knitted type ladies - good gloves that will keep your hands warm and dry.  If you can keep your hands, feet and head warm, you'll be in good shape.  Wear something to keep your neck and ears covered and finally when you choose that crazy hat with the jester pompoms, you better remember...you have to wear a helmet!  I hope this covers everything but if I missed anything or you have any advice to offer, feel free to comment to this post in the blog or send me an e-mail.  Expect another handful of posts in the up and coming days as we move within a week of our first trip.  Talk soon!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Almost vacation time! Let's talk about Friday's.

It's hard to believe that we are already approaching the holidays and of course, Christmas break!  We'll be hitting the slopes in 2 weeks from this Friday but let's enjoy some time off first.  I had a meeting on Monday and while most of the club showed up, some students had other obligations that day so let's play catch-up.  Students that are taking their own equipment to the mountain should be coming by to drop off everything at the TV Studio as soon as they get to school.  I'll have a portion of the room upstairs cleared out just for your gear.  My students (in class that day) will not have access to this area and the room is already locked at all times if I'm not in there.  I'll be in by 7am so give yourself enough time to drop off the equipment and get to your Power Block on time.  I will not be issuing late passes!  The halls are tight so as you walk through with your skis and boards, please be careful not to whack anyone on your way by.  At 2:05, get down to the studio, get your equipment and get on the bus!  The bus will be parked outside the studio parking lot and the sooner we leave, the more runs we get in.  If you have school-related bags, books, etc., you have two choices: bring it on the bus if you plan on doing schoolwork and leave it on the bus when we get to the mountain OR leave it in my classroom (TV Studio) and you can get it when we come back to school.  We WILL NOT be able to access the rest of the school building outside of my room so what ever you need for schoolwork for the weekend, don't forget it at 2:05.  We have to leave the mountain by 8:30 pm per contract with the bus so we should be back to school just before 10:00 pm.  We will be in the same parking we left from - if the school is on your left, it is the first parking lot just before the school.  Students that need rides will be calling you when we are about 20 minutes from the school.  Students that drive: I would advise parking in that lot on Friday's if you don't already - it will make your life easier later that night.  That's about enough for tonight, next post will be all about what to wear, eating right, keeping buddies and above all, staying safe.  Please feel free to comment to this post if you have any questions (parents and students of course) and if you haven't subscribed to the blog, go ahead and do that if you'd like.  If I don't post again before Christmas, I wish everyone a Merry!

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Financials

I went up to the mountain on the 10th and hand-delivered all of your checks for the lift, lessons, and rentals.  It felt great driving through Princeton for the first time since last season and seeing how much natural snow they got.  Our snow was pretty much washed away but they had plowed piles of snow in all of their driveways!  It was also good to see that things were really cleaned up from the ice storm that hit them in December of '08.  I remember driving through town as late as March and the devastation was still very real - those folks had a lot to clean up and they did a fantastic job.  As I turned the last corner heading into the parking lot, I saw a mountain covered in white, bright trail lights, and snow guns pumping out the white stuff.  It sure was a sight to see!  That was their opening day and people took advantage; the lot's were filled pretty decently considering how early in the year it was.  Anyway, back to the financials: I took another big check over to the bus company and got a first glance at the giant coach bus we'll be riding - good stuff!  Most of you are all paid up for those that still have the last $40.00 deposit to bring in, please do so ASAP this week so that I can have everything collected before break.  That's it for now, if you haven't already subscribed please do so (right side of the page) and you'll be sure not to miss a single update since this format is a lot more informative than e-mail.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Welcome!

Welcome to the WBHS Ski & Board Club!  The countdown is on for our first trip and the club members I've spoken to are getting very excited.  In the counter at the top, just punch in January 8, 2010 at 2:05pm and each time you go back, you'll have a real-time counter!  If you haven't subscribed to this blog yet, you can do so on the right side of the page in the green box where you'll find a bunch of options:

1. The easiest way: Subscribe to West Bridgewater Ski & Board Club by Email and receive an e-mail each time there is a new post.
2. You can subscribe to Posts and/or All Comments via RSS feed using the drop down menus.
3. You can become a follower using Google Friend Connect.

I hope to not only provide updates on this blog but I'd also like to get everyone involved in sharing your trips to any mountains you get to visit this season.  Let's hope for snow!