The Darwin Awards salute the improvement of the human genome by honoring those who accidentally remove themselves from it… Darwin Awards.
There’s a warning posted on the PLPP trail report:
Packers: Dec 27th- groomed only- many early season hazards exist- use caution, particularly on descent (East to West)
It’s been mentioned on here a couple times by me, that it’s not a good choice to descend Packers while it still has early-season conditions.
A few trip reports have mentioned it. For example, on Dec 26, Ray Perrott posted:
A scenic view of Packers
“The exception to all this is Packers, which was rough, and seemed very bad in the middle section – a roller coaster ride over erratic speed bumps and a couple of small ice flows – and would be very tricky even for experienced skiers if going downhill.”
I met a skier at the south Wheeler / Amos Junction. Always on the lookout for information about conditions, I asked where he’d skied today. It turned out he was doing a loop which included descending Packers. He was quite animated when he told me how rough and difficult it was, very bumpy with icy spots, and assured me that it had not been groomed.
This is a very uneven and bumpy section of Packers, at the bottom of a hill, but it’s not easy to see with the sun and shadows.
I informed him that it was groomed three days ago, but had a hard time convincing him. This guy was an ornery dude, and it was a challenge to get a word in edgewise over his belligerence, but eventually he heard me say it was clearly marked on the trail report that “it was groomed three days ago, but still had lots of early season hazards.” He then said the groomer must have been very poor at his job. Whoa!
That’s ice in the middle of the picture
I tried to explain that it was a very uneven and bumpy trail, and that it takes a lot of snow to make it safely skiable when descending, all the while Mr Pugnacious was talking over me. I finally turned and skied away.
Who goes skiing in PLPP without reading the trail report or this pathetic blog? Then commences to complain about the conditions on the one trail which is in poor shape? Then blames the groomers. He couldn’t even recognize the tell-tale signs that it had been groomed.
Packers still has a lot of early-season hazards for skiers descending
I should have encouraged him to descend Packers a couple more times today. I have a photo, but I guess I’m just not wicked enough to post it.
I had a very enjoyable time skiing up Packers today. No problems ascending. For downhillers, though, the worst bumps and uneven spots are right at the bottom of the steepest hills. You can see evidence of the trail crews having shoveled lots of snow in some of the trouble spots.
At the top of Packers. Can you spot the evidence of machine-grooming?
I don’t have a problem with skiers descending Packers on these rough conditions if they’ve informed themselves of the conditions and know what they’re in for, or have the proper skis(wider, with metal edges) to do it safely.
I’ll post more later about the other trails with photos of happy people.
I admit that I’m also a candidate for a Darwin Award by going out skiing late in the day, by myself, in cold weather. I accept my fate should I meet my demise, and I won’t complain(probably a better way to go than spending five years suffering in a long-term care facility, and NOT EVER SKIING). I just hope I live long enough to beat my friend Peter in another race.
I hope you beat Peter in a race too! Keep him humble!
Tracksetter Jody just informed me that yes, indeed, he spent three hours shoveling on Packers and “and only groomed it to get some sort of flatness for the long term benefits.”