February BP

 

Voice Change Baseline

 

First Ski Day

I finally got in my first day of skiing for the 2023/24 season.

This has been the worst winter for snow in my memory. It’s no big deal when we are talking here in town. As much as I enjoy snow blowing, I can do without it just as easily.

But snow in the mountains is an accepted part of nature in Spokane. Mt Spokane didn’t open until just before Christmas and they just don’t have a lot of snow up there.

Nonetheless, it was nice to get up on the hill and it was a gorgeous day with nary a cloud in the sky.

As I always say, the worst part of my ski day is getting from the parking lot to the lift. We got a great parking space thanks to my Handicap Parking Placard and it was a fairly easy walk up the hill.

I put my skis on and moved toward the lift. My right foot came right out of the binding. I looked down and saw a couple pieces of plastic scattered around my ski. My first thought was my binding broke. 

On closer inspection it was my boot that broke. In fact, the whole toe piece had cracked and broken right off.

I should say that I have had these boots for well over 40 years. I looked at new boots a few years ago but didn’t find anything I liked. These boots are rear entry boots and they are really easy to get on and off.

Apparently, they stopped making rear entry boots a long time ago.

So I walked up to the rental shop with my skis and my sad broken footwear. I was told I would probably have to rent skis as well because it was unlikely the rental boots would fit.

So that added 45 bucks to my ski day.

So I will be tossing the boots later today and begin my quest for a new pair. 

Between this and my major snow blower repair, this has been an expensive winter.