9 January 2017 — Great news out of the Tahoe area, Squaw Valley opened the KT-22 chair this past weekend. Bad news is, they’re closed today…in fact, all the rest of the news from Tahoe area is bad news…Heavenly closed, Homewood, Northstar, on and on, all shuttered due to incredible winter weather; rain snow you name it. I-80 and HWY 40 are shut down from Colfax to the Nevada state line due to mudslides and downed power lines…Boreal, Soda Springs and Woodward Tahoe and Mt Rose in Nevada all closed today; Donner Ski Ranch saying they’ll be closed tomorrow as well. The silver lining in this cloud is that conditions should be fantastic for the balance of the season…slightly less snowy and much less treacherous are the conditions at Caberfae in Michigan; photo above are Bob’s good looking grandsons with a nice view of the new Dopplemeyer triple on the Vista summit. That’s Carter at left, Brendan center, and 6-year-old Tyler proving that dayglo never goes out of style, as long as you got the stuff to rock it properly…11″ of fresh at Arapahoe Basin today, where we’ve all seen photos of a daring rescue by professional slackliner Mickey Wilson. Wilson saved a friend who was dangling by his backpack and being strangled in the process last Wednesday. Wilson slid some 30′ down the Lenawee lift after the hanger went around the top bullwheel, dropped down to the chair, and cut the man down. His actions definitely saved the man’s life. This was something not many people could do — super kudos to Mickey…please do not ski in tree wells and do not wear backpacks…World Cup action this weekend, kind of a well-focused reflection of the season. Tech events. Men were in Adelboden, Switzerland where France’s Alexis Pinturault won the GS, followed by Austrians Marcel Hirscher and Philip Shoerghofer. Yesterday’s slalom won by Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen, followed by Manfred Moelgg and — you guessed it — Hirscher. Ladies were in Maribor, Slovenia where France’s Tessa Worley won the GS, followed by Italian Sofia Goggia, and Switzerland’s Lara Gut, with Mikaela Shiffrin just off the podium in fourth. Anna Veith DNFd during the second run. Yesterday the gals moved down to the close gates and Shiffrin predictably topped the charts, followed by Wendy Holdener of Switzerland and Frida Hansdotter of Finland. I think that was Frida’s first podium this season but not sure about that. Gut gamely entered the slalom in an effort to keep pace with Shiffrin but her first run time didn’t make the transfer. In the overall Shiffrin has about 300 points on Gut, and Hirscher has the same lead on Pinturault. Difference is Gut should tally mucho points in the speed events to balance Shiffrin’s tech, while Hirscher and Pinturault are both tech guys with occasional foray into Super G points; barring injury Hirscher will grab the overall. Speaking of injury, in case you were wondering whither Ted Ligety, he’s struggling through back pain: “I just have stabbing pain all the way down my leg, nerve pain, so I haven’t been able to ski much.” Now the cool thing is Ted is still winning, despite the fact that he’s sitting on the sidelines — his gear company Shred is sponsoring a number of top names, including Gut and Pinturault. I don’t know about you but when I saw Lara Gut wearing Shred goggles, it raised Ted’s brand quite a few notches in my book…and sorry to report that Jeffrey K. Chalk, 53, of Pittsford VT was found by a co-worker on on the floor of Killington’s Skyeship Gondola North Brook Terminal, according to a news release from Vermont State Police issued Saturday night. Chalk was an experienced gondy mechanic who apparently fell from a catwalk to a concrete floor some 13 feet below, suffering a traumatic head injury. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family…spent some time at New York’s Whiteface this weekend, have to say conditions were pretty darn good and they’re working hard to open whatever isn’t open yet…also want to thank everyone who pitched in gear for our annual donation for kids in the Schroon Lake NY area, thanks to you we’re getting kids on skis at both Gore Mountain and the Schroon Lake Ski Tow.
Photo above: Midwest correspondent Bob Sisco’s grandkids showing us how it’s done at Caberfae this past weekend