Another great riding day. The trip up is bozo. On the road at 2:30 a.m., phone dies, no address, get lost on Highway 41. Dawn is breaking as I reach Friant Dam. By the time I hit Shaver Lake, the morning light is nice and I stop to take some pictures. At the Sierra Summit, the woman in the ticket booth confirms that the Mammoth season pass is honored but only during the week. My lift ticket in hand, I wonder when I'll see the others. I'm on the lift at 9 a.m. and ride the entire morning. Today I'm on the lagoon Supermodel. For lunch I get a pizza. It's goes down as blah given all the good za I've been enjoying lately at D'Amore's and Village Pizzeria. But hey, lunch is lunch especially when you're on the mountain. I start reading the pocket edition of Raja Yoga on the lodge deck. Wonder where are the others? I think I saw POPEONE in the morning but can't be sure because on the slopes everyone is usually either just a blur or a lump.
met duayne and roscoe lots of friendly locals. i think i rode the whole mountain the morning from left to right and back. saw some wicked spills. in the afternoon i run into carey at midway. buy him a hot dog. he's doing good on his board. we adjhust the bindings so that he has more toe power. ride with carey a bit. headstand. run into popeone. they had two sick runs. we go down academy. up chair 1. see edward coming down. we have switched boards. i can pop the manuals easy on his board. we hit the powder. pope has me go off a cliff jump maybe 15 feet. whee. he can't believe i just take it and spread my arms in the air. man i felt my back fold like an accordioin on landing, folding to the right. instant yoga dropback. i'm not too good in powder, i keep stopping instead of charging. it's not great powser anyway, chunky. super fun day. when they ride they spend a lot of time resting. we eat at shaver lake lodge i get a buger swiss and mushroom it's really good. the garlic cheese fries are good too. goofing around doing handstands.
Mr. Snowman has started SuperPoking me. First with a beer, but now with more coarse gestures, like being toilet-papered and then pwned. Probably no coincidence with the timing. It's a sign of the changing season. The heat and press of the summer has lost its edge. First night that's felt a little chilly. Somebody says the weather forecast calls for a storm. It may be premature, but it's hard not to watch the thoughts turn to snow.
