Ski Trip to Camelback

This is a cell phone camera chronicle of a recent ski trip to Camelback Mountain in the Pennsylvania Poconos mountains (or is that Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvannia?) I went on the ski trip with 4 teen-agers, including my son Dan, his girl-friend Courtney, my son Steve, and his best friend Danny.

We went to Camelback at a great time since it was several days after a big snow fall that dumped about 12 inches of new snow on the mountain. It was also on Monday of President's Day holiday so while school was out for the teen-agers, many people were at work so the mountain was not overly crowded. It was also quite cold, with temps around the teens and so that scared some people away but as you can see from the photos the day was sunny and bright.
Picture #2 is the Nile Mile ski run that goes along the left shoulder of the mountain. We didn't ski this run this year as it had pretty much terrified me the last time I tried it. The switch-back that you see coming in from the upper right and then moving back appears to want to launch you into outer space. Not being one who likes heights, I decided to go on different trails this time.

I also remember this run from last time where most of the snow was machine made. The steep part just below the switch-back was very icy near the mountain (where I like to be) and the only thin snow was near the ledge on the outer side. I couldn't get myself to go too near that so I ended up pointing the skis straight down the slope and hurtling down the mountain, hoping to stop before the next open air plummet. It was a true hair-raising experience.

This photo shows the steeple over the Chalet. I am a big fan of steeples, and lighthouses and skyscrapers (OK you Freud wanna-be's, keep your psychoanalysis to yourselves). As you can see if you look closely the time on the clock is 3:20 PM as Steve and I were sitting it out waiting for Dan, Courtney, and Danny to finish their final run. We ended up leaving the slopes by 4:00 to turn in the equipment prior to the 5:00 rush hour. We were on the road by 4:30 and pulled into Princeton a little after 6 PM. While I took the scenic route on the way up, I took the speedy route coming home as Dan had to work and everyone was tired and sore. Steve was especially sore since he was the only snowboarder and fell quite a few times.

In all, I was very proud of how well he did. He looked quite elegant and athletic carving down the mountain and switching front to back. There are so many occasions for me to be a proud father. That's it for now. Nothing particularly businessy about this posting, just experiencing some of life between the work. Lord knows I have earned it. Be well and have fun.