THE SKI OUT SUCKS!

I hate the ski out! Though it is a "green run" I would consider it one of the most dangerous runs at Sunshine Ski Resort. The "ski out" is the groomed cat track that runs from the top of the mountain down to the bottom and the parking lot. At Sunshine you have two options at the end of your day, you can take the ride the Gondola down to your vehicle or you can ski the "ski out." Most people opt for the ski out as it allows you one more run.

Saturday was no different than any other day at the hill, except that it was January and the temperature was above 0 degrees celcius, a virtual heat wave in the mountains. Skiiers and snowboarders came out in droves to soak up the sunshine and the beautiful mountain air. Marty and I were among them and we had a fantastic day riding the terrain on Goat's Eye Mountain (the midway mountain at the resort.) We love Goat's Eye as it is usually less busy and in the afternoon the sun is there. We rode our boards until the chair lift closed at 4pm and decided to take the Ski Out down to the parking lot. The ski out is groomed, and it is a cat track, but it is NOT wide and even on regular days, it is crowded at the end of the day. I mean everyone at the resort who wants to ski down, has to take this ONE route. It is rated "green," an easy run, it has to be if everyone is going to be able to get down, but this creates dangerous situations! There are the very beginners, trying to snowplow down this basically flat road, there's the parents pulling kids with thier ski poles, theres the fearless, out of control kids scaring the crap out of everyone but themselves, flying in unpredictable patterns down the road. Theres the beginner snowboarders who can't turn, just riding one edge all the way down taking any loose snow with them, theres the snowboarders who can't get enough speed hopping with one foot out of the bindings, there's the speedless snowboarders who have given up and are walking down the road, snowboards over their shoulders. And then there's the talented skiiers and boarders who get excessive speed and attempt to manoever around all of the other traffic at top speed! Finally there are the skiiers and boarders that fall into the catergory I am in. The ones who can usually turn and usually keep up speed, but who are easily rattled by caos, especially when it is happening directly infront of or behind them. The ones who start losing speed and find themselves hopping up the flattest parts, the ones who uncharictaristiclly fall down (read; bail)when faced with too many kids wobbling on the path in front of them. The ones who can't suddenly can't seem to comit to a "line" and begin an unpredictable descent. The ones who can't find ONE good thing about this last run of the day!!!

One more time, the Ski Out sucks!!

The rest of the mountain is awesome, especially when the sky is that blue and the sun is that warm, check out our pics!