Powder Mountain Town?

I have a place in my heart for Powder Mountain. Thanks to my dad's ability to fix the shuttle bus I was able to ski there frequently. My parents didn't like driving up there so many times I cut a deal with a friend: I'll give you a free pass if your parents take us up there. That seemed to work most the time. Powder Mountain is a great place to ski. They've made some improvements over the years for the better, but I'm not sold on their latest plans.
I've been following closely the controversy surrounding their plans to create a massive four-season resort. It sounds like it will create a lot of traffic issues among other things. If you're interested in all the details you can dig up articles from the Standard Examiner's archives. The latest is that because they (P.M.) cannot meet the requirements of the Ogden Valley Commission-including creating an alternate road up to P.M.- before being approved they've decided to create a town. If they become a town they can do what they want. All they need is to own 50% of the land that they want to incorporate and have 100 residents. The catch is that the residents don't even have to agree to be in the town. Essentially they can be forced into living within the bounds of Powder Mountain. They had a meeting last night with the future residents of Powder Mountain town to inform them of the plan. I was prepared to show you a map of the boundaries of the town, but my scanner wouldn't do it. The map shows that they are including those living on both sides of Powder Mountain Road just above Wolf Creek Resort. It looks like it includes Amy Satterthwaite's parents and those living around them.
Sounds crazy to me. I believe that people should have freedom to do what they want with their land, but to a certain point, especially if you're going to create a negative impact on others. It doesn't seem fair to inhibit the resort planners from carrying out their dream plan, but people actually live in the valley and work and raise children. Why should those who just want to come and play do what they want, in a sense exploit the land and people. It's not right.
If you read the article from the Standard today it reports on the meeting last night. Rep. Gage Froerer has come up with a bill that would try and stop the incorporation by requiring the majority of the future residents be in favor. It is a revision of the bill passed last year that made the incorporation possible. I hope they can stop it before it's too late.

Speaking of ice rinks...

I just read in the Valley News that the Huntsville ice rink is up and running and it sounds like it is better than ever this year thanks to generous volunteers who spend their time creating and maintaining it. Because of RAMP funds they've been able to buy a tractor and sweeper. They are looking for more donations and help keeping up the ice. If you can do either email Richard Sorensen at rsor@msn.com or call 745-0945.

Smurfs

I just read in the paper today that the smurfs are having their 50th anniversary this year. They were created in 1958 by cartoonist Pierre Culliford who called them Schtroumpf. Their debut on t.v in the U.S in 1981 made them world famous.
I watched the smurfs every Saturday morning, ate Smurf Berry Crunch for breakfast and played for the "Smurfettes" A.Y.S.O soccer team in 1st grade. I'm sure all of you have similar memories.
Do you remember the names of the Smurfs? I looked it up and found a website with everything you'll ever want to remember about the smurfs. Check it out at www.bluebuddies.com. There was Papa Smurf, Smurfette, Brainy, Lazy, Vanity, Handy, Hefty, Jokey, Clumsy, and others. Oh yes and don't forget Gargamel the bad guy and his sidekick cat Azrael. You can buy the old cartoon episodes on DVD or watch them on Boomerang. Have a smurferiffic day!

Ice skating

We took our girls up to Mantua today to ice skate. They have a homemade rink there that has nothing on the Huntsville rink. Although I haven't been up to Huntsville's rink this year it's usually pretty good. When my husband and I were dating ten years ago I gave him hockey skates for Christmas and roped him into going ice skating. Now the whole family has skates except for our two-year-old.
Does anyone remember the ice rink at Huntsville park when we were in second grade and maybe even third grade? It was over on the soccer field by the tennis court and they let us skate at recess. It was Mrs. Shiziowa who supplied the skates. I remember thinking how cool it was that we could do that. You know there weren't too many other elementary kids that got that opportunity. When we got the tour of the basement at the reunion I saw a bunch of skates in a box. Who knows, maybe they still let them do it.
I don't know who keeps up the rink at Huntsville, but I hope they'll keep doing it. If you haven't checked it out, do so. It's especially fun at night with the homeade string of lights that stretches between two trees. If you don't have skates, check the D.I. or better yet go straight to Chris Brown's. She has a closet full of 'em.

Nordic Valley/Wolf Mountain

My husband and I had the opportunity to go night skiing to Wolf Mountain a week ago. I hadn't been skiing in five years and hadn't skied at Nordic since high school. How life changes!
We almost went to Powder Mountain that night, but I wanted to go to Nordic for old time's sake. I've actually wanted to go there for years, but you know how icy/rocky Nordic is without enough snow. You have to wait for the perfect time so you don't waste your money or ruin your skis. Since it's been pretty snowy lately we took our chances.
Nordic was the place I learned to ski and consequently spent many a school night there cruising the slopes. My husband also spent many nights skiing at Nordic as a child so we both enjoyed the time sharing our separate memories.
We started out on the big lift. As soon as we got to midway I had a story to tell. I told him about the second time I ever went skiing. It was my first time on the big lift. I was in fourth grade and my friend Kelli Carver's dad had taught me to ski a few nights previous. She felt like I had graduated and was ready for the big hill, but knowing that I wasn't quite ready to go all the way to the top she said we should get off at midway. All the way there she coached me on how I needed to kind of "jump" off. Well, I couldn't quite get all the way off the lift in time and Kelli got off without me. As I scrambled to get my body back on the lift I heard her yell from below some encouraging words including the fact that she would wait for me. I had no idea what would happen to me when I got to the top. When I finally got there I had two choices- left, Oden or right, Valhalla. I chose the wrong way and went right. I'll never forget looking down that run from the top. It was so steep and icy as always. I pretty much tumbled all the way down the hill. It could have been much worse if it hadn't been for some more experienced skiers who saw me and helped me get up each time I fell and get my skis back on. When I finally made it back down to Kelli I told her the bunny hill was just fine for me.
Aaron and I didn't stay too long that night. It doesn't take long to ski the whole mountain. We had skied Oden and Valhalla, mogul city and the bunny hill. The face was definitely too icy and I never skied there that much growing up anyway. Besides the fact that we had skied the whole mountain, it was cold. I don't remember the cold so much growing up except one time. Tiffany Tams and I decided to go skiing one really cold night against our better judgement. We went down one time and called it quits. Although it seems unlikely I remember it being 15 or 20 below zero. Tiffany was the braver one between us and she talked the ticket lady into giving us back our five bucks. Back then if you were 12 or younger you could get in for that price. The price has gone up since then, but is still affordable when compared to the other resorts. We paid 20.00 for me and Aaron got the graduate student discount for 10.00.
Before we left I told him we had to stop at the lodge just to take a look. As we looked around we could see the familiar stove in the middle of the room, the kitchen on the right. The color of the walls had changed, but the familiar smell of fries was still there. I'll never forget watching others eat their fries and drink their sodas while I ate my 50 cent snickers bar. Asking my dad for ski money AND money for fries would be really pushing it. Aaron didn't even buy that much. He told me he used to put milk in a mason jar and bury it in the snow to keep it cool. Then he would ditch a peanut butter sandwich in a lunch sack near the building somewhere. Typical Aaron. I wish I would have thought of that.
Fun times. If you haven't been up to Nordic/ Wolf Mountain for a while now is the time to do it. The snow is great and the memories even better. Check out their website on this tag to learn about their discounts and snow totals. And no, the tag is not still hanging from my coat.

New School Update

This is no joke. I pulled into my parents' driveway this morning and looked out across the street and saw this

This is a picture of the site they are considering for the new elementary. They have plowed through the snowy field to make way for perc tests and surveying. The car in the background belongs to the guy that was there for hours today doing the surveying. This month the board will meet to make a decision. I'll keep you posted.
Here's another picture from further away.