Skiing at the Line

Skiing at the Line

Last March, Len left the White Mountains for the Rockies after a short visit to Minnegan, a small college town in a valley. After buying a train ticket, he got on the train to his friend Lexi's house, where he took a few of his suitcases out of storage. He was taking a later train West. The train from Minnegan leaves in the afternoon, and he waited in the train station with his baggage. Len had not expected to depart from the Eastern ski season so early in the month, and he'd made no housing arrangements for his time at Eagle's Peak, a Western ski town. He decided to call his friend, Jay, a ski instructor. "Jay," he said, "I'm in the Championships. I just got back from East Regionals and I stayed on and finished." "How's Coach Myers?" Jay asked, "He must be grinning. How many seasons did you cost him? Two? Three?" "I started with Coach Myers when I was eight--that's ten years!"

"Ten years, and how many season finals?" "Twelve, thirteen, fourteen; will you come and meet the train? Lexi's with me. She's out a season, fall to winter. Fall season teaching; now a recreational winter, I mean." "Aw, Len, those passes are close and icy. Not everyone comes in on a course." Jay talks louder as the hum of the afternoon crowd fills the phone line. "I can't wait to see you two; and bring along the winning coach. Coach Myers and I can talk about skiing the East, Lexi can sit by the fire and wait, and you can bring in your two fastest times. Are you going to get together with my freestyle class and go out for the exhibition Sunday?" "Me? No way, Jay. Your finest ski students and you, alone on the snow for a crowd. I have to practice two weeks; I can't wait to see the powder, but I need time day and night to learn the course--an icy afternoon at twilight and my run times will suffer."

"O.K. My eleven-thirty class is here with me. We can't wait to go out to the lift. I'm going to talk to the management about your coming out here. I think they'll let you stay at the apartments, and Lexi will be able to go into town during the day, instead of freezing at the top, or waiting at the warm-up hut with the timers and officials. What do you think? No, seriously, maybe you'll be a guest for my ski students when you visit. I'll see you when you get here. Or call earlier, at a travel stop, if I can get to the phone." "Hey, thanks, Jay, I'll see you soon." "Bye, Len."

Len returned to the waiting area after the phone call, and he and Lexi boarded the train with his suitcases. His equipment was in cargo. It had been taken to a baggage room earlier that day. Lexi had a carry-on bag, a handbag, and some magazines.

The train departed, the conductor checked tickets, and the pair sat for a few hours until Len saw the sign at Rilla Ridge, where he knew that the West-Express would stop for an hour. He and Lexi disembarked to walk and see the midwest junction. He'd brought enough money to buy the day's newspapers and travel snacks, but he found nothing to buy at a station at night. Lexi looked out into a nearby street. Then they walked back to the train, reboarded, and returned to their compartment. Lexi sat upright in a straight-backed seat and Len stretched out under his coat on the opposite brown leather bench until the train reached an evening stopover.

Arid is a long stop bordering the Rockies. "Two days to Arid," Lexi said from her side of the compartment. You can see the mountains from there." "I can't wait to be West again," Len looked out the window at the reflected light against the double pane. "Do you remember skiing powder?" Lexi waited a minute, then asked, "Would you rather ski powder or hard-packed snow? Man-made, or precip-plus?" Len let out a short breath and laughed. "Lexi, skiing powder's perfect with all of that light snow and new trails ahead. Me, I'd rather ski hard-pack--man-made or natural snow or both--I'd rather run gates and carve turns. What kind of a question is that, anyway? I have to concentrate."

Lexi noted that travelers would think that they were returning from Christmas, with all of the equipment and as many goods to fit into suitcases as they could carry. Neither of them could take the bags and skis, poles, boots, helmets, goggles and racewear and their own suitcases; without leaving half of the items, and hauling the other half.
Len drifted off as the train started again, and the West-Express stopped infrequently at cities and towns while passengers got off and on it all night to travel between cities. By morning, Lexi wanted to wash in the crowded washroom of a plains depot: cold water, teeth brushing, and enough makeup to cover circles and lines and put color on her face. Separately, Len brushed his teeth and got ready for another day of travel.

It was too early for breakfast. "One day, and we'll be at Arid," he reminded Lexi. "Jay will come down to meet us. We'll have to stay in town a night, and then go up to Eagle's Peak--it's only an hour by car." The terrain had flattened. The washrooms had seemed like a long stop, and again Len and Lexi were off the train and out of the compartment for what seemed like another hour.

After a breakfast of rolls and cups of coffee in plastic cups of water, the travelers sat back and looked out at an expanse. First Len saw snow and then Arid; where he, Lexi, and Jay would begin their workday. The train arrived at the town by late afternoon.

Len unloaded the baggage and Lexi went into the waiting room to find Jay. Jay walked to the baggage car to help collect the equipment and racewear. "Where are the stripes?" He asked jokingly. "The blue and red stretchwear. No one can miss those on the slopes. An hour and a half, and we'll be unpacking at my apartment. You'll probably want to rest for tomorrow morning's warm-ups. When's Coach Myers getting in." "He'll be flying in with the rest of the team in a week. They're scheduling a week for practice, with the ski club as sponsor."

"We're going to take my car into the center of town. Lexi can pick up some souvenirs; postcards and resort pins for her canvas shoulder bags. I'll get ski-week passes, and the three of us will be ready to sit in the timer's hut at the halfway mark. She can write postcards and represent us to the officials. We'll go up to the summit from there."

"Lexi will want to go to the summit." "The summit hut will be filled with skiers and start officials. I don't think there'll be any general access until after the race."
The three got into a dark red sedan with chains on its snow tires, and started the drive from Arid. The Rockies formed a stone barrier in front of them, with a flat stretch out of Arid looking out.

"Skis on the ski rack, boots in the trunk," Jay reminded Len. "The air's getting thinner and colder, and the snow's at a year-round slush level on the roads, so you must have picked the ideal time to visit me. Don't you miss the whole spectacle? All of the flags and double gates and support events on spectator runs? And, of course, my event, the freestyle jumping! You don't miss my expert class from the base lodge looking up?" Len smiled, "You're making me think of the pros, Jay, and the season rounds for amateurs. I can't choose. You're not going to announce your class as your team entries, and comment on their jumps one by one?" "Eagle's Peak, I can see the parking lot, snow and a clearing." They rode by the base lodge and the center lift, and parked next to several townhouse apartments. "This is it. We're here. Everybody out!" Jay introduced his friends to apartment 3, reserved for ski instructors and resort guests. The three of them unloaded the equipment and baggage in silence, and Lexi, Len, and Jay walked into a large, carpeted room, with drapes at the windows, a table, tablecloth, water pitcher and a vase as furniture. The room was cool but not cold. The visitors and equipment shared a wing on the first floor of the apartment, and Jay went up the stairs to the second. "Jay," Lexi hesitated, "You didn't use up all of the hot water already, did you? For the shower? Len? Who's first?" "You can use the shower, Lex; we're going to the administration area to register for practice. We'll be back in an hour." Jay and Len walked out into the snow and Lexi looked out at the base lodge, which had a temporary office set aside for race administration. Administration personnel, skiers, officials, and timers could go from the office to the finish line or the chairlift at the center of the Eagle's Peak resort trails.

Jay and Len walked across the street to the administration area. There, Jay learned from a group of resort and ski officials that he and Len would not be assigned numbers for their events until the Saturday before the competitions. A group of competitors stood around by the door.

Len told Jay that the next morning he would have to go up the lift to the halfway point to register for practice, and that he'd get a few practice runs in at the bottom of the course before going on up to the summit lodge to take a look at the start. Jay said that he'd teach his ski lessons on the spectator trail where the snow teams were building the jumps for the freestyle competition. "All of your runs will be in. You'll be waiting for your official places at the end of the GS, and there we'll be, ready for takeoff on Sunday at two p.m."

"You're in the Giant Slalom again this year." Len and Jay walked back to the townhouse. "I'm in the GS, and I'm in the Downhill." "What about the Slalom?" "I'm trying to get out of the Downhill for the Slalom, if you can find someone who wants to switch. I was second in the Downhill, and fifth in the GS, so I had to enter both." Jay went into the townhouse. "It's after eight p.m. Are you going to be up for eggs at six a.m? We'll go out at around seven tomorrow morning. There's plenty of room in your wing downstairs. The center room will have you and equipment, and Lexi can use the side room, so she'll have some privacy. I think we'll be out before my lesson students are awake. Lessons will start at nine, and I have to get some skiing in, myself." "O.K., Jay, that sounds like a good time to meet the competition. We'll see who's here first."

Lexi had already claimed the little room, and Len got the center room, and Jay went upstairs to get some sleep before team practice. Jay coached the freestyle team, and he was entering his top students in an exhibition that was to take place after the final end-of-the-season races on Sunday. Sunday in less than two weeks of practice time.


End, part one.
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