April 14, 2007 – The winter that wouldn’t start doesn’t want to leave.

Wednesday was sunny and pleasant, the highlight a hike up Mount Watatic in Ashburnham, Mass., on a smooth, crispy layer of snow in the woods. The trail from Route 119 had been churned into slush by the passing of many feet, then had frozen solid, and was quite unpleasant, prompting a decision to bushwhack to the top. Once off the trail, the going was very nice.

By the end of the coming week, one suspects, the snow will be gone from Central New England.

The afternoon was spent reorganizing the woodpile, in scattered disarray from a winter’s burning, so that by day’s end all wood could be covered, once again, by several large, brown tarps.

On Thursday, Central New England got another several inches of wet snow. I watched it fall from my living room, snug by the wood stove. Tomorrow and Monday, a Nor’easter threatens to dump heavy snow across ski country, and heavy rain on the rest of us.

A week ago Saturday was spent voyaging – an hour-and-a-half on the Cross Sound Ferry from New London, Conn., to Orient Point, N.Y., then the smaller ferries – North and South - to and from Shelter Island, 10 minutes each. The big ferry cost $44 for car and driver; the smaller ones $9 and $10. For travelers from New England bound for the east end of Long Island, the voyage saves hours of driving.

The trip across the mouth of Long Island Sound was brisk and windy, but quiet.

After driving aboard, people leave their cars and go upstairs, to sit inside one of several cabins, or outside on the decks. A snack bar serves drinks and food. On the trip out the mouth of the Thames River, the ferry passes the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Eagle on the right and the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics, which operates a submarine yard on the left. On the trip out, a submarine was returning to port, escorted by two Coast Guard vessels. A lighthouse marks the end of the harbor.

The trip was not a pleasure cruise, but rather to take care of family matters, to whit, an aged mother who needed more looking after than her children could continue to provide. Such matters come to many.

Feb. 24, 2007 – Ski areas in the Northeast appear to have salvaged what had been a miserable season with a strong February school vacation week.

And they are hoping to carry some of this week’s momentum into March, the end of winter, and a month that can tip either way depending on weather and the fickle fancies of skiers and riders.

Tom Meyers of Wachusett Mountain in Princeton said, “We had a killer week. The gods were on our side for once. We really had a nice run from the 17th through the 25th, it couldn’t have been better timed. We had good snow, good temps, good weather.

"It was as if mother nature was trying to make amends, a little bit. She had tried to pull us down as far as she could, then started to feel sorry for us a little bit. The key will be keeping the momentum going into March," Meyers said.

Meyers is optimistic in part because conditions are as good as they've been in two winters.

"I’d hold Wachusett’s conditions up against anyone," he said, "and conditions are pretty good across New England right now."

Moreover, the biggest spectator events of the year are coming up – including the U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships March 12-18 at Stratton, the U.S. Freestyle Championships March 22-25 at Killington, and numerous local charity fund-raisers including Moving Mountains for Parkinson’s March 3 at Sugarbush in Warren, Vt., and March 11 at Wachusett Mountain in Princeton, Mass.

Skier enthusiasm is high as well, judging by tickets sales over the last week.

Okemo reports the area’s best-ever day on Sunday, Feb. 18, with skier visits 10 percent ahead of the same day last year and 2.2 percent better than the best day on record. The record was previously set on Feb. 20, 2005, also on the Sunday of President’s Day Weekend.

Snowmaking had allowed Okemo to open 90 percent of its terrain before the Valentine’s Day storm; that snowfall allowed Okemo to open everything, the resort reports.

“It’s amazing what a snowstorm leading up to a three-day holiday weekend can bring when it doesn’t affect travel,” says Okemo Director of Marketing Scott Clarkson. “A lot of pent up demand was released in the marketplace and Okemo’s reputation for optimal conditions made it a destination of choice this week.”

In reviewing skier visits for entire week that included the President’s Day weekend, Okemo was 11 percent ahead of the same period last year.

Okemo areas that saw the greatest increase in participation over the three-day weekend were ski and snowboard lessons – up 8 percent over last year, and daycare – up 16 percent. Snow tubing, a new offering at Okemo, has been very well received with participation exceeding expectations. Additional activities that visitors have been enjoying are ice skating at Jackson Gore’s new Ice House, horse-drawn wagon rides, swimming at the new Spring House fitness and aquatic center, Nordic skiing, snowshoeing, spa services, and more.

An old marketing slogan used by New England ski areas in the old days states, “New England Skiing is Best in March.”

Let’s hope that, at least, it continues to be every bit as good as it is right now.

PARK CITY, Utah – Feb. 20, 2007 – Over the last week, the face of skiing has changed in New England.

No, it’s not the Valentine’s Day storm, although that’s what skiers are probably still happiest with. It’s even bigger than that: the agreement by American Skiing Co. to sell Killington and Pico for $83.5 million, announced today, and to sell Mount Snow and Attitash for $73.5 million, announced last week. They follow the announcement in December to sell Steamboat for $265 million.

What does it mean? It’s still early to assess impact, but in broad terms, American Skiing Co. has gone from a financially troubled giant of the industry with eight resorts, to a debt-free company that operates three resorts: Sunday River and Sugarloaf/USA in Maine and The Canyons in Utah.

In a press release today, American Skiing Company announced the agreement to sell Killington and Pico in Vermont to SP Land Co., LLC, a major area landowner, for $83.5 million.

“Killington has been in partnership with SP Land since 2004 on a number of developable real estate parcels in the Killington area. During the design and planning phase of the Killington Village, it became apparent that the developable real estate and resort operations should be controlled by a single owner. We believe this transaction is a tremendous step forward for the future development of Killington, Pico and the surrounding community,” said ASC President and CEO B.J. Fair.

SP Land Company, LLC is a real estate holding company with significant land holdings near Killington resort. SP Land Company, LLC first gained its real estate holdings in the area in conjunction with American Skiing Company’s restructuring of its real estate related debt in 2004.

“With the recently announced sales of Steamboat, Mount Snow, Attitash and now Killington and Pico, American Skiing Company is clearly in transition. We will be reviewing our organizational needs and adjusting accordingly. As a result of these transactions, the Company expects to repay all bank debt, junior subordinated debt, and have substantial resources to address the needs of our Sunday River and Sugarloaf resorts in Maine and The Canyons in Utah,” added Fair.

Included in the sale of Killington and Pico are the resorts and all resort-owned operations, all of Killington/Pico’s resort-owned real estate assets and The Wobbly Barn restaurant. In addition to the cash purchase price of $83.5 million, the buyer will also assume approximately $5 million of debt and other liabilities and certain contractual obligations of ASC.

The proposed sales of the ASC resorts will not have an effect on any current season passes, vouchers or advance purchase ticket products for the remainder of the 2006-2007 winter season. Multi-resort products such as All-For-One and Ski America passes will continue to be valid at all ASC resorts where they previously have been honored through the end of the 2006-2007 winter season. Gift cards, Value Cards and Edge cards will continue to be valid in accordance with the terms of those specific programs.

As a condition of the purchase and sale agreement, stockholder approval is required for the sale of Killington and Pico resorts. The sole holder of the Company’s Preferred Stock Series C-1, representing 65.8% of the voting shares entitled to vote on the matter, has voted in favor of the transaction, which constitutes majority stockholder approval. Such approval means the transaction may be approved without a meeting of the Company’s stockholders. In addition to stockholder approval, the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust approval and consent of the State of Vermont. The transaction is expected to close on or before April 30, 2007.

All of ASC’s New England resorts, including Killington and Pico, have received almost three feet of natural snowfall in the past week; these resorts are enjoying the best skiing and riding conditions of the season.

Killington/Pico was the nation’s tenth most visited resort and the most visited resort in the eastern U.S. in 2006, with nearly 800,000 skier visits. Killington and Pico’s expansive terrain, its 3,050 foot vertical drop and extensive snowmaking and grooming coverage have made the resort a perennial favorite of skiers and riders in the northeastern U.S. Golf, summer attractions and fall foliage complement the year round recreation offerings of the resort.

Headquartered in Park City, Utah, American Skiing Company is one of the largest operators of alpine ski, snowboard and golf resorts in the United States. More information is available on the company’s web site, www.peaks.com.

MASSACHUSETTS RESULTS: Giant Slalom and Downhill races held Feb. 28 at Wachusett Mountain in Princeton.

CONNECTICUT RESULTS: Downhill, Giant Slalom, Cross-Country and Snowshoe races held Feb. 27 at Ski Sundown in West Hartford.

Feb. 9, 2007 – The Senior Winter Games are coming to town, albeit at a somewhat more leisurely pace than the Summer Games.

Massachusetts has alpine races Feb. 28 - postponed from Feb. 14 because of the Valentine's Day snowstorm - and cross-country and snowshoe races March 4. Connecticut has alpine, nordic and snowshoe races Feb. 27. Other New England states show no sign of winter games.

Fortunately for men and women racers 50 and over, the Massachusetts and Connecticut Senior Winter Games welcome them, no matter what state an athlete calls home.

Both offer same-day registration, lunch, medals and t-shirt or other race memento.

Both states draw 50 to 70 racers each year, which could be one reason why the other New England states do not put on Winter Games. With cost of insurance, lift tickets, lunch, medals, publicity, mailings and administration, the Winter Games are more costly than summer events.

Dan Larson, who runs the Connecticut games, said those costs are balanced against the pleasure seniors get from the competitions.

“It’s become very popular among the seniors,” Larson said. “They enjoy it, so we’re trying to encourage more people to participate.”

One tool to increase numbers would be more advance registrations, Larson said, which would probably be more popular if a way existed to refund fees should the athlete not participate, or the events not take place.

Designed as athletic competition for men and women 50 and over, the focus of the Senior Games is fun competition among peers.

Races are run in five-year age groups, 50 to 54, 55 to 59 and so on, with categories for men and women.

The Massachusetts alpine events will be held Feb. 28 at Wachusett Mountain, with cross-country and snowshoe events are scheduled for March 4 at Prospect Mountain in Woodford, Vt.

Massachusetts has tried for some years to bring off nordic events at the Finnish Center of Saima in Fitchburg, Mass., but the past few years snow conditions would not support races. Is it ironic that this winter, the alpine races were affected by snow - too much - and the cross-country races could be held easily at Saima - but won't be?

Usually info is posted at www.maseniorgames.org. So far this year, information only on the cross-country events can be found there.

Info on the alpine events this year can be found on bill29's posting on New England Lost Ski Areas Project Discussion Board. Everything's right except the date - which is Feb. 28.

The Connecticut Senior Winter Games will be Tuesday Feb. 27 at Ski Sundown in New Hartford, Conn.

New York, the region’s huge neighbor to the west, is offering an Olympic-scale array of events at the Empire State Winter Games Feb. 23-25 at Lake Placid including alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsled, cross-country skiing, figure skating, women’s ice hockey, luge, skeleton, ski orienteering, snowshoe racing, ski jumping and speed skating.

These games are for New York State residents only.

Feb. 15, 2007 – With the February school vacation at hand, ski areas across the Northeast are gearing up for what should be a good week, thanks to a much-needed and well-timed blast of winter.

It was the first significant snowstorm of the season for Central New England, and that counts for a lot in terms of skier enthusiasm.

Northern New England had turned more or less white again over the last few weeks under a series of steady if modest snowfalls, but who in Boston believed that? And even in this storm, Boston got a scant few inches.

Across ski country, this storm dumped 2 feet to 5 feet of snow over two days onto existing manmade cover, which the snowmakers have been piling up steadily since consistent cold weather arrived with the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.

Has it gone above freezing since mid-January? Maybe on the coast and in parts of Southern New England, but not across most of the region.

Scattered reports from around New England:

Alex Kaufman of Sunday River in Newry, Maine, said, "Snow began falling in the pre-dawn hours of Valentine’s Day and at times fell at rates of three inches per hour. By sundown 19 inches of snow had forced many resort employees who found their cars buried to find alternate transportation. The storm totals as of Thursday morning are 34 inches at mid-mountain and 28 inches at the South Ridge Base Lodge, which is the largest 24-hour snowfall in over 15 years."

Elsewhere in Maine, the big winners were Sugarloaf/USA in Carrabasset Valley with 31 inches of snow, and Saddleback in Rangeley with 40 inches.

Bretton Woods in Bretton Woods, N.H., reports, "We have received over two feet of snow from Wednesday's storm, and the skiing and riding conditions are phenomenal! Bretton Woods has over 430 acres open, which is easily the most open terrain in New Hampshire."

Mount Sunapee in Newbury. N.H., reports 18 inches, Cannon in Franconia, N.H., reports 30 inches, Loon in Lincoln. N.H., 20 inches, and Waterville Valley in Waterville Valley, N.H., 22 inches.

Isabelle Vallee of Le Massif in Petite-Rivière-Saint-François, near Quebec City, reports, "En cette magnifique matinée, Le Massif est enseveli sous 55 cm de neige!" (Roughly: Woo-woo, lotsa snow!)

"This snowstorm of epic proportions before the kick-off to Presidents week is really the perfect storm - it could not have been better timed for vacationers to head to Vermont this weekend," said Ski Vermont President Parker Riehle. "Snow totals are increasing by the minute. Many areas are already 100 percent open and many more are expected to be by the weekend.

Okemo in Ludlow, Vt., reports, "After receiving over two feet of new snow during the Valentine’s Day blizzard, this extra long weekend is going to be nothing short of amazing! Today’s forecast calls for nice sunny skies with temps in the teens...so just be sure to bundle up and take frequent breaks, because this snow is too good to miss! Okemo is now 100 percent open - with all 117 trails ready to go. Conditions are incredible right now."

Stratton Mountain in Stratton, Vt., reports 2 feet of snow.

Smugglers Notch in Smugglers Notch, Vt., reports 30 inches of snow.

Sugarbush in Warren, Vermont, reports 48 inches of snow: "Tuesday night into Thursday morning we received over 4 feet of new snow in the summits and the conditions are beyond EPIC!"

Bolton Valley in Bolton, Vt., also reports 4 feet of snow, and says, "It's going to be AMAZING skiing and riding."

Jay Peak in Jay, Vt., reports, "Instead of flowers, we got 60 inches of new snow."

As for cross-country skiing, it's good across New England.

The coming week looks like seasonable days – temps in the 20s and even some low 30s, and crisp nights – temps in the single numbers, teens and low 20s, so even there the ski areas are catching a break.

Those temps are perfect for holding this snow and keeping conditions good.

Up to the minute: www.snocountry.com.

Jan. 15, 2007 - Like characters in Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities,” New Englanders are whipsawed this season by extremes: warm rain and bitter cold, good skiing and wretched, fine spells and ice storms.

November was good for golfing, and December for days upon days of mountain biking in mild weather on open trails.

Snowshoeing has been nonexistent and skiing fitful this winter, although conditions show every chance of improving this week. Time will tell.

Bretton Woods Mountain Resort postponed its Geschmossel Classic Ski Race set for MLK Day for lack of snow on its nordic terrain. On the other side of the Presidential Range, the Jackson Ski Touring Foundation in Jackson, N.H., is open on 55 of 153 kilometers of trails and intends to go ahead with its 30K White Mountain Classic traditional cross-country race on Saturday, Jan. 20.

Yesterday found a friend leading the way up Pratt Mountain in New Ipswich, N.H., wearing STABILicers because of a thick glaze on the Wapack Trail, one of the fine old hiking paths of Central New England. Boardwalks that carry hikers over wet portions of the Wapack were particularly slick and treacherous.

STABILicers are vibram soles, studded with cleats, that affix to the boot with velcro straps, and give good footing on ice. They are quite handy, and are among several types of traction gear made by 32North in Maine.

We parked on Binney Hill Road and hiked the 2 miles to Pratt’s 1,820-foot-high summit.

As the Wapack drops westward off Binney Hill Road, it leaves behind encroaching development. The trail turns north at Binney Hill Stream, and passes along the west side of Binney Pond, an exquisite bog set in New Hampshire state forest.

Moves are afoot to enlarge the buffer along the trail and insulate it from development.

Normally the summit of Pratt rewards hikers with views southeastward over the pond, and west toward Mt. Monadnock.

Yesterday heavy cloud cover reduced visibility to a few hundred yards.

The clouds produced a steady drizzle, which froze on everything.

At the top of Pratt, we shared a small thermos of coffee/cocoa and gazed at the inside of the cloud.

We turned around, instead of heading north over New Ipswich, Barrett, Kidder, Temple and Pack Monadnock, to the trail’s northernmost high point, North Pack Monadnock in Greenville, N.H.

The Wapack Trail runs 21 miles along this line of hills from Mt. Watatic in Ashburnham, Mass., to North Pack.

For more information, visit Friends of the Wapack.

Jan. 8, 2007 - Be flexible. If the snow is uninviting, hit the winery. Stop at the historic mill. Have a cup of coffee in the local bakery. Enjoy the food.

Take a walk through a covered bridge.

Talk to your honey, read a book, take a nap.

All of those things happened this past weekend on a ski trip to Smugglers’ Notch in northern Vermont.

Some people actually skied, and said it wasn’t bad. I passed on skiing in the rain Saturday morning, intending to hit the slopes after lunch, but never made it past the intention.

A leisurely drive from the Inn at Essex to Smuggs took in the Chittenden Mill on the Browns River in Jericho, filled with local crafts and surprisingly simple artifacts of the Industrial Revolution.

Further along, the Boyden Valley Winery in the Lamoille River Valley town of Cambridge offered wine tasting for those intrepid enough to sidle past a dog sleeping on the steps.

The valley was lovely, pastoral and much too green for January in New England. Farms dominated, with some fields well-tended, others gone to houses, still others reverting to forest. In most, rocks reminded why New England farmers headed West in the mid-19th century in search of flatter pastures.

Anyway, the road finally wound its way to Smuggs, where lunch awaited.

Heavy rain and high winds moved in during the post-lunch seminar, along with a thunderstorm warning that prompted Smuggs to shut down the lifts, at least for awhile.

I took it as a sign from the weather gods, and headed back toward the inn, where chefs and students from the New England Culinary Institute staff the kitchens and whip up an astonishing variety of the most delectable food.

On the way, a covered bridge over the Brewster River in Jeffersonville was too intriguing to pass up.

Same for a coffee shop/bakery across from the mill in Jericho, where the coffee was very good.

As was the ski weekend – even without the skiing.

Jan. 12, 2007 - Downhill skiing and riding are looking up across the region, after the warm rain of a week ago and a freeze that made downhill conditions somewhat firm and quite exciting for a few days.

There’s some hope in ski country, and some signs to back up the hope, that winter is turning a corner, albeit slowly and without any sensitivity to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday.

Temperatures went from record warm to seasonably cold – well, almost – and allowed snowmakers to roll out the heavy artillery and start to resurface trails that had come to resemble early April in depth and quality of snow cover.

And natural snow has been falling spottily across northern New England.

The Jackson Ski Touring Foundation in Jackson, N.H., is open on 52 of its 153 kilometers of cross-country trails. Snow depths are fairly lean – 3 to 6 inches – but there’s skiing that Thom Perkins calls "pretty good on the trails that we have open."

Martha Wilson of Bretton Woods Mountain Resort in Bretton Woods, N.H., said the area is back up to 31 trails, and is moving westward around the mountain with new terrain, aiming to open West Mountain soon. "A pretty good storm is forecast for Monday, and we're hoping that holds up. It looks like we're back to winter," Wilson said.

Ski Maine reports 10 cross-country areas open in that state, and more hoping to open over the weekend on a forecast of more accumulating snow.

At Okemo in Ludlow, Vt., Bonnie MacPherson said, “We're back in winter. We’re at 65 trails, the most we've had all season, and we’ll have more for the weekend.”

News from elsewhere across ski country is similarly encouraging. Up to the minute: www.snocountry.com. Let's hope it lasts.

Jan. 1, 2007 – The average adult weekend ticket price last season in the Northeast was $59.55; in the Rocky Mountains, $68.70; and overall, $60.87.

That’s according to the National Ski Areas Association “End of Season Survey.”

But when did you ever pay that much to go skiing?

Few of us do, given various season passes, lift-and-lodging packages, lesson deals, two-day tickets, and any of the many other promotions that ski areas run and advertise on their Web sites.

And that’s not even taking into account the really zany specials like skiing free on your birthday at Mount Sunapee, Sugarbush’s anniversary ticket of $5.50 on Dec. 22 (yeah, you missed it), or Mad River Glen’s anniversary lift ticket of $3.50 on Jan. 30.

Here are some of the deals offered around New England, and also check the LeopardReport Calendar:

Saddleback Maine in Rangeley, Maine

Sugarloaf/USA in Kingfield, Maine

Sunday River in Newry, Maine

Ski Butternut in Great Barrington, Mass.

Ski Ward in Shrewsbury, Mass.

Wachusett Mountain in Princeton, Mass.

Black Mountain in Jackson, N.H.

Bretton Woods in Bretton Woods, N.H.

Cannon Mountain in Franconia, N.H.

Crotched Mountain in Bennington, N.H.

Loon Mountain in Lincoln, N.H.

Mount Sunapee in Newbury, N.H.

Waterville Valley in Waterville Valley, N.H.

Wildcat Mountain in Pinkham Notch, N.H.

Bromley in Manchester Center, Vt.

Mad River Glen in Waitsfield, Vt.

Mount Snow in West Dover, Vt.

Okemo Mountain in Ludlow, Vt.

Smugglers Notch in Smugglers Notch, Vt.

Dec. 1, 2006 – Christmas is coming and, rather than suggesting a whole long list of things to give skiers or boarders, let me just urge you to buy yourself or your loved one a helmet if you don’t have one already.

After years of rejecting the very notion of skiing in a helmet – why would I do that? It might be safer – I have seen the light.

All it took were two accidents at two different mountains on successive days.

Neither was my fault or the fault of either of the friends I was skiing with, but both wound up hurt. In one, a helmet would have prevented the injury. In the other, it wouldn’t have saved his broken arm, but it sure wouldn’t have hurt and could well have warded off flying ski gear that became airborne in a great tumbling mass of me, both skis and both poles.

Helmets come in all shapes and colors, are widely available at ski shops across the region, and range in price from cheap ($60) to not-so-cheap ($150). The choice is bewildering, so it’s important to actually try on different makes, models and sizes before plunking down dough.

Helmets should be mandatory for all ski area employees and ski patrollers, and no-brainers for everyone. Like seat belts and bike helmets, they simply make sense, and the arguments against them don’t hold up. Besides, they are very warm and look quite sharp.

"So you were basically a couple of 15-year-olds," my better half said to me when I described my crash-and-burn last December on the slopes.

"Well, yeah," I replied. "I think you’ve got the basic idea."

I had been following an old friend down a familiar trail – doing quite well, I might add – when the snow cover turned from marvelous to wet and sticky.

It was our first run of the day, and maybe we could have been going a little slower – or even should have been, at least until we’d seen what snow conditions were like.

But hey, I thought, who is she to talk, lying there propped up on pillows, with a sore neck and an ice pack on her head from an accident the previous day in Vermont. A snowboarder had careened like a guided missile down the trail past me and into her.

She spun around, her ski came off and she fell backwards, whipping her head downhill into the trail.

In that accident, early season conditions, limited terrain, a large crowd and no ski patrol presence on the trail mixed into a recipe for trouble. It’s a fairly normal situation in New England most years until the Christmas vacation week, by which resorts try to be fully open and staffed.

Analyzing it did not lessen the sickening feeling that swept through me as it unfolded.

Anyway, after making sure she was OK and safe from further harm, I lectured the snowboarder and his mother on the need to be in control at least to the point of not slamming into people below them on the slope.

"It was an accident," mom whined. "He said he was sorry."

"Not good enough," I replied. "He skied into her, it was his fault, and it shouldn’t have happened."

As you all know, skiers and boarders are responsible at all times and in all circumstances for avoiding other skiers on the trail below them.

My friend and I took a break for tea in the summit lodge, got a rubber cafeteria serving glove and filled it with ice to hold on her head, and then visited the ski patrol hut next door, where there was a little too much emphasis on paperwork and not enough on first aid. The paperwork fixation continued at the nurse’s station at the base of the mountain, but there was an equal interest in succoring the afflicted, which made it at least tolerable.

"Were you wearing a helmet?" the nurse asked in that neutral tone which drips with disapproval.

My friend wasn’t, but will from now on.

I’m wearing one too, although my cartwheel crash and yard sale didn’t involve my head, just the left thumb and left knee. Both hurt for weeks.

Skip Brown, longtime Ski Patrol director at Wachusett Mountain in Princeton, now retired, emailed me after I wrote about helmets.

He said, "Since I have retired from downhill skiing and ski patrolling, I don't care what people wear on their heads. I do not think it is wise to print that all mountain employees, including ski patrollers should be required to wear helmets. Since the majority of ski patrollers are volunteers, they would have to pay for them out of their own pockets. What ever happened to people being responsible for their own actions. It is kind of like making people wear bike helmets. If you are hit by a car, a helmet is not going to do much for your safety. Next thing you know, you will want golfers to be required to wear a helmet."

I replied that if Skip ever saw me golf, he’d wear full body armor on the links.

The National Ski Areas Association discusses helmet use and accidents on its Web site, www.nsaa.org.

NSAA reports, "Helmet utilization in the U.S. is increasing by about 5 percent per year for the last several years. In the 2005/06, season the overall usage of helmets among the general public (skiers and snowboarders) was estimated to be 38 percent, up from 33 percent last season. It was higher among children nine and under at 63 percent; 10 to 14 year olds at 56 percent; adults aged 65 and over at 51 percent; and those aged 55 to 64 at 46 percent. Helmet usage is lowest among 18 to 24 year olds at 29 percent. Only 19 percent of entry level skiers and snowboarders used a helmet versus advanced/expert at 45 percent. Among males, 35.2 percent used a helmet, and 30.4 percent of females wore a helmet. Helmet usage increases with ability level, with 48 percent of advanced/expert participants wearing a helmet, while 34 percent of intermediates and 26 percent of beginners wore helmets last season.

"According to Jasper Shealy, who has studied ski related injuries for more than 30 years, recent research has shown that the use of helmet reduces the incidence of any head injury by 30 to 50 percent, but that the decrease in head injuries is generally limited to the less serious injuries such as scalp lacerations, mild concussions (Grade I) and contusions to the head, as opposed to more serious injuries such as concussions greater than Grade II, skull fractures, closed head injuries and the like. There has been no significant reduction in fatalities over the past nine seasons even as the use of helmets overall has increased to more than 33 percent, and to as much as 40 percent within the population at greatest risk—experienced young adult male skiers and snowboarders. The pattern of death seems to be affected by the use of a helmet. Most fatalities are due to multiple causes or injuries. Approximately two-thirds of those who die who do not use a helmet have as the first cause of death some injury to the head. For those who die while wearing a helmet, only about one-third have a head injury as the first cause of death. It seems that while the use of a helmet may shift the distribution of the first cause of death, it is not sufficient to reduce the overall rate of death. In incidents leading to death, it appears that the severity of the incident simply overwhelms the ability of the helmet to prevent death."

Nov. 15, 2006 – Skiers on either side of me continued their liftline conversation at full pitch as we rode up a high-speed summit quad that seemed at that particular moment anything but. One talked about the Florida hurricanes, the other about New England’s proclivity to produce rocks. It wasn’t the subject matter so much as the volume. They could have heard each other if they had been in different chairs. "Just shoot me," I muttered to myself. "Just shoot me." Nobody did.

Most chair rides are enjoyable. Alone, it’s a chance to relax, reflect and watch skiers on the trails below. With others, it’s usually social, ranging from the barest, "Nice conditions, huh?" to a 5-minute friendship. That time it was neither.