New Year at the Lodge 2006

by Ed Martin event photos

New Year at the Lodge is always an exciting event:

"Will I get there or get snowed in at Applegate?"
"Will it be dead or will the party animals be rolling around in the parking lot?"
"Will I need new skis after grinding them up on the rocks?"

This year it was smooth and even; well maybe a few nicks through the thin snow. Certainly travel was a breeze, after a light snow fall early in the preceding week the roads were clear. However I had my own little travel crush, Marian my assistant was flying back from Denver, which potentially had its own snow problems, but with a bit of juggling she flew direct to Reno, I arrived to collect her at the very second she stepped onto the street, and we hightailed it to Carson City CostCo to bulk shop.

We arrived at the Lodge at 6:00pm to a collective cheer; I suspect the cheer came from the stomachs. Helpers dashed to unload the car and get the pots on and we were soon enjoying chili and rice with catch-up conversations.

And the skiing; many of us indulged all three days, for Marian and I that was Squaw Valley on Saturday, Sugar Bowl Sunday and Northstar Monday. Sugar Bowl, which we spent with Linda Eaton, Paul Vlasveld and Kristen Larson, had the most cover and mostly we skied Disney which offered a nice mixture of groomed and bump runs. At Squaw we kept mostly to Solitude, I heard Granite Chief was a pile of rocks. Northstar was pretty thin; we tried the backside for a while but it was difficult to find a way through the rocks and bushes, especially lower down the slope. In the end we stuck to Axe Handle which had some nice fairly well covered moguls on the right and close to the trees. Also Flying Squirrel was acceptable.

Saturday evening we continued our eating tradition, it was a relatively simple meal of Lasagna and salad with pies and ice cream to follow. Sunday, being New Year’s Eve, was our main eating and party session. I had bought CostCo tri-tip which is always a reliable main course. I was feeling a little overloaded and decided to cook in; I was just turning on the oven when Nick came down and offered to fire up the Après barbecue outside and grill it. Nick did a great job, the tri-tip was perfect and presented from rare to well done making everyone happy.

We then drifted to the lounge and got on with the dancing mixed with breaks for conversation and libation (just to be sure I checked the dictionary on this word; the #1 definition is scary). The party was enjoyable yet a little quiet - just a little quiet, we still danced and had fun but some of the group elected to join Nick and party at the Crystal Bay Club and Casino and miss the midnight Champagne. They had their own fun and returned over a period from about 1:00am to 4:00am, many with CD’s on the live band that was playing. Of course we must not forget our every ready hot tub, kept beautifully clean and sparkling by Nick. Many of us popped in and out during the course of the weekend.

Most participants left Monday, that work thing, but Marian and I stayed on, that was our Northstar day. I couldn’t stop tripping over the backside brush sticks I mentioned above but no harm done, just roly-poly in the snow. The front side was better if you wanted to stay upright..

Finally I have to say I’m continually surprised we don’t totally overload our lodge on these events. Come on guys, get with the fun and sport; it’s great up there in the thin clean air. Join Après and other Santa Clara clubs for hiking and biking and you’ll feel no pain on the slopes.