Potpourri

Telephoto

Not that anyone cares that he's on teles, but here's Pete dropping the affectionately (and maybe not so officially) named "Carrie's Cornice" with his heels solidly not attached to his skis:

Pete dropping Carrie's Cornice

(he landed cleanly somewhere 400 ft from the cornice edge
and then proceeded to do forty thousand tele turns in a
row without breaking a sweat or bothering to breathe) 

Quote of the Day

"The present is an excellent opportunity to be able to live in the past sometime in the future."
     -Ben

The quote inspired by "The Big One: Ten Years of TGR in Jackson Hole" and was in reference to the fact that the Fresh Tracks 2011 Crew probably needs to steer March's focus toward being more rad more often and do so while people are watching. 

Some Recently Awarded Points...

• Corbet's Couloir - Pete (15 pts)
• Tele-Heli - Ben (10 pts)
• Tele One-Eighty - Pete (4.999 pts, 2x)
• "Turning is for wimps!" (a.k.a. Straight Lining Things) - Carrie (15 pts)
• Visiting Jackson Hole Mountain Resort - Kiren (100 pts)
• Massive and Repeated Failure in Backwards Tele'ing under the Beginner Lifts - Kiren/Ben/Pete (18 pts each)
• Missing an Opportunity to Hold a Spot in Line for an Attractive Female Olympic Freestyle Skier on a Powder Day¹ - Ben (-30,000 pts)
• Escaping in Glorious Fashion and with Exemplary Athleticism a Deadly Soft-Slab Avalanche that was Big Enough that Carrie and Kiren Sorta Even Noticed It (Well, After It Was Subsequently Pointed Out to Them Even Though They Were There at the Time and Was Then Referenced Numerous, Numerous Times by Ben Even Though It Might Actually Have Been < 1" in Depth and Perhaps Qualified as "Light Sluff", Rather Than an Avalanche) - Ben (0 pts, the feeling of being alive is reward enough) 
• Resort & Backcountry in the Same Day - Pete/Carrie  (8 pts)
• Making Most Excellent Tacos for Dinner Tonight- Carrie (45 pts)
• Breaking the Internet - Some Lady Next Door (-1 googol pts)²
• Fixing the Internet - Ben (5 pts)

¹ As the ski-a-lot community is well aware, there's no "saving a spot" in line on a powder day. That's simply laughable. So this item actually offers a bit of insight into the particulars of Jackson Hole powder day first-lift line dynamics. The first notable point about the JH powder day rules is that it is okay to leave line on a powder day while waiting for the lift to open to go get coffee / take a bathroom break / go chat with your ski patrol friends / etc. as long as your equipment manages to still be in your place in line when you return. Pretty nice and lenient, eh? A more civilized and respectful world, right? On other hand though, if the line suddenly starts moving (for example, to compact the line before the lift is open) and you're not there and no one grabs your equipment for you to drag it up in line, don't pretend that your equipment will not be stepped right over by the rest of the line without remorse or a second's hesitation - even if you happen to be an Olympic freestyle skier. That's JH.
² Fine. As noted by some readers, perhaps this isn't really the most penalty-deserving item on the list. Ya, ya, I should have held her place in line.