snowboarding and Colorado Mountain College

I'm afraid that I did one run too many at Copper yesterday. Before I get into that though, I have a brief rant to express:

First of all, I have a problem with neither "gapers" nor ski racers. I do however have a problem with "gapers" and racers who run into people with absolutely no warning at all. "Gapers" may not be the most talented people on the mountain, but I think that they are capable of yelling a simple "WATCH OUT!” If you have enough skill to race, then you probably have enough skill to avoid me, and I know you have enough skill to yell "WATCH OUT". Yes, I am part of the problem because I'm a snowboarder and I don't have eyes in the back of my head, but if I'm downhill from you, I have the right of way. And if you must hit me, can't you at least stop long enough to make sure that I'm still alive before continuing to race down the trail?
Second of all... I see absolutely no reason as to why you must stop in the MIDDLE of the trail to use your cell phone. I will praise you on the fact that you at least stopped, rather than continuing to travel down the trail while not paying the least bit of attention to anyone else. But really, can't calling or texting someone wait until you get to the bottom of the hill? Or at least until you have moved to the side of the trail?
The SLOW PATROL... I have mixed emotions on them... I understand that skier/rider speed needs to be controlled, but can't I go slightly faster than Granny Speed? Please, please please! And if you insist that I go Granny Speed, shouldn't the ski racers have to go Granny Speed also?
Last, but not least, if you go out-of-bounds and get yelled at by the ski patrol, you have no reason to yell back at the ski patrol. Yes, there is a nice soft 2 inch layer of snow covering the rocks under the lift, but the "CLOSED" ropes are up for a reason. Also, if you tell the ski patrol something like "Well... I didn't see the 'CLOSED' sign" you sound like an idiot because there are closed signs approximately every 10 feet along with orange marking tape tied at regular intervals along the rope.

Ok, that is the end of my rant... back to why I think I took one run too many... I'd had a perfect day of approximately 5 minute laps on the Excellarator lift at Copper Mountain. At 3:30 they closed the Excellarator lift, so I went to the bottom of the American Eagle lift figuring that I'd call it the end of the day. Well, my friends Jeremiah, Joel, and Weston were down there, so I figured I'd take a run with them. About 2/3rds of the way down the hill, I had the great fortune of flying over a bump and landing on my tailbone. While my tailbone is just fine, I’ve decided that I will try to avoid menacing bumps in the snow that have the intent of throwing my through the air.

Ok... enough about me... time for some blogging about Colorado Mountain College. The CMC student and staff blogs have made news on a national advertising and marketing blog which I think is awesome. Apparently we're "inimitable". In case you are wondering what "inimitable" means (neither Erin nor I knew); dictionary.com defines it as "Not capable of being imitated, copied, or counterfeited; beyond imitation; surpassingly excellent; matchless; unrivaled; exceptional; unique;”

If you attend a residential campus of CMC and are in need of some Chapstick, the bloggers will be handing out iFilm CMC Chapstick during lunch sometime in the next week or so. Don't just steal our Chapstick though... at least go look at the info for iFilm CMC.


Last Tuesday, Curt (one of the Ski Area Operations professors) helped me pre-register for my classes for next semester. Pre-registration guarantees your spot in classes, assuming that you pay by December 12th. In order to live in the dorms, you have to maintain at least 12 credits of course work.

My official (16-credit) schedule for next semester is:
Monday
*Ropeway Operations lecture
*Events Management
*Public Speaking
Wednesday
*Trail Grooming Operations lecture
*Ski Patrol Operations lecture
Other
*Snowsports promotions (weekend in Steamboat)
*Intro to Food and Beverage Management (online)

I'm quite excited about this schedule... the only problem is that I will have excess free time... see, originally, I was going to join the alpine snowboard program at Copper Mountain, but then I decided against that... Now I'm considering getting a snowboard instructing job someplace, possibly at Copper Mountain... and as much as my parents might like the idea of me spending tons and tons of time on my studies, I'm not quite that dedicated.


We now have 2 1/2 weeks of classes left and then a week of finals. Heavy Equipment Operations is the only class that I'm really concerned about, but I have confidence that I can pull it up once I find someone to re-explain the stuff to me. Outdoor Emergency Care is a class that I'm slightly concerned about because the tests keep gaining more and more points, but between attending study sessions, doing my workbook, reading the book (actually reading your textbook... what a novel idea), and using the online study materials, I'm sure I'll do fine on these last 2 tests. I did really well on the last practical and apparently exhibited great leadership as the "leader" of the rescue, so I'm stoked... I definitely can't take all of the credit though because good leadership doesn't get you anywhere if your minions don't their stuff.

There is currently a contest going for which floor can build the best mini-golf course. The courses will be judged on Sunday night.

In Intro to SAO on Monday, a guest speaker is coming in to talk about adaptive snowsports. Hopefully their talk will give me enough information to be able to write the last ½ page of my final paper. Then I can make my PowerPoint to present to the class. In case you are in Intro to SAO and don’t have a grasp of the deadlines, we are presenting our presentations on November 24th and December 1st. Our final paper is due at 5pm on December 1st.

In Outdoor Emergency Care, we have a test next Tuesday. Then I imagine we will be reviewing and practicing for our final test.

In Technical Math, we are learning about functions and matrices. Due to people leaving at various times for break, we are being given our test on Thursday and it is due by 5pm on Tuesday.

In Heavy Equipment Operations, I believe we are still learning about hydraulic systems.

This week in PC Applications, we are having a test on Excel and then starting a unit on Microsoft Access.

Monday night is pool night and Wednesday night is gym night again.

More and more rooms are beginning to be adorned with Christmas lights. Yes, it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but considering that we are all headed home two weeks after Thanksgiving, I think we have an excuse to decorate early. Last night, a fellow student said that he might just leave his Christmas lights up for the rest of the year because he likes the light that they provide his room. I thought he was crazy. Today, I hung up lights in my own room, and after plugging them in and turning off the overhead light, I enjoyed them for approximately 5 seconds before they began flashing erratically. Now they are functioning normally after I moved the "flasher" bulb to a different location on the light string, and I have a beautiful array of blue, yellow, green, and red lights lighting my computer screen.

Tomorrow, after locating my camera, I will post pictures from Copper and pictures of the mini golf courses that the 3 floors have been constructing.