Classes are good

The "Dorm Plague" seems to be making a disappearance right in time for students to get in some blue-bird days of skiing and riding. We've been getting snow flurries for the past couple of days and today the sun is out if full force.

This week in Ropeway Ops lecture, we learned about sheave assemblies and towers. Paul also went over how to find information in the ANSI B77.1 code and the CPTSB code, which was important because our homework was to go to the school library, get the code books from a librarian, and answer 20 questions about the code.

In Events Management, we had another logistical meeting. Each committee head gave a brief synopsis of their group's progress. I'm the head of the publicity committee and we have to have posters printed and distributed next Monday, so we're in a bit of a time crunch. We have the poster designed though luckily- we are just in the process of finding sponsors to put on the posters. Hopefully after Monday things will be more relaxed for our committee. As far as the other committees go, an after party is in the process of being planned, "El Mexicano" (the burrito bus) should be making an appearance at the rail jam, Dutch Henri is the official location, and it's been decided that all competitors must be 18+ and helmets are strongly recommended.

This past week in Public Speaking we gave demonstration speeches. Tying knots, kick flipping a skateboard, waxing skis, washing a car, knitting, and putting bindings on a snowboard were all covered. This coming week we will be giving a One-Point speech on the career we plan on having 5 years from now.

We learned about pre-season grooming and packing of new snow this past week in Trail Grooming lecture. We also learned about grooming patterns. The main grooming patterns are: standard, sidehill, skip passing, "zamboni" and fan. Next week we will be learning about snow surface conditioning. We also got our tests from last week back and I was extremely excited about my B+. I think the fact that I did not have to remember the names of different parts of the groomer helped because that is what always messed me up on Heavy Equipment tests.

In Ski Patrol lecture, we had a test that I don't think too many of us were prepared for. Some people didn't read their syllabus, others thought the avalanche dogs were coming this week and we had a test next week (nope), and the last group was the people that may have known about the test but chose not to study (I don't know if anyone fell into this group or not). So, now that we have acomplished the taking of our first ski patrol test, we get to learn about avalanche dogs this coming week. As far as my group's ski patrol manual goes, we finally got started (probably about 3 weeks later than we should have). Yesterday we divied up tasks. I volunteered for the job of pricing items and WOW! ski patrolling stuff is expensive. The basic model of a ski patrol toboggan is almost $900!

Last, but not least, online Food and Beverage Management. This week's assignment is on nutrition for food service operations which includes the 6 basic nutrients, nutrition guidelines, menu planning, and contemporary diet concerns. Next is "the menu". "The menu" consists of menu pricing styles, menu schedules, types of menus, menu planning, menu design, evaluating menus, and menu management software.

Student Government is making progress on the renovation of the kitchen in the MPR. We've decided where to get the cabinets and countertops from. The actual work won't start until after spring break though because many students use the kitchen to make food during spring break.

Upcoming theater production at the Glenwood Springs campus of Colorado Mountain College:
The Cripple of Inishmaan
March 5, 6, and 7 @ 7:00 PM
March 12, 13, and 14 @ 7:00 PM
March 15 @ 2:00 PM
Adults: $14.00, Students and seniors: $10.00

Until next week, have fun, stay safe, and enjoy the snow. :)