Ski Tricks

All too soon, though, it was time for Tom and I to head down to the Valley for the Yosemite Concert of the Mariposa Storytelling Festival, where they bring in professional storytellers from all across the country for a weekend of stories. Although there was a children’s storytelling session in Mariposa yesterday, these stories are mostly designed for grown-ups and there were only a few kids in the audience this afternoon. To imagine, picture one of the best storytellers you know – the person who can spin out stories that can make you laugh or cry, give them time to practice the presentation, and timing, and then give them a 20-minute time slot and a mike. The stories form the core of the experience, but there’s also a hearty helping of theatrics, songs and music. I laughed, a lot. We’d heard some of Kevin Kling‘s stories before, and enjoyed his performance very much, but my favorite story of the afternoon was told by Len Cabral about a boy who learns to tell stories. I’m a sucker for storytellers telling stories about storytelling – probably one of the reasons that I enjoyed Atonement so much (the book ending is so much better than the movie ending, by the way).

Skiing Fast

There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to organizing a race like this, and it was interesting to see. There are skiers, coaches, crowds of excited parents, timers, gate keepers, course maintenance folks, and who knows what else. The course was set with knee-high gates for the younger kids, and then they changed out to the full-height rapid gates for the older skiers. From the perspective of a Gate Keeper, all of the sudden a dozen people with bags and tools descend from the starting area, and start replacing gates. There isn’t much discussion, as everyone seems to know what they are doing, and then, voila, the gates are in place.

Budding speed demon

Skiing the gates looks like so much fun, it’s too bad that there isn’t a Masters Racing program nearby. The mental and physical challenge of running a course as fast as possible is really exciting. I guess there is NASTAR, which at Badger is set up both weekend days in the afternoon, and is wicked fun in it’s own right, but a slalom course with rapid gates is a different kind of challenge. Of course, the last thing I really need right now is yet another hobby.

Art

The evening begins with artwork – there are two exhibit openings tonight. William Neill’s Classic Yosemite Photography Exhibit Opening begins at the Ansel Adams Gallery from 4:00 – 5:30, and Yosemite Renaissance has a juried exhibit opening at the Yosemite Museum Gallery from 5:30 to 7:30, which contains photography and paintings of Yosemite and the Sierra.

Retirement Party

OK – this is a personal thing, and people retire from all different kinds of places. We’ve already bid farewell to a beloved Park Supe this year, and this celebration is for Jerry and Judy, who have been in the park, just about forever. Jerry started working here in 1964, as the kid who pushed the giant bonfire off of Glacier Point for the Firefall, and retires this year as the Director of Hotels. I’m looking forward to the program this evening to hear all the stories that people have to tell about them.

Lu’au

Huh? In Yosemite? That’s right. There is a full-on Lu’au with professional Maori, Hawaiian and Tahitian dancers at Curry Village on Saturday (Feb. 28) and the not so professional but very cute kids from Yosemite’s El Portal and Valley schools, and a Polynesian Buffet for only $15 ($7.50 for kids). Proceeds go to benefit the Yosemite Valley and El Portal schools (yes, there is a school right in Yosemite Valley).

Heritage Holidays

I’m not sure there is a short description for this event. Heritage Holidays starts on Sunday and celebrates the Art Deco era with music, dancing, fabulous vintage fashion from the 20s and 30s, historical programs, a scrumptious Gala Dinner on Monday night and, of course, a Grand Ball with top hats and tails that tops the 3-day event off on Tuesday evening. This year is particularly special, because there will be a reunion of WWII Veterans who stayed at The Ahwahnee during their convalescence when it was temporarily transformed into a hospital.

The Regular Stuff

And as if that wasn’t enough to fill the weekend, there’s the ‘regular’ stuff too.

Skate skiing is probably awesome along the Glacier Point Road this weekend. With the fresh snow lately, I’ve been doing more powder hunting and less skating, and it’s time to balance things out a little, not that taking a few turns at Badger doesn’t sound good too.

Plus, we’ve been hearing reports of AMAZING poppies blooming along Hwy 140 where the Telegraph Fire burned this summer from Michael Frye, and Steve Bumgardner.

And that doesn’t even count reading one of the many books that are waiting for me on the bookshelf, writing, drawing, playing the piano… and today is my mom’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom!

Tom skiing

On a personal note, this year I’m starting to feel like it would be OK again for me to get shaken up a little bit, and take a few falls, if you know what I mean. I’m still pretty tentative, but on a relative basis it’s a huge step up from where I was last year. When the snow was firmer I got in a few runs on the NASTAR course, trying to go as fast as I could, and now I’m hitting some rougher terrain with more confidence, and taking some falls. I keep thinking it would be fun to ski some steeps in Tahoe one of these weekends, but of course there is always so much to do.

Part of the fun of the last few times we’ve gotten out skiing has been experimenting with our new camera, and getting some nice pictures. Photography – or I should say, good photography – is hard, getting the exposure set up correctly, and just trying to compose the pictures in an interesting way is a big challenge, and I feel like there is so much to learn. Here are just a few that Tom and I took.

Theresa

Theresa and Bruce on the Badger Chair

Our tele whacker friend, Jeff, looking strong