day 19. skiing. sunday river. 12/29.

the first wind hold day. the winds were howling but at the beginning of the day only the white cap chair was on hold. i knew that wouldn't last. it was also bitter cold. i headed straight to the top of spruce figuring i should get the tops done first. sammy and the lift mechanic were watching the winds and seemed to be thinking a wind hold was imminent. barker went on wind hold when i was up there. locke mountain was still running so i headed there next but it was on hold by the time i got to the bottom. i headed straight to the tempest chair and even that was quite hairy. the chairs were blowing around like crazy and the top guy hadn't even requested a wind check which i did immediately. todd came right away and said to hit the slow button when the big gusts hit and to tell the bottom guys to load people in the middle. i also told them to try to get three on any chair they load. while todd was still there a family showed up and was pretty stressed out. the wind was blowing the surface snow away making it very icy and they seemed completely unprepared. i don't think they even had a map. their approximately 12 year-old daughter came into the shack freezing because she wasn't properly dressed for the cold: i think she had a shell on with a shirt underneath it. no layers. wind chills were probably 10-20 below. i gave her my coat and her shivering slowly subsided. todd sent the rest of the family down on the chair and gave her a snowmobile ride down. i coached the operator on watching the lift in those conditions and headed back to do south ridge. since just about everything else was down the lines were fierce. i didn't really care since i was getting paid and jon told me never to jump the line. when i finally got to the top it was a regular party in the shack with russell, zane and jon himself up there. i was going to man the controls but jon took them himself for russell's break. even on south ridge it was very hairy, especially since that's the lift all the little ones ride. the wind blew any snow whatsoever off the ramp and it was sheer ice. fun fun. as i headed in people were giving up and the line was dying down. you gotta love wind hold days. another short day for me. good thing i am working six.