I beg your pardon? Skiers don’t carve? I was carving turns before snow boards were invented (yes, I’m that old). Skiers invented carving. I have seen good snowboarders carve, and it looks good. Most of them, however, use their board like a bulldozer shovel and scrape all of the snow off the hill. Most skiers slip or slide their turns, too, but it isn’t as effective at scraping the hill of all loose snow as a snowbaord is. It makes me shake my head.

But all kidding aside aside, a good day on the slopes is hard to beat, whether you’re on one board or two. And what would be the point of going to a cenference in Aspen if you didn’t get to carve a few turns?

The Peak of Ben Nevis in Scotland is like that apparently. Never been there myself, but there’s a long narrow ridge to the summit, with thousand foot sheer drops on either side.

Mountaineers, even in summer, are advised to take instructions for making their way along the ridge by dead reckoning if a sudden fog or snow storm reduces visibility to the ends of their noses, as it often does there: “two hundred paces south east, fifty paces south” that kind of thing. A few years ago there was an outcry when a well-known mounteering association published wrong and potentially fatal instructions on the web!

I fill my need for speed with longboarding. I’m still slow, but getting better. Faster than walking, more fun than cycling. Instant access to the slopes.

On the downside, pavement is harder than snow.

cheers