"Andy, I can not wedge, I can not contol my speed,

I'm too fast moving, the trees are approaching"

Last day of high season today. Tought adult level 1's. Afternoon class of nine included five Indians or Pakistanis who had extreme difficulty mastering the basics of skiing. Photo is this mornings instructors lineup with me resting on my poles in forground and Wallace in white helmet in the background



Robert, Jen and the grandkids are here and skied Northstar today but I didn't see them as I was stuck in the biginners bowl all day.

Andy Bavetta

What StarTykes again?

This mornings Startyke class. LTR Conner, Hanna, Clair, John, Kyle and Frederico.



Andy Bavetta

Maui Visitors

Had a great time on Thursday skiing at Mt Rose with Wallace and the Whitneys. From RTL Kaye, Lance, me and Cole. Photo by Wallace.



From LTR Kaye, me, Wallace, Lance and Cole at Coles 10th birthday dinner at Cottonwoods. Cottonwood Restaurant





Andy Bavetta

Phase 1 complete.

New slate stairs are done just in time for my Maui guests to arrive, Day off work tomorow. Going to ski Mt Rose with Wallace, Kaye, Lance and Cole.



Andy Bavetta

Look Sue, it's Kevin and Peter!

Or is it Peter and Kevin?



Andy Bavetta

I was assigned to adult level 1's today but ended up working privates. It was a fun day for me. I think I'll endeavor to work privates more often. Pictures are of Scott, Belen and me in the ski school privates corral.





Andy Bavetta

Refills are free!

Andy Bavetta

No friends on a powder day!

Today was a powder day and I was off work! The Dynastar 8800's worked like a charm on the foot or so of heavy new snow.

Picture is of Bob Fuss my tile guy. Stairs are nearing completion and I'm now in the planning stage of phase two of the project which will extend the tile to the upper landing, hall, closet and bathroom.



Andy Bavetta

The start of high season

Well today was the first day of Presidents Week at Northstar. The red flag means over 6500 people were expected today. I'll post the final count when if I hear it.



The locker room is more crowded during high season. Picture shows my locker with the door open and the orange boots on top this morning at about 8:30AM. Wallace and Kelly are shown LTR in the background. Wallace is showing off two Northstar ID's having lost, replaced and found them in the space of a few hours.



I was assigned Level one adults today so I never got out of the beginners bowl. Here is a picture of my morning class. Nice group of folks who all progressed faster than the average beginner. Long day I was pretty tired by 4PM.



Andy Bavetta

8 inches short of a foot

Kelly held his first Instructor clinic today at 8:15AM substituting for Kevin Mitchell. I attended. The clinic was supposed to be on pinky toe skiing but ended up as a powder lesson as there was about 4 inches of new snow and it was snowing heavily. After the clinic Kelly, and I, Gretchen and Cory continued skiing the trees in the Glades on North Lookout and on the backside. We quit about 1 oclock. It was a good day! Its surprising how good the skiing was even though it was relatively warm and there was not all that much new snow.
Andy Bavetta

Iran a pipe a bear and a stair

Had an interesting student today. She was a software engineer who learned to ski in Iran when she was 8 years old. Anyway she turned out to be a level 8 skier which allowed me to escape the beginners bowl and ski the backside. I hadn't even realized that they had a ski industry in Iran. She told me how the women dressed in stylish ski outfits that met the severe dress codes imposed by the mullahs.

There was a lot of action at Northstar today with the Vans Tahoe Cup Competition going on and all the snowboarders flying around in the halfpipe.



Shortly after I arrived home Sam made a big ruckus and wanted to go outside and since I couldn't find my shoes fast enough I sent Wallace out to see what was going on. Well he came back in pretty fast to report that there was a hellava big bear tearing down the door to my garbage shed. Here is the result of the bears efforts.



Well my tile guy Bob Fuss started work tearing out the carpets on my stairs and lower entry hall. Soon this area will be covered with slate tiles. I'll keep you posted on the progress. This is what it looks like tonight.



Don't have to work tomorrow so I'm planning to meet Sue Hoxie at ski school in the morning and do so free skiing.
Andy Bavetta

Holy Shit!

Today was an adventure. Kelly and I went to Mt Rose and skied the Chutes. The Chutes at Mt Rose

Skied most of the runs shown on the trail map. There was about 3 or 4 inches of new Powder which collected to over foot in some of the chutes so we picked a good day. It was a bluebird day up until the fog rolled in around 1PM when we were about to leave.



This is a photo of Kelly taken near the top of the mountain.



Here I am about two thirds of the way down Jackpot chute.



After skiing we went on down to Reno and saw the movie Aviator. I thought it was a good but not great movie. It was particularly interesting for me since I worked and retired from Hughes Aircraft.
Andy Bavetta

On Superbowl Sunday

Jennifer at bottom of new Village Express Quad. Yeah she took this lift plus Bear Paw, Arrow, Vista and Comstock. By the end of our skiing day today Jennifer was making linked near parallel turns, with good speed, shape, balance and control. Scott, Lindsey and Jill did great skiing as well. Scott is making mostly parallel turns and all have the capability of negotiating blue runs albeit sometimes resorting to a power wedge technique on the steeper sections. They took off for home at around 3PM this afternoon.
Andy Bavetta

Skiing with der grandkids

Special treat for me. Spent the day skiing at Northstar with my son Robert his wife Jennifer and their kids (my grandkids) Scott 10, Lindsey 8 and Jill 6 (left to right in todays photo). More of same planned for tomorrow.



Stopped by the Blue Coyote tonight to see Peter Giles who was on his way home to Australia from Beaver Creek where he had been visiting his daughter. Peter started teaching at Northstar about the same year I did. He stayed in Australia this year to work on his house. He is on the right of the photograph with Dave, Peters brother, on the left and Margaret, Dave's wife, in the middle. It was good to see Peter.
Andy Bavetta

Back is well

Looks like the stretching cured my back. Free skied yesterday including several bump runs with no problems and this morning I feel fine. Below is a picture of several of my Northstar Ski Buddies taken a couple of weeks ago. Left to right Jon, Kelly, Bob, Ken, Jane, me, Gene and Wallace.



Good and bad news from Ryan. Bad news is that he has both the flu AND mono. The good news is that he is well enough to go home from the hospital.
Andy Bavetta