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Peaks & Valleys: The Best - and Worst - of 2006

By J.D. O'Connor
May 15, 2006

From Fillmore Street ski jumping to Borino, great snowfalls to spectacular downfalls, here's a sampling of the best - and the worst - of Ski Season 2006.

Peaks

"I think it's fabulous. It's kind of zany, if you ask me, in a San Francisco way. But let's face it, San Francisco is a bit wacko, and the whole world knows it." ---- Cecilie Klaumann, secretary of the Norwegian Consulate in San Francisco during Jonny Moseley's birthday ski jumping competition on Fillmore Street.

Norwegian cross country ski coach Bjoernar Haakensmoen received more than five tons of maple syrup from grateful Canadian fans after he handed Sara Renner a spare ski pole after the Canadian broke one during the Nordic ski sprint relay final. Canada won silver, while the Norwegians finished fourth.

Skiers, and perhaps more importantly, female skiers are skiing and riding at Iran's Shemshak and Dizin ski resorts near Teharan in record numbers since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The country's two major resorts - among the highest ski areas in the world - top a list of 20 operational areas and are well attended. Skiing was banned briefly by the Islamic regime during the 1980s.

Late season storms and robust attendance contributed to record-setting snow dumps and skier days for most of the country, with Colorado, Utah, and the Far West faring the best.

"I am a young woman with dogs (2 smallish) planning to move to tahoe in the next few weeks to month from reno. Do you own a place and would like to trade rent for a delicious encounter a couple of times a month? We would meet outside of the home. I am interested in a years lease and do not wish to co-habitate. I am tall and voluptuous, sensual and sincere. Do not smoke or drug. email me for pix...include info on the property. thank you! ---- Bay Area Craigslist ad.

Best ski resort slogan: "Ohau I Love to Ski!" ---- Ohau ski area, New Zealand.

Second best slogan: "Ski Good or Eat Wood." ---- Blue Knob ski area, Pennsylvania.

Ski quote: "I now realize that the small hills you see on ski slopes are formed around the bodies of forty-seven-year-olds who tried to learn snowboarding." ---- Dave Barry

Valleys

"I'm a very detail-oriented person. I checked the dates for the Grand Prix, the Union Street Fair and the marathon. Who'd have thought you'd have to check for a snow jump competition? In August? It's just ridiculous..." ---- Bride-to-be Laurie Beijen after finding out Moseley would stage his Fillmore jump on her wedding day.

Summer skiing on the glacier at France's Alpe d'Huez may be a thing of the past as resort officials halted on-glacier activities or the foreseeable future, perhaps forever, until the melting glacier is stabilized. Global warming is suspected.

Doug Coombs' and Chad Vanderham's unthinkable deaths in La Grave. The deaths of three ski patrollers at Mammoth, and others taken during the season.

Burglars stole a 23-stone safe from an Austrian ski resort and escaped down the mountain on an old wooden sledge. According to the owners of the Altenmarkt resort in Pongau, there was around 13,500UK in the safe ($26,000US).

New Yorker Benjamin Moss was duly impressed by the curbside valet service at a French resort during a recent ski trip, promptly handing over his family's luggage and skis to two very polite men in blue blazers upon arrival. He was less than pleased minutes later when checking in. "Luggage, monsieur? asked the attentive bellman. Moss told him he'd handed it over to the drive-up valets. "But monsieur, the hotel has no drive-up valets..."

More? Of course there are. Feel free to add "Peaks & Valleys" of your own...

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Comments

	Very funny! This was fun... wish I had something witty to contribute!!
	Posted by: Courteney Blankenship | May 15, 2006 12:17 PM

NextSnow's Jack Turner, who has skiied Iran, says women have long been included in the local ski scene, Jack pointing out that local hills do have separate lift lines and, in some cases, even separate runs for women "until you get to the very top of the mountain where security really slacks off." Jack also says women in Iran must ski in a traditional chador, which must present quite a challenge. Thanks, Jack, obliged for the worldly insight.

Posted by: J.D. | May 15, 2006 02:16 PM