Weather Gods Unfair to Skiers

Martin Griff photo.

When I arrived in New Hampshire to ski last week, the car outdoor thermometer read 58 degrees. And, it was raining.

“Is this fair?” I kvetched to myself.

Out west,
Whistler had six feet of snow in a week
Tahoe just reported three feet of new
Training runs for the World Cup at Beaver Creek had to be postponed because of—you guessed it—too much snow.

And, here we were in the East ready to play golf.

Yes, things have changed radically in the last week. The cold weather came along, snow making began in earnest, and some New England ski resorts reaped more than a foot of snow.

But wait. I’m headed, with Phil and his wife Brigitte, to the Adirondacks’ Gore Mountain this weekend, where the forecast calls for low temperatures of 9, and highs of 20 or so.

Is this fair?

No.

But, then again, the weather gods have never been fair. Sometimes they’re kind. But never are they fair.

Driving to New Hampshire

Here’s the thing. No matter how many times I’ve driven to New Hampshire—summer or winter, it makes no matter—I have no sense of where I am.

Why is that?

I don’t have that problem anywhere else in New England. Not in Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island or ever Maine, which is vast and, in some places, virtually unexplored.

And, I drive to New England a lot. Including New Hampshire. To ski mostly. But, in summer, I find myself up here to hike, play golf, or do the myriad other activities offered by the mountains the coast, and the resorts.

So, how come I never have a sense of knowing where I am?

Take yesterday, for instance. I drove to Waterville Valley. No traffic to speak of, excellent driving weather. I chose a route through Hartford, then north on I-91 through Springfield, Mass., and up to White River Junction, Vt.

Fine to that point.

Then it was east on a series of numbered roads til I was supposed to reach I-93, on which I was to travel two exits north.

I did all that. But, by the time I reached I-93, I had no confidence that I was in the right place or driving in the correct direction. I was traveling on faith.

Sure, I got here in the end. Still, what is it about New Hampshire that engenders this state of confusion? Forget “Live Free & Die”; for me, it’s “Live Free & Feel Lost.”

— Mitch Kaplan