 Poster: A snowHead
|
Ohio?
As the great scribe says "the maximum elevation in the state is 1,549 feet. Not that the Alpine Valley ski area, east of Cleveland, is anywhere near so dizzying."
This article is only worth reading because the man has a touching way of describing the mundane, with sweet humour. If only all Americans were as insightful.
| Quote: |
| I didn’t learn to ski until I was 30. And when and where I learned, the powder was mostly on glass-topped coffee tables and "downhill" was a description of character. |
Enjoy! His essay is on the Ski Magazine site.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
David Goldsmith, I spent my second day on skis at Alpine Valley (in 1988). He sums it up about right. The only way to get along the green (which was not quite flat, but had as much uphill as downhill) was to pole very hard and for a long time - although that day swimming would have been almost as effective. After that it was the "black cubic-zirconium" for the most rest of the day, or their artificial slope blue (which was actually steeper than the 'black'). I never realised Boston Mills had a slope (but then it may not have then) - all I remember of that was a huge shopping mall, and I may have heard mention of Big Creek in passing somewhere, but we never got there.
| Quote: |
| Our babysitter discovered that Ohio chili is spiced to a degree that’s alarming even by the standards of her native land. |
Confirmed. They desperately want to prove that (despite extensive circumstantial evidence to the contrary) they are not less macho than Texans, so go rather OTT there. Show them a curry though and "Oh my God, that's f***ing hot - I can't eat that" was the response to a Korma we persuaded one guy to try, at the only curry shop on the East side of Cleveland at the time - a Greek restaurant....don't ask (There were alleged sightings of one of the west side also, alas never confirmed by the occasional reconnaisance mission).
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
I stayed with my girlfriend in Cleveland for a while - as a climber the flatness kind of gets to you.
My character has been going downhill for some time 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
Interesting to see that Ohio's highest peak is a third of the height of Ben Nevis. The winter climate must be impressively cold to be operating skiing there. Anyone know what the typical snowline is, or does all low-lying land in Ohio get consistent snowcover in deep winter?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
Yeah - just below the great lakes so pretty cold in winter - plenty of snow falls at low altitudes. I had a go on cross country skis in a couple of acres of woodland out back.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
The Great Lakes don't get quite as cold as the real Mid-West, but the jetstream does bring some bitterly cold winds in from Canada (the Yanks obsess about the jetstream even more than we do about the Gulf Stream). It's quite common for it to get below 0F. Northern Ohio (or at least about the top 20 miles or so, down to about i-80/Akron) also "benefits" from "the Lake effect". This is when the wind comes from the north/north-west it picks up water as in passes over Lake Erie, and then dumps it on land, either as rain in summer or snow in winter. There isn't normally a huge depth lying on the ground (I would say it would be typical of there to be a couple of inches), but there are normally piles of snow alongside most roads to about 4' high for most of the winter. Lake Erie also normally freezes enough to go skating on it, but not normally enough for that to be really safe  (There was normally a few reports of people falling through the ice).
Scarpa, I thought there were supposed to be some cliffs worth climbing near Akron - but as I'm not a proper climber I didn't investigate further. I also thought there looked to be a few rocky outcrops in the south-eastern section of the Metropark belt.
I also went skiing over the border into NY a couple of times ( a) somewhere I can't remember and b) Holiday Valley). Even with not a lot of experience under my belt (0 weeks and 7 weeks respectively) a 4 hour drive each way for 800' of ice didn't seem an experience particularly worth repeating.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ