Tony & Wendy's Travel Blog

Sunday – mixture of sun and cloud.

A well deserved day off. Lazy morning of coffee, newspapers and internet.

After lunch we’re off to Walmart to buy our bikes. Wendy gets a new toy, a purple comfy bike, cross between a mountain bike and a street bike with a comfy seat, of course. Note the colour, most important. Order it over the internet for in store pick up – saves $10.

I get a mountain bike. Colour doesn’t matter, it’s on offer and saves $100. 

We’re all set for summer now.

Just what we need:

Falling asleep to a movie on Netflix is a wonderful feeling, but one that can turn to frustration  he next day as you try to figure out where you left off.

It’s one problem that Netflix engineers tried to solve during an internal company Hack Day last week, according to TechCrunch. The hack involves using a Fitbit wristband to detect when the user has fallen asleep. When snoozing commences, Netflix slowly fades the audio and puts the movie on pause. It also creates a bookmark at the point when sleep began so snoozing users can easily return to that point later.

Wendy refuses to ride all the way home, it’s up hill, so we have to catch the bus. You can even take bikes on the bus, mind you when it’s full of skiers it’s a squeeze, like Talibans at a riot.

Hala meat yet again:

Parents fury as pork sausages are banned from the school menu and replaced with halal meat.

Sausages, ham and other pork products have been banned at Brinsworth Manor Infant and Junior Schools in Rotherham. Just 20 per cent of the 600 pupils at the two schools are Muslim. Governors agreed to the change to make the school more inclusive. Rotherham Council said only serving halal meat was a ‘minor adjustment’. The move comes as Britain’s vets call for Muslims and Jews to use more ‘acceptable’ methods of killing.

Just the sort of dhimi multicultural attitude that is selling this country into sharia slavery and the sort of madness that made me give up as chair of governors at a primary school that was predominantly muslim. Goldfish for jam jars.

Monday – sun and cloud I think.

By way of a change I skied in the morning but it was a somewhat tardy start to the day. Wendy worked.

Another awesome day. Just 2″ on top of corduroy. Easy skiing with pretty patterns. Tycoon and Keystone are superb.

In the evening Hal and Carol pick us up and we go up to the Farm restaurant, at the Canyons, to celebrate Angela’s 5th birthday. Meet Randy up there.

Angela’s quote was, “I am 5 today, before I was 4”. 5 years old going on 45.

Good food, good company, a great evening.

Tuesday – snow all 5” of it.

Fluffy thick buttermilk pancakes with lashings of maple syrup and blue berries for breakfast. Go ski on that. Trees under threat today as they’re bombarded with Mardi Gras beads, knickers and bras thrown off the lifts onto the trees – cruelty to trees. They’re beautiful enough and need no adornments.

Out at the crack of sparrows. A great morning. A real white out but and snow teaming down.

Lovely fresh powder to turn the legs to jelly. Runs are quiet as people take shelter from the snow or go home. Well worth the effort. My black diamond for the day is dynamite. Get to the top of it and it’s a real whiteout – see picture. Go or walk up and out of it. Being lazy I go for it. Just survived it, but where did those steel reinforced moguls come from? So where’s up or down? Where am I?

In the afternoon we attend a timeshare promotion at the Canyons, Hilton. Picked up and ferried home in style. Thanks to hilton timeshare for the $225 for attending their luxurious place at the Canyons. Will buy us 3 discounted Deer Vally passes in place of the 2 promised. We’ll gladly come again, on any snowy day. And no we didn’t buy.

Can you believe this, religion still dominating even in this day and age:

Thousands of homeowners around the country have been notified by the Land Registry that they are liable to pay for repairs to their local Church of England church.

Chancel Repair Liability (CRL), dates back to the time of Henry VIII and gives some churches the right to demand financial contributions towards repairs from local property owners.

The liability is due whether or not the landowners are Anglicans, or even Christians.

In some cases, payment could be for the full cost of repairs, sometimes running into hundreds of thousands of pounds, but normally the cost will be shared with others locally.

Wednesday – blue bird day, quite warm in the 40’s.

So this is what yesterday’s whiteout run picture looks like.

Blue bird day but not up to Wendy’s standards. 

Get the adrenalin pumping with 3 blacks (amazing isn’t it the Americans still have that word in their dictionary, unlike the loony liberal PC thought police in the UK who have raped and pillaged our language to avoid mythical offense) before coffee. Silver skis is pretty daunting, followed by Crescent and dynamite which look almost green by comparison to Silver Skis. A great mornings skiing get my black a day in and 10 awesome runs.

After lunch we saddle up and ride down, note the direction, to Walmart to pick up some simple bike tools. Only takes 50 minutes as Wendy keeps stopping to “admire the views”! Then it’s a  well deserved Starbucks before catching the bus back up to the Peaks hotel. Must have done about 8 miles all told and down 300 feet. It does not bode well for summer.

Smell the coffee. That religion is intent on taking over. I really don’t want my grand kids to have to wear the burka, grow a beard or even stone me to death because of my blog:

Documents reveal that a group of fundamentalist Salafists, are being investigated by Birmingham City Council after they apparently urged a Muslim takeover of failing schools.

The Sunday Times reported that the council is deeply concerned about Operation Trojan Horse strategy documents which allegedly outline plans oust to headteachers in Muslim areas of the city, and turn the schools into faith-based academies run on Islamic principles.

The documents, leaked to the Sunday Times, call for an end to corrupting children with sex education, teaching about homosexuals, making their children say Christian prayers and mixed swimming and sports.

They say parents should:
Parachute in Muslim governors to drip-feed ideals for a Muslim school

Have an English face to campaigns to turn secular schools into faith-based academies

Wear down the resolve of a headteacher at a targeted school so they eventually give up

Thursday – warm and sunny, with a bit of snow.

What an awesome day, 3 hours great skiing; a couple of hours volunteer skiing at the National Ability Centre with a severely disabled 7 year old on a bi-ski, instructor was brilliant with him; then Park City gun club with Randy. 

Great safety briefing and then get to fire off 2 different 45’s, have the kick of a kangaroo kick boxer; a 40 and then a .22 complete with silencer, at least if you shoot someone with this one it doesn’t damage their hearing or disturb the neighbours. Serious stuff. Shell casings flying everywhere, muzzle flashes. Makes you appreciate ear defenders, safety glasses and how ridiculous the movies are. One of the 45’s was a heavy, manly browning first produced in1911 – see picture. The 2nd was a small quite lightweight 45. Being so lightweight it gave an even bigger kick than the Browning, but an ideal gun to carry.

Great Western experience, thanks to Randy.  Something that you can’t experience in the UK with our strict gun laws.

Living the Dream.

Don’t you just love the contradictions of that religion:

Peaceful and tolerant verses, in the quran, lie almost comma by comma with violent and intolerant ones. From, there is no coercion in religion (2:256), or the multitude that command believers to fight all non-Muslims till they either convert, or at least submit, to Islam (8:39, 9:5, 9:29).

To get out of this quandary, the commentators developed the doctrine of abrogation, which essentially maintains that verses revealed later in Muhammad’s career take precedence over earlier ones whenever there is a discrepancy.

But hang on isn’t this fairy story meant to be the word of a supreme being, a god no less! What sort of supreme being contradicts themselves. Crazier than a taliban fundamentalist wrapped in a pigskin.

Friday – cold, some snow, sun and clouds.

3” fresh powder overnight on top of some icy runs. In the queue for Eagle Lift start. Then it’s Temptation; Shamus; King Kong; Jonesys, of course; Assesment; lazy run down Claim jumper; coffee; then a long run down to the base via Silver Queen and Hidden Treasure. Pass on my daily black, Combustion, whilst the powder was tempting the ice underneath made me chicken out.

A pretty good but lazy mornings skiing. 3” of powder is just ideal. Not to difficult but just enough to create great pretty pattern turns.

As usual by lunch time it’s skied out so well worth the early start.

Disaster nearly strikes when I get home and one of my 20 year old rear entry ski boots seems to have fallen apart. Thankfully it’s easily fixed with just a clip back in. My boots are so comfortable that I’ll be devastated when they finally give up keeping me attached to my skis. No one makes rear entry boots anymore and yet they’re so comfortable and easy to get into – just one buckle, not the 4 to 6 buckles of a modern boot.

After lunch take a bike ride to the liquor store for some beers. I suppose I could have managed but wanted a bit more exercise.

What is it with Utah and all these tarty, fruity beers? What perverted fruitcake dreamed up a Blackberry beer. Yet try and buy a decent German lager or pilsner and it’s as likely as finding a politician with a skerrick of common sense.

In the evening we make a start on “House of Cards”, season 2.

Monday – sun and cloud. Quite warm in the 40’s – not good.

This retirement malarkey is a hard life. Not for the faint hearted, requires total dedication and concerted effort.Lazy start. Stap me vitals do I have to go skiing yet again, dam me no. 

Manage a good moorings skiing and then come home to do battle with the Car insurers (thankfully “Noddies gone past Big Ears” for them so it’ll have to wait for tomorrow) and to see if I can possibly get some more contact lenses without a prescription. What is it with this namby pamby World? Why do I need a prescription less than a year old? I’m an adult and can make up my own mind on these things.

Seems like Canada is the place to order from. It’s obviously full of adults who are quite capable of re-ordering their contact lenses without the need for a piece of paper from a jobs worth in protected employment.

Here in the land of the free and the religion of the dollar there are some things that seem  ack handed or “quaint”. Such as ordering contact lenses; joining CostCo online; using a British credit card, especially online or at a petrol station – mainly seems to be a problem of computers (them dam things again) accepting a UK zip code; receiving post – you need a post office box or some deal with a long right armed US Postal Service geezer; no chip and pin, in fact quite often not even a signature; prices quoted without tax, so its always more than it says on the label; not to be outdone by getting Comcast Xfinity TV and Internet set up.

We’re still catching up on the Olympics with the daily 1 hour summary on BBC2 – the less said about that the better.

But has anyone noticed how most of the women in the Olympics seem to be eye candy? Perhaps athletic prowess goes with looks. 

And what’s with this two man bob sleigh event. Why don’t they just replace the second man with a sack of potatoes. Would be about as much use and have the same personality as most of them. Mind you given their role it’s no surprise there’s hardly anyone at home.

France has launched a crackdown on drunken skiers in the wake of spate of fatal accidents in the slopes.Inebriated skiers will face criminal prosecution in France under laws that carry a maximum penalty of a year in jail, although a fine of up to €15,000 is more likely for minor offenders. Gendarmes say that one in five ski accidents in France is due to drunkenness, whilst a quarter of skiers aged between 15 and 24 questioned in a recent Austrian study admitted to having descended a slope whilst tipsy.

No doubt they’ll introduce a new law that requires every skier to carry two breathalyser kits. And no doubt in true French fashion they’ll ignore it and just the Brits will conform.

Good mornings skiing. Get my daily quota in. “A black diamond a day, keeps the fear at bay”. Skiing is all about confidence. It is soo much easier to go straight down with little turns than long sweeping turns across the slopes. Snow held up well from yesterday despite all the sun and warmth, but by lunch time it’s like an anaemic slush puppy down at the base.

Please let it snow. Please let it get cold.

Meet Wendy for lunch at Payday. Then she heads off down to Kimble Junction to buy some buttons for the Thomas Tank jumper she’s knitted. God knows what she’ll do next. At least the knitting keeps her occupied and quiet!

For me I’m on volunteer duty all afternoon at the National Ability Centre. Todays student is just on ski’s so I get to ski with poles and there’s no lugging, lifting and picking them up off the snow. Mind you although she’s skiing very well it’s that slow that I spend the whole afternoon having to snow plough behind her to run interference and stop loonies, scum boarders of course, from running in to her. You’d be amazed at how stupid and reckless some are.

After an afternoons snow ploughing there are muscles in my foot that I never knew I had. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to ski parallel again.

Very wise saying:

Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many.

According to the experts we’re all doomed. 

Doomed to be overtaken by computers as the dominant life form on this planet within the next 15 to 25 years.
Life form? Well, almost. Computers will eventually beat us at all mental tasks.
They will chat, joke, flirt, understand us better than we understand ourselves and know the significance of every word mere humans have ever written. These machines will also build more machines, each more amazing than the last. They will reproduce, and their children will conquer the universe.We cannot uninvent computers. 
The question is, can we program them to be content with a good book and a glass of red wine? It’s surely worth a try, but it may already be too late.

Judging by the state of the current programs and web sites, especially those jerk  rained nerds at the BBC, there’s absolutely no chance that any robot will even be capable of crawling out of the slime of a swamp. Just think if it could be achieved we may become the pets and slaves to these superior life forms but at least we might have some access to software, written by a robot, that actually works. Who knows perhaps we’d be able to watch BBC iPlayer without the Law of Maximum Perversity kicking in and boiling my blood. Bring it on.

Now here’s a surprise.

Net immigration has risen to more than 200,000 in a significant blow to David Cameron who has pledged to reduce it below 100,000 by the next general election.

The sooner we get out from under the skirts of Merkel, that snail sucking spendthrift Hollande, along with his harem, and the EU in general the better.

Wednesday – blue bird day. Hot and very sunny.

Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit it is yet another blue bird day. Wendy’s hit the slopes and an 09:00 start to boot. 49F, too warm.

Praying for snow, lots of it, and let’s get rid of the therms as well.

More misnomers from the World of medicine: 

Being overweight is unhealthy

The accepted wisdom is that if you have a body mass index (BMI) of between 25 and 30, then you are overweight and this will shorten your life.

People with a BMI of between 25 and 30 were actually 6 per cent less likely to die than people considered to have a healthy BMI, ie, 18.5 to 25.

Meanwhile “The Tony Ski Diet” is working a real treat. Lost 9lbs since we got here,  espite consuming copious amounts of beer and red wine. I really think I’m going to start a business of my diet with guaranteed weight loss – could pay for my annual ski trip. That’s a total of 18lbs lost since November and our Marco Island trip. At this rate I’ll need some string to keep me pants up. Mind you I still have a 6% advantage over scrawny geezers.

Whilst I detest the Daily Mail for it’s ability to make me madder than a puffed toad and boil of my blood. I have to say how impressed I was to learn that during WW1 the daily mail broke ranks with all the other newspapers of the day and exposed the wrong kind of shells sent to the western front. Their editorial “the tragedy of the shells”, exposed how the British government / Lord Kitchener in particular was responsible for the death of its own citizens.

A typical mornings skiing can burn up 1,700 calories. That means I can consume 3 bottles of red wine or 12 bottles of beer a day and not gain an ounce. After 17:00 hours of course.

Seriously raised the question of whether the ruling classes had the ability to lead as generals.  

How come it’s lost it’s way so badly?

Thursday – raining in town and snow on the mountain. 

There’s stupid, there’s really stupid and then there’s brains dropped out (usually reserved for politicians), but I have to admit setting off skiing in the rain falls into the later. At least at the top it’s snowing. Arrived after 10 minutes on the lift looking like an extra for the Snowman film. Jonesys was worth it though with 3″ fresh powder. After 3 runs cocooned in gortex I call it a day. Can’t see where I’m going without wipers on me goggles. Not that It would make much difference as it’s a white out anyway. What a wimp. At least I know my gear works. My Tuesday afternoon volunteering – snow ploughed all afternoon – is still making the old abductor digit minimi ache (foot’s killing me) like hell.

After lunch we pop into town to Carols condo on main street to see if we’d prefer a different coffee table and rug. Then it’s up to the Java cow for a coffee and for Angela a cow biscuit.

More misnomers from the World of medicine: 

The war in Syria began much earlier than is generally recognised. The conflict actually began in the year 632 with the death of that Mo geezer. The same is true of the violence, tension or oppression currently gripping the Muslim world from Iraq and Iran, though Egypt, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

What most of the crucibles of conflict in the Middle East have in common is that Sunni Muslims are on one side of the disagreement and Shia Muslims on the other. The rift between the two great Islamic denominations runs like a tectonic fault-line along what is known as the Shia Crescent, starting in Lebanon in the north and curving through Syria and Iraq to the Gulf and to Iran and further east.

Apparently it all stems back to the death of that Mo geezer and his lack of a male  rotch dropping to succeed him – he only had a daughter, like all women in that so called religion, she didn’t count then and females still count for nowt, other than sex objects, breeding machines and scullery maids.

The majority of his hangers on thought his closest fanatic buddy, Abu Bakr, should take over. They became the Sunnis. But a minority thought the Prophet’s closest relative, his son-in-law and nephew Ali, should succeed. Ultimately the Shia.

The two sides agreed on the Quran but had different views on hadith, the traditions recorded by Mo’s hangers on. 

As the years passed the rift hardened into a schism. The seeds of civil war had been sown.

So yet again religion becomes the source of evil.

Friday – sun, cloud and some snow.

05:30 powder alert phone call, just to make sure I get up. Really must reprogram IFTHISTHENTHAT to ring me after 07:00 when a powder alert emails received. Her in doors has no appreciation of the early morning call and excitement of a powder alert.

On the lifts over here everyone chats away to you, unlike a bus journey full of black bin liners with slits in them in downtown Blackburn. Common question is have you skied in Europe? How does it compare? Answer is “I’m not going back to skiing in Europe unless poverty strikes”. It’s just so much better over here; better service; less crowded; better runs, mainly wider; friendly people; civilised lift lines instead of a rugby scrum; just so much more relaxing and enjoyable. But the one thing a lot of the European resorts, especially Austria, have is the charm of the villages. You’re woken every morning by the church bells summoning the faithful. Over here we have a similar equivalent. It’s the early morning sound of mortars clearing avalanches and summoning the faithful to fresh powder.

Mind you Park City is a great town. Lots of character; awesome free bus service;  veryone is so friendly; lots going on; no black bin liners and the associated problems. Won Outside Best Town Ever 2013. Quite rightly so. I’m always quite proud to say I’m living the dream here this year. If we ever win the lottery and can afford the US health service then as the Mormons say “This is the place”. And no I’m not thinking of becoming a Mormon!

Everyone here tells me the summers are even better than the winters. My retort is “How can they be? There’s no snow!”. But they insist.

Awesome 11″ fresh snow. Transforms the tired slush to a winter wonderland. Awesome morning’s skiing with Hal and Randy. All that fresh powder. Thanks guys.

More snow on the way. Let’s be greedy and pray for another 11″ or better still 22″.

After lunch Wendy and I go for a walk (just what I need after a great mornings powder) to do some bike shopping. We want to get a mountain bike ready for the worse weather of summer, no snow that is. They reckon the summers are gorgeous here so we’ll be ready geared up. Try White Pines but not much choice yet and very, very expensive. Walmart’s more in our price bracket as we’ll be giving the bikes away, hopefully to a worthy cause, at the end of the summer. Much cheaper than hiring.

After getting nearly every bike down and test riding them around Walmart, we finally settle on a mountain bike for me and comfort / crossover for Wendy. Pick them up Sunday.

Drop our rent off at Hal’s. It’s actually quicker to get off the bus at Peaks and do the  0 minute walk to our place than stay on and transfer to the green bus. Really getting into this walking and Wendy’s nearly managing to keep pace with me without too much whinging.

Living the Dream.

More misnomers from the World of medicine: 

Saturday – snow, sun and cloud.

Another powder alert. 8” this time. Was going to have the day off as Saturdays are usually so busy, but it would be a sin to miss all that powder.

In the 08:55 queue for the start of Eagle lift. Hang on there’s no one there. Dam me no, the lifts on hold due to high winds. Just think Temptations (ski run) is up there waiting with all that powder. 

Oh well Crescent lift it is then.

8″ Virgin powder is more than enough, plus 11″ yesterday. Totally bodacious.

It’s a war zone out there. Mortar rounds going off to clear the avalanche risk; bodies strewn everywhere; people searching for lost skis; even ski patrollers on their butts, gives me hope; chopped up moguls; even 2 foot wind drifts. Truly cream crackered, legs like a Glaswegian drunk after a Saturday night binge. A well deserved coffee by my favourite fireplace. Meanwhile, from my new tracker app, I have this American sounding wench chunnering away in my ear every 5 minutes telling me how fast and far.

At least this tracker apps better calibrated. No longer doing 106 MPH, back down to a sensible 40 MPH. I really do need to work more on these short turns down the sides of the runs and better control, rather than going off like an escaped banshee chased by a zombie Road Runner. As for deep powder / moguls / chop well that’s a dream, but it does turn your legs to jelly.

After lunch we decide on a walk / bus up to the Canyons. Just a bit more exercise.

We’d never dream of this in Belthorn, there just isn’t the activities or incentives. But over here, even though it’s cold, it’s just great to get out and enjoy the surroundings.

Even sat waiting for the bus you can be delighted with the simple pleasures of a snow flake drifting down and landing on your eyeball.

At the Canyons sit by the fire listening to the free concert from some band that everyones just ignoring – I wonder if Queen or the Beatles had been playing they would have been ignored. At least it’s some pleasant music and a juggler. Pass on the snores. This dam 2nd commandment of retirement does get in the way over here – “thou shalt not drink before 17:00”. Lively and free afternoons entertainment.

Call in for a black box of Merlot on the way back.

Breaking Bad in the evening. Trying desperately to keep awake. Exhausted. Then Comcast goes down. Disaster. No Netflix. No Internet.

I think tomorrow will be a day of rest, going all religious. Unless there’s a major powder alert, then who knows what may happen.

Modern day sex education consists of students donning booze glasses (distorts their vision as if drunk). They then have to grope bodies to determine sex; put a condom on a banana. Then no doubt they can choose from 4 of the ugliest girls in the class, thereby appreciating the impact of a few beers on choosing a bird for the night and learning that all important maxim of “pull early before the alcohol kicks in”. Or the wise old saying, “Go for the ugly early and you’ll never go home alone”.It also turn out that condoms are dished out freely. What is the World coming to? But sadly the essential skill of one handed grope and bra opening is not taught  – that Gove geezer needs to get his act together.

Wednesday – snow and getting warmer. Too warm. Damages the snow.

Great snow but flat light. Teeth bite your knees, then you know you’ve hit a bump. Too late is the cry. Snow is forecast in the next hour, hopefully won’t bump into one of these. A well deserved coffee by my favourite fireplace in the snow hut.

For a bit of extra exercise Wendy and I go round to the gym for a “Gentle Yoga” session. Not quite as hard or sweaty as Friday. But we had to pay $9 each, well my geriatric wife got in for $8. One of the few plus points of being a pensioner.

Carol and Angela call round to pick some things up and have afternoon tea – so very British. Angela is in the chariot we’re going to borrow when Jasper comes. It’s an awesome piece of machinery, he’ll be able to live in it and Wendy will be able to go jogging with it. Giant wheels. Hal pops in for tea.

Can you believe the barbarism of the fanatics of this insidious religion:

The ISIL militants took the Syrian girl, Fatoum Al-Jassem, to Al-Reqqa religious court and the judge ruled that membership in Facebook is tantamount to adultery and sentenced her to death by stoning, the Arabic-language Al-Rai Al-Youm reported.

Thursday – sleet, wet and too warm. Tears as we experience rain and it ruins the snow.

5″ of fresh snow overnight but I’m on volunteer duty so it’s a wet, sleety start at the bottom of  he mountain. Top of mountain is awesome with fresh powder and sun. Sadly my 8 year old Gortex seems to have turned to blotting paper. End up very cold, very wet and worst of all even have snow in my gloves from all the pinning and un-pinning of the bi-ski.

NAC ski race. Our student came 4th. Good job (Learnt that phrase from my teach yourself American book). Improved my skiing having to block for the student and keep up with no poles. 

The joys of skiing. Wouldn’t swap it for the world. Living the dream.

Why do our loony politicians continue wasting money we don’t even have on Foreign Aid to these countries:

Most Western countries have laws and regulations prohibiting support for terrorists or former terrorists. The US, the UK, Holland, Norway, Sweden and others have debated, proposed and/or passed laws or motions in parliament against giving the Palestinian Authority money that ends up in the hands of terrorists. In spite of their laws and their opposition, these countries continue to fund the PA’s general budget, thereby paying tens of millions of dollars to terrorists as salaries and other payments. 

Last week, the PA announced that it will be giving an additional $46 million a year to released prisoners, a category which includes hundreds of murderers of civilians. Since the PA cannot cover its monthly budget payments without Western aid, these additional payments to terrorists will also be facilitated both directly and indirectly by Western donor money to the PA.

Makes me madder than a long-tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs. All done so that our  iberal do gooder, progressive, politicians can assuage their World class social conscience.

Friday – warmish and cloudy with some snow / sleet / rain depending upon your altitude. Doesn’t do much for my attitude either.

Pop up for 10:00 and a couple of hours skiing. It’s like skiing on steel cut porridge oats or cement just setting. Bumpy and cruddy. As you look down the runs from the top it’s like a war zone, there’s bodies all over the place as the snow takes it’s toll. To add to the effect you have the occasional mortar going off, makes you jump out your skis, as the avalanche patrol clear any avalanche danger.  Some of the runs look like a war zone. 

Tonight, the Environmental Agency and the Met Office together have currently a record 502 severe weather and flood warnings in place, with the South West, South East of England, London and Wales being particularly affected. Many families across the UK are facing evacuation.

Valentines day madness from the despots in the religion of peace, love and understanding:

The Saudis consistently punish the slightest hint of celebrating Valentine’s Day. The Kingdom and its religious “morality” police always officially issue a stern warning that anyone caught even thinking about Valentine’s Day will suffer some of the most painful penalties of Sharia Law. This is typical of the Saudis of course. As Daniel Pipes has reported, the Saudi regime takes a firm stand against Valentine’s every year, and the Saudi religious police monitor stores selling roses and other gifts. They arrest women for wearing red on that day. Every year the Saudis announce that, starting the week of Valentine’s and until a certain day in the future, it is illegal for a merchant to sell any item that is red, or that in any way hints of being connected  o Valentine’s Day. As Claude Cartaginese has reported, any merchant in Saudi Arabia found selling such items as red roses, red clothing of any kind (especially dresses), toys, heart-shaped products, candy, greeting cards or any items wrapped in red, has to destroy them or face the wrath of Saudi justice.

Christian overseas workers living in Saudi Arabia from the Philippines and other countries always take extra precautions, heeding the Saudis’ warning to them specifically to avoid greeting anyone with the words “Happy Valentine’s Day” or exchanging any gift that reeks of romance.

The sooner we are no longer dependent on Saudi Oil the better. Then we can let these sand gobbling rag heads go back to their 7th century barbarism. As Lawrence of Arabia once said “as long as the Arabs fight tribe against tribe, so long will they be a little people, a silly people, greedy, barbarous, and cruel, as you are”.

Saturday cold and cloudy.

Day off. No skiing. Should earn some browny points.

Drive down to Salt Lake airport to pick Anna and Leon up.

As part of my continuing French studies I have translated the attached for you. “The Koran is shit. It can’t stop bullets”. Seems like the religion of permanent offence has been offended by this French cartoon and are taking satirical paper Charlie Hebdo to court for blasphemy over it. In an attempt to improve my French and to help desensitise those sicko fundamentalists who are so easily offended I’ve included it here.

Sunday – cold and snowy.

One of the worst ski days this trip. Snow was like porridge and being Presidents weekend it was very busy.

But at least we got 5” of fresh snow. Much needed.

Denmark’s Agriculture and Food Minister Dan Jorgensen has signed into law a regulation that bans religious slaughter of animals.European Union regulations require stunning before slaughter, but permit member states to allow exemptions for religious slaughter. Under the new law, Danish slaughterhouses will no longer be able to apply for an exemption to pre-stunning.

Monday – cloudy and cold.

Not quite as busy as Sunday and snow was a bit better. Although Payday and Town runs 
had some sheet ice under them. Now that’s a first.

Back home for a well deserved jacuzzi. They are rather good after a hard days skiing. Somehow they’re also so much better when it’s cold, or better still snowing outside. And no jacuzzi would be complete without a quality German beer. Struggling with getting the PH levels right – perhaps that’s why Anna’s silver rings gone grey. Well at least we still had some skin left on when we came out even if I was like a do dishes prune. Never mind at least the Bromine levels seem to be ok, keeps the jacuzzi libido down.

As the fundamentalists from the well known religion of peace seem to be jealous of the Olympics, so much so that they’re threatening to mount a terrorist attack I thought it was about time, in my new found spirit of inclusion and multiculturalism, we offered them an outlet for their anger. How about a new Olympic sport. The Jihadalon. Who can go off with the biggest bang. Teams from any terrorist organisation, the more the merrier, can send martyrs to stand in the centre of concentric circles of crash test dummies. Scoring is based on the size of the explosion measured by how many crash test dummies are anhilated; how many are knocked over; loudness of the explosion. Each team competes in 10 rounds of singles or better still 10 rounds of doubles. Due to the nature of this sport drug testing will of course need to be carried out before the event. 

Now that would really help with the war on terror.

Tuesday – bluebird morning but grey and over cast afternoon.

Awesome skiing and snow was great. A lot quieter than Presidents weekend.

I’d volunteered for NAC in the afternoon. NAC lesson delayed so having a pint of Amber ale in the Pig Pen. Forgive me for I have sinned and broke the 2nd commandment of retirement – “thou shall not drink before 17:00”. Hang on, that’s a UK commandment so I’m absolved, as it’s 20:00. Perhaps I should have a few. Then to add insult to injury the whole lesson cancelled as the student is knackered. Never mind I suppose I’ll have to ski some more.

Another event for the religion of peace Olympics could the the Stonathelon. Teams of 10 terrorists or just fundamentalists could compete to see who can lob the most 10lb granite stones into the centre of a 100 Yard concentric circle, with a crash test dummy covered in a bright blue burka, buried breast deep of course, at the centre – simulating the stoning to death of an apostate or adulterer. The team with the most stones nearest to the centre wins. Extra points are awarded for any stones actually hitting the burka clad dummy.

Wednesday – cold and 7” snow during the day.

Awesome skiing. Anna and Leons skiing are coming together. Anna has that distinctive flow down the mountain style, legs and skis parallel with no daylight between them, as a result of her trainer’s teaching methods. Fresh powder coming down on top of corduroy. Makes for great but tiring and difficult skiing, but well worth the effort.

Quit at lunch time to meet Wendy back at the house.

Then have a walk to the liquor store and supermarket and lug back some booze etc. 

The final event for the Religion of peace Olympics could be the Crucifaxelon. Open to teams of 2 terrorists or 2 fundamentalists who compete to see how quickly and stylishly they can erect a cross, amputate the left hand and right foot from a crash test dummy, complete with artificial blood for realistic effect, and then nail it to the cross – simulating the treatment of any one who opposes or fights the religion of peace.

Thursday – very cold, sun, cloud and sprinkles of snow.

Powder alert this morning as there was 10” of snow yesterday. Sadly some of the runs (Temptation, Silver King) were very icy. Don’t know what happened to the powder but it’s as if they been sprayed with water. With wind chill the temperature felt like -3F. Certainly best not to have any skin exposed.

Great mornings skiing. Running commentary from Anna on how cold she is, but Leon’s just a skiing machine – it’s one of those Mars and Venus things. 12 awesome runs in and warmed up both air and snow towards lunchtime with blue skies.

In the evening we all go round to Hal and Carols for a lovely dinner. Angela loves meeting new people, so Leon and Anna get the works from Angela’s imagination and animated chattering. She has so much energy.

It seems like the religion of peace is not the only ones to be barbaric.

In a remote Indian province a young 20 year old girl who was going to have the audacity to marry a muslim, was sentenced by the village elders, to be gang raped by 12 men from the village and then tied outdoors all night.

Friday – blue bird day.

Meet Wendy and Angela for lunch. Wendy’s looking after her, so she bought her up on the bus, where she proceeds to entertain us with her delightful character. Never known a 4 year old, going on 26, with such imagination.Ski Deer valley for a change. Leon’s never been before. Both have an awesome morning burning up the runs.

After lunch we ski the rest of Deer valley although parts of it are so very icy and busy. But Anna and Leon get their last days moneys worth as we manage to ski until 16:30. Thanks to Anna and Leon for the Deer valley ticket.

Last jacuzzi of the week for Anna and Leon.

Now we’ve been watching the Olympics with the 1 hour BBC2 summary.

Now I know that BBC iPlayer have truly lost the plot with their crappy website – it makes me madder than an Amish electrician every time I use it. A complete insult to the IT industry. But their daily 1 hour coverage makes me think they’ve finally lost it all together. In a 1 hour summary you’d expect to get mainly sports coverage. An ideal summary of the highlights. Instead you get that silly bitch, who looks like she’s sucking on a giant lollipop, twittering on about twitter, texting and whats happening on social media – who gives an animated emoticon. Then they waste more time by interviewing family members and any other retarded hangers on. And even more tme by an animated round of FAQ from social media nerds who have asked the most inane questions you can imagine, in the hope of convincing everyone listening in that their brains have dropped out. Finally rather than showing the events, they show morons back home, with an IQ lower than their collar size, demonstrating the luge on a shopping trolley, trays or any other household item that has a coefficient of fiction less than 1.

Seems like they can’t afford a studio, so they broadcast from the middle of a crowd; or some restaurant which seems to have parties going on in the back ground and rain pouring in on the coffee tables and chairs the BBC are using. Cheap and pathetic. It seems like the ineptitude of their nerdy software department is insidiously creeping in, like a one eyed bed python in a brothel, to the sports coverage. 

Saturday – blue ski day.

Pick a car up from Mr Hertz.

Wendy does a supermarket shop for the next 2 weeks while we have the car.

Drop Anna and Leon off at Salt Lake airport.

Then we go to Costco. Finally manage to join in store, after many aborted attempts online. It was so simple. Do a big shop, especially for meat. Hopefully this will last us until we come out in June.

Sunday – a warm blue bird day.

Win some browny points by taking a day off skiing. 

Drop car off and then have a walk up to the Silver Star cafe for coffee and lunch. Manage to resist a Stiegl. Then have a pleasant stroll back.

Only in America could you have a speed sign like this!

Monday – almost a Bluebird day but we have a few clouds and its frost bite cold, enough to freeze the balls off a pool table. Fortunately have my new ski jacket and pants which keep me warmer than two hampsters farting in a wool sock.

Slopes are empty today. 

Leisurely start to the day. Cram in a great moorings skiing. Moving up a notch this week. Start on the Black Diamonds. Some serious underwear stains possible. Sadly only one groomed overnight, Combustion, short and steep. Come on PCMR you need to do better than this.

It so cold that my nose thinks it’s a tap, it’s running faster than I can eat it! Yuk.

Isn’t nature weird. There’s a Husky tied up that has a choice of sleeping on concrete huddled up against a brick wall against the wind or sleep on the open ice on the skating ring. So where does it sleep? On the ice of all places, so it’s either an innate trait or he’s more retarded than two Spaniels trying to retrieve one stick. 

Reasons not to ride the lift with scum boarders: they speak a language no one outside their close knit fraternity can comprehend; every sentence ends in dude, at least you know where the full stops are; they gob all over the slope; if they’re wearing Skull Candy then they wave their arms around like an Orangatang with saint vitus dance; spend too much time adjusting their underwear so that it’s on display to all; the way they walk and dress, with waist bands around their knees you seriously fear they’ve shit themselves and it’s going to be one stinking ride. 

More PC terminology for the liberals and progressives (liberal gone bad)”

Man-hole – maintenance hole

Mankind – humankind, HuMAN, PerSON, Earth Children

Mercy Killing – Euthanasia, Putting Down, To Sleep, Out of Misery

Messy – differently organized

More lunacy from the religion of peace:

Three polio workers have been killed in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, a day after authorities began a new vaccination drive, officials say. Reports say gunmen opened fire killing one man and two women administering polio drops. The attack is the latest in a series targeting polio teams in the country.

No group has claimed responsibility, but the muslim extremists of the Taliban oppose the polio schemes, which they claim to be a cover for international espionage.

Pakistan is one of only three countries where polio remains endemic and is indeed on the rise, due in part to this militant resistance to polio mass vaccination campaigns.

New rule: No foreign aid to Pakistan, or any other country for that matter.

New rule: No immigrants from Pakistan allowed into the UK, even if they do have a child bride or family in the UK. We don’t want polio or TB kicking off again.

Tuesday – yet another bluebird day, that’s 14 in a row, and not as cold as yesterday.

Slopes are empty.

Black Diamond start to the day. Combustion again short, steep and a tad icy. Survive yet again without chewing on ice.

Snow promised for tomorrow. This mountain needs feeding. Can’t wait. Please, please, pretty please let it snow big style.

Wendy’s off to the outlet stores. Hope she remembers the want / need credo. 

Nearly had squirrel for tea. Just missed him with my skis by 6”, perhaps next time.

Get back home just after lunch and sit in front of our patio doors with the sun streaming through, coffee, Internet of course, Kindle. Lovely and warm with mountain views.

Meter Maid – Parking enforcer

Midget / Dwarf – Little People, Vertically Challenged

Mute/Dumb – verbally challenged

Normal – non-disabled

Not with somebody at the moment – romantically challenged

There’s no way this will win a Nobel prize, a Booker prize or even an Orange award for an under 10’s fairy tale. It’s the incoherent rants and ravings of someone who, if tried to publish it in this day and age would be condemned to a psychiatric ward. I wouldn’t even give it one star and certainly would’t recommend it to anyone. I’d rather be condemned to repeatedly reading “Last of the Mohicans” and “Moby Dick” for all eternity. If you don’t like my free speech opinion and book review then tough, don’t read any more, remove me from Facebook, purge my blogs URL and rat me out to the Muslim Council of GB or CAIR, but certainly don’t try and read this raving fairy tale.

Contradictions; incoherent ravings; almost incomprehensible; piecemeal; repetition, repetition, repetition;  confusion; damnation; woe betide you on judgement / resurrection day if you’re not a muslim; hellfire for non-muslims, aethists and pastafarians.

This is the word of a god! How come a supreme being is not capable of expressing himself clearly for all time? Requiring no interpretation, nor more scholars than Muslim fundamentalist at a stoning, to corrupt the message. Look at the clarity, simplicity and elegance of the ten commandments or the simple philosophy of “do unto others as you would have done unto you”. This fairy tale has none of that. Yes there are passages of mercy, love and kindness, but there’s more obsession with hatred for non-believers.

Judging by the amount of repetition I can only assume that mohammed got paid by the word count. 

Believers and goodie two shoes go up to paradise full of fruit and virgins etc., etc., and the rest suffer a painful punishment in this life and go down to hell fire.

Directives, topics, diatribes, incomplete accounts of Old Testament stories appear randomly with very little stream-of-thought consistency.  Themes are disjointed and shifting, something that would not be expected of a perfect book of instruction.

Far from teaching universal love, the Quran incessantly preaches moral superiority of muslims and the inferiority of non-Muslims (who are but fuel for the fires of hell), even comparing them to vile animals and gloating over Allah’s hatred of them and his dark plans for their eternal torture. Naturally, the harsh treatment of non-believers by Muslims is encouraged as well. The Quran with boring repetition distinguishes between believers and unbelievers (61% of the book is about non-Muslims), drawing a sharp distinction in the value of each group and laying the foundation for discrimination and dehumanisation of non-believers. 

Allah condemns non-Muslims to Hell based merely on their unbelief, while believers are rewarded with the finest earthly comforts in the hereafter, including never-ending food, wine and sex. Sounds good to me, but what if he welshes on the deal, can you really trust a deity who can’t write a simple instruction manual for life.

Not content with merely preventing unbelievers from knowing the truth (which is enough to condemn them to Hell) the Quran says that Allah also causes unbelievers to commit the very sin that he will later punish them for. How neat and spiteful is that.

I think it’s fair to say that the Quran meets every criterion by which we define hate speech.  Not only does the message inspire loathing and disregard for others, but the text mandates the superiority of Islam, even if the means of establishment is by violent force. 

So far I think I’ll stick with the gospel of the flying spaghetti monster (FSM). Much more readable, structured, logical, no hatred and makes much more sense. Although I do think perfect powder skiing should be added to the beer volcanoes and stripper factories of FSM heaven. Next up, time to finally read the bible and a biography of the Life of Mohamed. 

Wednesday – snow and must be Belthorn, rain.

Wot no overnight snow. You promised snow. I’m up at 07:00 to check snow report and get geared up for some fresh powder. Look out the window and what do I see? Nothing, nada, not even a skerrick of snow, not one single snowflake. Snow reports the same. All that bloody technology, all them petra bytes, all them petra flops, all the best brains and you can’t even keep your promise. In future I’ll stick with haruspicy and read some liver entrails from the local supermarket.

Have a few hours but flee the mountain in tears when the snow, yes it finally manages a smidgen, turns to rain.

Afternoon in sulking and reading.

Wendy’s doing the Florence Nightingale thing and volunteering in the hospital today. She’s happier than a zombie in a nursing home.

“If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” George Washington.

Freedom of speech under attack again, buy guess who? So what’s to dislike about a few cartoons?

Some Lib Dem geezer has managed to stir up a shit load of rhetoric, blasphemy claims, attempts to limit free speech, hatred, toys out of prams, threats and violence because of some cartoons depicting mohammed. Yet, now I’m such an authority on the Quran I can say that nowhere in there does it ban images of Mo. In fact in Shia wing of the religion muslim images are quite common. So why all the man made fuss about it.? But thankfully they’ve shot themselves in the tea towel yet again, as this has promoted a great cartoon site I certainly wasn’t aware of called Jesus and Mo. The idea of the site is a simple one: the two religious figureheads J Christ and Mohammed share a house and discuss matters of religious philosophy, often in arguments with a wise atheist barmaid at their local. It’s well worth a look.

So yet again freedom of speech and expression is under threat from a small minority of religious fruit cakes from the religion of peace. Why do we need blasphemy laws? Surely a supreme being / god / flying spaghetti monster is capable of defending his or her own honour.

Anyway to defend free speech, before it’s too late, and to help these fundamentalist fruitcakes with their severe mental health problems here’s my desensitising therapy. A copy of the cartoon and a link to a really funny website Jesus and Mo – enjoy. I certainly will.

Thursday – snow.

Powder alert received early morning. I’m happier than a nerd with a Raspberry Pi. Up on the slopes for 09:00. 9” of beautiful virgin white powder and most of it’s not been tamped down. It looks like a white out though, so take the cautious route and go for the easier runs. Jonesys awesome. 9” of virgin powder is more than enough. Sadly right ski seems to suddenly go slower than left ski, next effect is gravity takes over and I’m left chomping on fresh powder.

90 minutes of this powder and I’m cream crackered. Assessment is an easy Blue, usually takes about a minute to ski down. Not today, it’s a good 5 minutes worth. For the first time I even get a sweat on. Certainly changes the dynamics of skiing and makes you work  arder, mind you 6” of powder on top of your skis as well as trying to turn through 9” of powder, stretches them thighs. Awesome, this is what it’s all about. Praying for more snow. Have a well deserved coffee and then a few more runs.

Met Wendy for lunch at Payday Lodge, made an exception and had their Bison Chilli. Awesome.

Leisurely afternoon reading and watching the snow come down.

Then for tea we do the French thing and have bread and cheese. With a little wine. Sadly American cheeses all seem to be made of lightweight plastic, a mix between brightly coloured plasticine,  and putty, even their so called “Foreign Cheeses”

This is the life. Living The Dream.

Saturday – more bluebird days 40F and clear blue sky. The mountain needs feeding with some more snow.

Pictures are of the Ice Castle we visited last night with Hal, Carol and Angela – our landlords.

Pick car up from Enterprise after yesterdays failed pick up. Mind you one hell of a deal, 3 days at the weekend for $36 and to top it all I get a full size Hyundai Elantra, very swish.

Decide against driving to the ski slopes as it’s absolute mayhem with the Sundance Film Festival so catch the bus in and have a lazy couple of hours skiing. Busy due to all the crotch droppings, but worth it.

In the afternoon it’s the liquor store, Walmart, Bread shop for some of their amazing granola and then Whole foods for a salad. By the time we get back it gone 18:00 so we pass on going to  atch the Half Pipe Championships. Try out HBO and pick up a full feature length film with Larry David (Clear History), like a Curb Your Enthusiasm on steroids. Also sample a some beer and wine just to stock me dehydrating.

Sunday – another bluebird day.

Up at the crack of swallows and have the benefit of driving tot he slopes. Not really all that much in it as the bus service is so frequent.

By 10:00 I’ve cracked off 6 awesome runs on corduroy and am ready for a well deserved coffee break. Then pick up another 4 runs and back home well and truly knackered.

Popped into the National Ability Centre to volunteer to take disabled and blind people skiing and in the summer archery – no this is not a joke, they are in blue. The centre here at PC has a Worldwide reputation for excellence in sports for the disabled. Isn’t it neat that they don’t call it a “National Disability Centre” but instead the “National Ability Centre” – mind you  ot that they can spell it that well. When you see some of these guys ski you get to understand why they use the word ability. No legs or blind and they put me to shame. 

Then for a bit of exercise with Wendy we go for a 2 hour stroll around town, look in at a great looking Mexican and then it’s Starbucks in PC with all the pretty people. You’d think they were giving it away, coffee that is. The pretty crazy people are posing and marauding everywhere. Interesting you seem to get two distinct sorts the eye candy brigade dolled up to the nines, pretty and don’t they know it.Then you get the nerds who look like they’ve escaped from a deep dark cellar where they operated the IT help desk, dressed by someone from the Salvation army clothes stall a Sartorial Schizophrenia,  and are in such desperate need of some TLC and human contact.

At this rate I’ll be both knackered and asleep by 20:00, another chance to fall asleep over Silent Witness. Will I have the energy to climb the apples and pears as noddy passes big ears – moved to 09:00 these days until we get our high altitude legs.

Monday – another bluebird day.

Is this heaven? Up at 07:00, wondering why so early, is it worth it?

Eagle lift for 09:00, eagerly awaiting opening; Temptation for first run of the day, sun and corduroy; King Kong lift; King Kong; Silverlode lift; Jonesys for virgin corduroy, steep start among those awesome Aspens and then a long smooth well groomed velvetty finish, just like a good coffee; a few more runs then time for coffee. Then more, more, more and home around lunch time after an awesome mornings skiing. 

Is it worth the early start? You bet. All that and awesome mountain scenery for just £5 a day. Beats any gym membership. 

Anyway time to notch up a gear ready for Kurt. Last week was gentle start, just blues. This week need to tackle the double blues and push these old legs in a 16 year olds body some more. Skies are now behaving and feeling very comfortable and at one with them and as for for my 15 year old antique boots, they’re still as responsive and comfortable as the day I bought them. Like a pair of 10lb fur lined slippers. 

Back home and take Wendy down to Salt Lake for her drug test. Salt Lake is covered in smog and you get a terrifying view of it as you drive down from the clear blue skies of the mountains into what looks like a 1950’s pea souper from above.

Yes’ they took just one glance at Wendy at the hospital interview and decided she was a druggy. Typical of her age and the Little Missy jeans were a dead give away. Hopefully they won’t detect the brandy problem! She can manage the pee test but they have to call in a head nurse and then a doctor to get any blood out of her. She comes out with holes in both arms where they tried to get blood out of the stone. Sadly they have no Mickey Mouse plasters.

Take the car back and have a pleasant walk (as if I don’t get enough exercise) back home.

Tuesday – another bluebird day.

Wendy’s hitting the slopes again. She’s that keen she’s 200 yards ahead of me, just galloping to the bus stop. Can’t wait to get on the slopes.

Amazing isn’t it there are all these special SFF buses for the pretty crazy people, and they’re almost always empty and one every 5 minutes. Yet they, the pretty crazy ones, decide to mount the ski bus, so skiers can’t get on. Meanwhile there are empty SFF buses everywhere.

Have a pleasant morning skiing; stop for coffee; then to the corner store for lunch. Wendy has a ginormous Philly Steak sandwich and I can’t resist a Chezc Pilsner. Sinner that I am, as I break the 2nd commandment of retirement – “Thou shalt not drink during the day”. The temptation was just too great after such an awesome and heavenly day.

Amazing isn’t it in this day and age full of the wonders of IT you get a tab at the end of the meal that doesn’t add up. Can you believe it there are cash machines that can’t add up. Instead of $19.53 it’s $19.55. I point this out to the waitress – one of those Victor moments. No of course it’s right she says. No it isn’t says Victor. She goes back in and comes out with the tab, still wrong but 2 cents for me. The manager says it just rounds the bill automatically. And just by coincidence it rounds up. Hmm! It’s not the 2 cents it’s the principle, they could at least warn about rounding on the tab and better still round down.

Mind you at least this tab doesn’t do the maths for an 18%, 20% and 22% tip. Gone are the days  of being content with 10%, easy on the brain, or 15%, a tad more taxing, for really great service. Funny old thing isn’t is, everyone screams highway robbery at taxes that at least in theory go to improve society, yet accept without even a glance at a calculator a 20% tip. So the other night our waitress must have dolled out at least 3 tabs an hour at say an average of $60, thats $180 at 20%, thats $36 an hour, plus assumedly minimum wage of say $7 an hour giving a total of $43 per hour at a 37.5 hour week for 48 weeks thats $77,000 pa. Average wage is $44, not bad if you can get it. Sadly we (yes both of us not just me) really struggle with this tipping lark although I have to admit that service here is so much better than in the UK, but 10% is my  normal limit for good service, it must be the English Victor in me.

Well that’s enough of the Victor moments for the day, better quit while I’m still intact. Time to go home and finish clearing the deck. Play with the awesome snow blower that just blows all leaves and loose snow off the deck.