Almost famous.

Well, nearly almost maybe. Maybe not. I don't subscribe to the Andy Warhol notion that everyone gets their fifteen minutes. Yesterday I wrote that I ran into a reporter from the Register-Guard while Diane was using the facilities. Just another random coincidence?

Perhaps. After 41 years of skiing, stuff is bound to happen--like getting your photo and quotes in the local paper. At any rate, Diane thinks I'm a ham. I also don't subscribe to that notion, but that's just my opinion. I've been quoted by the press plenty of times in my professional capacity. I usually try to avoid press--my experience has been they usually have an angle, which frequently conflicts with my perspective. Plus, I've had plenty of dumb quotes attributed to me. So, better to let someone else get the media attention. No reflection on the Register-Guard; it's a good article.

Anyway, back to the story. I'm chatting with the reporter who is asking me standard reporter questions while the photographer is snapping pictures. Ok. I wondered what they would do with the comments and the photos, if anything. At any rate, what business do I have commenting about the ski season? About how the economy might affect skier visits?

Well, 41 years of skiing experience is a start. I figure that's enough to give me license to stand on my skiing soapbox.

Beyond that, there were the economic impact of skiing in Oregon studies that we did at the UO in the late 1980s and early 1990s. And, there was my master's thesis that looked at characteristics and behavior of Oregon skiers. We'll come back to those in a future post.

So here's the photo from the Register-Guard. Bob is "Packed and Ready." Would you ski with a person that looks this menacing?


The real pain comes in trying to keep up with me. Most people can't--no joke. Well, at least in Oregon... or at least at The Pass. In Colorado, where I grew up, I'm just another middle-aged dude.

Here's a link to the article "Packed and Ready." Front page, below the fold. My photo was on page 6. Diane thinks I'm even more of a ham, but that's just a hazard of going out I guess.

Enough of that nonsense. I went back up today, and it was magnificent. The road conditions were a little dicey--flipped vehicles on the way up and back.



By the way, I'll expand on my take on how the economy might affect skiing this season in a future post. If today was any indication, Willamette will have a good year. More cars in the lot than I've seen in a long time. That's good. I like to see people enjoying the snow, and, of course, the ski area needs to turn a profit so we can all continue to enjoy the mountain.