09 June 2006

Loading Snow in Chile

Valle Nevado Chile

Whistler

06 June 2006

02 June 2006

Summer Snowfall

am Anfang vom meteorologischem Sommer hat es in den Alpen geschneit. Als sommerlicher Beitrag ein Gemälde von 1994, und es heisst auf gut Deutsch in der korrekten neuen deutschen Rechtschreibung: a painting called Fake And Real Snowflakes painted in 1994 when I was young and crispy.
more:

Summer Snowfall keeps Utah ski resort open for Fourth of July. Because of our amazing snow year and cooler temps and lingering snowfalls in the hills, Snowbird has announced it will stay open through the 4th.

Summer Snowfall in Many Areas of China Warns of Severe Injustice. It is true that everything that happens in this world has a cause. In Chinese history, the tale of the "Severe Injustice to Dou E and Snowing in June" has been told and passed down from old times until the present. [This is an old Chinese tale about a girl named Dou E who was framed for poisoning someone to death. A corrupt official who had accepted bribes sentenced her to death. Before the execution, she made an oath that it would snow in the hot summer of June for the injustice done to her. As expected, it really snowed.]

Summer Snowfalls have a large impact on the mass balance of midlatitude glaciers, because they simultaneously add mass to the glacier and reduce the amount of absorbed solar radiation. An automatic weather station (AWS) on the snout of Morteratschgletscher, Switzerland, registered a large summer snowfall event on 10–11 July 2000.

Summer Snowfall Campsis radicans, Vigorous climbing vine with pinnately compound foliage and clusters of 2-3" tubular orange flowers in summer. Compound foliage is edged with creamy white variegation. Tubular reddish orange flowers in summer.

Snowfall has been on the increase in parts of the United States and the world to record proportions in recent years even as summer snow and ice levels reach multi-decadal lows. The changes relate to natural cyclical changes in the Atlantic Ocean and atmosphere that favor both more tropical activity in summer and more snowfall in winters. Climatologists believe the current phase of the Atlantic cycle may last another decade or two. If this outlook is correct, we might expect both more big snows for years to come.

21 April 2006

Skiing Sabbath

Ich habe diesen Winter im Skifahren einen Sabbath gemacht. halb unfreiwillig, meine Logistik im Vorausplanen auf den Winter 2005/06 war nicht die logischste, und die Kommunikation mit der Skischule Laax war unklar. nach 3 1/2 Monate in London und San Francisco wollte ich anfangs Dezember direkt nach Laax, aber zu meinem Schrecken hatte ich keine Unterkunft. so schaltete ich ein Sabbath ein, tut auch gut, mal eine Pause von dem Rummel in der Hochsaison vom Wintersport in den alpinen bergen. ich machte lange Wanderungen in den stillen und schneeweiss verschneiten Wäldern im schweizerischen Mittelland, und es war schön. während die Unterländer in die Berge reisten, um im Rummel Bergruhe zu suchen, habe ich sie in deren backdoor gefunden.
Entzugserscheinungen haben sich bemerkbar gemacht. ich freue mich auf den nächsten Winter 2006/07, wenn ich meine erstes römisch 2 abrocken darf. doch zuerst den kommenden Sommer geniessen.

Skilehrer Schweizer Meisterschaft

Adelboden
Skilehrer Schweizer Meisterschaft 2006, es ist die erste die ich seit jahren verpasse. statt in Adelboden bin ich auf dem Bodensee, Zürichsee, am Schifflifaaren auf Kursschiffen, hin und her, her und hin. ich bin froh, dass der Winter langsam vorbei ist, zeigen sich in meinen Muskel und Sehnen und Sehnsüchte die ersten Entzugserscheinungen im Skifaaren.

Scharfe Zunge

der Ausdruck stammt von Heinrich Heine. weitere scharfe Zungen: Gottfried Keller, Tolstoy, Chechov, Socrates, Elton John, John Lennon, Jim Morrisson, Patty Smith, Thoreau, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Margaret Cho.
All these people have PASSION.
Peace

11 April 2006

10 April 2006

Is snowboarding in decline?

quotes from the web:

If that's what showboarding is about then it doesn't belong in the Olympics

Showboarding is such a dopey activity

what I heard was that showboarding is being hurt by 1. newbie skiers finding "modern" skis easier and less so by 2. snowboarders getting bored and trying a real sport, skiing.

Maybe U have a point there. I was in Saas Fee, allegedly boarder friendly and there didn't seem as many as usual. Yes, lots less blades this year.

One thing I did notice this year is that there are less showboarders out there. I think its going downhill fast.

in my two trips so far this year, especially in Switzerland i was amazed by the number of "new" boarders, I'm almost sure that boarders out numbered skiiers in Flims/Laax a few weeks back...............we especially noticed the huge increase in the number of young girls boarding.

1955 CHEVY of Two-Lane BlackTop

THE 1955 CHEVY
Richard Ruth built three 55 Chevys for the movie Two-Lane Blacktop. (He can be seen as the Needles gas station mechanic wearing the "Glendale Speedshop" t-shirt.) One was the "camera car". This car was used for all the interior shots. The other two were filmed driving or racing. The Chevy was based on a 1956 Chevy that Richard Ruth had been street racing at the time. The 55 in Two-Lane had a big block 454 with aluminum heads, a tunnel ram intake and dual 4bbl Holley carbs. The transmission was a Munci M-22 "rockcrusher' feeding the power back to an Oldsmobile rear axle with 4.88-1 gears. Ruth fitted the car with a straight axle and four wheel disc brakes. The tilt front end was fiberglass as were the doors and deck lid. Ruth also used plexiglass for the side windows that slid back to front instead of rolling up and down. The wheels were American mags 200-s, 15x6 front and 15x10 rear. They used M&H Racemaster drag slicks for racing and Firestone grand prix rain tires for street use. In the movie the car is said to run "well into the 12's. However later in the movie he beats "Mr. Bardahl". I heard the 55 was capable of low 10's at over 130mph! Rumor has it they actually filmed the famed rollover for the end of the movie then cut it out in favor of the movie burnimg up.


TWO-LANE BLACKTOP / AMERICAN GRAFFITI CONNECTION
Gary Kurtz was involved with both movies. He took the 55 from Two-Lane and made it into the black 55 used in Graffiti! They replaced the "Grump-Lump hood scoop with a smaller one. The American mags gave way to chromed steel wheels. If you look close enough you can see when they mounted the front bumper it had to be raised a few inches to bolt up to the frame rails Richard Ruth installed for the straight front axle.