After a pitcher of extreme

Operation Legacy a Success

I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone involved with making Operation Legacy such a huge and resounding success. We Dominated hard, we Dominated with authority, and we did not give in to the mountain. And YEAH... we did a little skiing. So stick that in your pipe and smoke it Mr. Anton Bryce!

Some of my favorite highlights:

Quick trip up... Tom not knowing that we were there on Friday... Baker's stories... That first pitcher (and every pitcher) of Extreme... Dominating first tracks... Camel Crush... Baker telling the front desk to turn Thorpe away when he showed up... Texting Tom from the lift pretending we were on the road... Listening to Steel Panther relentlessly... Recording an acoustic version of Van Halen's "Dreams"... Hallelujah... Watching Ski School 3 times... An encore viewing of Baseketball... Finishing 2 cases of room beer in addition to going out (no wonder so many people hit a wall)... Bang, bang, bang... Tai Chi... Are horsies pretty?... Baker taking Thorpe down a double diamond mogul trail on his skis... The pen is mightier... Checking out the casino... Actually running out of Extreme (not a highlight, just amazing)... Solid Metric lunches (and then some)... Not fitting the Dolomites into the Recons... Tom saying good bye to the lame Scott poles... Jim skiing his last days on the Dolomites... Thin Cover on Buzz... Dominating the North Side... Hitting last chair at Soliel... Incredible Dick's Chicken... Facebook almost ruining the Metric Lunch (again, not a highlight)... Generalissimo Volant... Pete's personal pitcher... Smoking cigars out by the bonfire... Bacon bourbon at 8:17 AM... Fast border crossings... The Tiger Woods Beauty Pageant... Beaver Tails... Wild Boar sausage... A fast ride home.

I'm sure there are tons of things I'm forgetting. PQFI, feel free to fill in some blanks. I intend to have some footage spliced together soon to go with my new boots.

Let's rock the offseason and remember that PQFI... stick your thumb in her eye... I think.

Dominate!

Full Circle

Ok guys, Operation Legacy was so awesome, and I thank you all.

I have some important information to share.... so, stay with me here.
Hang on to your butts and get ready for something amazing:

The guitarist of Steel Panther, Russ Parrish (stage name "Satchel") is also the leader of his very own band called The Thornbirds.

The bass player for The Thornbirds is none other than Dean Cameron, a.k.a. Dave Marshak of Ski School.

Lose your mind...
We've made a connection from Ski School to Steel Panther!!?!
1999 to 2010, the circle is now complete.

PLUS, Dean Cameron directed a promotional video for Steel Panther song, "Fat Girl".

Are you kidding me!?!?

The Ride Up

Mission Accomplished

Afternoon...

Complete and total mountain domination. We promised 5 runs off of the TGV and we delivered. Apres at La Diable, dinner at Le Shack, and dessert at Beaver Tails.

Watching Ski School as Baker dies and Tom disappears.

Damn Matt Humphrey

Wild Boar!

More This Morning...

Dominated over two hours of first tracks. Tom convinces us for one more run. Tom then stays out to Dominate until lunch. Thorpe can't even move to go shopping. Eating more Dick and chips while watching CNN. Some lady from South Carolina didn't call 911 when her house was burning down because she thought the fire department would charge her $300 dollars for the service. Baker is dead, but is slowly coming back to life and Jim is dying laughing about all the wonderful Facebook exchanges Jen and Tobio are having.

Metric Lunch coming up and we're havin' ribs. Domination directly to follow.

This morning...

We think Keith is still drunk. He just ate three plates of dick for breakfast and had an extra plate last night. We just watched a cartoon show where a gorilla put cartoon characters in a bag and then broke a chair over the bag. Keith fell asleep on the chair for three hours and woke up naked with his phone in one hand and his iPod in the other wondering exactly what happened. Cigars and bacon bourbon were both dominated by the fire. Pete is eying first tracks this morning. Jim really wants a potato chip, but may die. Keith is now eating potato chips instead. Tom was just told that his options were dick, chips, or Triscuits... for breakfast. Good footage of moguls coming up.

Tom, we missED you...

La Diable

Late night - PQFI all the way.

Soon to be Captain Baker, and Captain Pete, enjoying some late night
libations after a nice cigar at the bonfire.....first tracks are a
mortal lock for this guy .... Write it in extreme cause it's a done
deal..

Keith just bolted from the bar to the bathroom

We're not sure if he's throwing up or dominating.

...disappointed. He just had to pee. Very abrupt and off though.

Wow -Keith

Just kept up from the bar and ran into the bathroom-----

Jim and I have no idea what just happened..

Oh, it was just a piss

On the menu tonight...

We're making dick. Not just any dick, but Cajun, bacon dick. We may die.

Thorpe is talking about closing La Diable tonight and hitting first tracks tomorrow. A bold statement.

Dial up some apres Exteme

It's back, baby. Tom is in the room, but I think we are going to have to give out our first medal of the Tremblant Olympics.

Because Thorpe's soup

Is community property!

Jim

Hasn't touched hardware in years...

It's like he's married or something

A world without Extreme

Is a sad, sad place to live in. Yeah, we're drinking Blizzard right now, but it's just not the same. We are all inconsolable right now and contemplating suicide.

Pitcher #... You know what? It doesn't even matter anymore.

Metric Lunch #3

Jim and Tom just shared a moment. We have come to new revelations about the PQ Ski Team credo.

Also, we will be banning smoking on all PQ trips going forward.

Pooplets

Yes, you read that right.

Time to shame Tom....

Tom lacks discipline

It's a shame.

Pitcher #15

Apparently, they are out of Extreme but that's not stopping Pete even though he keeps ordering it anyway.

And yeah, there have been plenty of beers in the room.

Just so you know

Steel Panther rules this trip.

So...

I just asked Keith what his monthly payment is on his car. He then segued into "Asian Hooker!"

Catastrophe!

La Diable has run out of Extreme. This can't be happening.

Update

Thorpe just re-enacted the Mary Tyler Moore Show opening. Some random dude saw it and have him a high five. Someone let Thorpe out of his cage right now.

I'm having something stuffed with crawfish and I think we determined that Josie Maran is the hottest woman on this planet.

Pete just asked how good women curlers must be at waxing... Never mind.

Afternoon

We dominated the entire afternoon. Went to the casino. It was largely unnecessary. Back at the room drinking beers, eating English muffins, drinking bacon bourbon. I think we're going to have an awful lot of Dick tonight. ...the food, not what you're thinking.

Pitcher #11

Exteme number 8.

Tom's thoughts on this morning...

I was really hungover, but I drank some black coffee and some bourbon and now I'm fine.

Pitcher #10

7 of Extreme.

Metric Lunch number 2

Exteme pitcher number 6. Dominated the very crowded mountain. About six runs. Tom looks for, but can't find a helmet. Keith's girlfriend calls 12 times.

All Systems GO!

Lt Cmdr Baker status check:

We venture to the mountain today as a complete team. I passed out after drinking too much Extreme at 8pm last night, but woke up around midnight to Tom and Jim playing guitars, Pete "missing" as he went to the casino, and a Dorito strategically placed in my pants while asleep on the couch (photos to follow).

I promptly drank a bunch of water, ate the Dorito, and prepped for a good night sleep. A string of odd dreams and missed phone calls woke me in the middle of my slumber, but luckily I was able to get some decent rest over three different sleeping periods, have had coffee and an english muffin, and maybe even will have a beer to get this day off on the right foot.

The weather report: it's ~30 degrees and sunny as hell. The mountain is calling us. We might not make first tracks, but we'll be on the gondola by 9. Metric lunch by 11:30. And then this afternoon, EDGE EDGE EDGE EDGE EDGE will be once again by conquered by the PQFI.

Godspeed Gentlemen. Today is OUR day.

7 AM Start

English muffins have been thrown down. Keith and Tom are drinking right now.

Pete Thorpe

Rocked the casino tonight
Trip is paid for and now it is the mission of the team to keep him away from the tables.

Who loves cash money?

This guy that's who!!!

Tremblant - Day 1

Just paid tor the whole trip, plus pocket change thanks to the Cash-ino.

Heading to La Diable for a celebratory beer then to bed.

That's right, I just dominated the mountain and don't need to see the
casino for the rest of the trip!!!

Awesome.

Okay then..

Pete is up over 1,500 dollars and Keith just ate the ass Dorito.

I'm not even sure how I got those things into the same sentence.

Update...

Tom and I just recorded an awesome acoustic version of Van Halen's "Dreams" that we're going to have to put up here.

Thorpe went to the casino several hours ago and we haven't seen him.

And Keith just fell asleep with a guacamole Dorito up his ass.

...don't ask.

What you should not do on a gondola...

Keith and Jim sat way too close this morning on the gondola and met some Canadian men. The men asked if we had been here before and Jim replied, "yes, it's our tenth anniversary".

Jim then felt very uncomfortable and moved away from Keith.

The Conditions on Saturday

First tracks at 7:45 will include 21 degrees moving up to 39 during the day. Spring skiing! Dominate!

Early Morning Domination

Saturday 6:15 AM - Keith's Blackberry alarm goes off. Jim wanders out of his room to turn it off. He looks around and Keith is no where to be found.

6:33 AM - Keith wanders in holding his passport and a Diet Coke. Tells Jim that he was at the base of the mountain to watch them turn on the Gondola.

Someone needs to get off of India time.

What really transpired at the Circle K...

So right about now, you are wondering what is going on. I don't blame you. What has transpired here is really "Operation Tomfoolery". Lt. Comdr. Baker and myself have left a day early without telling Capt. Tom. We have enjoyed an extra day of mayhem and skiing in the greatest place in the world.

On Friday morning, we woke up early and made the Canadian border before noon. We kept in contact with Capt. Tom via e-mail and blog entries even though we weren't actually where we said we were. Everything you have read from Friday until this point is a lie.

While this has been killing Capt. Pete, this is a necessary evil and the Extreme Onction that we have consumed will only make him stronger. We applaud Capt. Tom for avoiding the greatest trap of all which would have been the dreaded rear admir... I mean... triple cross. We were actually planning on having him think that he was coming up early to prank us, but he could not leave a day early. Oh well...

In fact, Capt. Tom was text messaging me all night thinking that I was about to embark on this trip. Little does he know that I've already done what is necessary and will be taking on the mountain in the morning.

BAMM!!! Cradle rock style!!!

I'll see you later girly girl...

5th pitcher of Extreme

And assorted others. Get some.

Oh my God

Tom just told Keith to suck it up and Keith just sucked up a bunch of beer from the table and started choking on it. You can't even imagine what this looked like and what mother jokes ensued.

Wow

Q: what would you do to Lindsey Vonn?

A: I'd lose a ski pole basket in a very inappropriate way.

At Casey's...

Still no clue. Amazing.

Blame Canada!

Inside the belly of the beast.

Border Crossed

The final push is on...

126 miles to go..

Status Check

Lt Cmdr Baker

11:41
Jim: "Keith, you know what I could use right now?"

Keith: "What's that?"

Jim: "A beer."

Wow.

38 miles from the border, 75 miles from Montreal.

Contacts

Lt Cmdr Baker

11:19 Jim: "I'll shut up about my contact now" (4th mention) "you can blog that."

Blackjack!

Lt Cmdr Baker status check.

10:29 BlackJack: Exit 21 a success. And we're back on the road in 9 minutes.

Jim: "Wow, gas is actually pretty cheap."

Keith: while pumping gas into the 2010 Mercedez with Connecticut plates replies, "well since people make a lot less money up here, so they lower the gas prices"

Jim: noticing the person at the next pump as they get into their pickup truck turning their head, "um Keith, do you think you could have said that louder or perhaps snobbier?"

249 miles to go, 14:40 ETA on the nav...not accounting for a border stop of course.

When I'm going to do you...

Operation Legacy Begins...

Lt Cmdr Baker issuing the first official status report from Operation Legacy.

The first Mission (Operatative "captain tom") is going swimmingly. I am operating on 45 mins of sleep due to closing of a wild week in my life resolving nicely so I can focus on conquering the North with Captain Jim.

06:33 Captain Jim arrived at my house, I was packed and ready to roll. The Fine Captain was not 100% as his vision was compromised by a contact incident. Though we added 5 mins, we now are operating at full efficiency because our driver can see.

07:02 As official navigator, I elected our first stop to be Dunkin Donuts. We both ordered the waffle breakfast sandwich. The McGriddle is much better, I'll never be ordering it again as it was dry and almost tasted artificial.

08:42 Our first rest stop was at Malden, James domiated under hostile conditions but had 100% success. And resume.

08:56 Call to Captain Thorpe, not to torment but to console as he is saddened by his delayed arrival. Pete: we won't save a pitcher for you, but we will drink one for you in your absence.

09:08 Steel Panther begins our music selection. This was my first exposure to the album cataloging the exploits of Jim's mom. Well done both to the band and for the dedication Mrs. Valentino has shown through her years of "service".

09:48 Official soundtrack and blog now commence.

Look at what I found

Earliest Departure Ever

3:55 and I'm on the road.

You called down the thunder well now you've got it.

I see a US domestic beer and I kill the man drinking it.

You tell em I'm coming, and Toms coming with me, you hear, TOMS COMING
WITH ME!!!!

Changed the Title of the website

It needed to be done...

One hour of work remaining

I can't stand this. Someone end my misery.

Memories of Mayhem

On this, the final installment of the "Memories of Mayhem" segment by Capt. Jim, I would like to share with you the memories we have of that first trip from the "Past Trips" section. Enjoy...

Tremblant, PQ - December 1999 - "Operation Mayhem"

Date: December 10th - 17th, 1999
Team Members: Tom Albano, Jim Valentino, Scott Caughlin
Vehicle: Ford Expedition
Lodging: Time share

Important Events:
First trip to Canada, Ford Expedition, Quebec Invasion soundtrack, Scotty suggesting we come home a few days early to ski at Gore, Tom and Jim laugh, first border crossing, "That's Mr. Whiteface to you!", "Welcome to PQ baby! It's the French speaking province... in case ya didn't know.", Scotty blowing a stop sign immediately upon entering a new country, Tom gets in telephone booth in Canada, hitting the bathroom right across the border for the first time, Tom repeating, "welcome to the coastal plains of Southern Quebec", trying to follow Rt. 15 Nord through mid-day Montreal traffic, little snow on arrival, discovering our shitty room, proceeding to switch to slightly less-shitty room, muddy construction site, "it's the Bonichoix baby", Dope Wars, Scotty's portable DVD player, South Park - The Movie, "Blame Canada", The Superstar Mel Farr, "Is he wearing a cape?", French cartoons, Maury Povich, fear of balloons, drill instructors, "do we have to speak French?", Casey's for the first meal and beers (wings 'n' Labatts), Cabrio baby, Discovery of Boreale, excessive beers for Tom and Jim at hotel, Scotty and his morning coffee, "Edge of a Broken Heart" by Vixen, Scotty bewildered, TGV lines, Scotty afraid... doesn't ski, discovery of La Diable, our first Extreme Onction, trying every beer they've got, French onion soup, stock talk at the bar, Tom's trip to the cash machine, "Why are we exchanging our money?", Jim's futile quest for Labatt's Maximum Ice, Le Petite Caribou, Tom falls in love with Michelle, Michelle proceeds to drink Tom and Jim under the table, Scotty watching, hammered walk back to the car, Tom giving Scotty a pep-talk in the car, Scotty relaxed stops calling his Dad everyday, 14 trails open, Tom's ninja mask/pose, cloudy north side trails, Scotty's yard sale, Jim slamming beers at lunch, Jim feigning sleep on the Gondola, horse ride video game at the arcade, Scotty on the snowmobile, discovering Poutine aka Inferno fries, playing guitar in the hotel, Scotty again suggesting an early departure to Gore Mt., Tom flips out on Scotty (sort of), beers, long drive home, Scotty cheers upon returning to NJ, Tom and Jim long for Canada... vow return...

The PQ Ski Team is born.

Fitz, you get beer. Ed, you get... beer. Johnny, you get laid.

Gentlemen, I have but few words.
Tomorrow, Operation Legacy begins; we ride north together, we ride to victory.

This will be our finest hour.

Let the games...begin!

Classic Photo for 3/5

Today's classic Operation Mayhem photo will be the last in the pre-Operation Legacy series. I hope you have enjoyed this walk down memory lane.

I suppose you are expecting that I have saved the best for last. I imagine that you feel there will be some grandiose photo at the end to sum it all up. Well, that's where you would be dead wrong.

Today's photo is simply the Ford Expedition at a rest stop in New York on I-87. Capt Tom is adjusting his ski bag on top of the car while Scotty relaxes with his foot up while pumping gas. Capt. Jim is probably in the restroom due to some irritable bowel syndrome.

Anyway, the reason I posted this last is that I ran out of photos... I mean... this reminds me of packing the car and getting ready to head up to the Great White North. And that's precisely what we will be doing tonight. Packing the car, having a celebratory kick-off beer, and yeah, maybe watch a little Ski School.

Tomorrow it all begins anew. Try to enjoy your last day of work, post on the site if you can, and come prepared to Dominate every aspect of the trip. Godspeed and good luck.

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1 DAY!

24 hours until the cars are packed. 1,440 minutes until this show is on the road. A mere 86,400 tiny seconds until we are underway and on our way to Casey's.

Am I excited? You bet I am.

Ready for Travel

Das Diesel is now empty and ready for travel.

Capt. Pete found the Balloon video

T-minus 36.5 Hours

And Das Diesel will be departing Maryland.

I leave work early today to clean out DD in preparation for the 4am
departure.

Capt Pete

Memories of Mayhem

Today's post really isn't about "memories" of Operation Mayhem as much as it is a realization I've come to while making these posts. I found that I was writing a lot of "back in the day" and "in 1999" when what I really meant is how much technology has changed in the past ten years. I thought I'd take today's topic to compare and contrast the various technology changes in PQ Ski Team history:

Item	1999	2010
Vehicle	SUV	AWD car
Phone	Qualcomm "brick"	iPhone
PDA	Palm	iPhone
Video Game	Dope Wars	Wii
Movie	Ski School	Ski School
Entertainment	Portable DVD ($1,000)	Portable DVD ($80)
Map	AAA TripTik	In-car navigation system
Extreme Onction	12% alcohol	8% alcohol
Lodging	Timeshare off mountain	In-village condo
Reminiscing	Past Trips	Live Blogging
Skis	Balsa wood	Composite materials
Helmets	No	Yes
Internet	Dial-up	Broadband, WiFi, and 3G
Poles	Lame Scott	Goode
Snowboarders	No	Yes
Le Soliel	No	Yes
Le Edge	No	Yes
Casino	No	Yes
Domination	Yes	Yes

Another 48 hours

No, friends; not a terrible Murphy/Nolte sequel, but the time remaining on our civilian lives before we embark on Operation Legacy. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's been too long since we've dominated in such manly, hardcore fashion and I can't wait for this to happen. We've got 4 cylinders of mountain domination ready to assault Tremblant with power, finesse, dexterity and the Jedi-like focus of the mighty PQFI. This will be our finest hour.

Classic Photo for 3/4

Today's classic Operation Mayhem photo is Scotty on a snowmobile. This snowmobile is outside Place St. Bernard by the Roots store and the Flying Mile lift. It has been moved several times and has been sat on by many, if not all, PQ Ski Team members at one drunken point or another. I'm sure many bad jokes have also been made about actually "riding" it.

What I like about this picture is that it represents one constant in Tremblant history over the last 10 years. Things have changed, business have opened and closed, and whole new sides of the mountain have become available to us. However, in two short days, we will see that exact same snowmobile welcoming us and asking us to drunkenly "ride" it.

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2 Days!

Really? Can't this go any faster?

Stay on target...

Wow, I couldn't have picked a busier week to have to serve as the lead-in for this trip. The next 2.5 days are going to be bludgeoningly stressful. I'm utilizing the zen mantra of the PQFI to get me through, "Ski Hard, Ski with Authority and Do Not Give in to the Mountain".

If we live our lives and approach each day with such domination, we can achieve great things.

At 5pm on Friday, I'm going to be like a uncaged cheetah, tearing across the Serengeti plains, ready for complete and total mountain domination.

I just need to stay on target.

If I'm not mistaken...

And I rarely am, Lt. Commander Baker is currently on a plane on route from India. This 19 hour flight with a two hour layover in Doha, Qatar should produce a very tired, but very on time PQFI member (we hope). Godspeed, Commander Baker.

Memories of Mayhem

One of the things I definitely remember about Operation Mayhem was Dope Wars.

In 1999, I was rocking a Palm III PDA (I think it was a version 3, stay with me here...). One of the games I had "downloaded" was a little something called Dope Wars. Dope Wars was text and turn based game in which you played a drug dealer buying and selling drugs in different areas of New York City. You could purchase weapons to defend yourself and often had to flee from the police. The object of the game was to have the most money possible after a certain amount of turns or by the time the police finally caught up to you and arrested you or shot you dead.

The key to the game was knowing the value of certain drugs and when they were "on sale" so that you could buy low and sell high in another area of town.

The game became quite addicting (no pun intended) and we played it quite a bit on the trip. It also led to some funny conversations where we would say things to each other like, "I just bought 45 units of hash in Brooklyn which I'm going to sell for a killing in the Boogie Down!"

Ahhh, memories. That game made us all virtual multi-millionaires.

Trip Tiks are available

Ask and you shall receive. Capt. Tom has visited the online, 2010 version of AAA to get us some Trip Tiks for nostalgia's sake. Well done sir. If the nav systems, GPS, iPhones, and Google Maps all break down, we'll have something to reach to in case of emergency.

PQ and TV

The PQ Ski Team and PQFI have had a long and illustrious relationship with television. From Late Night Movie Nights, departure-eve film festivals, bad Canadian telelvion (Turtle Island), TSN, infomercials (Germ Terminator, Rotato, Charlton Heston Reads the Bible, etc) to simply bizzare and wacky things seen on TV.

Two such unbelievable TV events took place during Operation Mayhem:

1. The introduction of Mel Farr "Superstar"
2. A spectacular episode of The Maury Povich Show

Mel Farr was a former Detroit Lion who went on to become a very successful business man through a series of car dealerships in the Detroit area. Somehow, one of the channels we received during that first trip was a local station out of Michigan. We were introduced to this amazing, suit-and-cape wearing African American saleman that week and our lives were never the same. I'll never forget Jim screaming, "wait...is he wearing a cape!?!" many, many times that week. It was like a door into the surreal and Mel Far was the gatekeeper. For Operation Mayhem, "The Superstar" was one of many firsts that still linger to this day.

Maury Povich was another show watched daily upon our return from dominating the mountain. One particular afternoon, as Tom and Jim began slamming beers during "apres ski" Maury's show topic was Phobias. We watched with growing anticipation of something incredible as the standard fears came across Maury's stage: dog, snakes, spider, etc. However, one unfortunate woman had an usual fear, one which was so astonishingly unbelievable it still boggles the mind: balloons. She was afraid of balloons. The sight of a grown woman, RUNNING across a stage, away from some balloons in absolute terror was one of the funniest I will ever see. That it was watched during a ski trip amidst many beers, made it all the more memorable. Balloons, she was terrified of balloons!!

I'd like to thank Mel Farr Superstar and Maury Povich for their undeniable contribution to the Legacy of the PQFI.

Classic Photo for 3/3

Today's classic Operation Mayhem photo is Capt. Jim and Capt. Tom in the condo drinking beers for breakfast and reading the day's paper. That's right, we used to drink beers for breakfast back then and we used to read papers in a foreign language for no reason. Capt. Jim is wearing his Type O Negative "Testosterone" T-Shirt while Capt. Tom is wearing his Phish sweatshirt. The paper has something about snowboarders or mogul skiing or... I don't really know what it says. Not really important. Enjoy...

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3 Days!

Giddy as a schoolboy.

Memories of Mayhem

One of the things I remember (and I'm shocked at how much I have been remembering about an alcohol soaked event from 10 years ago) about Operation Mayhem is Scotty's AAA TripTiks.

Back in 1999, Google Maps wasn't exactly available. In fact, I don't even think that MapQuest had hit the scene yet. If you were going on a long trip (or to the bathroom for any reasonable amount of time), you either wanted your handy Rand McNally huge atlas or you just winged it and started driving.

There was a third option, however. Scotty was a AAA member and visited his local AAA office before the long trip. They gave him something called a TripTik which was essentially a hand-held flip chart of each segment of our journey. Not only was there a map for that particular segment, but also information on gas stations, exits, and restaurants. Back then, we thought it was the coolest thing in the world. We may not have ever used it or needed it, but it was certainly good to know we had it.

Today, the TripTik still survives and is available in Internet format to AAA members. While I certainly wouldn't use one today with in-car navigation systems and Google Maps, it is good to know that a little piece of history still exists.

4 Days!

Can you wait for that to happen?

Classic Photo for 3/2

Today's classic Operation Mayhem photo is Capt. Jim overlooking the South Side on his way to dominate a run. Back then, Capt. Jim rocked the Rossignol XRS skis with some Turtle Fur on his head. While those days are long gone, I always loved this photo because it shows that despite the sparse coverings on the mountain and small amount of trails open, we still found a way to Ski Hard, Ski With Authority, and not give in to the mountain. In fact, it was these exact days where that credo was born.

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Tremblant is more than open

According to an email I received this morning, Tremblant has 95 of 94
trails open including 16 of 15 on Versant Soleil. They must know
we're coming.

The email also said that there are spring conditions and it is sunny.
This could be a great trip. No... It will be a great trip.

Memories of Mayhem

One of the things I remember about Operation Mayhem was watching the South Park Movie (Bigger, Longer, Uncut) over and over again on Scotty's portable DVD player.

I'm sure in 2010, you can purchase portable DVD players in any corner store, but back in 1999, portable DVD players were a little hard to come by. In fact, I believe Scotty paid $1,000 for this little technological marvel. It may have only had a 7 inch screen and we may have had to huddle around said screen because there were no output cables to a TV, but it did the trick nicely.

South Park was still hot around this time and the movie was considered highly offensive. As we had not caught the movie in the theater, we needed to check this out for ourselves. And check it out we did. We must have watched it about 5 times beginning to end that week and thought it was simply crazy. Trey Parker and Matt Stone saw the line and not only stepped over it, but defecated on it while sprinting past it. While this movie may seem a little tame today, so do early Simpsons from the late eighties. Tastes change very quickly.

Probably the reason this movie/moment is quite memorable was that after watching the movie several times, we would sing, "Blame Canada" very loud and pretty much everywhere we went. I'm sure this by no means ingratiated ourselves to our wonderful Quebecois hosts.

Future trips would see Capt. Jim purchase his own (much cheaper) portable DVD player which would allow the PQ Ski Team to watch such classics as "Baseketball", "Team America: World Police", and "Ski School".

What will this year's trip bring from a movie perspective? Stay tuned...

5 Days!

"Attack It!" ...That's what it said on my McDonald's breakfast bag today. It was a truly inspiring bag showing a paralympian attacking the slopes. I hope that all of the PQFI will have the same Domination spirit come Saturday.

Classic Photo for 3/1

Yesterday's blog/photo post mentioned Scotty's Ford Expedition. Today's photo expands on that theme. As you can see, the first vehicle used by the PQ Ski Team was quite roomy, played the very first four disc soundtrack (including such PQFI themes as "Edge of a Broken Heart", "Take on Me", and "BAMM!!!"), but did not end up being the most fuel efficient vehicle in the world. As so much of the trip is spent in the travel to and from the mountain, this vehicle started our long time obsession with the cars/SUVs that propelled us to new heights.

I believe this photo really shows the difference in attitudes on this trip as Capt. Tom sports a very enthusiastic thumbs up while Scotty is possibly showing a rather subconscious thumb to the side.

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