As part of Employee Week at Stowe, employees participated, playing broomball together on the ice rink at Spruce Peek.
Wikipedia provides some background on the game:
Broomball is a recreational ice game originating in Canada (also contested as being Swedish) and played in certain other countries. It is played in a hockey rink, either indoors or outdoors, depending on climate and location.[1] In a game of broomball there are two teams, each consisting of six players: a goaltender and five others. The object of the game is to score more goals than the opponent. Goals are scored by hitting the ball into the opponent’s net using the broom. Tactics and plays are similar to those used in sports such as ice hockey, roller hockey and floorball.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broomball (Click the photo to enlarge)
Route 100 going toward WaitsfieldHay Fields at Sunset: Route 7 in between Charlotte and ShelburneHay Fields at Sunset: Route 7 in between Charlotte and ShelburneEn route to Jercicho, VTBarn on 100 North in Stowe near the Shaws
If you would like to use a photo for commercial purposes, let me know. I respectfully request attribution and a nominal ‘material fee’. The files below are low resolution. I have the files as RAW format ~24mb (c) 2019 Mark@Seltzer.org
Notes on my Shutdown 2019 (Skiing); trying to make the most of a bad situation. I know many are living paycheck to paycheck in order to make ends meet. I fortunately have no dependents and a bit saved so was able to make the best of the situation.
[All the photos are taken from my cell phone and post-processed in Lightroom, unless otherwise noted.]
Wyoming and Montana
December 31, I followed instructions in my furlough notice to shutdown and put my out of office message on my phone and email. I promptly made plans to fly our the following day to join another out of work fed. We skied in Jackson Hole Wyoming for three days. I randomly met up with a DC friend at a Backcountry Film Festival at the JH Opera House! We stayed at the Jackson Hole Hostel and met some cool people on a ski meetup; we joined them for a few days in Montana, skiing at Bridger, Red Lodge and Big Sky (two days). Red Lodge and Bridger are amazing and mountains I never would have put on my to-do list otherwise. Bridger has a cool “beacon only area,” not to be missed (good thing I brought my avalanche probe, shovel and beacon on the trip). I also caught up with a mtn biking friend from my days in NJ over dinner! [Furloughed days skied 7]
Jackson Hole, WY -Snow Castle.Carol stopped for a break in Rendezvous Bowl, Jackson Hole, WY.Pete, Paul, Mark, Carol.. Jackson Hole, WY.Red LodgeIt was open but unmanned.. They too were furloughedBridger, HikePaul and the Flat Irons, Red Lodge, MTPaul, Pete, Mark.. Bridger Bowl.Photo from Paul on the transceiver sign at Bridger. Glad I brought my beacon!One photo from Big Sky, waiting for the tram.
On the mountain I received a phone call from one of my friends from DC who moved out to Seattle he and I schemed a plan to possibly meet while I was 1/2 way across the country. I found I could fly Alaska Air and have a 12 hour lay over in Seattle for no additional cost! I met up with them and checked out their digs for ~12 hours!
Joe, Katya and Mark on top of a large rock climbing feature. Seattle, WAView from Katya’s parking spot of the Seattle Space Needle.
DC & Pennsylvania Jan 11, I flew back to DC for three days for my Liberty Ski Patrol shift (Fri-Sun).. boy was it amazing weather there; almost worth comming back for.. and then promptly drove up to New England by way of Philly (staying with another furloughed fed friend and attended restaurant week, ran 3-4 miles up the “Rocky Steps” and checking out free museums open to feds in Philly). [Furloughed days skied 7+3=10]
Patrolling at Liberty, Whiteout Conditions.Drive up to Liberty.. almost feels like New England!Running with Plankton in PhillyVising Kimberly in Philly!
New England Jan 15, I stayed with my sister in Boston for a night and the drove up to the White Mountains of NH for some back-country skiing. We hoped to skin up Tuckermans Ravine but given sub zero temperatures we chose to instead skin up two Granite State Backcountry Alliance routes (Doublehead and Maple Villa) and ski lift service in the afternoon at Black Mountain one day and Cranmore the second. [Furloughed days skied 10+2=12]
My sister pulling off skins after the ascent up Double HeadWe skied a few runs here… Fun poster.Another photo on Doublehead.
We drove back to Boston (so my sister could get on with regular life given she had work obligations). We also met up for breakfast with a friend from college living on her boat in frigged Boston!
Jan 19, I drove back up to NH in order to chase a 2′ snow storm with the hopes of skiing with a fellow patroller in Maine but, the roads were tooo snowy to make it up there! Instead I skied at Cranmore again and had an epic New England snow experience. I then stayed at a hostel in Conway and met two guys with AT setups and we planned abackcountry route for the following day. A friend from DC happened to be in NH with ambitious plans to summit one of the high peeks in the Whites though the weather may have hampered her plans but, we did get to meet up a beer and a token evening snowshoe. [Furloughed days skied 12+2=14]
That evening I drove in windy conditions through Crawford Notch in NH up to another Hostle in Vermont; Grampa Grunts which was basically an empty frat house. The rooms were clean but the party room evidently had just had a large college rager! The next morning it was -20 and my car was telling me it didn’t want to start; the caretaker helped me jump the car but the mountain was no warmer. I skied Jay Peak and made frequent visits to the lodge to warm up.
Brr. it was cold.. My phone died so no more photos here.The tram was down due to wind hold and it was freezing on skiers right. so was relegated to the Bonnie quad.
That evening I spent the night with a colleague’s parents and in the morning we snowshoed around their land! I scurried to Mad River Glen for a few runs before the incoming rain storm the next morning. MRG was giving out free week day passes for shutdown feds. Score!
Snowshoe with in Northern VT with colleauge’s parents. Strava Track @Mad River GlenCar drove fine on the roads!
[Furloughed days skiing 14+2 =16 days]
January 24: The next day given the rain, I headed to Montpeiler and met up with old colleagues at Conservation Law Foundation and later found myself at Skinny Pancake; catching up on life. That evening @ Skinny Pancake, Blue Grass performer showed up for a music performance which was part of a weekend long event called Spice on Snow. I stayed in MontP for the second act that evening and ran into a law school classmate at the event!
That evening I met up with another government co-worker from Philadelphia and the following day (Jan 25) three friends from DC for skiing at Sugarbush. The Bush was giving out free tickets so we skied for two days at Sugarbush.
Sugarbush tracks. (Day1)I am on the left, Megan and Justin are on the right; photo by Alan Sasso; my camera refused to take photos after cold weather at Jay. I had to reformat the card.
Near the end of the ski day we found out that the government was opening so made plans for a quick return to DC by way of childhood home in Stockbridge MA.
Photo of Mark on the lake; Alan Sasso, photographer.
[Furloughed days skiing 16+2 =18 days]
Mountains: WY: Jackson Hole (3) MT:Red Lodge,Bridger, Big Sky (2) PA: Liberty (Patrolled 3 days) NH: Cranmore (2), Black Mountain, three backcountry routes VT: Jay, Mad River Glen, Sugarbush (2)
I took an early flight into Hartford, Ct this morning and had an opportunity to take photos of the O.J. Thrall historic tobacco barns off the highway in Windsor, CT. These photos were taken around 9am and the lighting and clouds were stunning. Googling around, the property is now for sale but until recently the tobacco farm was turned into a malt farm providing resources to brewers. http://www.courant.com/business/99419108-132.html
South 2nd Floor- Rockwell Kent “Mail Service in the Tropics”
South 2nd Floor- Rockwell Kent “Mail Service in the Artic”
South 4th Floor- Alfredo di Giorgio Crimi; “Post Office Work Room”
South 4th Floor- Alfredo di Giorgio Crimi; “Transportation of Mail”
South 5th Floor- Ward Lockwood “Opening of the Southwest”
South 5th Floor- Ward Lockwood “Consolidation of the Southwest”
South 6th Floor- George Harding “Ben Franklin, Colonial Postmaster”
South 6th Floor- George Harding; “Post Dispatch Rider”
Sourth 7th Floor Karl Free “French Huguenots in Floridia”
Sourth 7th Floor Karl Free “Arrial of the Mail in New Amsterdam”
North 2nd Floor- Eugene Francis Savage “Carrier of News & Knowlege; Instrument of Trade & Industry.”
North 2nd Floor- Eugene Francis Savage “Message of Sympathy and Love”
North 4th Floor Reginald Marsh- “Sorting the Mail”
North 4th Floor Reginald Marsh- “Unloading the Mail”
North 5th Floor- Frank Mechau “Dangers of the Mail” – Painting is covered as it incorrectly depicts Native Americans killing mail carriers. You can find a photo of this painting here: https://www.gsa.gov/fine-arts#/artwork/18359
North 5th Floor- Frank Mechau “Pony Express” — This painting is under restoration. You can find a copy of it on GSA’s website, here: https://app_gsagov_prod_rdcgwaajp7wr.s3.amazonaws.com/finearts/large/Mechau,F.FA13-A.CH2011.png
North 6th Floor- Doris Lee – “Country Post”
North 6th Floor- Doris Lee- “General Store and Post Office”
North 7th Floor- William C. Palmer- “Covered Wagon Attacked by Indians”
William C. Palmer- “Mail Coach Attacked by Bandits”
From NPS: “The Ten Thousand Islands are a labyrinth of water and mangroves. The islands harbor an abundance of life, and the shallows serve as nursery grounds for countless marine species. Boaters should be mindful of the depth of the water, as shallows are common. Finding your way through this area of the park can be difficult, and it is strongly recommended that visitors reference NOAA Charts #11430 and 11432 to assist them.”
From NPS: “The freshwaters of the Big Cypress Swamp, essential to the health of the neighboring Everglades, support the rich marine estuaries along Florida’s southwest coast. Protecting over 729,000 acres of this vast swamp, Big Cypress National Preserve contains a mixture of tropical and temperate plant communities that are home to a diversity of wildlife”
