Those of you who are Trekkies will recognize that a trip to the www.delta.com quadrant is fraught with danger.  We were traveling on the Constellation class ship www.ski.com under the capable direction of Vice-admiral Gloria Saiya-Woods and Captain David Durdel of the SKI quadrant.  We made it safely and even early to the recreational planet Ogdenron.  The weather was clear, but lacked recent snow fall at least at the beginning of the adventure.  Perhaps I go too fast.  Maybe a few highlights are in order. 

Captain's log - the adventure began on the first morn when, Dave Rademacher forgot to reset his time tracking device to account for being three quadrants over.  He woke his roommate Norm Jennings an hour early to partake of the local ruler Marriot's included feast.  They decided to wait for the other explorers to exit somnambulism.  After taking the Le Bus shuttle to the tiny but elegant village of Snowbasin everyone was indeed enthralled and amazed at Earl's fancy hut.  It was so impressive that some took their boots off to use the facilities.  On the first run Roger Gingrich's eye scan failed to permit him on the Gondola.  No one had their communication devices so we waited at the top.  Tom Kaskubar was bucking for a promotion to science officer so he waited for Roger.  The planet at this elevation was icy and crowded with natives. It was fun except for Norm's first crash on the ice.  Later that 24 hours the group went up a “Beer Can” device to go to the top of mountain that was used for Olympic racing.  The “Beer Can” device was an occasion for prayer by the operators.  They made us understand that space skiing is dangerous.   Bill Vahary took the time for some digital imaging.  Bill Harris joined Roger, Tom, Dave and Norm on something called a cat walk.  I think it was too icy for a cat to walk on. Bill Vahary opted for a “Beer Can” ride down after Tom chose to explore uncharted territory.  The group of six adventures met up and did the bottom half of a uncharted run called Grizzly.  We guess it was 45 to 50 degrees for the descent angle.  We did it twice.  Later that evening we caught a famous Super Bowl Earth event over the Google transmission system.  Even though it took months to get here, it was exciting and we watched to the end. 

The brave exploration team next shuttled over to the neighboring village called "Powder Mountain" in the local language.  It was bigger than the Vail Empire, but served by few people moving devices.  They still had more than enough paths to take.  It was covered by many klicks of native groomed powder.  The sides were covered by inches of a white substance called “Powder”.  People ventured out on their own.  The six crew members took a site tour to get a lay of the land.  We were joined by former adventurers Mark Reiss from space station Peoria and John Gentry from the Champaign asteroid.

Mark joined us for a wilderness trip down East Yo.  After passing through some cultivations left by an ancient civilization, he found some nice trees to play in.  Mark loved them so much he stayed in there for 12 parsecs.  We waited for him to finish. 

Not all days were spent in downhill research.  Evenings were spent at a Marriott happy hour.  Captain Dave helped with bar coupons to spend while munching on chips, salsa and wings.  When not visiting other ice planets our crew ate at Rooster's on 25th street in Ogdenron.  We visited the ancient museums found there – trains, Browning gun, and ancient Earth cars.  Be sure to ask them who or what “Big Boy” was.  Some visited an ancient sea on the Salt Lake plains and the well preserved Tabernacle in the nearby population center.  

Our last day included a six inch per hour blizzard at the base of Snowbasin. Special suits were required to survive.  Conditions improved some but not at the summit where heavy fog joined the 10 to 12 inches of snow.   It must have been caused by the descent of an Oort cloud.  It was quite an adventure getting back down.              

If you have the time, ask Tom to tell his story about the Lone Ranger.  On the last day Captain David gave the command for the pilot to engage warp drive.  Make it so... The trip back from the Delta quadrant was uneventful - as it should be. 

 

 

Powder Mountain first day mountain tour excursion.

 

 

The top of the “Beer Can” and Bill Vahary's new skis.