Ski Conversation Today on WETA
January 14, 2007
17 posts
11 users
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The topic today at 11:30 on WETA 90.9 fm is skiing. There's going to be some local ski types on the show, and they'd like to hear some call-ins from people in the area about this season and its challenges:
Call in around 11:30: 1-888-511-WETA
http://www.weta.org/theintersection/
Excellent job talking up the mid-atlantic ski scene!
Thanks. Thanks for people who made the effort to call.
Just listened to John Sherwood on WETA. He did a fantastic job!!! As to the weather, we just got tickets to Denver from BWI on United for 138 pp including taxes. We're going where they have snow.
Matthew Graham
I really wanted to but am giving final exams and it would have been hard doing both
. Wish I could have helped.
John Sherwood was interviewed on air for quite a few minutes around 11:45 am and acquitted himself well. He did his part in getting the term Dirt Chicken accepted into the vernacular.
I did my best to extol upon the virtues of dirt chickens. Jimmy, we need a "dirt chicken" poem from U.
Help!!!! I have fallen through a vortex!!! Waht the H&!! is a Dirt Chicken?????
John's the ornithologist, but I'll take a shot: it is a large fowl/foul indigenous to the mid-Atlantic, but with extensive migratory patterns during periods of global warming. Most often observed during winter in temperate mid-latitude mountainous environments. Has unique habit of circling slushy ski trails and bathing in adjacent pools of snowmelt and mud.
I'm getting a kick out of everyones definition of dirt chicken! That was a good one Mr.K...I hope to forget the saying soon though..think snow....How did you bring the subject of Dirt Chickens up John?...how did the conversation lead up to it! Enquiring minds want to know!
John,
OK, but who is this "Earl" you kept referring to???
Quote:
John,
OK, but who is this "Earl" you kept referring to???
John was referring to Ullr, the mythical Norse God of Snow. Wikipedia has a page describing Ullr:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ullr
Thanks, Scott.
For some reason I thought it was pronounced "Oool-er", though.
...perhaps they should make dirt chicken a merit badge...
Great job John. You gave a lot of information in just a little time. Maybe that will get more people skiing in the area.
I was interested also to hear Tom Blanzy on the program before you. It surprised me that he said that MLK wasn't as big a deal for T-Line as President's Day. I don't doubt him, I just thought that Christmas, MLK Day and President's Day were all very important. It's a good thing though, because its EMPTY up here. Rain (mist really) must be keeping everybody away.
Clay
John,
I agree that this prevalance of Dirt Chickens at our local ski areas is, at least from the safety of the chairlift, entertaining to observe. The findings of my research on the Dirt Chicken, I believe are cause for great concern. I suspect that your study of ornithology has been restricted to birds in the wild and you have limited knowledge of the domestic foul fowl commonly known as the Dirt Chicken.
You see, the Dirt Chicken is a direct desendent of Chicken Little. I'm really suprised that Mountain Masher hasn't brought this to our attentions. The Dirt Chicken is to Global Warming as the canary in the coal mine is to methane. Surely the expansion of it's normal winter range into the Mid-Atlantic is remarkable and the cause of my concern.
The winters of 94-95, 96-97, 2001-02 and 06-07 indicate that not only is the Dirt Chicken coming with greater frequency but the cause for alarm is the increasing numbers. Think of the poor Nordic Skiers who are right there among them, they cannot take refuge from this menace on the chair lift. Nope they're right down there among them. Nice picture of a Dirt Chicken on Whitegrass website today, I'm telling you they're everywhere!
