Bounce

Sunday March 29

Blue blue skies, mercury into the 60s in Park City. What could be wrong with that?

Here’s what, of course. Good news for field mice. Not so much for the ski crowd.

Even Glory Hole is closed.

Skiers are going to extra lengths to stay stoked, but it’s clear the end is in sight.

Although, down in town…

…something nice is about to happen.

It’s the amazing and personable Shawn Colvin, who delivers ninety minutes of her hits, other original compositions and a masterful selection of covers, including her show opener, Paul Simon’s “American Tune,” in which she threw down a gauntlet to the guitarists in the house with her super clean and complex rendition of this chordally moving composition, plus “Red Dirt Girl” by Emmylou Harris, “Hold On” by Tom Waits, Springsteen’s “Tougher Than The Rest,” so nicely played solo vs. the Boss’s arena rock version, and – to open her brief encore – a wonderfully picked-on-open-tuned-guitar “I’ll Be Back”, the 1964 John Lennon composition that concluded the British release of the Beatles A Hard Day’s Night album.

And later at the No-Name Saloon, no holds were being barred in the local efforts to keep spirits up.

Monday March 30

But by the next morning, skiers gaze down despairingly on fresh closures.

Granted, up at the highest altitudes, there’s still enough base for a lightly dressed chase down into the canyons.

Tuesday March 31

But suddenly, without any warning, out of the ether appears a dea ex machina! Later this afternoon! Right here at PCMR!!!

Hey, I flipped for Lindsey Vonn – and Ladies World Cup Aline Skiing in general – during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, where she became the first American woman skier to win the downhill race. Strength, grace, focus, dedication… truly inspiring.

And I was late to the Vonn story; later that winter she won her third consecutive overall FIS Ladies World Cup championship, which is really hard to do because to get enough points for the crown you need to compete in all five alpine events: downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom and super-combined, and very few people in the history of skiing have had the talents to dominate in one discipline, let alone five. Since then Vonn has captured one more overall World Cup titles and earlier this season – after a two-year recovery from a knee injury – became the winningest woman in World Cup history, with 67 first-place finishes. This just scratches the surface of her accomplishments. More: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindsey_Vonn

This is not the time or place to blab on about Lindsley Vonn and competitive alpine skiing in general… suffice it to say that when I had my few moments with her, I basked in the uplifting power of greatness. What a way to end this madcap month of March! What will April bring? Stay tuned!