Showing posts with label A-Basin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A-Basin. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

118-Uncle Albert's Mountain,( The Lure Of The Mountain King ; )The Senator; Chapter VII

 

                                                               VII

 

                                                         The Senator

 

 

     Jilly slid her silk robe across her thighs. She inhaled deeply on her cigarette and let

the smoke billowed out. She stubbed the remainder out in the ashtray.

 

     “You know I am a baby. Don’t I always take care of you? I’ll see you on Sunday. We’ll make up for lost time. I promise you. I’ll be extra sweet to you.”

She leaned back on her sofa and looked across the room. Beneath a brass light hung a large aerial photo of A-Basin. Along the face of the mountain a pair of red dotted lines extended across it. They signified a proposed high speed Vista Bahn. The lower left hand corner had a large red circle drawn in a portion of the parking lot.

 

     “No one suspects a thing. I have the pictures just like you asked. Yes, you’re absolutely correct, it would be a perfect place for a Helipad. The only thing is we are going to have to move fast. If we don’t they are going to ruin everything. They? The klutzy Olympian and his ski bum sidekick.  They have been counseling Joe on ways to block the takeover and are always off skiing instead of taking care of the mountain. The place will be in shambles by the time we get our hands on it.”

She stood up and walked across the room and reached down on a portable glass bar.  Raising her wine glass. She twirled it gently around and pressed her lips to the

receiver.

 

     “Here’s to the start of a profitable partnership Senator,” she whispered.

 

                                                         * * *                                                                                                                   

    

      Senator John Blackwell walked to the door of the Keystone Condominium penthouse and opened the French doors that looked out onto the slopes. Taking a long drink of brandy, tasting the warmth, he swallowed and felt the smoothness make its way down to his sizable belly. This would be the year. He had introduced legislation that would allow drilling and mining on National Forest Lands under the guise of National Security Interests. The White River National Forest above Arapahoe Basin Ski Area had large deposits of Molybdenum and the lease would soon be his. He would have it all, he would own or control all the lands and businesses from the I-70 corridor at Eisenhower Tunnel most of the town of Dillon, the Reservoir, all the way to Frisco and the Valley from the water to the Continental Divide including the Ski Areas of Keystone and Arapahoe Basin The material contracts alone for the nuclear submarines were worth more than most countries defense budgets and would make him the new breed of multi billionaire businessmen. He had plans to join the space race once he had finished extracting the metals from the mountains. There was nothing that was going to stop him, certainly not some old mountain man and a group of societal misfits bent on singing Kumbaya, My Lord and playing patty cake in powder snow. He was anointed to be a mover and a shaker, born to wealth, and privilege. There were those that were destined to rule and those destined to serve, John Blackwell served no one but John Blackwell.

 

     Jilly quietly let herself into the penthouse and walked across the room to where the Senator was standing, staring out the window at the slopes of Keystone. She quickly slid her hands around his waist and surprised him as she hugged him tightly.

 

     “I didn’t think the morning would ever end. The lawyers were going on and on about the difficulty of mineral rights on National Lands and the sale of precious metals even if it was to the government. How it might be construed as a conflict of interest. Honestly, it was so boring. All I could think about was spending the afternoon here with you.”

 

     “So, it was agreed on, if I posses the lease to the ski area I also have the rights to the

minerals underneath the mountain.”

 

     “Yes, they are all yours. I have locked that in, all that is left is the meeting at your office in Denver for the signing over of the contracts. I spoke with the Insurance Underwriter and it is all taking care of. They will loose there Insurance next week. There is no way out for them. The Mountain is yours, Baby.”

 

     “When this is completed and my divorce is final I am going to take you to Paris. I love Paris in the Spring!”

     “I can’t wait for you to be rid of her, the old witch. She has been so unreasonable. If she wasn’t such an old washed up hack, I might feel sorry for her. Her and those unwanted waifs she calls children. We can have it all. You have the money and power and I will get you the missing piece, the Mountain. I told you the first night we spent together that I would deliver the Old Man and the Mountain to you. They are about to be ours, I promise you, we will spend our days on the Riviera and Entertaining the Elites.”

 

     “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I have learned from my time in the Senate that it isn’t “Over Until It’s Over. You have done well, you are destined to be a mover and a shaker.” 

Friday, April 1, 2022

115-Uncle Albert's Mountain,(The Lure Of The Mountain King,) First Runs:Chapter IV

 



 

                                            First Runs

 

 

 

Tom and Toby with Jilly at the wheel left for A-Basin early the next morning. She had some business to take care of and offered to give them a ride. What her business was she never mentioned.

     “It was a birthday present from Daddy,” she remarked.

It must be nice Tom thought as he admired the deep blue Jeep Cherokee, to have all this laid at your feet. He knew she didn’t appreciate the things she had been given. The car wouldn’t last long the way she drove it.

     “No matter, Daddy will buy her a new one,” he thought to himself.

She had been nice enough to give them a place to stay. She also gave then a ride to the mountain everyday. Tom was grateful. You can’t have everything. How well he knew this to be true. He could have had all these things, if only he had given up his mountain dreams. Instead, he had chosen to give up his neat secure family plan. He couldn’t equate cubicles and sterile business environments with being happy.

     “There’s something wrong here,” he would say to his girlfriend, “There’s got to be more to life.”

     “If you don’t stop your dreaming Tom and start living your life, you’ll never amount to anything.” It was her standard reply. He took her advice. He started to live his life, started it all over again.

     “I’ve got no regrets at all Toby,” he said, “This is where it all begins.”

     “Where it all ends,” Toby added.

They slid sideways into the parking lot, barely missing Joe’s Mercedes, Jilly locked the breaks and came to a halt.

     “Thanks for the lift,” Toby said smiling.

They both jumped out of the car. Toby leaned over after getting out.

     “Maybe we’ll see you later for a drink at the Moose.”

     “I might go,” she replied casually, “I’ve got some things to take care of. I might stop in later to see Sara.”

Toby was smitten with her. He was so mesmerized that he didn’t notice her flippant attitude.

     “See you later Jilly, Bye,” he slammed the door.

She sat there for a second, the car idling. She took off the tires spinning and spraying Toby with loose gravel. It had been spread over the packed icy snow.

    “Hey, whatta ya tryin to do?” he yelled.

     “Wouldn’t want to get on her bad side,” Tom said.

     “Any sides fine with me,” Toby watched her drive away.

     “Come on I want you to meet the man who made all this possible.”

They started for the Lodge. Reaching the first step, Tom glanced up to see Joe sitting, sipping a cup of coffee. He filled the picture window. Holding the cup between his hands, he was idly starring up the mountain. They pulled open the large glass doors and walked across the Main Lodge.

     “Morning Joe,” Tom called out.

     “Right on time,” Joe glanced at his watch. He admired punctuality.

     “Toby White, Joe Jacobason.” The two shook hands.

     “All ready for work, Boss” Tom said enthusiastically.

     “Today the mountain, tomorrow the work,” Joe proclaimed. “I’m gonna give you boy’s the grand tour. Are ya interested?” Joe started toward the exit.

      “Alright!” Toby yelled as the boys fell in step with him.

     “Thanks Joe, I was hoping to get a few run’s in today,” Tom grinned.

He felt the familiar rush of adrenalin, at thought of the powder. They walked out the door.

     “Here you go Toby,” Joe handed him a lift ticket.

     “Thanks Joe,” Toby said, “I’ve heard a lot about the Basin. I’ve heard there’s a lot of heart stopping trails up there.”

     “Yes we have. There is 18 inches of new today.”

     “The storm seemed to move out as fast as it moved in. I have never seen storms like these before,” Tom remarked.

     “It isn’t uncommon for us to have to spend the night in the lodge, they are so intense. The Professor has to be bombed or it could Avalanche and close the Pass and the Parking lot. It is the top of America here!”

A few cumulus clouds drifted over as the sun shimmered off the crystals.

They bypassed the line of skiers and Joe led them through the ski patrol entry. Tom was happy he didn’t enjoy waiting in line with other skiers. He enjoyed skiing right on the lifts.

     “Single?” Joe asked a pretty young girl standing alone in the lift line.

     “My pleasure,” she replied as they lined up and waited for the next chair.

Tom recognized the woman loading the skiers on the chairs. The chairs had to be slowed as they came rushing around the bull wheel to scoop up the skiers. She had a small straw broom that she brushed and punded the chairs with to rid them of their snow.

     “Hi Tom,” the attendant smiled.

     “Hi, beautiful day,” he said returning her smile.

     “Sally,” she laughed loudly. She knew Tom didn’t remember her name.

     “Hi Sally, this is Toby.”

     “Nice to meet ya.” Toby said.

     “Same here,” she replied as she released her grip on the chair and the boys sat and pulled the safety bar down over them.

The chair swung silently back and forth as they were being drawn from the base of the mountain toward the top. It bounced slowly up and down in between the towers. The world dropped away into silence as they rose above the treetops. The evergreens were heavily burdened with the snowfall from the previous evening. They began to thin out and the jagged rock ledges and cliffs became more pronounced. The trails white swaths cut through the pines were thick with the light dry powder snow. The rubber shiv wheels squeaked and squealed as the heavy stranded wire bounced the boys across the lift tower. Tom caught his breath. He had ridden hundreds of lifts. It was always the same. The quick little bounces across the towers scared him. The air began to grown noticeably thinner and the sun’s rays seemed to bore down more intensely from the pristine blue sky. The wind began blowing stiffer, stronger as they rose above all cover. They became small specks amidst a vast sea of whiteness. They were dwarfed by their smallness and insignificance against the silence and strangeness of the massive mountainside. The boys looked at each other and back out across the distant horizon with out speaking. The unspoken thought of seeing, seeing for the first time further than the naked eye has ever seen, the deep blue of the sky, pierced by the ragged snow capped peaks. A wilderness in all directions, the lift continued its ascent toward what appeared to be a small brown dot on a far distant peak. The dot taking the shape and form of a shack, a tiny slab wood miner’s shack as the lift drew closer.

The boy’s raised the tips of their skis as they approached the summit ramp. They raised the safety bar and stood quickly as the chair pushed them along to where they could skate free of the lift. The chair resumed its endless journey around the turn style and its descent back to the base. Toby and Tyler skied up next to Joe.

     “Four o’ clock by the fireplace then,” Joe said. The young lady began skiing away.

    “Careful,” Tom said.

     “Don’t go there,” Joe said quickly, “I’m good friends with her dad. Ready to go skiing?”

     “We’ll follow the leader,” Toby said.

     “I thought we’d start traversing the headwall. You’ve got to tuck it and gather as much speed as you can. If you don’t you’ll wind up climbing passed the seven cornices. It’s a difficult herring bone hike up the front side to the top of the Palavachini then over into the chutes of Lover’s Leap.”

The conditions are pristine Tom thought as he slid effortlessly through the soft powder and crouched down into his tuck. He picked up his poles and tucked them under arms as he began rushing along the giant headwall. His goggles flattened out the light and mountain, but would protect him from the rushing wind. He was slicing through the snow silently on his skis, except for an occasional clacking as they would come together and touch. Tom found that if he would sit back on the tails of his skis the tips would rise out on to the top of the snow. If he leaned forward on them they would sink down into the snow, as if he were riding on a roller coaster. He was gathering momentum as he raced faster and faster across the massive headwall. The heights were dizzying as the inside of his thighs began to warm and burn slightly. It was a comfortable warm feeling. Tom was suddenly drawn down and compressed by the force of the gravity as he hit the transition. He held his skis straight and separated by about four inches. He didn’t dare cross his tips or catch and edge now, if he did he’d have a giant yard sale. Tom quickly shot up the opposite side of the hill, and skated the last few yards up to Joe. The sweat dripped from his forehead and the blood throbbed in his temples, his lungs labored heavily, trying to extract every particle of oxygen from the air at twelve thousand five hundred feet.

Joe had stopped alongside a young skier who had climbed under a roped off trail marker to his left.

     “That trails been closed for a good reason,” the veins in Joe’s neck stood out pronounced by his anger. “We’ve had some major slides down those chutes. The trail is roped off for a Damn good reason. We can’t let anyone risk skiing them today with the conditions. We’ve already bombed this area and finished our avalanche work. They were determined not to be safe. The skier slipped back under the ropes and took off down the open trail. He didn’t say a word.

     “I used to do stupid things like that,” Toby admitted breathlessly.

     “I don’t believe how brazen these kids are these days,” Joe shook his head. “They have no conception or fear of death. They think nothing can hurt them. They are invincible.”

     “Oh come on Joe,” Tom challenged. “You can’t stand there and tell me that you never did anything crazy or daring. You wouldn’t be here today, if you didn’t crave a thrill. You need the slim chance of defeat to get your blood pumping.”

     “You always have an answer for everything, don’t you Tom. Just because I survived my mistakes doesn’t mean you will my boy,” Joe spat out. He abruptly skied away.

The two men stood there shocked by his anger.

     “Well excuse me,” Tom snapped.

     “He’s right you know,” Toby defended Joe. “One mistake up here and you’ve made your last.”

     “They’re my mistakes to make,” Tom skied off down into the evergreens.

The rest of the morning was spent in relative silence. They made several runs. Each man reflecting his own feelings against the start of another winter season, where you have been, who you are, and where you are going is inconsequential to the mountains. You are just a visitor for the moment, a visitor with a vast world at your feet.

     “How about lunch, I’m starved.”

     “Sounds great to me,” Toby patted his stomach.

     “Last one down buys,” Joe challenged skiing off toward the base.

The boys started skating and polling. Toby was the winner, Tom finished second, and Joe trailed the boys.

     “Isn’t that Jilly over there? What’s she doin?” Joe pointed to the lower parking lot. “It looks like she is taking pictures. There’s something strange about her.”

They all kicked off their skis.

     “No! She’s nice,” Toby protested. “She gave us a place to stay. Besides, she’s cute.”

     “Bet she’s charging you well,” Joe said. “You can do better and she doesn’t need the money.”

     “It sure is a nice place to live,” Tom added in support. “So what if she Daddy’s little girl. Somebody has to be.”

     “O.K. I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt,” Joe gave in. “I’d keep my eye on the lookout for trouble.”

     “Always do,” Tom had to have the last word. There was always something more that had to be said, if he wasn’t the one to say it, he felt cheated. He’d have to be careful, though. Joe had already seen it and he would hate to loose his respect. He admired Joe. All that Joe had worked for and achieved left him in awe of the man behind the mountain. He was living proof that great men still existed. If you look hard enough you can realize your dreams. Luck is man made Tom thought.

This left Tom feeling the frustrations of life on the ski circuit. Next to Joe, he was a worthless drifter with nothing but a pocket full of snowflakes and memories of ski towns to call his own. Someday I’ll stop chasing snowflakes and sunsets and settle down and collect my rewards he promised himself. Except with that thought came the flashback of all the promises he had already broken, the promises of someday that never came.