December 22, 2005, Highlands Of Olympia, MKE, Wisc

For those of you familiar with skiing in the Midwest, you understand why the park scene is so big in this region. For those not, read on...<br><br>This little mom-n-pop ski hill, on the edge of a golf course/timeshare plot, is a re-constructed garbage heap. It has 2 chairlifts, and I bought my lift ticket from the owner. The ski's I rented were of the one style that the rental shop offered, a "1-size-fits-all" setup. (I overdrove them so hard on my first turn, I fell on my teakettle!) The boots were rear-entry. The lift ticket was as simple as those I received in high school. I used my altimeter to accurately gauge the vert I was savoring, and I give it a liberal 175'. I was finished for the day after 45 minutes, spoiled that I am with our mountains in the West. However, these little places are where lots of hotshot skiers come from, because there is: A) Nothing else to do; and It's cool to ski. So, their parents pull the "Glen Plake Ski Parent" on them ("Bye. See you at 10:00 PM!"), and they rip for 6 hours at a time! <br><br>I revisited this place for sentimental reasons. It's just down the Interstate about 3 miles from where my wife grew up., and it saved my streak in December of '98, the same month my son was born (see my profile). And, as we all know, the worst fucking day of skiing is always better than just about everything else we can do. So, even though it wasn't tall and it wasn't long, it was skiing, and it was FUN! <br><br>Merry Christmas to all, and to all a great run!!