Signs You Might Be: On a Mountain

I guess I never realize the variety of road signs and other important informational stuff that one sees along the highways and bi-ways in the mountains and how different it is from what you find along the beach. I mean, it stands to reason, but I found it striking on summer vacay which included a lot of miles back to Colorado and the mountains. I found it interesting. I hope you will too.

A mountain is a big place and when one is riding up the lift or gondola and sliding on the snow, or hiking on a gravel trail, signage is important. Most of the rustic wooden signs are painted and have applied letters, like the one above. It's telling us that Avanti is Expert and Cold Feet is Easy. It sits on the mountain year round. But below, you'll find a corrugated plastic one that just has to make it through a summer or two.

It's hard to imagine that the following pic rests at the top of an expert run. The hill is dotted with tufts of green grass and colorful wild flowers. But when you stand at the top of it looking down in the winter, admiring the bright white slippery snow...it's a bit easier to comprehend.
 
The mountains though massive and courageous, have challenges. Pine beetles, a tiny invader, have become a huge problem for the Colorado mountain forests over the last 5-10 years. The tree below is marked with blue paint to designate it has been invaded. You can also see sap running down the left side and on the upper right, indicating the tree is not well.

It is devastating to see the hillside covered with dead trees as in this image.

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And as we've all seen on the news for many summers, forest fires can decimate the land in a heartbeat. Well, imagine a lightening strike in the above picture...it doesn't take much of a spark.Next time I'll share some of the great beauty held in the mountains...

So, what do you choose? Winter skiing or boarding OR summer hiking or biking? Or I guess, you could choose them all.

Cheers, Eli

Mountain Meanings and Nautical Nuances

I have now lived in Palm Beach for a year. I noticed some words that are used differently in the salty life than in the snowy life. I have put together a small list of terms to help anyone transitioning between the two environments. Just remember, this is all in fun and is taken from my own perceptions and certainly not from Webster's.

	Mountain Definition	Beach Definition
Berm	A pile of snow	A pile of sand
Coast	To drift on a bicycle, without pedaling, down a mountain pass at high speeds	Where the ocean meets the land
Clutch	A really cute purse	80-120 sea turtle eggs laid in a hole by a mama turtle in the middle of the night
Feeder Bands	Catering companies working with musical touring groups	The outer most rings of nasty weather from tropical storms. These babies can dump lots of rain and I guess, they feed the storms
Glory Hole	A reference to a place in a river in which the fish of a lifetime can be caught by fly fishing	A box in the boat, hinged to open on top, where ropes and tools are kept
Ground Scatter	The stuff on trees that turns brown in autumn and then falls to the ground	Images on a boat’s radar that are meaningless
Guarded Beach	Security Guards on Beaches? What?	Life Guards keep beach goers safe from marine life, rip currents and hopefully their own dumb selves
Heave	What happens when you drink too much alcohol at high altitude	The vertical  rise and fall of a wave
Slip	Made of silk, it is a piece of clothing worn under a dress so the static electricity doesn’t make the skirt cling and people don’t see your underwear	Made of wood, it is where you park your boat so people can get on and off and so it doesn’t drift off into the ocean
Spaghetti Models	Super thin fashion models OR The plates of display pasta you see at the Eat-a-Lot Corral	Lines shown on the Ocean’s map to attempt to predict a storm’s track
Storm Surge	The mass exodus to the mountains before a big winter storm hits the mountains OR the propensity to call in sick when the ski conditions are perfect	The advancing winds and water levels of a tropical storm or hurricane. Strongest in high tide and is often the most dangerous part of the storm
Wax	A substance placed on the bottom of skis to make them faster on the snow	(I had to look this one up) A substance placed on the top of a surfboard so the surfer doesn't fall off

I'm sure I missed a few. If you have a classic one (or one you just made up today) leave a comment...I'd love to hear it. See you soon, Eli

For more information check out The Nautical Dictionary, The Glossary of Rock, Ice and Mountain Climbing and for a really different set of vocabulary, a list of Snowboarder Tricks.