Previous to Friday, I had not been flying since Jan. 31 when I spent 1.4 hours with my CFI getting signed off on my required Bi-Annual Flight Review (BFR). As the name would imply, the government requires all pilots to take a BFR every two years with a certified flight instructor to demonstrate competency. There are two parts of the exam; first is an oral testing on the rules and regulations which lasts about an hour and then a flight portion where the CFI asks the pilot to engage in a series of manuevers which must be completed to the FAA mandated "practical test standards." Basically, the CFI attest to the government whether you are a knowledgeable and capable pilot. I passed with flying colors!!
February turned out to be a "no-fly" month for me. I had a few trips planned, but bad weather and forecast icing conspired to keep me on the ground. Itching for a flight, last Tuesday I noticed that the weather forecast for Friday and the weekend were to be outstanding and that conditions at the northern ski resorts were forecast to be fantastic. I left a message for an old friend, Joe R, that I hadn't seen in a while to ask if he was available Friday. He finally called me back on Wednesday and I pitched the idea of taking Friday off to head to Jay Peak in Vermont for a day of snowboarding. Joe loved it, but was not sure he would be able to get away for the day. He promised to let me know the next day.
Joe and I met in 1994. I actually hired him as a broker trainee while I was at Smith Barney and he was a superstar from the beginning. He has been extremely successful and now has a big time job there. Back in the day, we spent a lot of time together, but then I moved on to the Cape for Smith Barney and ultimately left the company, yet we have always stayed in touch. Joe is the type of friend that I only talk to a few times a year, see only once every couple of years, but when we do get together, we seem to pick up right where we left off and just laugh our asses off! It's always great to see Joe.
Now my experience tells me that when someone does not immediately say yes to an idea like this, but rather tells you they will let you know the next day, it never happens. To my surprise, I received a text message the next morning from Joe that read, "I'm in! Let me know details."
We met Friday morning at 6:15am at the airport. We departed at 6:45am into a low overcast on a VFR flight plan as I'd hoped the weather would improve and the clouds would lift as we flew north. Unfortunately, the weather actually started to get worse and I was no longer comfortable flying VFR, so we called up ATC and air filed an IFR flight plan to Newport State Airport (KEFK) in Vermont. The flight plan had us climb to 7,000ft which put us in and out of thin, whispy clouds. Within 30 minutes, the clouds had dissipated and we were flying in beautiful sunshine. The only problem was a 25kt headwind slowing our progress. We landed at 9:00am exactly after having to make room for a Pilatus PC-12 that was desperate to land before we did. The PC-12 was full of 5 guys with the same idea we had -- skiing at Jay Peak.
Our driver, Richard met us out on the ramp and we were quickly on our way to the mountain. Joe is a snowboarder also, and our abilities were very evenly matched which made for a great day. We tried to experience as much of Jay as we could since it was the first time there for both of us. Jay Peak is a fantastic ski resort with great vertical drop, a lot of difficult terrain and more glades than any resort I've been to in the East. They have a new lodge at the base with two new restaurants, one of which provided me and Joe with an excellent lunch. More boarding in the afternoon under tremendously bright skies with no wind and a temperature near 35 degrees -- it could not have been nicer.
Richard picked us up right on time. It was back to the airport and a quick departure by 4:15pm. The headwind during our flight north was now a beautiful tail wind for our trip home and we were on the ground at 6pm. What a day!! Friends, flying and snowboarding -- a most excellent combination.
1 comment:
Sounds great. Count me in next time! I have not skiied since you and I went to Alta/Snowbird and it is killing me!!
Post a Comment